Pictures from Week One!

Welcome to  our first set of pictures from the 2022-2023 school year!

 Please know I try my best to get some of each student each week. However, sometimes outside factors occur (absence, eyes shut, not wanting pics...). Feel free to screen shot or drag off any of your child's pictures. You can also email me and ask me to send you one. One last thing...for some reason the blog site decided to put the pics on in opposite order of happening. It drives me crazy. However, it is what it is. I hope you enjoy getting to peek into our daily world at school!!

We had Cactus Day on Thursday! We made 2D and 3D cacti. 

We also wrote about what goal we had for the year that we were going to STICK to!

Oh, and how could I forget...we ATE cacti (green pretzels!).

We are enjoying all the STEM materials in the room!

This year is going to be SLOTH-some!

Sharing our special bags about ourselves.

Enjoying our Jitter Juice that we found at the end of our magical scavenger hunt!

A clue fell out of a book we were reading. We decided to follow it and it led us on a wonderful scavenger hunt throughout the building. It ended back in our room with an awesome surprise!

The magic dough changed colors so we know it's going to be a great year!!

Happy Long Weekend!

First Day of First Grade

  Hi! We had a wonderful first day of school! I’m really excited to be back!  We are going to have a super year! Ask your child about our scavenger hunt!

I have enclosed our specials schedule and class list. Please note the days that the specials are on. Sneakers should be worn or brought for Phys. Ed. Library books can be returned on or before Library day. We will eat snack at 9:30 and lunch at 11:55 each day. Children are allowed to grab a working snack in the afternoon if they are hungry.  We go outside twice each day. Feel free to put an extra bag of clothes or keep a sweatshirt in your child’s locker in case of mishaps or changing temperatures. Students can change anytime during the day.

I will be emailing home newsletters each week.This will keep you informed of what is going on in grade one. You can also check my blog for information at:  www.http://vcslk1.blogspot.com. Everything I send home, including homework, will be placed in your child’s folder. There will be no homework the first two weeks of school. Please make sure your child brings his/her folder each day. This is a good way for you to send in notes and lunch money. Lunch money should be in an envelope that has your child’s name on it.  I check folders first thing each morning. Another good way to reach me is by email, lkimball@veaziecs.org. I check my email throughout the day. I also check it at night and on weekends. 

Reminder about transportation schedules...if your child’s schedule is going to change, I need a note or phone call from you. I cannot accept a verbal message from your child for safety reasons. Also, the earlier you can let the school know, the better. Last minute changes are hard when trying to get classes packed up and out.

Once again, I am really looking forward to this year. Together, we can make this a great year for your child!

School Supplies

 I have some requests for school supplies. They are:

1 box of Ticonderoga pre-sharpened pencils 

Crayola markers

Crayola crayons

Crayola colored pencils

1 one inch, three-ringed binder - only 1” will fit in work boxes, please label with name

Clorox wipes

tissues

4-pack thin dry erase markers

1 box of plain, boring, brown band-aids

Water color paints (8 circle kind)

glue sticks

1 bottle of Elmer’s Glue

Thank you!!

2022 - 2023 VCS Open House

Hi! Our Open House and First Day are rapidly approaching! Here is the schedule for the Spaghetti Dinner and Open House. It will be Tuesday, August 30th from 5:00 - 6:30. PreK - Grade 1 families are scheduled to eat from 5:00 - 5:30. You can visit rooms from 5:30 - 6:30. Please feel free to bring any school supplies you have picked up this night. It'll save your child from carrying it all on our first day, Wednesday, Aug.31st. I can't wait to see you all! :)

STEP UP LETTER 2022

 FIRST GRADE NEWS

STEP UP DAY

Dear Families,

Hi! We are very excited to be your child’s first grade teachers! We’re going to have lots of fun. We have many great themes in grade one. Some of them include:  friends, sound/light, traditions, space, rainforest/environmental issues, rivers and oceans. We also read many different types of genre and do author studies. A few of the authors we focus on are:  Kevin Henkes, Robert Munsch, Tracy West, E.B. White and Iza Trapani.

First graders are asked to purchase items to add to our communal supplies. These items can usually be found on sale extremely cheap towards the end of summer. The items we would like each child to bring to open house are:  Clorox wipes, glue sticks, Crayola markers, Crayola crayons, one bottle of Elmer's glue, one box of Ticonderoga pencils (pre-sharpened), one box of plain brown bandaids, one watercolor paint set (the eight circle kind), a highlighter, tissues and a one inch three ringed binder (labeled with your child’s name). We greatly appreciate your help with these things that we will put to good use throughout the entire school year.

Students should also have a backpack each day for school. We will provide a plastic VCS folder. We will use the folders to send homework and notes home. We check the folders each morning so it’s a great way to send notes to school. It would also be helpful to keep a plastic reusable bag in the front pocket of your child’s backpack. This helps when there are projects to bring home.

Parents always ask what they can do at home to get their child ready for the next year. First and foremost, have fun! Make memories! Take advantage of your child’s sweet, young age and go exploring. Time moves too quickly. If you still want to do things, we’ve attached the sight word list we use, the Intro the Everyday Math letter, math activities, and literacy activities. 

We are willing to be penpals with your child. Ms. Kimball’s addresses are: lkimball@veaziecs.org and 28 Edgewood Drive Brewer, ME 04412. Mrs. Allen’s addresses are: aallen@veaziecs.org and 891 Mann Hill Road Holden ME 04429. This is a great time to talk about there being two first grade rooms next year. You will find out which room your child will be in sometime in August. We need to wait and see if we have any move ins/outs. Please know that we plan on doing lots of things together so your children will get the same experience in a smaller setting. 

We will both have a first grade blog that everything is posted on: vcslk1@blogspot.com & https://firstgradefunwithmrsallen.blogspot.com/ .It also has lots of pictures and curriculum information on it. Feel free to check it out! Also, we use a website called portaportal, www.portaportal.com. It houses all of the websites we use in grade one. The password is vcs2. Feel free to check that out as well.

Have a great summer! We look forward to working with you and your child this upcoming school year!

Sincerely,

Laurie Kimball

Ashley Allen