More Than a School, It's a Community.
Dear Families,
Pumpkin Week was great! Starting with our trip to Vala’s! They had so much fun riding the bus, visiting the numerous activities, choosing their pumpkin and another bus ride! I’m sure they were tired when they got home. Tuesday they weighed and measured their pumpkin. Wednesday was their taste test. I was surprised that so many liked pumpkin pie! We also cut open a big pumpkin to se and feel the parts. Thursday was pumpkin painting and putting together the pumpkin life cycle. Friday they used some “Brainy Creativity” to imagine pumpkins of different shapes and colors. What a week! If you have pictures to share from the pumpkin patch, please send them to, [email protected].
There was a yellow note in your child’s GO folder on Thursday about our Fall Collage project. Make sure to help your child collect fall things and send them to school on Tuesday, Oct. 12th. Fall items will be shared so if you send a little extra it will be used.
Next week is the last Vocabulary list before the end of the quarter. Make sure you are practicing them all. Your child will be asked to read these words the following week.
We practiced adding doubles this week. 1+1, 2+2, 3+3, 4+4 etc to 10+10. Please practice these at home. I’ve also noticed that quite a few children have trouble writing numbers above 10. They switch around the 10s and 1s so it’s 21 instead of 12. A little practice there will go a long way. Thank you!!!
Remember…..
No school Monday, October 11th.
School fund raiser October 16th. Booklets are in your child’s folder today and some bids are open!!
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Kurtenbach
Hello 1B Families,
HAPPY FALL! It’s been a great week! Have your children been sharing the interesting facts they’ve been learning about ants? They love the non-fiction stories, and we have another one next week! Then today we read a fiction story about an ant today. Be sure to ask your child about this fun story.
Thanks to those who have returned their permission notes for our field trip. If you haven’t, please return it on Monday.
Your child has a note in his/her folder for you to fill in to let me know about your availability for a parent/teacher conference in a few weeks. Please return that note by next Friday, October 1st.
Spelling–the children are doing a great job on their spelling! Did you notice the “Bonus Words” at the bottom of the page?? When your child takes home the list he/she can choose 2 words to spell that are more of a challenge. You don’t need to let me know what they are. I will know if your child spells them correctly. If the words are practiced all week, your child will need to remember what bonus words to write.
Also, you may have noticed something up in the corner that says HW- Then there is an M, P or N. This is a handwriting grade. I always tell them that I don’t expect them to be perfect, but I do expect to see improvement. M=Most of the time, P-Part of the time, N=Not yet. On a P I might add a plus or a check. A plus means, getting close to and M. A check means, it’s getting close to an N. Let me know if you have any questions!
You need to know…..
Wednesday, September 27th. 8:30 Mass grades 1-4
SPSL fundraiser. Saturday, October 16th.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Mrs. Kurtenbach
What a great day! What a fun week!! We have been very busy finishing up, end of the year things and today was so much fun! Be sure to check out Facebook for some pictures.
This is 1B saying our class rules “like a boss!”
Hello 1B Families! This has been such a fantastic week in 1B! It was just so nice to go to Mass, in the church. The kids were so good! I know they liked it more than watching it on the smart board!
PARTY ON!!! 1B has earned a Starries party!! On Tuesday, your child can bring a stuffed animal to school for the day. It needs to be one that fits in his/her backpack! WOOHOO!!
The girls and boys are working very hard on their Social Studies assessment. Next week they will finish and then they will get to present them to the class.
We have started our Money chapter in Math. If your child asks to count your change, please say, “YES!” And if they don’t ask, tell them I said they have to!! Practicing counting real coins is the best way to learn how to count money.
The children enjoyed learning about our author, Janet Stevens this week. I wish I could just read and discuss books all day with them!! Next week we’ll be learning about Earth Day.
Please make sure your child has 2 or 3 clean masks each day. There are some sniffles going on and when it gets warmer again the allergies start acting up and lots of sneezes! Also, the school has gotten quite low on children’s masks. If anyone sews and would like to donate some, that would be so great!
Also, there are some children forgetting to bring water bottles. They need to stay hydrated for better learning and they are always thirsty after recess and through out the day. .
I know it will warm up soon and I can’t wait to get outside to eat lunch. Will you please send something for your child to sit on? It should be in a plastic bag. If you can put your child’s name on the bag, that would be great!
Many of the children are low on pencils. Ask your child if he/she needs them. Thank you!
Remember, the book fair is open online until Thursday the 22nd, and there is NO SCHOOL for the students on Monday, April 19th.
Wow! That was a lot more than I thought! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
Mrs. Kurtenbach
Dear Families,
What a great week! We have been learning about telling time on an analog clock, to the hour and the half hour. They are doing really well with this! Don’t tell them, but they’re learning about telling time at 5 minute intervals as well. I love sneaking “extras” in and they don’t realize it!!
Next up will be identifying and counting coins. Please let your child count change at home. Money can be hard, but practice with real coins is essential. Talk about the names for the coins, what is on the heads and tails and how much each coin is worth. Count the same kind of coins together and then combinations. This is really an ongoing skill that children need to learn and the more you can practice the better it will be for your child.
Exciting news for next week!!! First Grade gets a turn to go to Mass in the church! We’ve been watching the video and participating the best we can, but we get to be the class in the church. Our Mass will be on Wednesday at 8:00. Unfortunately, you will not be able to attend but you can watch it through the St. Pius X Website under Playlists-School Masses. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNT0W_r7k1u4wDl5hDHfEGQ/playlists
Next week we’ll be learning about the author/illustrator Janet Stevens. She and her sister, Susan Stevens Crummel collaborate on some wonderful books for children. We’ve been teaching about Janet Stevens for years and we love introducing these books to the children. Her website gives an idea of her artwork and books, but there aren’t activities for children. https://janetstevens.com/
Next week we’ll be working on our Delightful Destination Assessment for Social Studies. Encourage your child each day to do their VERY best, take their time and listen and follow directions. WE’VE GOT GRIT! WE WON’T QUIT!
Remember that the online school book fair has started. Here is the link!
https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=spsl
Have a fantastic weekend!
Mrs. Kurtenbach
3-5-21
The pictures above are the First Graders singing Happy Birthday to Mrs. Taylor!
Hello 1B Families! Time just seems to be flying by-here it is, Spring break!
Today in your child’s backpack you will find his/her Reading Book and the distance learning materials in the yellow folder. I’ve included the plans for the week in each folder and a schedule with your child’s small group circled.
***Distance Learning Change***
I’d really like to see your child’s work. When activities are complete, put them in the envelope for that day. Everything can then be returned to school instead of uploading pictures.
Plans will be posted on Sunday, March 14 at 5:00pm.
As always, if something doesn’t make sense, or you have questions, please contact me.
When your child returns to school the week of March 22nd, we’ll be testing vocabulary for the quarter. The words that were sent yesterday will be the last for the quarter. There is a game in one of the envelopes for Distance Learning called HOT POTATO that is a review of the words. You are welcome to take that out anytime to begin practicing.
Also on the 22nd we’ll be participating in a silly sock day for World Down Syndrome day. I’m sure there will be more info sent your way.
I am keeping the Math Fact Fluency bag at school. If you did not return it, please put it in your child’s GO folder so it can be returned on the 22nd. We will resume those when we return to school
Dates to know……..
March 8-12 Spring Break-No School
March 15 Teacher’s Development Day. No school for students.
March 14 Plans for Distance Learning sent at 5:00
March 16-19 Follow the 1B Distance Learning schedule
March 22 Silly Socks for Down Syndrome Awareness
I hope you all have a wonderful and restful Spring Break. Remember to still practice Covid safety and I’ll see you online on the 16th!
Love,
Mrs. Kurtenbach
2-26-21
Happy Friday 1B Families! Just a few tidbits of information this week!
IMPORTANT YELLOW ENVELOPE!! You are getting registration information for next year, 2021-2022. It should be coming home with your youngest child. Please be sure to open that and follow the instructions given.
Handwriting Camp
You will notice a packet of handwriting pages in your child’s papers today. We are working with Occupational Therapy students from Creighton University to try to improve fine motor skills and handwriting with our students. They will be sending us materials and videos over the next few weeks and then after spring break. It’s so unfortunate that they can’t come to our classroom, but the activities are timely and many of the children could use some extra coaching in this area.
Tuesday, March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’ birthday. If your child has a few Dr. Seuss books that he/she would like to bring this day, that would be great! We’ll learn a little about this author and read some of his books next week.
The girls and boys are very excited about the Race for Education. If you can help out and send a few labels, even a few will help out. Labels are due by Friday, March 5th.
With the variable weather we’ve had lately, it’s a good idea to dress your child in layers. It’s often too warm for a heavy coat when we go out at 2:00 in the afternoon. A sweatshirt is often enough.
Well, that’s it for now. I’m going to post some pictures of this week’s work at the school website. We had a great time learning about Kevin Henkes this week, and most of the activities are decorating the hallway! They also made “stained glass” crosses today that look beautiful in our classroom. I’m also including a picture of those.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Happy Friday families! We have started our Lenten journey for this year. Fr. Joe Wray came in on Wednesday and sprinkled ashes on the children’s heads for Ash Wednesday. He told them that we have given up so much in this last year, that we should focus on changing a habit that will make us better people. So that is what we are doing here in 1B! I am encouraging them to become the best version oThere are some fun pictures at the school website. I hope you’ll have time to check them out!
We had a lot of fun doing 100s activities. They had to try to eat a Starburst in 100 chews. They hopped, wrote their names, said the ABCs and counted for 100 seconds. They learned the dot game-always a favorite, and had a stew with 10, of 10 different snacks. They wrote numbers to 100, many of them wrote 100 words and they looked pretty adorable in the pictures from the 100 Day Photo booth!
Since we didn’t have many days this week, we decided to start the math fact fluency practice next week. The basics are…..
Cards are sent at the beginning of the week.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
Return the cards on Friday, or the last day of the week. The children take a quick test.
New cards will be sent the following week, or the same cards if more practice is needed.
Today in your child’s GO folder you will see the labels for the Race for Education. I can’t believe it’s that time already! Please fill in as many labels as possible. These will be donation requests that will get sent in the mail. Each label = one entry into a drawing. The office will pick names every day and those students get a prize. I always tell my class that the sooner they get them in, and the more entries is a better chance to get their
name called. That doesn’t mean it WILL get called, but there’s a better chance. And, of course, the more your name is in there, the better chance of having it called.
Next week we’ll be learning about the author Kevin Henkes. Mr. Henkes writes stories that are very relatable to children. We’ll be talking about the author’s purpose for each story. Many of the themes have to do with real feelings that children have and situations they might get into.
For this author, I would like a baby picture of your child. Please no bigger than 4X5. It will get glued to a book so it needs to be one you can spare. Please have these to school by Wednesday, February 24th.
Thank you again for your donations of $ and clorox wipes. The $ helped us have a very fun 100th day of school and I was completely out of wipes! I hope you enjoy the pictures of the children that will posted at the school website!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Kurtenbach
Even with a short week we were very busy in 1B. As we’ve learned about different people in history through the year, we’ve talked about what type of story is a biography. This week we read a biography about Tomas Rivera. His family were itinerant workers in the 1930’s and after. He grew up to become a teacher, an author and the chancellor at the University of California, Riverside. The girls and boys really enjoy learning about people and their lives. We also finished our Math chapter about Place Value.
Wednesday, February 17th will be our 100th day of school. We will spend a lot of time exploring the number 100. We will eat 100 snacks! We will read various books that have the number 100 in them. We will attempt to write 100 words. We will explore the number for the whole week. There are just too many activities for one day, so we do a little each day!
Wednesday, February 17th is also Ash Wednesday. Since we are unable to all be in the church on this day the Priests are planning to visit each of the classrooms. They are currently working on a schedule for this day.
One of our school goals for the past few years has been to increase Math fluency. We want students to feel confident in knowing their math facts. Knowing these quickly will help them as they move forward. Beginning next Tuesday your child will bring home a bag at the beginning of each week that has a set of flashcards for your child to practice during the week. There is a note in the bag for you to sign each night they practice. The bag needs to be returned to school ON THE LAST DAY OF EACH WEEK. The last day we have school each week we will take a test on those facts. If the student passes the test they will get a new set of flashcards for the next week. If they do not pass the test they will have the same cards to practice for another week. **There is a letter in your child’s GO folder to read about this. There will no longer be Monday Math so facts can be practiced.
You need to know………..
*No School Friday, February 12th.
*No School Monday, February 15th.
I am running very low on Clorox wipes. If you are able to send some, we would be very grateful!
Stay warm and enjoy your long weekend!
Hello Wonderful 1B Families!
It was a short week, but a busy week. Did you enjoy your child’s diorama? Did they tell you about it? We’ve been working on adjectives this week and I asked them to use adjectives to describe what was in their box. The sentence frame goes like this…….
The
A (adjective) (noun) (verb) ____________.
An
Examples: A big shark ate the fish.
The funny puffer fish swims backwards.
A brave diver scared the shark.
Use adjectives at home to describe as many nouns as possible! GO GREAT TEAM!
January 31-February 6th is Catholic Schools Week. Families were sent CSW information last weekend in an email. There will be some fun activities and I may have a surprise or two as well!
I am so blessed to be a Catholic School Teacher here at SPSL. I know this has been God’s purpose for my work life. Each year (28 ½ in all) has brought so much learning and love. These children will always be “1B Students” and just because they move on, I will always consider them MY students! I hope to make the most of these last 4 months of school…….your children are so AWESOME! Maybe I’ll just have to keep them!
You need to know……….
Monday, Feb. 1st. Optional Dress Down Day. Proceeds will be donated to a Catholic charity.
Tuesday, Feb. 2nd. We will say the rosary as a school, along with videos of alumni saying the prayers.
Wednesday, Feb. 3rd Children will watch Wildlife Encounters.
-Conference notes are due this day. It is a green note that was sent in the GO folder on Thursday.
-As of now, our 100th Day of School will be on Wednesday, Feb. 17th. Please send your child’s collection by the 3rd. We will do activities leading up to THE day!
Thursday, Feb. 4th Questions and Answers with the Pastors
Friday. Feb. 5th. Panther Family Feud! 1B Talent Show! The children seemed excited about this. They don’t HAVE to share a talent, but if they’d like to…..here’s their ticket to stardom! (Ha! ha!)
Whatever they do needs to be no more than 2 minutes.
-I’m sending a packet of papers home today that have some extra practice with the -ck sound. These do not need to be returned, but are things we would have done through the week.
-Valentines should be at school by February 8th. If you need the list of names again, let me know.
That’s it for now. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
Mrs. Kurtenbach
Happy Friday 1B Families!
The girls and boys took the Early Star reading test today. They were so intense you could almost see the wheels turning!
A few things this week……
Today in your child’s GO folder, if your child is the youngest or only at SPSL, you will see the intent form for next year. THIS NEEDS TO BE RETURNED BY WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27TH.
Our 100 Day Celebration (which we do for a week) is going to coincide with Valentine’s Day, unless we have another snow day.
On Monday I will send a ziploc bag for you to put 100 things in. We do some hands on things so if you choose to send candy or anything edible, it must be pre wrapped. Some ideas that I’ve seen are 100 coins, paper clips, Legos, small toys, rubber bands, playing cards and any other small item. It doesn’t all have to be the same item either, it could be 25 of 4 things, 50 of 2 things etc.
We are working on Place Value so please spend some time with the items counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, 20’s and 25’s before you return the items.
I hope all of the Valentine information made sense last week. If you have questions, please let me know. They need to be here on Monday, February 8th.
Our paper drive continues through next week. If you can send a ream or two of paper, it would be greatly appreciated. We can also always use paper that is printed on one side and is school appropriate if your business would like to donate.
Thank you, once again for your donations for our classroom activities. I can’t express how much I appreciate all of you!
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Kurtenbach
Dear Families,
I really miss those little ones that were at home with you this week! Once again, I am so proud of them. They did an amazing job! I know it’s a lot of extra work all around, but hopefully this reset will get us safely through to Christmas break. We will be doing another week of distance learning from January 5-8. You’ll get more info about this next week, but it will probably look a lot like this week! .
Please make sure your child returns all of their learning activities on Monday. If you sent in pictures of your child’s work, you can keep it at home. All work that was NOT entered on google classroom should be returned in the yellow folder.
Also make sure they return:
-Reading book with the hippo on it.
-Blue Religion book.
-Red Math Book. There are papers clipped inside of the
cover that need to be returned with it.
2 white envelopes with everything still inside. (I hope!)
Ziploc bag with the marker and white laminated paper.
Next week we’ll be reading different versions of The Gingerbread Man. We’ll be comparing them, and talking about the beginning, middle and end.
These next two weeks are going to fly by and they are my favorite weeks of the year! We have quite a few fun little crafts that we’ll be working on. Leave a little space on that Christmas Tree!
Remember, there is no school on Friday, December 11th!
Thanks again for all of your work this week, getting your child on our Google meets, following up and helping them with their work, and making sure you turn it into Google Classroom or sending it back. You are all such a great group to work with!
Have a terrific weekend!
Mrs. Kurtenbach
PS I’m sending a short survey this afternoon. It would help me if you could fill it out. Thanks!
April 3, 2020
Dear Families,
We made it through another week!!! We hope you are staying well and enjoying your time with your kids. We miss seeing them in person, but love seeing their videos on FlipGrid. Next week one of our assignments is to record a video on FlipGrid. If you have not joined yet please do so. If you have questions just let your teacher know!
Next week is a short week. We will only have lesson plans for Monday – Wednesday. We are on Easter break from Thursday 4/9 – Monday 4/13. Lessons will resume on Tuesday 4/14. There will be no newsletter next week. Lessons for the week of April 14-17 will be posted on Google Classroom on Sunday April 12th at 5:00. We hope you and your family have a blessed Easter.
You will be receiving your child’s Progress report by email today. There is a paragraph at the top of the form that explains why we are doing progress reports rather than report cards. If you have any questions let your teacher know.
Don’t forget to check the daily announcements on our school website. It will give you links for our weekly prayer services and special prayers on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Have a wonderful weekend!
First Grade Teachers
Explore More
*mysteryscience.com/live – Mystery Doug will be live on Wednesday, April 7th at 12:00pm. He will answer real kids’ questions about the current situation we’re all dealing with, as well as share a few fun surprises. Can’t make it live? View the recording at mysteryscience.com/live after the event.
*Dav Pilkey (author of Dogman series and Captain Underpants) can be found onloc.gov/engage. He is giving drawing lessons like Mo Willems.
*For Extra Math work you can go to
https://www.sadlierconnect.com/sadliermath
This is the Math book that we use at school.
On the left you will see a list of the book’s chapters.
Click on the chapter you’d like to look at.
Each chapter is broken into lessons and each lesson has
The Essential Question for the Chapter
Problem of the Day (interactive)
Mental Math (interactive)
Practice/Additional Practice (printable)
Cloze Reading in Math (printable)
Games and Study Aids
Parent Resources
You are welcome to use any of these at home for your child.
My name is Sue Kurtenbach. It's hard for me to believe, but I am in my 41st year of teaching at St. Pius X / St. Leo School. I have been teaching First Grade for about 30 of those years. I love seeing all of the growth that happens during the First Grade year. This school is very near and dear to me! I feel blessed to be a part of the SPSL community!
