We had a fun and busy week, saying “Good bye” and a huge “Thank you!” in song to “Miss Jan” Stoecker as she heads to Israel and ends her guest teacher time in our classroom.  Thank you, Jan, for filling in so capably!  We also began learning how to tell time on the hour and on the half-hour with analog clocks, finding many different ways to add two numbers together to make a sum of 9, completing our study of butterflies, continuing to learn Spanish, learning phonics and increasing our reading skills. And, we had a fun Halloween Parade on Wednesday, winding our way through the halls of the school, enjoying looking at Edison students’ costumes, and ending up in the gym for a dance to the song, “The Monster Mash,” led by Frank James, our beloved retired P.E. teacher. Polly Moak enjoyed coming back to the classroom after a medical leave and looks forward to teaching science and math in the afternoons. Our next science topic is Bats! Polly Moak’s hours will be 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We also had a wonderful Halloween Party, sponsored by some wonderful classroom parent volunteers! Thank you to all who helped prepare, lead, and clean up after the party! The students really enjoyed this Halloween fun with cookie decorating, Pin the Nose on the Jack-o-Lantern, and making a miniature Jack-o-Lantern by drawing a face on a small, white pumpkin!

Heather Wilson, our fantastic Educational Assistant, met alongside Polly Moak to hold Parent-Teacher Conferences Wednesday evening, Thursday, and Friday.  Thank you to all who came to meet with us. We learned a lot from you, enjoyed sharing your student’s work with you, and appreciate so much the opportunity to team with you to help your child have a wonderful First Grade Year.  If you missed your conference, please email Polly Moak to set up a new conference time some day after school. My email address is moak@4j.lane.edu Best wishes for November!