McWilliam's Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of year again! We took our field trip to the McWilliam's Pumpkin Patch outside of West Plains. It was a beautiful day! The wind was a bit chilly, but at least the sun was shining! We saw several kinds of animals, pumpkins, and slid down a huge slide! For lunch, we stopped at the West Plains city park and had a picnic. Since we stopped at the park, we HAD to play on the playground for awhile too! Overall, it was a wonderful day!

Johnny Appleseed's Day!

Johnny Appleseed's Day was another success! We voted on our favorite apple (green, red, or yellow). We read the story of the little red house with no windows or doors with a star in the middle. The highlight of the day was Johnny Appleseed visiting and reading us a story!

Welcome Back!

Wow! The summer went by quickly, didn't it?
I would like to welcome you to the 2013-2014 school year! I am looking forward to another successful year in first grade!
Here is a poem that I wrote specifically for my ladybugs this year.


I am so glad that you are here.
I know we will have a wonderful year!
Reading and Math are two things we do.
Listening and learning the whole year through.
There will be homework and a few tests.
Just remember to always do your best!

Love,
Miss Russback

Frogs, Fish, and Feathers! Plus Ladybugs of course!

Summer School is here! I am so blessed that I have the opportunity to teach for one week in the summer this year! We are discovering new and old about frogs, fish, and ducks. I have a group of 15-20 coming each day to read, learn, and play!


On another note, I am interested in reading at area libraries this summer for summer reading programs. If you know of any that would like for me to come read my KatyBug book, please let me know! I am also starting to work on my new book in the series.


Here are a few educational links for the summer in order to help your child grow while not in school:

http://www.pbskids.org

www.scholastic.com/summer

www.abcya.com



Have a great summer!!!!! See you in the fall!!

Terra Nova Testing

It has been a busy two weeks here in the first grade! Yesterday, we finished our Terra Nova testing. The Terra Nova Test is a form of standardized testing at the end of the school year. The students were tested on Reading, Math, Social Studies, and Science.

We worked very hard! I'm very proud of my students! :)

It's hard to believe that the school year is wrapping up. The rest of the school year will be very busy with awards days, field days, and end of the year celebrations.

More details will be given as the important events approach.

Read to Succeed!

Next Thursday, March 7, we are having a Family Literacy Night. The activities will start at 6 p.m. We will start with the reading of my book, KatyBug the LadyBug: The Day She Lost Her Dots.There will be many reading activities to do in classrooms throughout the Elementary School. We would love to have your family join us!

Also, we will be having a School-Wide Read-in Day on Friday, March 8. This will be during the regular school day. Each class will revolve the day around reading in some special way.

Read, Read, Read!

Fish Tails

I would like to introduce our new class pets, Sonic and Nala. The class voted for a girl name and a boy name. Sonic and Nala were pretty shy at first, but are now getting used to the new first grade environment. We would like to thank Angie ( a student's Nana) for donating everything to our classroom. The kids are really enjoying them!

One Hundred Days Smarter!

It was a fun day in First Grade! We counted to 100 by twos, fives, and tens. We ate one hundred snacks and read several books throughout the day. The students also brought 100 items from around the house for a guessing game. The first 100 days of school have flown by! Now it's time to get ready for the Valentines day party!

The B Stands for Beatrice

http://juniebjones.com/


Here is another fun site for students to do during center time. We have started to read the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park. I thought this would be a good website. The students seem to be enjoying the series!