Wonderful Week!

We have had a wonderful week, and I have enjoyed hearing more reflections and reactions to our big Skype event we had last week. It has been a joy spending time with your children, as these firsties are getting smarter and smarter everyday. Please go over the vocabulary words, and their new spelling words, as they are very challenging! Don't forget, this THURSDAY @ 2:00-3:15 2/28, we will be having a little celebration of the good stuff going on in our room..ranging from Black History research, to some published papers and possibly even country research.

I hope you know your child is LOVED!

 

 

Mastery Club

Some students were saying that they had lost their MASTERY CLUB packet so I have made it avaliable online.

Click this to see the Mastery Club

We Were in the Newspaper!

http://www.chronicleonline.com/content/global-learning

ANNUAL SKYPE IN!

Dear Families,

What an awesome experience this SKYPE around the world has been! I have loved every minute of watching your child’s faces light up when they hear about things they think are unimaginable! We have learned about brown bears in Alaska and crazy time differences in Australia. We saw a cultural dance from students in Sri Lanka, and heard a beautiful song by a student in Sri Lanka. We did brain teasers with a teacher in Cape Town, South Africa and we learned how to make a snowman in Vermont. We heard the Canadian National Anthem, and “rode a train” with a basketball player from the Netherlands. We heard a poem in Portuguese from a man in Brazil, and heard all about the Lochness monster in Edinburgh. We heard about Ipads at Citrus Springs Middle, and learned about the FCAT test at Citrus Springs Elementary. We learned how to make tamales in Mexico, and practiced our Spanish with California. We heard about snow days in New Hampshire, and Skyped an active soldier in Afghanistan, and although the connection wasn’t too wonderful, he wrote us a letter, and we will be setting up a Skype with him soon! We taught Kindergarten students in New York what it’s like to be in 1^st grade, and we learned about finances from the University of Tennessee. We also spoke with students in Costa Rica, and heard all about what it’s like at Citrus High School from students. There were even more experiences, and I am sure your child has even more endearing stories to share with you. I have to tell you this has been a heartwarming, unforgettable experience.  Thank you for bringing your child in early, and thank you for all of your support this year.

PS- Check the district Facebook, and website for more pictures. And also, check the newspaper soon, I think they might be doing some sort of article on one of our sessions!

To save pictures from the album, and to watch the videos check out the HUGE album I have on Picasa Web Albums, by clicking the box below.

February 15, 2013

This is the link to the district facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citrus-County-School-District-Educational-Technology/604601216232394

PS- REMEMBER THERE IS NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, and the specials for next week when the students return on Tuesday is ART. J

Love,

Mrs. Ramirez & Ms. Bladon

Technology!

If the Math concept this week is giving your firstie trouble, watch this screen chomp and they can review. Again, let it load for a minute, I assure you it will load.Screen Chomp Tens & Ones


The firsties have been learning the morning poem in Spanish, line by line. These are the first two lines, by 4 brave volunteers. Amazing!

Also, a fun slide on our  morning powerpoint presentation of examples of technology. I explained that I used technology to spy on my dog Bandit, by skyping him and watching him first hand try and escape the gate we set up for him! Also, I explained that while technology is wonderful, it is important to not become too dependent on technology, as it can take away from "life."

Oh, My, ZEBU!

I have loved this week, as the firsties are really beginning to come out of their shells. We are becoming more and more "tech-savvy" as the days go on, and you will notice with our new vocabulary words, also. We had a first grader who was helping her older sister show animals in the state fair, and she skyped us from there! We were able to talk to people at the Fair, and they told us different facts about their responsibilities and about the animals. (I also learned what a Zebu was!) It was amazing. For our mystery reader, we skyped a very respectable lady named Pamela Autry, and she talked about Martin Luther King, her accomplishments in the Coast Guard, and other things. She made our kids smile, from ear to ear. See the photos below! Please remember that next week will be a different week, as we have the Skype events on Thursday & Friday. Have an amazing weekend! 

Love,
Mrs. Ramirez

Go Nicolas!

I went to one of my firsties soccer games today! He played his heart out, and hustled. I was very proud of him. Go Nicolas!

Week Reflection

We are past the half-way mark and seem to be getting so close to the end of 1st grade...it's crazy. I have seen so much progress this year; it literally makes my heart smile! Thank you for your commitment to your child's education and for your support this year. It means the world to me.

Enjoy some of the "fun" of our week. We had a mystery reader, to go along with the theme of "athletes" this week, who is an outstanding example of a "disciplined, determined, competitive" man! We also learned background information about the two competing teams that will be playing in the Super Bowl, and it was a lot of fun adding our own personal connections to the team. I had a lot of girls like San Francisco merely because they like California. One little one loved the 49ers because they had a guy named Colin on their team, which is her brother’s name. The activity was darling, and educational at the same time. Also I had a few firsties make some creative videos, and some were practicing explaining their work through Screen Chomp videos. Enjoy, and have such an amazing weekend!

Also, if your firstie is asking...there WILL be a CHS Boys Soccer Game Saturday 2/2 @ 6:00 PM where Mr. Noah will be playing. It does cost $7-8 to get in, but it should be a great game, and definitely good entertainment.

Screen Chomps:

(It takes a minute to load, so give it a second before exiting out)
http://www.screenchomp.com/t/aGDGEg8Eydt


http://www.screenchomp.com/t/j5IAqLfv5