Wow! The last 1B News of this school year. I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed watching your children grow this year. I just love them and I have been so blessed to have them and you, as such supportive families! I sent the poetry book home this week. The prayer we say every day is in there, and also a poem from me.

Dear 1B Families,

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms, Grandmas, Dads, friends and all who care for these awesome children. I hope you have a fabulous day and enjoy your little surprises!

Wow! These crazy days are flying by! I do have a few pictures to post from this week, so hopefully I’ll get to them this weekend.

We have begun to practice counting money as a Math Unit. We have done it other times through the year, but I don’t feel it’s fair to test them on it next week. The best way for your child to learn to count money, is to have them count money!! Start with identifying the coins and how much each is worth. Then start by counting all pennies, nickels and quarters. After that, combine them. If you’d rather have paper/pencil there are some money pages in the red books that I sent home earlier and you can always Google it, but honestly just count change every day. 

We did not get to our math fluency test today, so we will do it on Monday. It is the last test.

There will also be no spelling next week. I will be sending home the last Ape book, and there are decodable stories in your child’s GO folder today with his her papers. 

Please check your child’s folder each day and empty it. There are some real treasures that will be sent home and I don’t want them to get lumped together with a lot of other stuff! Also, I hate waiting until the last day and having them carry all of this!!

Monday, May 22nd is our cleaning day. We will clean from 8:40-9:15. I would LOVE some extra help with this! If you are available, please let me know!!

Tuesday, May 23rd will be our Fun Day! The kids get to play just about all day!!  You will have more information about this next week.

Wednesday, May 24th will be our last school day, with dismissal at 11:00.

I have had to begin taking some things down in the classroom and the children were asking why? This is my last year as a classroom teacher, so I am trying to get the room ready for the new teacher.  I think God saved the best for last with this group. Oh my, they have come so far and have learned so much! I’m very proud of them and blessed to have been their teacher! I will still be in the school next year, so I am very excited about making this change. I will work with Mrs. Vogel, our EL teacher. She is just at the other end of the hall, so I will still see them often!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Hello 1B Families, I hope you’re having a great day.

Dear 1B Families,

How can it be the end of April already?? We are trying our best to finish up lots of skills that we’ve been learning through the year. 

In Math we have been learning to tell time to the hour and half hour on an analog and digital clock. We will do measurement next week and test time and measurement on Monday the 8th. We’ve also been counting money and will finish out the year with that and graphing. Please spend some time counting change with your child. This(and telling time) is a hard thing to learn for many 1st graders and something that needs a lot of practice. Continue working on counting change and telling time on an analog and digital clock throughout the summer. 

Next week we will have a short spelling list and a test on Thursday. We’ve encountered many of these words so I don’t think they’ll have much trouble with it.

Please be sure to see the note in your child’s GO folder today about our field trip on Monday. If you have any questions, let me know!

On Wednesday we have our partner Mass at 8:30. You are welcome to come! Thursday is Mission Day. Mission Day is a dress down day. First and Seventh focus on the environment. Be sure to save a few recyclable items to send in before Thursday. We’ll also be learning how sunflowers help our environment and other ways we can all do our part!

There is no school Friday, May 5th.

Have a great weekend!!! 

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear Families,

Next week we will still have Spelling, BUT.. we won’t have the test until the Friday after Easter (Friday, April 14). We’ll be covering our first group of vowel teams, which we’ve talked about on the side but they’ll now have to really read and write them. We will do the same with Math Facts practice.

On Tuesday, partner grades 1/7, 2/8 will be doing the stations of the cross in the church at 8:30. You are welcome to join us.

We have 2 important volunteer opportunities coming up soon.

On Monday, April 24th from 8:45-11:00, 1st grade will have our annual Science Olympics! We will need volunteers to work at stations with  small groups of children doing a science activity. It’s such a fun and memorable morning! Watch for the volunteer sign up in your child’s GO folder very soon.

On Monday, May 1st we will take our 2nd field trip. We’ll be going to the zoo. This is another fun day to be with your child and a group of 1st graders! The volunteer form for this will be sent right after Easter break.

You need to know……………

School uniform shorts can be worn to school beginning April 3.

No school April 6-11. Wednesday, April 12, return to school.

I pray that you all have a very blessed Easter. I will be praying for you and all of my past students and families, at Easter Mass.

God Bless!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear 1B Families,

Wow! What a week! 

I hope you enjoyed “The Moosical” last night. Those were some excited first graders! I have a feeling you will have fun watching them perform each year.

Monday, your child will be bringing home his/her portfolio and report card. Please look through everything in the portfolio, put everything back in it, sign the report card, and return it all to school by Friday, March 31st.

This week we began talking about The Way of the Cross. First Graders take this very seriously so don’t be surprised if you have some questions.

Next week we will finish up a story that we began this week, and then begin a short unit on Fables. A Fable is a short story, usually with animals as the characters. The story typically has a moral to teach us something.

Our USUAL library time is on Friday, but I have arranged for the children to go to the library on Wednesday of next week for the BOOK FAIR. If you will be sending any money for your child to spend at the book fair, PLEASE SEND IT ON WEDNESDAY. 

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear 1B Families,

IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!! 1ST-3RD GRADE MUSICAL NEXT WEEK!

Today was the end of the 3rd Quarter. I just can’t believe we have so little left in our year. We still have much to do so please continue to encourage your child to stay focused and do her/his best every day. I know as the days get longer, it’s much more difficult, but please try to help your child get a good night’s sleep every night. Thank you for your help!!

Friday, March 24 will be an optional dress down day for your child. To dress down your child needs to bring a monetary donation which will go towards buying books for the library. The Scholastic Book Fair will be the week of March 26-28, so watch for that information next week.

I hope everyone has a great weekend–and that your brackets are doing better than mine!!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Hello 1B Families,

Dear 1B Families,

Wow! What a wonderful Catholic Schools Week. There was something special and fun every day.I have many pictures that I will try to post this weekend. 

The boys and girls loved our Fun With Fish activities this week.Don’t be surprised if you hear requests for scuba diving lessons! 

Next week is all about 100! We’ll be counting, reading, writing and counting some more! We have too many fun activities for one day, so we’ll spend the week celebrating 100! (We do NOT dress differently on 100th day.) 

I sent home a Book Order on Thursday. If you’d like to order, please enter it online or send it to school by Friday, February 10th. 

Today, your child is bringing home a conference note. Please read it carefully, mark your preference and return it by Wednesday February 8th.  

Your child may have told you that we will have a new student beginning Monday. Please add her name, Kynnadi,  to your child’s valentine list! And don’t forget Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Baldwin. Our wonderful teacher assistants spend a lot of time with your children! We also have one of our specialty teachers, Mrs. CD, who comes in a couple of times a day and helps many of the students, if you’d like to include her.

We are at the end of our 2nd Phonics book and it is in your child’s GO folder today. In order to fit everything in, we didn’t do Lesson 15. This is a review of what we’ve done for these last weeks. It would be VERY beneficial for your child to complete that with you at home. If you have any questions, be sure to let me know.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Thank you again for choosing SPSL for your child. I love being their teacher!!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

January 20, 2023

Dear Families,

I hope you’ve had a wonderful week and that you enjoyed the snow day. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a little more snow to play in at home. I’m more of a warm weather person, but one good snow to play in is worth having!!

This letter has some important info, so you may want to print it off. That’s why I’m sending it in your email today.

MATH BOOKS

Since we are doing Guided Math, we are not using our math books. These kids LOVE MATH! The books had already been ordered and delivered and I hate having them just sit here. So I am sending the first of 2 books home with your child today. You can use them however you’d like! I’ll send the 2nd book next week.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

We are alway so excited to celebrate our Catholic school during the last week of January!

Please be sure to read the school newsletter about Catholic Schools Week. EVERYONE needs to fill in the top of the note in your child’s folder, and return it by Wednesday, January 25. If you CANNOT come, please let me know. Your child can sit with a friend and family if you give me permission and the other parent agrees. You can write that on the white paper. Something important to know is that our Mass day is Wednesday, February 1st. We strongly encourage at least 1 parent, grandparent or significant adult,  attend Mass with your child or children. If your last name begins with A-L, you and your child or children will attend  Mass at 8:30 together. If your last name begins with M-Z, you and your child or children will attend at 10:00. You will pick up your child at our classroom and go to the church. You can sit anywhere that there is not a “reserved” sign. Please walk your child back to the classroom before you go. I hope you can spend a few minutes browsing the hall! 

SPELLING

We will continue working with the spelling list from this week. If you need another copy, please let me know. The test will be on Friday, January 27th. We will also be continuing our Jan Brett author study next week.

RECESS

PLEASE be sure your child brings a hat, gloves or mittens every day to school. They go out almost every day. Boots can also be worn if it has snowed or the pavement is wet. It’s not fun to walk around in wet tennis shoes all afternoon. If your child wears boots to school, he or she MUST also bring shoes to change into. On Mondays or Tuesdays those shoes need to be tennis shoes for PE.

Thank you!

100TH DAY OF SCHOOL 

Did you know that we’ve been in school for 86 days?? That means there are just 14 more until our 100th day. In first grade children will bring a collection of 100 things. I will send a bag at the end of next week with your child’s name on it. The 100 things need to fit in this bag. If any food item is brought, it must be something that is individually wrapped. I always remember collecting 100 things at home with my own children. Before sending it we would practice counting by 50s, 25s, 10s, 5s and 2s. These are important skills for children to know. With practice, your child can be an expert counter!! I would like 100s collections sent to school on or before February 3rd. THANK YOU!!

   VALENTINE’S DAY

Believe it or not, Valentine’s Day will creep up after everything above and knock us over!! To prepare for this, I am including a list of the first names of all 1B students. Your child needs to write his or her own name on the Valentine, but also write to whom the Valentine will be delivered! Yes! Your child will deliver the valentines to others in the class. Candy, along with the valentines is just fine, but is not required. (no nuts please) I like to send this early so you can do a little here and there so it won’t be overwhelming for your child. Do not send these to school until Valentine’s Day, February 14th. 

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! Stay warm!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

List for valentines……

Aiden BahBludoh Ben Brianna Brooke Caroline Evie       Genesis Louie Lucia Margaret Mia Nadia PawEh Ryan Sam H. Sam U.  Sengmoon Sydney Wani Will

Dear Families,

What a great week in 1B! The girls and boys have settled back into our classroom routines very nicely. They continue to work hard to improve. To help them with this and keep you informed, I’d like you to know if your child has been reminded about our rules during the day. Many children get the “stop and think” talk and are able to turn that around and improve their behavior, but some need some more discussion. It may also be interesting for you to see the number of days your child needs these reminders. If I or another teacher have talked with your child, I’ll put S.T. on the calendar. If you have questions about this, please let me know.

Next week we begin an author study of the author Jan Brett. Her website at janbrett.com has hundreds of activities and projects. It’s the best author site I’ve seen. I hope you have time to check it out. I sent a sign up genius for some fun activities. Please help us out if you can!

Tuesday, I’ll be sending home your child’s portfolio.Please have fun looking through this with your child. Everything needs to be returned to the portfolio and returned to school by Friday, January 20th.

1B has been having scissor issues. Some of the children’s scissors are just too small. They don’t open very well and are very sticky. Please talk to your child and see if their scissors need to be replaced. Thanks

No school for students, Monday, January 16.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Wow! This week just flew by! Thank you so much to the “elves” who came to help us with Christmas Crafts. After 2 years of doing that on my own, please know how much I appreciate you! 

Those crafts were all sent home today. The children are so proud of them. I hope you have a little room left on your tree! 

Christmas break begins Tuesday, December 20th at 12:00.  We will resume classes on Thursday, January 5th.  I am sure you will be looking for things to fill your time during break. May I suggest working on tying shoes and zipping coats!!!!! 

It is hard to believe, but the week we return to school will end with the end of the first semester.  I cannot believe how fast this year is going. This week the children wrote a story about their teacher moving in. This is their 2nd quarter writing evaluation and I can’t wait to read them!! We also tested high frequency words.

 Even though next week is a short week it will be busy.  Monday we will be getting together with our 7th grade buddies.  We also have board games and bubble gum with the administration.  Students are asked to bring board games.  We will also use these games with our 7th grade buddies.  Please do not send games with lots of little pieces!  Make sure your child’s name is on the game.  

   Before you throw away your Christmas cards please consider sending the religious pictures to school so we can use them next year for our stable projects.

 I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very special Christmas! My prayer is that it will be safe, blessed and enjoyable for you all!

God Bless and Keep You!

Merry Christmas! See you in 2023!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear Wonderful 1B Families,

I sincerely hope you enjoyed our play this afternoon. My hope is always that by doing this play the children  remember the real and most important meaning of Christmas!

These days just seem to be flying by. I can’t believe we only have one full week and 1 ½ days before Christmas Break! Next week we’re going to finish up our Gingerbread stories and we will have some Christmas activities to finish up. Since there are only a few days to the end of the quarter when the kids return in January, we are trying to get as much “end of the quarter” things done as possible. The children are bringing home a fun game called “SPLAT!” with all of our vocabulary for this quarter. I just introduced the last list today, but we’ll work on it some more on Monday. My plan is to do vocabulary testing on Wednesday, December 14th. I’m including the words below, also!

Also, we will have spelling next week but it will be a “fun” list and won’t count toward their grade. They will be fun words to learn!

The 2nd and 4th grade program is next week and we’re excited to be able to go on Thursday afternoon to see it! 

Please remember……

Hats and gloves EVERY day for your child.

No school for students tomorrow, Dec. 9th

Wednesday we’ll go to Mass at 8:30 with K-4

Friday, 12/16 is a dress down day!

Have a fabulous weekend!!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Here are the 2nd Quarter words to practice. 

all     which     how     so     were     their     up     these

when   said     out     would   we      if         them    other

there    do       then      into     can    will     she       has

an         each     many   more   your   about   some   her

Dear 1B Families,

Happy December! This is such a great month with so many exciting things happening. First and foremost is our Christmas Play on Thursday. We’ll start at 2:50. Please do not enter the church until 2:40. That will give us plenty of time to get ready and the VERY excited children won’t have to sit still for a long time!!

If you are NOT going to be able to come to the play, please let your child know so he/she is not upset that you’re not there. They’ve been working very hard to learn their lines, where to go and what to do. Thanks for all of your practice at home!

****SPELLING*** Please continue practicing the spelling words for this week. Our test will be on WEDNESDAY the 7th*****

Yesterday I sent a note asking for help with some activities in and out of the classroom. Please return that note by Monday so I can get things sent out and there’s time to return them before we need them!! Also, our diaper drive continues through Monday.

Next week is Gingerbread week! We’ll be reading and comparing different versions of The Gingerbread Man. These are great books to use for contrasting the way authors can use characters and setting to change the story. 

Our diaper drive continues through Monday. If you’d like to help deliver the diapers with your child, please let me know.

We have begun talking about verbs. Our focus is mainly on action verbs in sentences. Verbs are great for charades if you need a quick game. 

Next week we will go to Mass on Thursday for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We will have our regular mass on the 15th..

We are in DESPERATE need of copy paper. If you can send a ream of paper, I would be very grateful!!!

Let me know if you have any questions about anything going on. Thank you again for all of your help and support. I look forward to seeing you on Thursday!!

Have a great weekend!!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear 1B Families,

We’ve had a great time learning about Mo Willems this week. He has 2 websites that are fun to browse. The first is https://pigeonpresents.com/, and the other is http://www.mowillems.com/. We will continue reading his stories with a couple of activities next week!

On Monday afternoon the 21st, we’ll be having our Friendship Feast. I haven’t had anyone volunteer to send cornbread, so if anyone would like to send that, please let me know by tomorrow. Thank you~

The food drive continues through Tuesday of next week. Please send what you can for those in need. On Tuesday we will go to Mass at 10:00.

Christmas Play and Crafts

We have some fun activities coming up in the next few weeks! The first, of course, is our Christmas Play. We will perform it for you on Thursday, December 8, 2022 beginning at 2:45. On Tuesday your child will bring home his/her part to practice over the Thanksgiving Break. All lines will need to be memorized by Monday, December 5th.

The exception to this is the storytellers. They have to read their part and even though they do get very familiar with it, I insist that they read it. I have all of the costumes for the play so you do not need to worry about that!!

On Monday and Tuesday, December 12th and 13th, I could use some help with our Christmas Crafts! From 10:00 am to 11:00 am, we will put together some fun crafts for the children to bring home and share. (Leave room on your tree!)

****WE ARE LOOKING FOR RELIGIOUS THEMED CHRISTMAS CARDS FOR ONE OF OUR CRAFTS. These can be used or new. If you have anything to donate, please send it when you can!.

Please remember, there is no school on Wed.-Friday, November 23-25th. We will not have spelling next week.

I will not be sending a note next week, so please know that you’ll all be in MY Thanksgiving prayers! I’m so very thankful to be a teacher at SPSL and I am thankful for all of YOU! Thank you for choosing this school for your child. I feel so blessed to be their first grade teacher this year!!

Have a great weekend and a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Hello 1B Families!

This is a longer note, today! Sorry! Please read to the end. Thanks!

Many of the children did not have hats and gloves today. The cold weather is upon us so please check and make sure they have these every day.

1B did such a great job at Mass on Wednesday. I hope to get some pictures on Facebook soon! 

Today I am sending our first workbook from the phonics program we’re doing. There are many areas in it that we didn’t get to if you’d like your child to have some extra practice. Please keep these at home.

Speaking of extra practice, your child has some s blend pages in his/her return to school side of the folder. On the backs of these pages are sentences to read 3 times and a short story to read 3 times. If your child reads these to you at home, and returns them with your initials on the pages, you will have earned a super improver star for your child! 

November is already flying by! We are going to be learning about the history of Thanksgiving. and also talking about Space! One of the projects we’d like you to do is the Moon Project. Your child needs to check the phase of the moon each night and record it. The project page is in your child’s GO folder today. I hope you have fun with this! It begins on Sunday, Nov. 13th. 

On Thursday I sent our Turkey disguise activity. I apologize for not sending it earlier, and thank you to those who returned it so quickly! If you did not return it,  please do so by Tuesday, Nov.15th.

I also sent our book order home. If you are planning to order, please return it to school or enter your order online by Wednesday, Nov. 16th. I will complete the order on Wednesday evening. I just want to make sure it gets back to school on time!

Please keep in mind that the student council is collecting hats, gloves and new or gently used coats, and our annual food collection has begun. I believe these both end on Friday of next week.

Next week we will talk about the author, Mo Willems! This is another favorite and so much fun for the class. The characters are great to draw, talk about and the children  don’t even realize all of the high frequency words they’re practicing! 

Remember, there is no school for students on Monday, November 14th.

An annual event in 1st grade is our Friendship Feast. We will be celebrating friendship on Monday, November 21st. If you would be willing to provide any of these items below, please let me know. Thank you!

1 loaf or pan of pumpkin bread

1 cake-pan size, or 24 small cornbread muffins

1 loaf of banana bread (no nuts)

Popcorn

Plates

Napkins

Juice-we need 3 packages of 8

Thanks everyone! Have a terrific weekend!

Hello 1B Families, 

1B’s Mass

The children are soooo excited about our Mass on Wednesday. If your child brought home a reading, please practice with him/her. We will practice in the church on Tuesday, and Wednesday the 9th at 8:30. I hope you can join us!

Bringing Shoes Next Week!

This week we read a story called Boots For Beth . Beth grows out of her favorite shoes and her friends try to help her. On Monday, I’d like your child to bring his/her favorite footwear! I’ve seen everything from flip flops to roller skates!! The footwear will be returned the same day after I take pictures.

Wrapper and Portfolio

If you didn’t send a wrapper of your child’s favorite snack, please do so by Tuesday, November 8th. I will be putting that book together and it’s a fun one for everyone to read, and even more fun when every child has a page in it!

Also, if you have not sent back the portfolio, please send it on Monday. Thanks!

For Adult Eyes Only!!

Next week I will be sending our Christmas book order. I know it’s early, but with Thanksgiving and then our play in December, I like to get this sent. I’d like these books to be ordered, or sent to school by Friday, November 11th. If there are any books that you’d like me to hold onto so your child doesn’t see it, just let me know. I’ll let you know when they arrive and you can pick them up in the office.

Remember, once you have signed in to scholastic.com and entered our class code GW3NQ, you can look at any order on the website. It is too much fun to browse-a rabbit hole for me to be sure. 

That’s it for now. Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear 1B Families,

This morning the boys and girls had so much fun painting! It was so busy that our filing of papers took a little longer than expected. I will send them home on Monday.

We’ve had a great week learning about Eric Carle and his amazing books and illustrations! Be sure to see the tissue art and DON’T MISS the First, Next, Then and Last story with the grouchy face! I didn’t have them write a “Very grouchy” story, but we did take their pictures that way! We have a couple of projects to finish up next week along with some Halloween activities. 

We WILL have spelling next week and, as always, watch for more high frequency words on Thursday. Please be sure to check your child’s GO folder on Monday to get the spelling list. The words should be practiced multiple times throughout the week. 

I’m looking forward to seeing you for conferences on Friday. Please know we’ll only have 11-13 minutes and it goes very quickly. If we don’t cover what we need to, I am happy to set up another time or give you a call. I want to make sure to respect everyone’s time. You will not be getting a report card this quarter. When you come to your conference we’ll look at some of your child’s work in a portfolio. You’ll get to take it home to share. You’ll need to put EVERYTHING back into the folder and return it to school the following week.

If I contacted you about sending something for our party on Thursday, please send it with your child that morning. Juice can come in before that day. 1B will also be going to the volleyball pep rally on Thursday, and we’ll see our 7th grade partners again! Thursday is a dress down day, but no costumes please. 

Be sure to see all of the great things available at the fundraiser. I have never auctioned off front row seats, but this is the year!! The 1B Christmas Play will be on December 8th. It will probably start at about 2:45. We also have the donut breakfast with the teachers, 1B teacher for half of a day, our book to purchase and then all of the other auction items. The fundraiser is truly a “fun” event!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear Families,

A full week of learning! I love it! I hope you enjoyed the Fall Collage project. Thank you Mr. McComas for cutting the wood! After they made their collage, they wrote about it. I use this as our first quarter writing assessment. You will see it in your child’s portfolio when I see you at conferences. We’ll be finishing up some other first quarter assessments next week. One will be reading those high frequency words-be sure to practice those. Another will be reading a short story. I’ve loved seeing their growth already this year!

I’m going to be putting together a book about our field trip to Vala’s. If anyone else has pictures to share could you please do that by tomorrow night? I’m especially looking for that picture of the class in the field. I didn’t get that one. Thank you!!

Next week is our first author study! We’ll be learning about the art and stories of Eric Carle. Many of these are familiar to the children and the art work is amazing!! There is a note in your child’s GO folder about this author study. We will need some things from home to help with the art project! Thanks!!

The weather is supposed to start being quite a bit colder next week. We go out every day for recess so please be sure to check the weather and send appropriate outerwear.

The SPSL Fundraiser is almost here! Your child is bringing home the booklet today. I sure hope to see you there!

Watch your child’s GO folder for some really frightening homework on Monday! It will need to be returned by Wednesday! Thanks.

With candy season on top of us, I have a special request. Please send the wrapper of your child’s favorite candy or treat. We make a very fun book with these-it’s always a favorite!! Also, we can always use prewrapped candy if you find a good sale before or after Halloween. (I always except leftover or unwanted candy after the Halloween bags are emptied!)

I just want to give you a “heads up” that 1B will be the helpers for 8:30 Mass on the 9th of November. We have watched 4th, 3rd and most of 2nd grade and soon it will be first grade’s turn! If you can join us, your child will be thrilled and I promise it will be the best thing you’ll do all week! 

That’s it for now. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Hello everyone! This fall weather is wonderful! I hope you are enjoying it as much as me! 

This week we started working on story sequence. The words First, Next, Then and Last were used to tell about the order we made popcorn! We read a story called All That Corn and once again used those order words to show how corn grows. We started some pumpkin activities and next week we will continue using First, Next, Then and Last to tell what they did at Vala’s and also how a pumpkin grows. 

Our field trip is Monday! Refer to the purple note that your child brought home on Thursday. If you have any questions, let me know! If you are coming to Vala’s with us, your information is in your child’s GO folder today!

1B has earned a party!!!!!! They achieved 100 Starries on Thursday. We’d love to have an ice cream sundae party. WEDNESDAY, October 5th. Your child can bring a topping for our party. I will supply the ice cream. I’m very proud of how hard they are working on our classroom rules!

Next week there will be NO spelling or word list. We really only have 3 days and we will spend those reviewing what we’ve learned.

There is no school for students on Friday, October 7th.

I hope you have an awesome weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear 1B Families,

Happy Weekend!! A quick note with some reminders………

No school tomorrow September 23rd.

Field trip permission slips and money is due on Monday.

Book Orders are due on Wednesday-send or visit the website by 4:00 on that day.

There is a bright pink note in your child’s folder today about conference times that 

        would work for you. (HOW did THIS come up so fast!!??) Please return it by 

         Friday, September 30th.

For the next few weeks we’ll be working very hard on story organization using the words First, Then, Next and Last. You can help at home by using these words to help your child tell about his/her day or an activity. 

We started addition today! I know the kids are excited to get going! See the note in your child’s GO folder about Math at home.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

It has been great to meet all of the new students in 1B.  I am looking forward to a wonderful year of growth and exploration!

Hello Wonderful 1B Families! This is a longer message with important info, so please read to the end.

It’s hard to believe that this is my last Friday note to you. This class has come a long way. I feel confident that they will continue to grow in 2nd grade. You do, however, need to remember that the “Summer Slide” is real. For your child to feel confident next year, please have some structured time Mon.-Fri. for Reading, writing, math and exploring subjects he/she is interested in. Limit screen time and encourage educational videos to increase background knowledge. Get a library card and take advantage of the summer reading program. Did you know that libraries offer day passes to local area attractions? The zoo and Lauritzen gardens are 2 fun places to explore and I think there’s more. Play card games and board games and talk about how to play fairly-how to be a good winner and a good loser. 

I am going to do my best to share some other resources- if not next week, then shortly after. 

Please keep your child’s poetry book at home. Take it out over the summer and have fun reading it. There are more pages in the back to add some other poems through the summer and beyond.

Here’s the run down for next week……

Monday is cleaning day!  Please send a rag or two to school with your child to help clean. These will go in the trash when we’re done. They will bring home ALMOST everything else that they have here. Anyone have some time on Monday Morning around 9:00 -10:00? I’d love some help with this activity. Please email and let me know if you’re planning to help.

Tuesday is 1st grade fun day! Your child can dress down this day. Weather permitting we will play outside much of the day. Right now the forecast is 60 and cloudy! Say LOTS of prayers for a nice day. Your child can bring outside toys to play with as long as they are willing to share and it is safe-no weapons of course and nothing with a battery.

I will be sending your child’s portfolio home this day, along with some other keepsakes! Everything should be kept at home. Wow! What amazing progress.

Wednesday Report cards will be sent on Wednesday.

An outdoor Mass is planned. It was so beautiful last year and we hope we can do it again. Children need to bring a small blanket or a towel to sit on. Mass will begin at 9:15. Parents can attend but you are asked to bring your own chair and sit in the upper south parking lot. Dismissal is at 11:00am so please make sure to pick up your child at that time.

Whew! This time of year is always bittersweet. I hate to see them go, but I love watching them grow! God Bless and Keep you always! Your families will continue to be in my prayers-once a 1B student, ALWAYS a 1B student!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Hello 1B families,

Wow! Such a quick week when you’re at the zoo one day and learning about our environment the next! We had such an awesome Mission Day today. There will be pictures on our Facebook page tomorrow. I’ll also be sharing some pictures of our zoo trip. If you have any from your group that I can share, send them my way!

RETURN LIBRARY BOOKS PLEASE!! The first classroom that has them all returned wins ice cream sandwiches!!

Remember, there is no school for students tomorrow, May 13th.

Next week we will have spelling, but watch for the note about Math facts! 

On Friday, May 20th we will celebrate the progress everyone has made with our Read In! (Think-1960’s “Sit In”)

I will send a note about it next week.

Please be sure to check the GO folder and backpack each day. Keep things at home! I will start sending things home at the end of next week so you’re not too overwhelmed with a huge bag of things on the last day!

I will do my best to get some pictures up on Facebook tomorrow. 

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear 1B Families,

Happy Mother’s Day!! These children are so blessed to have you in their lives. I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy our little “gifts!”!

I can’t believe it’s May already! The time just seems to fly and I’m trying not to get too sad! It’s been a fun Spirit Week and next week is another one to look forward to!

There are 2 or 3 VERY IMPORTANT notes in your child’s GO folder today.

1. Zoo information-please be sure to read it and remember to send a lunch!!
2. Mission Day Information
3. Volunteer Information if you’re meeting us at the zoo.

Monday-ZOO DAY!!! See the note in your child’s GO folder.

Tuesday-Normal day

Wednesday-Normal Day PLEASE RETURN ALL LIBRARY BOOKS! We will have a May Crowning this day. I will post pictures!

Thursday-Mission Day of Service! Our day will focus around the environment and taking care of the Earth. We’ll be cleaning up around the school with our 7th grade partners, and creating art from things that can be recycled. Please read the note in your child’s folder. We could also use glue dots, masking tape, packaging tape, colored duct tape, washi tape, string…….. Or any other material that you think would be helpful. If you want the leftover returned, please put your name on it .  We’re so happy to get to do this again!!! It is a dress down day for our students. Please adhere to the dress code in the parent handbook(no sleeveless shirts/tank tops)

Friday-No School for Students

Because we only have 2 classroom days, there will be no spelling and no math facts next week.

I am VERY low on kleenex. If you have a box to spare, I’d really appreciate it!!

If you have any questions about any of our activities, please let me know!!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

4-29-22

Dear Families,

Next week is Spirit Week! Here is what your child can do each day!

Monday – School Spirit Day – Show your pride by wearing any SPSL shirt, a black or yellow shirt, or show off your favorite high school or college!  Uniform pants, shorts, or skirts must be worn this day.

Tuesday – Pajama Day –  Show us your comfy best! (No slippers!) Shoulders must be covered, and shorts or pants must be worn under any nightgowns.

Wednesday – Wacky Day – Let’s get silly with your mismatched outfits, backwards shirts, and crazy socks! (No colored hair.)

Thursday – Favorite Character Day – Get into the spirit by dressing as your favorite character!

Friday – Dress Down Day – Regular Dress down expectations apply (see Handbook). Dress for the weather because you will be running outside.

We will be running for the Race For Education this day!

Please remember to send a water bottle with your child EVERY day. Now that the days are warmer, they really need it to keep hydrated. Thanks!!

Your child is bringing home a telling time activity today. It involves some weekend activities so be sure to take it our TODAY so you are ready for Saturday. 

Just a reminder that Zoo Permission notes and $ are due Tuesday, May 3.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Hello 1B Families! 

What a great, busy week! Our Mass was awesome on Wednesday and the children enjoyed helping. Now, on to our next exciting activity!

On Thursday, May 5th we’ll be going to Mass with our 7th grade partners. To celebrate, we will have donuts and juice that day. Would you like to help out by sending a dozen donuts or a box of juice boxes/bags? If you can, please let me know!

Monday we will have the Science Olympics. The children are split into 12 groups and will rotate through 12 stations, each with activities and experiments. It’s always so much fun. If you volunteered to help out, please plan to be here by 8:45. We will get started shortly after announcements.

If you would like to join us for our zoo field trip, be sure to return your note by Wednesday the 27th. On Tuesday I’ll be sending home a permission note for your child.

The LAST book order for this year!!

I sent our last book order home on Thursday. If you’d like to order, they need to be returned by Monday, the 25th so I can make sure the books get here before May 25th.

Thank you all!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear Families,

Bow, wow, WOW!!! It was an awesome show last night!! I hope you enjoyed it. These are such wonderful memories to make, and they just had so much fun!!! Thank you for your help with their costumes and for being such a great support for SPSL!!

Remember, there is no school next week after Tuesday April 12th. I will see them again on Tuesday, April 19th!

With the short week, we will not have spelling or math facts. Those will resume after Easter break. I will be sending some projects home next week, so be sure to check the GO folder both days. The girls and boys have been working really hard on their Stations of the Cross books. I hope we’ll be done so they can bring them home. Such a lovely keepsake, and a journey of love.

It will soon be time to start celebrating summer birthdays. The office will begin announcing those on April 25th. If your child has a end of May, June, July or August (up to the 19th) we will celebrate it at the end of April and in May. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!!

Please remember that 1B will be the Mass ministers on Wednesday, April 20th at 8:30am. YOU ARE ALL WELCOME TO JOIN US!!!

Know that your families will all be in my Easter prayers, 

and when I count my blessings, you are always there!!

Have a fabulous Easter! God Bless!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

APRIL FOOLS!! There’s NO WAY this would ever be true…1B Rocks!!

Dear 1B Families,

What a wonderful week of appreciation! Thank you all so very much. I have always felt incredibly blessed to teach at SPSL and I love being a small part of your child’s learning journey!

This week we read a fable called The Fox and The Stork. We talked about the similarities and differences of the characters. We also read and talked about a few other fables. They really enjoyed these stories! 

The excitement is building for next week’s musical, Aarf! 

Here are the basics…….(also see the blue note in your child’s GO folder)

Girls wear a combination of white and black. Boys wear a combination of black, white and/or brown. They will wear this to school on Wednesday and Thursday. NO SHORTS. Thursday evening you will bring your child BACK TO SCHOOL, wearing this same outfit. The doors will open at 6:40. You can go into the gym and find a seat. Please keep your child’s coat/jacket with you and bring your child to 1B. After the 7:00pm program you will come to the risers to pick up your child. Please let me know that you are taking your child. Your child will wear a mask that will need to be left with me on Thursday. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Next week we will also learn about the author, Janet Stevens and do the Social Studies Assessment, My Delightful Destination. If you haven’t sent that info back, please send it Monday. 

With everything going on next week we have decided we will not be sending Math Facts. There will still be spelling.

That’s it for this week! I hope you didn’t get fooled too much today :o)

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Hello Everyone! 

Our story this week was called, On the Way To The Pond. We use this story as a warm up for a social studies assessment that we’ll be doing soon. Inside of your child’s “brochure” you’ll find a rubric. We went through each part one at a time. Directions were given and examples were shown. Please talk to your child about his/her activity. Thank you! Also, make sure you see the vocabulary words in the GO folder today.

Report Cards and portfolios will be sent home on Monday. Once again, look through it with your child, talk about positive growth and set some goals, sign the report card, put everything back into it and return it to school by Thursday, March 31st.

I hope your child learned a lot this week as we talked about Down Syndrome and other ways our brains work. They seemed very receptive!

Some fun activities coming up…

Tuesday, March 29th we’ll attend a program with the Omaha Symphony. I’m so excited that they’re coming back! 

April 1-shorts can once again be worn.

Mark your calendars!

     April 20th-Our class will be the Mass Ministers. Every child will get to do something to help.

      April 25th-Science Olympics! We will need volunteers from 9:00 to 11:15- a note will be sent next week.

      May 9th- First Grade Zoo field trip

(You must have Safe Environments Traing to help with these last 2 activities)

Next week is Book Fair week. Our class will go during our regular library time on Wednesday. If you would like to send money  for your child to spend, please send it on Wednesday! If you would like to make a donation for books for our classroom, here is the link

https://shop.scholastic.com/ewallet/fund?lang=en_US&walletId=4849690 

You can also put money in an ewallet for your own child. I believe that link was sent but if you need it resent, let me know.

Wednesday, March 30th is faculty and staff appreciation day! It would be nice to have your child make a thank you note for Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Baldwin. They are so very special and do so much for us! Thanks!

I think that’s it for this week. Have a wonderful weekend!

Dear Families,

Hooray! Spring has sprung! How about a Sunday 1B News edition?!

We were so busy last week, I forgot to take pictures! The end of the 3rd quarter today, means assessments. The girls and boys worked VERY hard on a story that will be their 3rd quarter assessment for writing. Be sure to ask them about their Leprechaun in 1B story. 

In Religion we began our Stations of the Cross book. We continue to talk daily about doing extra kind things for others. We will discuss each station and then they will illustrate. First Graders hearts are so open to the love that Jesus invites us to share, and for some this story can be difficult to hear. I tell them that it’s a sad story, but it has a VERY happy ending!

You should be getting an information sheet about our 1st and 3rd grade Musical that will be presented to parents on Thursday, April, 7th. 

The Student Council is sponsoring “Pennies for Jimmie” to help out our 4th grade student who has been diagnosed with cancer. Please watch for an email about this fundraiser.

Next Friday, March 25th is a dress down day with proceeds going to the library. I’m sure there will be a note sent soon.

World Down Syndrome Day is Monday the 21st. In 1B we’ll be learning about this. I feel so blessed to be in an inclusive school where we can live out the Catholic Social Teachings every day. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) statement reminds us that all people deserve:

1. A consistent ethic of life, with a commitment to love each person (made in the image and likeness of God), at each stage of life, according to her/his human dignity;
2. The right of all to participate in family, community and social/ political/religious life in order to reach the full flourishing of their humanity; 
3. The duty of Catholics to seek the common good, to make sure that the “things required for decency” and basic human rights are assured to all; 

I stress all year that God has made each of us in His image. We all have different gifts and we are all different and loved by God no matter what. We all have an AWESOME opportunity to learn to love others as Jesus has loved us (don’t we all work on that every day?). I will also extend this to include people who are differently abled in other ways as well-those in wheelchairs, the blind, the deaf, with autism spectrum disorder and any others that I have time to add in. We can learn so very much from each other and I pray this acceptance will only continue to grow each year!

Enjoy what’s left of this day!!!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear 1B Families,

It was such a fun week! Our story was, “Did You See Chip?” The children worked very hard on their setting and characters. Be sure to have them retell the story. There is a story map in their folder. We did one part as a group and they did the other side.

Who is YOUR Alphahawk/ We’ve been talking a lot about showing glorious kindness, being a positive leader, having selfless courage, showing invincible grit and brainy creativity. People who we look to for these things are our Alphahawks. Today we talked about this in class and the children drew theirs. Please read the note on the RETURN TO SCHOOL side. I’d love to have these back by next Wednesday. You may have to talk with your child about his/her choices but it should be someone you can agree on. Share who your Alphhawks are, too!

Be sure to see and read the Race for Education information in your child’s folder today! Labels need to be in by March 4. Many people wait until the last day. I always tell them to bring them early for a better chance of having their name chosen for a prize!

Monday begins our Math fluency practice. There was a note about it in your child’s folder yesterday. 

The short version is…..

Facts to practice will be sent on the first day of the week.

Practice each day and sign the calendar.

Return the bag AND the fact page AND the calendar on Fridays.

Children will write the facts-hopefully very quickly! 

If the facts have been learned you’ll see different facts to practice the following week!

If more practice is needed, the same facts will be sent home again.

Let me know if you have any questions.

We ran out of time on Thursday for vocabulary words and didn’t have time today, either. Watch for them sometime next week.

Also next week, we’ll be learning about the author, Kevin Henkes. The stories that he writes are very relatable to kids. His “mouse” stories teach about acceptance, friendship and family. He has a great website to enjoy, https://kevinhenkes.com/ 

Have a fabulous weekend!! It’s hard not to when we have this kind of weather in February!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Happy 98th Day of School!

Did you realize that one of our dates this week was 2-2-22?? We decided to make a time capsule (envelope) to send home. You don’t get to open it until 3-3-33!! These children will be Seniors in High School! I hope you can find a safe place to keep it until then. 

The excitement is building as we get closer to our 100th Day. Tuesday, February 8 is the big day. We’ve been learning some poems and doing some activities. Monday and Tuesday will be fun and full of many more!

I guess one big day was not enough for one week, so we get to celebrate Valentines Day on Thursday the 10th. Be sure to send Valentines on Thursday. I’d really like your child to write who the Valentine will go to. Of course, we need to know who it is from as well. Thank you! I’m including the list of names for our class once again, and also sending a paper copy in your child’s GO folder.

You need to know….

Noon dismissal, Thursday, February 10th.With parent/teacher conferences from 1:00-6:00.

Friday, February 11th and Monday the 14th, no school for students.

Here is the list of 1B students

Abram Addie Aria Caroline Cora Evy Jayson Julian Kateri Khaliq LaKiya Leni Maddie Maggie Nate     Orlando Roger Roman Rosie Samantha Sofia Vivian Zach     Zorianna

Dear 1B Families,

I have 2 important pieces of information for you today! 

1. Your child is bringing home a ziploc bag today for his/her 100 things. After some thought, there are a few different things than what I wrote last week. Please read through the page in the bag-the 100 items should fit in the bag-and return the bag by TUESDAY, JANUARY 25th. The note says Monday, but since I didn’t get it out to you until today, you have an extra day. 😁
2. Can you believe it’s almost February? I’m sending a list with this email today of the names of all of the children in our classroom.

Your child needs to write his/her own name on each Valentine, AND to whom the valentine goes. Take your time having your child do this. Do a few each day and you’ll be done before you know it! Valentine’s can be brought to school on February 10.

Book Orders—I will send some fliers next week, but you can also go online right now and order. Here is the link to the website. https://clubs.scholastic.com/ 

Our class code is GW3NQ. You can also send $ to school.

I’d like book orders in by Friday, January 28th.

Names for Valentine’s

Aria, Addie, Abram, Caroline, Cora, Evy, Jayson, Julian, Kateri, Khaliq, LaKiya, Leni, Maddie Maggie, Nate, Orlando, Roger, Roman, Rosie, Samantha, Sofia, Vivian, Zach, Zorianna

And don’t forget our lovely Teacher Assistants: Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Baldwin!!

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Happy New Year, 1B families! 

This week was challenging-with indoor recesses and tired kids, I think we are all ready for the weekend! 

We did some activities with, “We’re All Wonders”. We talked about what makes THEM wonders and also how we can help others feel even more like wonders!  Ask your child about the little “person” they made that’s hanging in the hall.

Next week the girls and boys will learn about the author, Jan Brett. Ms. Brett is an amazing author/illustrator. Her website is VERY fun and full of activities, videos and information about how she creates her books. I hope you have some time this weekend to check it out at janbrett.com 

How can it be that today is the end of the semester?! I’m really excited about the growth that we’ll see during the next 5 months. This is the time of year that we “put the pedal to the metal” and move forward so much. The important factor here is PRACTICE. I’d like you to do your very best to have your child read TO and WITH you for at least 10 minutes each day. If you are having trouble finding stories that are at a good place for your child you can let me know. I can send some 1 page stories to use that will review the phonics skills we’ve worked on. It’s important to read, and then REREAD a couple or few more times so your child feels more confidence with the letters and sounds. If you want stories, send an email and I’ll do my best to get it put together.

This week we had some very cold days and didn’t go outside. We DO go outside on cold days, just not that cold! Please be sure to send a hat and gloves or mittens with your children EVERY day!! If you have any extra cold weather gear to share, send it with your child. We have a few extras  here but we’re always happy to accept any you may have. 

Along with this, please remind your children of the importance of washing their hands thoroughly, and using hand sanitizer. I have one bottle at the entrance of the room and around the room at every kleenex box!! We seem to be spreading some germs to each other and I’m hoping we can get rid of them very soon.

If you ordered a Harry Potter book from Scholastic and didn’t get it, please let me know. I also have a Mo Willems, “A Big Guy Took My Ball” without a name.

Stay warm this weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Merry Christmas!

Hello wonderful 1B families! We’ve had such a fun week in 1B! I hope you enjoyed all of our crafts that came home yesterday. We made some of them together as a class and for the last week before a break, I’ve got to tell you how impressed I am with this class. They have come a long way! Listening and following directions on that weird weather day! Unfortunately, there was not time for vocabulary testing—you have your whole break to practice and play the SPLAT! game. We’ll try again on January 5th. 

Some of the boys and girls chose to take home their Poetry books. There are some fun poems in there to share. Make sure that book comes back to school on January 4th!

Make sure they tell you about the birthday card they made for me. It’s about the nicest thing ever, and then hearing the story about how long they’ve had it and where it traveled–I love it! They DO know how to share that Glorious Kindness!!!

I pray that you all have a safe, restful and blessed Christmas. I’ll look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday, January 4th!

Love,

Mrs. Kurtenbach 

Hello 1B Families!!

Happy Friday! 1B did such a FABULOUS job at Mass this week. I am so proud of them and it was fun to see how proud they were of themselves! If you haven’t checked out the pictures on Facebook, I hope you can get to them this weekend. 

We have loved learning about Mo Willems this week. The Pigeon, Elephant and Piggie, Knuffle Bunny and friends have been enjoyed each day! Mo’s website is fantastic! Maybe you’ll have an opportunity to visit it over the Thanksgiving break.

Remember…….

Monday/Tuesday, Food collection continues! Do what you can😁

**Monday’s 1B Friendsgiving activity has been cancelled.

No school November 24-28th

No Spelling next week 

I want to take this opportunity to tell you how thankful I am that your child is in 1B. Your generosity, kindness and support are so very much appreciated! God Bless and keep you all!

I will not be writing next week, so please have a safe and restful Thanksgiving!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Happy Friday, 1B families!

    Another awesome week in 1B. It was so much fun seeing the children’s favorite foot gear! They made a poster to help retell the story. They really put a lot of effort into it. There’s a rubric on it to show what we were looking for. Your child will see more of these as he/she gets older, so we get it started on a small scale. It’s always good to review these activities with your child. 

    And, of course, the excitement is building, for 1Bs Mass on Wednesday. I will do my best to send out some short videos and pictures.

   You may have noticed that the word list words came home not cut out and with no sentences. We’ve worked on the words, but just didn’t have time to do the activities! Please add those words to the words you are practicing. Thanks!

   Leading up to the Thanksgiving break, November 15-20, the school will be having a food drive. I’m sure there will be an email about it, but basically know we’ll be collecting non-perishable goods and canned food to donate to a local pantry. Thank you for your generosity!

    Over the next week and a half we’ll be learning about and reading books by the author, Mo Willems. This author study is always one of our favorites! Mr. Willems’ characters are so relatable and the kids want to read these books so much., that It’s a great kick start for many of them! You can learn more about this author by visiting his website mowillems.com, or pigeonpresents.com..

    Finally, be sure to check the weather forecast each day. The cold caught a couple of them by surprise! Make sure to send appropriate outside gear. 

I hope you have a great weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Hello 1B Families!

Wow! What a week! 1B earned all of their Starries and opened up the Super Improver board! They will continue to work on class goals, but the SI board helps them focus on what they can improve on as individuals. I look for improvement all through the day-also when I’m correcting papers. Please talk to your child about improving each day, and even what YOU try to improve at all the time. 

Thank you!

This week I sent home the Moon Project in your child’s GO folder. This project begins Sunday, November 7th. It will be dark early since this weekend is daylight savings time! Don’t forget to “Fall back” an hour on Saturday night!!

This week, along with the story Ben’s Pet we read Little Red Hen Stories. The kids did some comparing and contrasting, some thinking about what they would do, and enjoyed seeing some different versions of the story.

It’s time for first graders to help out at Mass. 1D will help this week and on the 17th it will be our turn. If your child is going to be a reader at Mass, I’ll send his/her reading next week for practice at home. I SO wish you could all be there, but there is no room since we’re all spread out. I will do my best to post some pictures!

If you have not sent back your child’s portfolio, please do so by Tuesday, Nov. 9th.There is no school Monday, Nov. 8th.

Next week we’ll be reading a story called Boots for Beth.

I’d like the children to bring their FAVORITE shoes to school on Tuesday. I’ve had everything from ice skates to flip flops brought in so pretty much anything goes!!!

Finally, thank you again for your quick response to sending items for the refuge family. Your kindness and generosity is amazing and appreciated!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear 1B Families,

We had a fun time learning about Eric Carle and his books. You’ll get to see their art next week during conferences. I hope you’ll have a few extra minutes on Thursday to browse the hall and read our class books! 

Our time for a conference is very short. We really only have around 10 minutes in most cases. If we need longer I can always schedule another time to talk. I really do try to stick to the schedule, so please be respectful of each other’s time. If there isn’t enough time to answer all of your questions, you can email them or I can give you a call.Your child does NOT get a report card this quarter. At our conference I will be sharing a portfolio with some of your child’s activities. You will get to take the portfolio home to share with your child. You’ll need to put everything back into the portfolio and return it to school by Wednesday, November 3rd.

With a short week coming up, there will be no spelling and there will not be a new word list.

Our next Science unit will center around the moon and the sun. On Nov. 2nd your child will bring home a calendar to record observations of the moon. Please watch for it and help your child complete this project.

You need to know…..

There is no school for students October 28, 29 and November 1st.

Today was the last day for students to wear shorts.

CANDY and SNACKS

I can always use candy for my candy bucket at school. If you run across some sale candy to donate, please send it my way! Ready to get rid of unwanted Halloween candy? I’ll take it off of your hands!

Finally, please keep ONE wrapper from your child’s favorite candy or treat, and send it to school with him/her by November 3rd. We make a fun class book with it.

 Thank you so much for all you are doing. I’m looking forward to seeing you Thursday!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear 1B Families,

Lots of info today!! 

I hope you enjoyed your child’s fall collage! The children wrote about this activity and you will see it when I meet with you for conferences. I love so many of the things we do, but this really is my favorite!

Today your child is bringing home a confirmation letter with your conference time on it. Please fill in the bottom portion and return it on Monday, October 18th.

Our Halloween party will be on Wednesday, October 26th. I didn’t ask everyone to bring something for our taste test, so I’m planning to ask those families to send something. If it is not possible for you to send something if asked, just let me know and I can ask someone else. I plan to send these notes at the beginning of next week. Unfortunately, parents are not going to be able to come and help and children do NOT wear costumes.

Your child has a fun game in his/her folder today. “Fumble” can be played to practice all of the vocabulary words for this quarter. I am also attaching a list of the words. Your child will be asked to read these words out loud next week. I have typed an * next to words that can be sounded out and with consonant and vowel sounds that we’ve used. Sometimes they look at this list and are overwhelmed, but showing them how many they can sound out, may help. Have fun!

The school fundraiser is this weekend. You can bid on items from your home! Things you may be interested in……

404 Good Morning Classroom This book features pictures of the 1B students and illustrations by them.

512 First Grade Priceless experience Your child and a friend are invited for a before school donut party with the first grade teachers and their bid winners!

515 Teacher for ½ Day in 1B I’ll just sit in the back and drink my coffee! (Ha, Ha, Ha!) while your child “teaches” the class!

568 Insta-Buy $35 buys a week of dress down for your child-but make your purchase early! Only 200 will be sold!

570 Bid on an extra recess for 1B. 

593 60 minutes with Miles!

Check out your booklet that was sent home on Tuesday for more items.

Next week we will do our first author study of the year. We’ll learn about the beloved Eric Carle, his stories and his art. We’ll be making art similar to his at the end of the week. Be sure to look for a note about this next week.

Your child has a bit of fun homework this week! What Should Mrs. Kurtenbach be for Halloween? Is in your child’s GO folder today!! They get to draw, write, decorate, color and return this paper on Monday. I usually tell them I was a witch last year, so if I could be something else that would be great! I can’t wait to see their ideas!

Whew! That was a lot!! Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to see you at the fundraiser!!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

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,

Next week is Pumpkin WEEK! We’ll be doing many pumpkin activities beginning with our trip to Vala’s. The first graders are SO excited! A note was sent in your child’s GO folder yesterday with all of the details! If you have any questions, let me know. Pumpkins, here we come! We did begin a little bit on Thursday and Friday. Our story is Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington. I read it to the children and we talked about the lifecycle of a pumpkin.

Volunteer notes are in the folders today if you volunteered to go on the field trip with us.

Today your child brought home a poster from our story, All That Corn, that we read this week. We continue to work hard on listening and following directions. On the back you will find a page called a rubric. You will see more of these as the year progresses. Since much of these words are new, the directions were given out

loud and repeated quite a few times as well as step by step and a model to follow. 

If you haven’t returned your conference note, please send it on Monday. Thank you!

The front page of the vocabulary words does not need to be returned each week. Be sure you are practicing the words from previous weeks as well as the new words. 

Wednesday, October 6th 8:30am. Mass grades 1-4.

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

Dear 1B Families,

I hope you’ve all had a great week! 1B’s week has been awesome! Did they tell you that they earned 100 Starries? They work hard for those by listening and following directions like a panther! If they listen and follow directions like a turtle, no tallies! I am so proud of them!

The class is very excited about the upcoming field trip on October 4th! So are we! Your child will bring home his/her permission note on Tuesday the 21st and it will need to be returned by the 27th. Be sure to return the parent note if you’d like to go with us and have your Safe Environment Training!

Today your child is bringing home the setting and characters for the story The Hat. Retelling stories is very important so please take a few moments to let them use their puppets to tell you the story!

You need to know…….

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 8:30 Mass Grades 1-4.

Thursday, Sept. 23. Optional Dress Down Day with proceeds going to the school fundraiser.

Friday, Sept. 24. No School for Students.

Dear 1B Families,

This has been a short week, but a productive one!! On Wednesday we started by going to Mass and in Religion we’ve learned about different things we see in the church. We are learning more about addition in Math, we started talking about Citizenship in Social Studies, our Science unit is about Health, we read a story about 3 silly friends and wrote about our favorite part. We wrote words that use the letters o, m, p, t, and s AND we talked about what it means to be a Positive Leader! Whew!

The boys and girls are really improving on the classroom routines and next week will be a big week for some new ones. SPELLING

We will begin Spelling words next week!! On Monday your child will bring home a printed list, and a paper that they’ve written the words on. As I have them write the words we talk about the letters and sounds. Please practice these words every night (even if you think they already know them). It is a good idea to start the routine of practicing every night because the words DO get more difficult as the year goes on.Friday, or the last day of the week,  we will take a test on those words. Watch for words every week unless I let you know there won’t be spelling!

MATH

You will notice some extra Math pages in your child’s Friday papers today. It is a VERY good idea to use these as a little bit of extra practice. You will probably have to help with the directions, but your child should be able to do much of it on his/her own. Please do not return these pages.

WORD LISTS

You may have noticed a paper on Thursday in your child’s folder with squares and hearts. These are the new words each week. Your child needs to practice these words at home. He/She should be able to tell you the sounds the letters make and then read the words. The hearts show a more uncommon sound for the letter or letters. We have to remember those by heart. At the end of the quarter, there is an oral test for all of these words.

Book Order

I am sending the first book order home today with your child. If you are ordering online, be sure to find my name and enter the new code GW3NQ. I would like to send in the order on Monday evening, the 13th, so please have your orders entered before then. Once you are signed in, you can order out of any catalog. Also, I rarely set dates on the Scholastic page. You really can order at any time (I get more bonus points for free books if it’s all together) and I will get an email to enter it.

You need to know…………

*Wed. Sept. 15th 8:30 Mass Grades 1-4

*If you have not sent headphones for your child, please send 

            them on Monday. They’ll need them next week.

*Continue practicing shoe tying!

*The school fundraiser is October 16th. I hope you will be 

          able to join the community there!!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Hello 1B Families!

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

Thank you for all of your hard work with your child this week. Remember to put all of their work back into the envelope for that day and return the yellow folder and envelopes with your child. HOPEFULLY THIS IS THE LAST TIME!! I feel that we have been so blessed this year. Our administration and teacher planning committees have done such an outstanding job of keeping us all safe and healthy! When I read about other schools in Omaha, and those around the country I am forever thankful that we’ve been able to be face to face so far. Keep praying that it stays that way!!!

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!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

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!

1B News

Happy February 1B families! Wow! It was a fun Catholic Schools Week in 1B. Our Teacher Assistants put streamers on our door to walk through-they loved making a “Grand Entrance.” The games were fun and the extra shared video activities were a hit! I’m sure for the kids, the highlight was the donuts!

Today in the papers coming home you will find copies of some “ea” and “ee” phonics pages that we didn’t have time to do. Extra practice at home is always helpful! They do not need to be returned.

We will have Spelling next week, so watch for that list on Monday.

Since our 100th Day of School is now on February 17th, I’d really like all 100s Collections in school by Thursday, February 11th. I do have a few, but there are many who have not brought them yet. 

Valentines need to be at school on Monday, February 8th.

You need to know…….

Thursday, February 11th is a noon dismissal day.

Friday, February 12th there is no school.

Monday, February 15th there is no school for students.

Be sure to check out the pictures on our Facebook page!

Thanks for all you do! Have a safe and happy weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

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

It was so good to have the kids back in school! We had a fun time comparing gingerbread books, finishing up our measurement chapter with a few Christmas projects thrown in for good measure! Next week we’ll continue gingerbread and quite a few more Christmas activities.

On Friday, December 18th we’ll have a pajama day! The plan is to get cozy, play some games and watch a Christmas movie. This is also a dress down day so that is also a choice.

Next week’s spelling test is a list of Christmas words. It will not be a part of your child’s spelling grade, but they are still words that are good for your child to know!

We have continued our small group reading in the classroom. It is REALLY important that your child spend some time reading each day. Your child is welcome to log on to Literacy Footprints, or Epic Books to find books to read. In Literacy Footprints, books need to be read at least 3 times. Make sure one of those times your child reads out loud to you! Between now and May I often see a great deal of growth and a little practice goes a long way! This goes for Math as well. IXL is always available for your child to do at home. IXL and Boom Cards can be accessed through Google Classroom. There are Boom Cards for both reading and math. His/her passwords are the same for all of these sites.

Remember, there is no school tomorrow, December 11th.

Next week is supposed to be MUCH colder so be sure your children bring hats and gloves!!

Thank you for filling out the survey for me that asked about distance learning. There is another 1st Grade distance learning survey being sent out which I didn’t know about! Thanks for doing that one as well. :o)

Have a fabulous weekend!

Love,

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!

Dear 1B Families,
Just a short note today, since you’ve heard from me so many times this week! Mostly I want to thank you for all of your wonderful support and also for the positive attitude you’ve nourished in your children! They are great and you will all be in my Thanksgiving prayers!
Remember…..
No school for the children November 23-27. I am including a paper copy of our schedule that will begin November 30th.
Have a very blessed and safe Thanksgiving so that we can come back to school on December 7th! I am so very thankful for all of you!

Hello 1B families!

Hello 1B Families,
It’s been a great week in 1B. It was hard to stay in when it was raining, but we have a new game! Ask your child about the YMCA!

Monday afternoon you should be able to access the First Grade, Virtual Parent Night. I say, “should” because I don’t have a lot of confidence in my computer skills!

Next week we will have our first author study. These are fun weeks in first grade! We try to inspire the love of literature by learning about different authors and illustrators. Our first author is Leo Lionni. When we have an author study, there is no word list or cards.

The boys and girls learned a game with their word cards. The game is called ZAP! They wrote that word on one of their word cards. You can put the words in a pile or leave them in the envelope. You take turns picking and reading words but if you get ZAP, you have to put all your cards back into the pile! Add in last week’s words and you’ll have a longer game. I did notice a little more trouble with those number words so practicing those will be very helpful!

This week we began Science. We’ll be learning about health. Next week we’ll add in Social Studies. We’ll be learning about Citizenship.

Hello Families!

I hope you have a wonderful and restful summer! Continue reading, writing and using math all summer to be ready for second grade!

I feel so blessed that I was a part of your lives this year.

1B 2019-2020

I Hope You Remember

Smiling faces

Fun Friends

Kindness and Compassion

I Hope You Remember

Ice Cream Party

Stuffed Animals at School

Bugz!

Movie and 3 Recess Fridays 

Author Studies-Hedgie Cookies

I Hope You Remember

ZAP!

Angel Cards, Poems

Dancing, Singing, Go Noodle

Vala’s Pumpkin Patch

Our 1B Christmas Play

I Hope You Remember

Praying Together

Laughing Together

Learning Together

I Hope You Remember

Once you’ve been a 1B student,

You will always be my 1B student.

You will always be in my heart!

I Hope You Remember

God loves you and will always love you.

No matter what happens, you can turn to Him.

You are a child of God. 

He made you and you are so loved by Him.

Grow in His love to be more like Jesus.

 Keep your heart open 

to His love and show compassion.

Live in His love and be happy!

Love Always,

Mrs. Kurtenbach

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

   May 15, 2020

Dear Families,

We can’t believe this is it for the year. It’s been so strange these last months and we’ve all missed you so much.

When you pick up your student materials please be sure to look in the bag for your child’s portfolio, report card, Math Summer Solution book, and photos.  Be sure to look through everything.

On Thursday, May 21st you will receive the Distance Learning Exit Report for your child. It will be emailed to you.

Thank you again for all of your work with your children this year in First Grade! Our hope is that you will continue some routine learning over the summer months. This will help your child transition to Second Grade with much more confidence. Below, we hope you can find some activities that you can use. In addition to these, please take any and all opportunities for your child’s learning on a daily basis. There are many teachable moments in which you can include your child. Cooking together, playing games, taking turns, practicing good manners, talking math,

*Freckle

You will be able to continue this until July 1st.

*EPIC-you can continue using this throughout the summer.

*Education.com     Offers learning packets to download and some online games

https://www.education.com/home-learning/?cid=10.177

*Learning Without Tears  90 day free trial

https://www.lwtears.com/programs/distance-learning?utm_source=EMAIL&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=COVID_20200424_PACKETS&pc=COVID_20200424_PACKETS

*This mom posts lots of free things and fun ideas!

https://frugalfun4boys.com/best-summer-activities-for-kids/

*Scholastic Learn at Home

https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html

*Summer Solutions Math Book (This will be in the bag of items you will need to pick up from school with all of your child’s items.)  Your child will need to return the completed book in the fall.

*Work on memorizing basic addition and subtraction facts. (You will be able to continue using Freckle until July 1st if you wish.)

*Practice counting money and telling time.

*Read silently and aloud daily.  

*Journal about their day or write stories. Encourage correct letter formation, letters between appropriate lines, finger space between words and capitalization and punctuation.  

*Make sure your child can tie their shoes.

*Students should know their home address and a phone number to contact parents.

We hope you have a healthy and safe summer!  We hope you will stop by to see us in first grade when we can return to school in the fall. God bless and keep you!

First Grade Teachers

May 7, 2020

It was so nice to see so many of you on Wednesday night at the “Drive by and say Hi!”  We miss you all so much.  

Next week is our last week of distant learning.  We want to have some fun so each day there is a special activity planned.  Monday is a Read-In.  Spend the day reading.  Tuesday is Stay in your PJs all day.  Wednesday is an all first grade dance party on Flipgrid.  Watch for an email Wednesday morning with instructions to join.  Thursday is paper airplane day.  Friday we would like to do a final zoom meeting with our classes.  If you have not filled in the permission form please do so by Thursday.  Here is the link https://forms.gle/RKQRPv8XAGt55zLp9 .  If you have not given permission your child will not be able to join the meeting.  A parent must be present with the student during the meeting.  An email will be sent to the parents who have given permission with the link to join the meeting.  

Next week will be our last newsletter for the year.  We will include some ideas for summer activities.  This crazy school year has been so unusual and it is even more important that your child continues to learn over the summer months.

 We want to take this opportunity to wish all of the moms a wonderful Mother’s Day.  You are very important to your children.  Thank you for all that you do! 

Have a wonderful weekend!  Remember there is no school tomorrow, May 8th!

First Grade Teachers

Happy May Day!

Monday would have been our field trip to the zoo. We have planned  virtual zoo field trips for you to explore on your own. There are some really amazing sites to look at. We know it’s no fun to sit and stare at the screen all the time, so break up this time with some fun games; such as animal charades, animal pictionary, or animal 20 questions.

SPSL mission day would have been Thursday, May 7th. We would have spent this day with our 7th grade buddies learning about taking care of the Earth. We also would have spent time cleaning up the park near our school. So, since we can’t be together for that, we will spend next week learning about taking care of the Earth remotely.

Teacher Drive-By and Say Hi.

Wednesday, May 6 from 6:00-7:00 at St. Leos parking lot

1. Parents will enter from 102nd St. at the north entrance,  drive through primary, continue up by the circle and Admin and Priests will direct you to the other side to see intermediate/middle school. You will then exit out the south 102nd exit right turn only encouraged.

2. You are not allowed to leave your car (parents or students) and teachers can only wave and say hello from a distance.

We hope to see you all on Wednesday! We’ve missed seeing you so much!

There is no school on Friday, May 8th.  This is a scheduled day off and you will find no plans for that day. We continue to pray for all of you and your families each day.

First Grade Teachers

Hello everyone! We hope you are all hanging in there. Just like every year, this time becomes much more challenging to stay focused on learning. Be sure to keep posting your work for us. Remember the balance of work/play and KEEP UP THE GREAT JOB YOU’RE DOING!!! 

We hope you’ve enjoyed the Map activities. Next week we are going to study animals. There are some interesting books to read and videos to watch. May 4th would have been our field trip to the zoo, and we usually have the children look for the animal they studied. Have fun choosing an animal to study and then next Friday on Flipgrid the children will share the information they learned! 

In Religion we have been working on prayer books.  When we finish our prayer books we will begin talking about Mary and the Rosary.  As the need for prayer in our world increases we hope you and your family find time to pray together.

Continue working in Freckle on Math and ELA.  In math we would like you to work on Geometry and Measurement.  On ELA we would like you to work on Capitalization and Punctuation.

If you have questions or need help with anything just let us know.

Watch for emails about Spirit Week (which is next week)!  

Enjoy your weekend!

First Grade Teachers

We hope you are all staying well through these weeks. We are all fine and staying home to stay safe! We miss your children so very much and we love seeing them on Flipgrid and looking at their activities on Google Classroom. Please remember that if there is anything we can do to help, let us know!! 

Next week in Freckle we have added Measurement in Math and Skills Practice- Capitalization and Punctuation. We would like the children to start with the From Your Teacher button and spend most of their time in that area. These are skills that we would have covered at school and we’d like them to be exposed to them before 2nd grade. We also added an option to work on, Reading Fiction or NonFiction area that we’d like them to have the option to practice. 

Today we are adding some resources for you and your family. 

Explore More!

*The Boystown website is a great resource for families. You can follow them on Facebook and/or go to 

https://www.boystown.org/parenting/Pages/csp-resources.aspx

*Free resources for handwriting can be found at

https://www.lwtears.com/programs/distance-learning

https://1plus1plus1equals1.net/2015/06/choose-your-own-writing-paper-printable-pack/

*If there is a silver lining to COVID-19 closings, it’s that our favorite children’s book authors are now doing virtual storytimes! 

 https://coolprogeny.com/2020/03/operation-storytime/

*These are card games you can play that also help with Math skills

https://drive.google.com/a/spsl.net/file/d/1X7K1JHtMkhHLjRkSwNY1z1C0PzuJtipY/view?usp=drivesdk 

*As the world asks more of families and teachers, TIME for Kids salutes you, and we’re here to support you! TIME for Kids is in the unique position to help kids understand this unprecedented moment. Turnkey teaching tools, with worksheets and quizzes for families or teachers.

 Timeforkids.com

First Grade Teachers

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.

3-27-19

Well we survived our first week of Distant Learning.  Thank you for all of your patience and cooperation. If you have any questions just let us know.

Google Classroom will look a little different this week. Instead of everything in one folder, we have listed the materials and assignments under each subject. Start by looking at the weekly plans at the top. Everything you need will be under the subject headings. If you are not able to print the pages, go ahead and write the information on a piece of paper. We are definitely learning as we go!  Work will be posted Sunday evenings at 5:00.

We would like you to TRY to return work to us via Google Classroom, if possible. You’ll need to look at your email to see a video from Mrs. Preston with specific directions for posting work on Google Classroom. In the long run, this will be easier for everyone. You can turn in work all at once on Friday or daily if you choose.

For math, we will be using an app called Freckle. Please see below for instructions on signing in. Our hope is that you’ll have to print less, but we can keep moving forward with our Math concepts. We would also like the children to continue focusing on the flashcards sent each week as well.

To sign onto Freckle go to student.freckle.com.  It will then ask you to put in your class code.

1A use code 5b7g6w

1B use code kurteb

1D use code ybj3m7

Once you have put in the code find your name and select that pig.  Then select Math and either choose Number Facts or Fact Practice. Follow the online directions from there.  We are planning for you doing 1-2 sessions each day.

We miss you all VERY much! I’ll post something on FlipGrid on Mondays and Wednesdays. If you’ve not posted yet, try it!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Love,

Mrs. Kurtenbach

Hello everyone! Welcome our new Distance Learning club. It is so very important that everyone tries their best on everything that I’m sending. I want you to be ready for 2nd grade!

When you are reading books on Epic, make sure you choose a “just right” book. I can see how long it took you to read it, and some of you are reading 20 pages in 10 seconds!!!! I don’t think so!!! If you are reading it really quick, be sure to ask yourself who, what, when, where, why and how questions. You should also be able to tell what happens at the beginning, middle and end of the story. If you can’t do that you need to go back and read it again. Stop after every 2 pages and think!!!

Remember to use

1. Eagle Eye
2. Stretchy the Snake
3. Chunky Monkey
4. Flippy the Dolphin
5. Skippy the Frog.               Oh no! I know there are 2 more but I can’t think of them! Also tomorrow look for your first Grid on FlipGrid. On Monday and Wednesdays I’m going to ask you to answer a question or show me something.  Remember, if you have any questions, let me know and I’ll try to answer them as soon as I can!  Love,  Mrs. Kurtenbach

Dear Families,

We hope this finds you all well!  We have been working very hard to get distance learning set up for everyone. It’s been quite an adventure for us and we know it has been for you! Thank you for your support and understanding as we endure this together!

If you have not joined your child’s Google classroom or EPIC, please do so by Sunday. The plans for the week will be posted on Google classroom on Monday mornings at 8:15 a.m.  The assignment will have a page that is called week 1 plans. This is a guideline for daily assignments.  If you are able to print the assignments great, but if not just do the best you can on a piece of paper (but don’t use toilet paper.  You may need that). You will see that there are some assignments we ask you to take a picture and email it to your teacher.

These plans should take about an hour each day to complete.  We have also included a sheet of extra resources that you can use to fill other times during the day. 

We hope you will use this time to connect with your family.  Enjoy your time together. Play games, watch movies, talk to each other, create, sleep in.  Have fun!

If you have any questions please let us know. We will do our best to help you, or find someone else who can!  Also, please know that we are praying for you, our school/parish communities and our country daily. 

First Grade Teachers

Hello all! Wow! This has been such an EXCITING week! I think we’ll need Spring Break to recover from all of it!! I hope you enjoyed the show last night. I am VERY proud of 1B!! They are truly an awesome class!!

Spring Break

No School March 9-13 and the 16^th. School resumes bright and early March 17^th! Slainte!

Word List Folders

All of the words in the Word List Folders will be on our 3^rd Quarter Vocabulary test. The 3^rd Quarter ends on March 20^th, so your child will need to be prepared to read the words on Thursday, March 19^th. If you would like to take the pages out to keep at home, please do so and return the folder.

Delightful Destination/Social Studies Assessment

When we return from Spring Break, your child will be working on our Social Studies Assessment. It might be helpful to talk about the destination that you wrote about and returned. **This week we did a “practice run” by doing The Pond, which went along with the story we read. I encourage you to look that over and go through the grading with your child.

Just a short note this week. I hope everyone has a safe and restful Spring Break Week!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

1. Don’t forget to Spring Ahead this weekend!!

Hello 1B Friends! Lots of little tidbits to share this week!

Next week your child will not bring home a Math worksheet for Monday Math. I sent a note in your child’s folder on Thursday explaining our new Math homework. If you have any questions, be sure to let me know!

In your child’s GO folder on Friday, you will find our Race For Education Labels. There are many rewards that can be earned with these labels, and the $ raised helps our school so much! Thank you for returning them as soon as possible!!

SAVE THE DATE!! Our Zoo field trip will be on Monday, May 4^th. We will need volunteers who have been Safe Environment Certified. There will be much more information as this date gets closer, but I wanted you to get it on your calendar!

Next week is BOOK FAIR WEEK! We will go as a class on Thursday the 27^th. The Pancake Man will be at the school on Thursday the 27^th from 5 to 7pm. The Book Fair will be open at that time.

Ash Wednesday is February 26^th. We will go to Mass at 8:30 that morning.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Kurtenbach

The 1B Valentines Day Party will be on Thursday, February 13th. If you are sending Valentines, please send one for every student in our class. There are 22 including your child. Your child needs to write his/her name on each valentine. Then please have your child write his/her classmates names on each one so they can be delivered! First graders enjoy delivering valentines so much!

Your child can also bring a decorated box, or a gift bag to leave on their desks for others to put valentines in. That means your child’s valentines should be in a separate bag to carry around for delivery! Here are the names of the students in our class……

August    Ava      Blake      Chan       Chrit     Eily       Eniyah  Jack     John     Joline      Kaliyah     Kate     Kaliyah   Kenley  LerBwehSoe       Maggie    Meryl              Miguel                 Noah            Roman
Sara     TiMu     Tommy
We also have our fabulous Teacher Assistants , Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Baldwin.

Wednesday, February 12. Mass 8:30
Thursday, February 13. Noon Dismissal

Parent/Teacher Conferences 1:00-6:00.
Friday, February 14. No school.
Monday, February 17. No school for students.

Have a fantastic weekend!