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Page history last edited by Jennifer McIntosh 5 years, 7 months ago

Mrs. Elsaesser's First Grade Website

Lyman Elementary School

email: jennelsaesser@rsu57.org

1. I married my wonderful husband on Christmas weekend in 2013. So...Christmas is my favorite holiday!

2. I have three fantastic step children.

3. My BFF's (best furry friend's) name is Lexi. She is a Bernese Mountain Dog who loves to run and play in the woods and mountains of Maine.

4. I have one sister who lives in Colorado. I miss her a lot, but she is only a phone call away.

I enjoy spending time with my nieces Liberty, Sophia, and Katherine.

5. My two favorite hobbies are gardening and sewing.

6. We have 13 adorable chickens and 1 friendly rooster. Our family loves spending time with the chickens and getting fresh eggs everyday.

7. Our family loves to be self sufficient and recycle. We do our own logging and recycle paper by making paper bricks.

8. We frequently take our small sailboat for adventures on the lakes of Maine in the summer.

9. My favorite summer pastime is relaxing on a beach or by the pool.

10. The ipad apps that knock my socks off are: Newsomatic, EPIC!, RAZ KIDS, Splash Math, and IXL.

And...I LOVE spending time on K-2 blogs, Teachers Pay Teachers, and Etsy.

Welcome to our first grade classroom website! I hope this website will provide you with some useful information about our classroom, as well as some great links. I have been teaching since 2000. I have taught Preschool, a K-2 Multiage classroom, 1st Grade, Half-Day Kindergarten, and Full-Day Kindergarten. First Grade is where I have found my home at Lyman Elementary School. I am so amazed at the academic and social growth of first grade students from late August to June. It is what makes my job so rewarding! I love helping students develop and grow in determination, empathy, confidence and citizenship. Technology is integrated daily into our classroom routine. 1:1 ipads in our classroom allow for a higher level of individual classroom choice while learning. The sky is the limit when it comes to reading choices in our class. Our ipad apps such as Epic! and News-O-Matic, allow students to pick a fiction or non-fiction subject of their choice to read about it. Students on these learning apps are able to and read books, read news articles, and watch educational videos specific to their topic of choice. We also use several math learning apps such as Splash Math and IXL, which allow students to practice and master their individualized math learning targets. Enjoy your visit and thank you for helping your child grow into the wonderful child that they are, and thank you for being your child's first teacher.

technology + kids = FUN and ENGAGING LEARNING!

***Your child's First Grade Personal Digital Portfolio

and our Lyman Class Daily Newsfeed can now be found

on Class Dojo. Only the families and friends of our classroom

will have access to Class Dojo.***

Updates:

Specials Rotation

This year at Lyman Elementary School, your child will have a Special each day. This Special will be on a rotating schedule, to help provide Specialist Teachers with their students every week, even if there is a holiday or a snow day. We will not be doing our specials on a specific day each week. The Specials will be on a 4 day rotation. The first day of school will begin Day 1 of the Specialist cycle rotation. The second day of school will be Day 2 of the rotation. The third day of school will be Day 3 of the rotation, and the forth will be Day 4. Then, after Day 4, the rotation begins again at Day 1 of the Specialist four day cycle. I will provide schedules to help communicate the order of Specials for the beginning of school. Please let me know if you have any questions. The Specials rotation day will also be posted on our school website.

Rotation Schedule for Mrs. Elsaesser’s Class:

Day 1- Art

Day 2- P.E.

Day 3- Music

Day 4- Library, then after Day 4, we return to Day 1 of the rotation schedule.

Specials

Day 1- Art Day 2- P.E. Day 3- Music Day 4- Library

Please click below to visit our district website and view the

detailed calendar with Days 1-4 listed for each day of the month.

Please click on Lyman Elementary to view the calendar.

http://www.rsu57.org

YOUTUBE Channels:

One of the blogs I follow is called Kids Activity Blog. Below is a direct link from the blogs website which is kidsactivitiesblog.com. The link below highlights 10 educational YOUTUBE channels for children. You can also make a YOUTUBE channel specifically for your kinder cutie. One of our technology goals this year is to

set up aYOUTUBE Channel specifically for our classroom needs.

Please click on the link below to visit some other K-3 wikis:

Please click on the links below to visit some of Mrs. Elsaesser's FAVORITE blogs and websites:

First Grade Math:

First Grade Literacy:

First Grade Big Themes:

Here are some of my favorite primary websites and links:

Videos:

Throughout the year, we have "Author's Spotlight" where students learn about various authors. Each month, I read four books(or more) by a specific author. I talk to the students about the author's literary and personal background. When I introduce a new book, I ask the students to predict what they think the book might be about based on the cover or what they already know about the author. Then we skim through the pages and look at all the illustrations. After the book has been read, I ask students a few comprehension questions. I ask them the following four questions, which I also have on a beach ball:

1. What was the title of the book?

2. Who were the characters in the story?

3. What was the setting of the story?

4. What happened in the beginning?middle?end?

The students look forward to reading stories by different authors. I often find some students in the class taking out library books that coincide with our special author of the month. Author Spotlight is a fabulous way to increase students retelling skills. Try asking these questions after you read a story to your child. Here are some of our featured authors. Click on their picture of the books below to visit our Author Spotlight page.

Author Spotlight

Everything You Wanted To Know About First Grade

But Haven't Had Time To Ask!

*Most of this information can also be found in our Parent Handbook.

Session Time: 8:30am-3:00pm

Pick-Ups: Please write me a quick note in the morning if you plan to pick up your child for an appointment or at the end of the day. With first grade being so fun and such a busy place...I usually do not check my email until the end of the day, so a stapled note to your child's backpack handle seems to work best. Thank you!

Snack: Please make sure your child has a healthy snack packed everyday. You may purchase a snack, and milk or juice from school. You may pay daily, weekly, or monthly. I will provide hot lunch envelopes for you in August during our Open House.

Lunch: You may pack a lunch for your child, or have your child eat hot lunch at school. Your child will receive a pin number to use when they eat hot lunch or get a snack at school. We will practice entering our pin number at school on calculators. Please practice this pin number at home with your child when you receive it. Thanks!

Birthdays: We love to celebrate birthdays in first grade! I regret to say that we are not allowed to celebrate with food treats, but alternative ideas include: donating a book to the classroom, or bringing in a special pencil for your child's classmates.

Volunteers: We love having extra hands in first grade! We will start having volunteers in the classroom during the first week in October. This allows us to settle into our new routines and get to know each other. Volunteers help with special projects, math and literacy activities, and photocopy. I will give you a form at Open House so you can tell me when you are available. You will need to fill out a background check before you volunteer in the classroom. If you are not available on a once a month basis, let me know how you would like to be involved- a guest reader, share a talent, speak about your occupation, special projects at home, etc... The possibilities are endless!!! I would love to have a Room Parent this year. This person can help coordinate special events/celebrations by making phone calls or sending emails to other parents in the class. I would provide lists of items needed for the event(mostly food for celebrations such as Fall Harvest, 100th Day of School, etc...) Please notify me if you would like to be our Kindergarten Room Parent.

Extra Clothes: Please send your child to school everyday with an extra set of seasonal appropriate clothing that fits and that is labeled. Please place the clothes in a labeled large ziplock bag. The bag should include: a shirt, pants, socks, and 2 pairs of underwear. If your child is prone to accidents, please send two outfits to school.

Backpack: Please send your child with a large(not small) backpack to school. The large backpack is for large library books and Friday News. Small and medium sized backpacks often do not hold the large library books that first graders love to sign out.

LABEL EVERYTHING: Please label everything in first grade, as items often are misplaced. This includes extra clothes, mittens, hats, jackets, snow pants, sweatshirts, etc...

Health Concerns:

If you have any questions and/or concerns related to the health of your child while your child is at school please do not hesitate to contact our school nurse. Keep her updated as soon as possible of any changes in your child's health status, especially a new diagnosis, medication at home, muscular, skeletal or head injuries. Any of these may need accommodations in school to keep your child healthy and safe while at school.

What happens if your child becomes sick at school?

Your child will be seen by our school nurse or other authorized school staff. If it is determined that your child needs to be taken home, we will make every attempt to contact you. If we can't reach you, we will call the person(s) authorized on your child's emergency card. MSAD #57 policy prohibits the dispensing of any pain medication to students. If your child has a questionable rash and/or fever of 100 or higher he/she will be sent home.

What if your child has a communicable disease?

If your child exhibits any symptoms of the following, you will be notified and your child will be sent home immediately. This is for the protection of your child as well as the other children.

CHICKEN POX- Your child may return after the last pox has crusted.

CONJUNCTIVITIS(Pink Eye)- Providing your child is symptom free, he/she may return to school after taking antibiotic medication for at least 24 hours.

IMPETIGO- Your child may remain in school if there are only a few lesions which are covered with neosporin and a band aid. Otherwise he/she may return when the lesions have healed.

In the event of more serious, less common diseases such as diphtheria or meningitis, your child must have a phsician's note to return to school.

What happens if your child has an accident at school?

Our nurse will conduct an assessment of the injuries. If it is determined that your child should be seen by a doctor, we will make every attempt to contact you first. If time permits, we will call the person(s) authorized on your child's emergency card. In the event that no one can be reached, we will transport by ambulance.

How Can I Help My Child At Home?

***My challenge to you is to attempt one item from this list a week. :)

*Adapted from the work of Rebecca Sitton

1. Use yarn or string to from letters, words, numbers, or your first and last name.

2. Read a story to your child. Can they remember important characters or what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story?

3. Read just for fun!

4. Print sentences/sight words five or more times in flour, salt or sugar.

5. See how many words your child can write in two minutes.

6. Make a "store" at your house and have your child buy items with real money.

7. Use your favorite snack to shape sight words.

8. Tape/video record your child reading a book and then reread it together. Have relatives send recordings of your child's favorite book. Then have your child retell the important details of the story.

9. Print sight words on someone's back using your fingers. Have the person guess what you are writing.

10. Form words/sentences or numbers out of small objects such as buttons.

11. Use colored chalk to write sentences or number equations.

12. Spread peanut butter on two pieces of bread. Add raisins. See which piece of bread has a greater amount of raisins and then write the number sentence including the correct <, >, or = sign. Example: 13 > 9

13. Used cooked spaghetti to form letters, words, or numbers.

14. Use stamps to make sentences or addition/subtraction sentences.

15. Rainbow Writing- Practice writing sight words with many different colors.

16. Paint a picture and then write a story about it.

17. Think of a specific opinion you have(favorite food, uniforms in school, best vacation spot) and paint a picture. Then add five pieces of evidence to support your opinion.

18. Pick a pen pal and write letters back and forth.

19. Make a Family Cook Book. Interview your family members and write the directions to make each meal.

20. Write an email/text to a friend or family member.

21. Visit links on this website.

22. Make up your own idea!

First Grade Rocks!

Kelso's Choices

Kelso, the friendly frog, helps us solve small problems in our first grade classroom. Whenever we have a small problem, we try to find one of Kelso's choices to help us work through our problem. Whenever we have a big problem, we tell our teacher and an adult at home. Our classroom also has a Guidance and a PEACE program, which promotes peaceful interactions at school. During the first trimester of first grade, we have a daily Friendship Group. This is a great way to learn new classroom routines and character education lessons. Please inform your child's teacher of any problems that might occur on the bus or playground. Sometimes first grade students feel more comfortable speaking to their parents about these issues. I want to make sure your child enjoys coming to school everyday and has lots of friends here at Lyman Elementary School. Providing monthly play dates is another great way to practice sharing, fair play, kind interactions, appropriate voice level, and problem solving small problems.