tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter/39 2010-03-09T00:49:17Z Movable Type 3.33 tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.710 2010-03-09T00:38:22Z 2010-03-09T00:49:17Z

The weather seems to be warming up finally, hooray! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and especially the nice, sunny weather we had on Saturday. Congratulations Tommy, he's our Star of the Week!! Thank you to everyone who have brought...

Ms. Cotter Monday Take home books were sent home. Remember if your child received one, please have them read it during the week, and bring it back on Friday. The readers last Friday did a great job reading their books. We have started letter Nn today. It was very exciting for three of the students, Nicole, Nicky, and Natalie :) We have also started discussing money. We will learn about the penny, nickel, and dime this week and next. It is a fun unit, and I encourage you to ask your child to count out change for you, them seem to enjoy it. Homework: Letter Nn picture page. Tuesday Homework: Letter Nn printing page. Wednesday We will be reading our story today. Remember to preview it with your child. Overall I am very happy with our reading during the stories. Last week they all did wonderful with "Ed's Paint" and it was a long story, 3 pages! Thursday Computers & Art I hope you are enjoying the word list your child types during computers, they are becoming excellent little typist! Friday Library and Take home books are due back. The students did not check out books last week, so only overdue library books are due back. Homework: Riddle of the Week. Remember no school on Monday! Have a great week! Mrs. Dougherty ]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.697 2010-03-05T12:35:30Z 2010-03-05T12:38:07Z

Who knew that our picture for March there would still be snow on the ground! Out of our 7 pictures...5 pictures have no leaves, 3 pictures have snow on the ground, and only 2 have a nice full green tree....

Ms. Cotter ]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.676 2010-03-01T15:45:42Z 2010-03-01T15:58:02Z

With March here let's hope for some Spring weather on it's way! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Here is a look at our week... Monday Congratulations Sebastian ~ he is our star of the week! We started letter...

Ms. Cotter Monday Congratulations Sebastian ~ he is our star of the week! We started letter Rr today. We are also beginning to discuss rhyming words. Please go over the word list that was sent home today and have your child try to pick out the rhyming words. Scholastic Book orders for March were sent home. If you order your books online I posted two additional Spring catalogs for you to look at. A letter regarding my take home reading program was sent home. Books will start coming home tomorrow. Remember it is o.k. if your child does not receive a book at first. Throughout the remainder of the year, all children who are ready will receive one. Remember these books are due back on Friday. Tuesday Letter Rr picture page for homework. *Today we will be taking our class tree picture. Please send your child to school with their winter boots today. Who knew the courtyard would have the most snow for our March picture!! Thank you, and check back this week for the picture! Wednesday We will be reading our story "Ed's Paint" today. The story is about the mixing of primary colors. So we will be doing our own paint experiment in class, ask your child about which colors you can mix to make new ones! Letter Rr printing page for homework. Thursday As I had mentioned in the newsletter we are in need of glue sticks and baby wipes. Thank you in advance :) Friday Happy Birthday Mary!! Scholastic Book Orders Due Back. Classroom take home books & Library books due back. Rest Towels coming home. Homework: Riddle of the week. Last week I put on the blog that we had a riddle last Friday, but we did not. I must have been in the habit of writing it on Friday :) But look for it this Friday, a new one will be coming home for homework. Remember to have your child draw a picture and color it in the middle of the page. At the end of the year when these are all put together in a book they look so nice when they are colorful. Have a great week! Mrs. Dougherty]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.654 2010-02-24T00:19:41Z 2010-02-27T17:11:57Z

I just realized this never posted last week! Even though it is a little late, here it is... Congratulations to Nicole, she is our Star of the Week!! I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend. Here is a look at...

Ms. Cotter I just realized this never posted last week! Even though it is a little late, here it is... Congratulations to Nicole, she is our Star of the Week!! I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend. Here is a look at our week... Tuesday We started letter Bb today. Homework: letter Bb picture page. Wednesday Ice Cream $1.00 Homework: Letter Bb printing page. Please check your child's homework to make sure they have printed "b" and not "d." This can be an easy mix for them. Thursday We are discussing our teeth today ~ how to keep them healthy and the different parts of a tooth. February is National Dental Month. Friday Happy Birthday Isabella!! Homework: Riddle of the Week Progress Reports are being sent home. Your child was tested on a list of words that we have learned in class. Overall I am VERY happy with how well the students are reading, I think they are pretty proud too. Along with the progress report a list of our "memory words" will be sent home and each word your child can read will be circled. Your child is not expected to read all of the words. We have only covered about half of these words. By the end of the year your child should be able to recognize all of them, this is just to show you where he/she is so far. Have a great week! Mrs. Dougherty]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.644 2010-02-19T17:26:01Z 2010-02-19T17:26:36Z

Ms. Cotter ]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.634 2010-02-18T00:56:38Z 2010-02-18T01:07:58Z

I apologize for the late posting this week, it's been a busy one so far :) I hope everyone enjoyed the three day weekend and there is another one for the students coming up. Monday there will be no school,...

Ms. Cotter I apologize for the late posting this week, it's been a busy one so far :) I hope everyone enjoyed the three day weekend and there is another one for the students coming up. Monday there will be no school, the teachers are attending a conference for the Archdiocese. Thank you to Mrs. McNamara and all the other parents who helped the class celebrate during the Valentine's Day Party! It was a lot of fun! Here is a look at the remainder of the week... On Friday we received our very first letter mailed back and yesterday we received two more! Thank you for taking the time to mail us our letters we really enjoy reading them. We started letter Uu yesterday and we read our story "Tug" this week. I am very impressed with the progress in reading this year. Please continue to work with your child on the word lists sent home. I will be starting a take home reading program in the next two weeks. A letter will be sent home to explain. Today was Ash Wednesday and the Preschool and Kindergartners were in charge. They did a wonderful job! In your child's folder a "Lenten Promises" calendar was sent home. Please hang this calendar in a spot where your child can view it everyday and mark off when the promise is complete. We will be looking at each promise during circle time and discussing it. In Math we are discussing four different geometric figures ~ the cone, cube, sphere, and cylinder. I told the students if they find something at home that is the same shape they are more than welcome to bring it in and share it with the class. Friday ~ Great America Reading forms are due back. The ticket for Great America will be given out in May. Have a great week! Mrs. Dougherty tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.596 2010-02-08T23:28:04Z 2010-02-08T23:51:01Z

First I would like to thank everyone for the thoughtful cards and gifts I received on Friday. A big thank you to Mrs. Ogean who was the lunch mom for the class while I enjoyed my hour luncheon! She was...

Ms. Cotter Rocking Chair Reading! I would like to invite some special guests to our classroom for some Rocking Chair Reading! If your child's Grandma or Grandpa would like to come and read to the classroom, we would love to have you! If a Grandparent is not available Aunts and Uncles are great too and are more than welcome! If you are interested please let me know, we are free mostly any afternoon from 1:00 to 2:00pm. Please email me and let me know :) Last year I had many special guests come and read to the class, and the kids loved it! Here is a look at this week... Monday Congratulations Victoria...our STAR of the Week!! We are starting letter Hh. As I had mentioned in my newsletter we are now working on one letter per week. I am confident that the class is ready, they are doing very well in Reading and I am very happy with the progress we have made so far! Thanks for helping out at home too!! Homework: Letter Hh picture page Tuesday The Preschool and Kindergarten are in charge of the Ash Wednesday Mass coming up. If your child has a speaking part a note along with their part will be coming home on Wednesday. Please help your child memorize their part. Not all children will receive a part, only a few this time, but don't worry...there will be lots of parts saved for graduation :) Wednesday We will be reading our story today in groups ~ "Ted's Hat." Thursday With all the Valentine's we will be delivering soon, I am teaching a unit on the postal system. On Monday we wrote a letter as a class that I typed up. We discussed the different parts of the letter and what we need to put on the envelope: the address, stamp, and return address. Everyone should be receiving a special delivery in their mailbox soon!! We are waiting to see how long it takes to get to your house. If you choose to write us back, please include in the letter the date you received the letter and the date you mail it out to help us better track our postal delivery times ;) I really appreciate it!! The children are VERY excited about receiving mail at school! Friday Ladies Guild Hot Lunch Library Books due back. SHOW n' TELL ~ please have your child bring in one item that either shows love or that they love. They each will get a turn to share it with the class and explain why it is sooo lovely! Valentine's Day Party!! Our party will be held from 10am to 11am. If you would like to come and help out, please contact Mrs. McNamara. We are busy decorating our boxes for all our Valentines. Please remember to NOT put names on the outside envelopes, only have your child sign their name, this makes passing them out much easier. We have 17 children in our class. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! Remember no school on Monday! Mrs. Dougherty]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.576 2010-02-02T22:46:10Z 2010-02-02T23:00:33Z

Here are some pictures from today and yesterday (our class tree picture). I hope you enjoy...we really enjoyed our day today :) This morning our class received a WONDERFUL gift from Nicky and his Dad ~ a dog house for...

Ms. Cotter After our great surprise we started celebrating our 100th day of school! We made special crowns for us to wear throughout the day. At circle time we counted out 100 gummy bears! Each day we hung a bear that corresponded with our number of days at school. Then we each had a turn to stand up and present our 100 days poster, and let me tell you everyone did a fantastic job! Our next adventure would be to pass our 100 heart shaped suckers! We visited a few classrooms and a few teachers and in no time they were gone! We did manage to save 17 for us :) When we got back to our classroom we had a special reading activity ~ reading 100 words. With their tables they took turn reading each word in our chart, then they took some time to color them! In Math we did a special "mystery" page. I told the students different numbers to color in order to see the mystery picture... Ask your child all about their day, I'm sure they will tell you all about it! We couldn't forget about Groundhog's Day, so this afternoon we predicted if we thought the groundhog would see his shadow. The majority of the class thought he would not see his shadow, but when we found out that he DID see his shadow we thought of ways to prepare for the next six weeks of winter :) Here is our class tree picture from yesterday... ]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.572 2010-02-02T00:03:02Z 2010-02-02T00:21:26Z

Happy Catholic Schools Week!! What an exciting time in our classroom, not only is it Catholic Schools Week, but it is also our 100th day of school tomorrow!! It was great seeing so many of you yesterday at the Open...

Ms. Cotter Monday Happy Parent Appreciation Day! Thank you, thank you for ALL that you do!! I know your children are very appreciative and so am I! I hope you enjoyed your coupon in your child's folder and remember there is no expiration date :) Thank you to those who have brought in their shoe boxes already for the Valentines! We will be decorating these on Friday, so please make sure to send it in by then. If you need more construction paper please let me know. We are continuing with letter Ee this week. Today a copy of our story "Ed's Sled" went home in your child's folder. Please review it with your child and have them point out certain words for you, this will help them read the story and not memorize it. We were all very excited to meet our new character Ed today, and when I asked which animal they thought he would be, one of the first guesses was "elephant!" Letter Ee printing paper for homework tonight. We took our picture in front of our tree today, and WOW there were a lot of buds on the branches, hopefully this is a sign that Spring is near. I will post the picture tomorrow. Tuesday Happy 100th Day of School!! Wow can you believe we have been in school this long already? This year is really going by fast and we are enjoying every day. I have a lot of fun activities planned for the day. Check out the blog to see pictures that will take you through our day. It is also Groundhog's day today. We will discuss this also and take a vote to see if we think the groundhog will see his shadow or not?? 100th Day Posters are due. Wednesday Student Appreciation Day!! Another day filled with exciting events ~ and remember your child can dress down today. Some activities that are planned for the day are... ~ FTC Assembly in the morning. ~ All School Bingo ~ Movie and popcorn in the afternoon ~ what a treat! Thursday Open House from 9am to 11am. As I had mentioned in my newsletter last week, my class is in Computers and Art from 9:30 until 11:00am. You are still more than welcome to come and visit during that time and see all they do in computers and art. NJHS Bake Sale! All items are 50 cents and we will be going to it right before lunch. If you would like your child to purchase an item or two please send the money in an envelope in your child's folder. All the money collected will be sent to help the people of Haiti. Friday Teacher Appreciation Day Library books are due back. Riddle of the Week for homework. Have a great week! ~Mrs. Dougherty ]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.552 2010-01-25T23:06:43Z 2010-01-25T23:16:47Z

I hope everyone had a great weekend! If you have not already done so, please return the report card envelope in your child's folder. You may keep their report card. Here is a look at this week... Monday Congratulations to...

Ms. Cotter Monday Congratulations to our Star of the Week...Rory!! Started with the letter Ee this week, how Excellent! Letter Ee can be a tricky one for the students so please take some extra time at home to go over the word list. We will be reading a story in our letter Ee book next week, a copy of the story will go home next Monday. Letter Ee picture page ~ **only short e sounds, ex: egg, elephant** Tuesday We are busy preparing a special project for the Open House on Sunday!! Also, please send in your kindness hearts whenever they are complete, I have already received some and wow...we have a KIND class!! Wednesday Let me know if you have any questions regarding the 100 days of school project. The letter went home Monday, and feel free to use your own posterboard or paper. If you finish the project early you may bring it in :) Thursday Scholastic Book Orders for February sent home today. Remember you can order online too! Friday Kindness hearts are due back. Library books due back. Rest towels coming home. Next week is Catholic Schools Week. A letter is going home this week explaining the events that will be going on. I hope to see everyone at the Open House this Sunday, Jan. 31st after 10:30am Mass. It will give you a chance to look around your child's room and receive a special project your child has been working on. If you have any questions, just let me know! Mrs. Dougherty]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.530 2010-01-20T02:43:24Z 2010-01-20T02:54:36Z

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! Anthony had Lucky over the weekend and the pictures and story was great, it looks like you both had a great time. Currently each child has had one weekend with Lucky. Today I...

Ms. Cotter I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! Anthony had Lucky over the weekend and the pictures and story was great, it looks like you both had a great time. Currently each child has had one weekend with Lucky. Today I sent home the schedule for the rest of the school year. Please let me know if the weekend I picked for you does not work and I can reschedule your visit :) Once again thank you for taking the time to create Lucky's "journal." I will still be sending home Lucky's journal for you to look through, but do not feel obligated to write in it. Here is a look at this week... Tuesday Letter Ff printing homework, due tomorrow. We are finishing up letter Ff this week. A note went home regarding Baptism photos, please send in a photo of your child at their baptism by Friday. We will be discussing these in class and they will be hanging in the hallway too. A sheet also went home for you to fill out about your child when he/she was a baby. You can have your child color the little feet around the border, but remember to have them color neatly as these will be going in the hallway. Wednesday Ice Cream Day $1.00 Thursday Computers & Art You will notice on Thursdays your child will be bringing home a typed paper they have done in computers. They are all very proud of their typing skills! Friday Library books are due back Report cards are coming home! PLEASE review your child's report card with him/her. It really makes a connection with them when they see their actual report card and it is explained to them. I am telling the students they should want to see "M"s for meets objective. It is rare that "E"s will be given out the 2nd quarter and that they should be very happy with "M"s!! If your child does receive a "N" for needs improvement, this is just an area where they need to work a little bit harder on and I am sure by the 4th quarter all N's can become M's :) Riddle of the Week for homework. I am really enjoying reading your child's answer and seeing their pictures they have drawn and colored. Have a great week and please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions regarding your child's report card. Overall I am very happy with the progress the class has made so far, they are truly a very happy and bright class! ~ Mrs. Dougherty tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.509 2010-01-12T13:30:05Z 2010-01-12T13:45:49Z

I hope everyone is enjoying 2010 so far! Mrs. Janet Potrawski needs your HELP! She's looking for lunchroom volunteers to fill a shortage. If you are willing and able to help, you can accrue time served to use next year!...

Ms. Cotter Monday Sebastian and Lucky had a great weekend! We saw from the many pictures...the kids loved them! On Friday, Anthony will be taking Lucky home, I know they are both excited!! After this Friday all of the children have had a chance to take Lucky for the weekend. Starting the next weekend we will start the 2nd schedule and each child will have their 2nd turn with Lucky. I will be sending home his journal for you to look at, but you do not need to write again, unless you would like to. Thank you everyone for doing such a great job with his journal!! The kids love it...and so do I :) **Congratulations to Anthony...he is our Star of the Week!!** Letter Ff picture page for homework. Remember your child should be printing their first and last name on all papers now. Tuesday In Math we will be finishing up learning about numbers 11 through 20, you may want to quiz your child at home too! This week myself and Mrs. Gute are finishing testing the students for their report card, and I am very happy with the progress I have seen in many students! Hot Chocolate Party! We have once again filled our "compliment" marble jar!! So, today we will be enjoying some yummy hot chocolate, it's a great way to warm up too. Wednesday Math number practice page for homework. Please have your child try to do this independently and then go over their answers with them. Your child may color the caterpillars when they are done if they wish :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEJANDRO!! Thursday In Religion we will be finishing up discussing how Jesus lived in a family. We will discuss the similarities and differences we share with Jesus and his family. Friday End of the 2nd Quarter. Report cards will be coming home next Friday. On your child's report card they will receive either an "E" for exceeds expectations, "M" for meets expectations, or "N" for needs improvement. In order for a student to receive an "E" they really need to go above and beyond the expectations. I tell the students that if they receive all "M"s, then that is excellent and they should be very proud!! Library books are due back. Rest Towels are coming home to be washed. ]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.490 2010-01-07T01:02:52Z 2010-01-07T01:04:33Z

Here is our picture in front of our tree yesterday, January 5th. The biggest difference we saw was that there is now snow on the tree and the ground! We also noticed how cold it was out!! It took...

Ms. Cotter Here is our picture in front of our tree yesterday, January 5th. The biggest difference we saw was that there is now snow on the tree and the ground! We also noticed how cold it was out!! It took us longer to get bundled up then to take the picture :) ]]> tag:www.stlblog.org,2010:/ccotter//39.485 2010-01-05T13:31:34Z 2010-01-05T13:43:25Z

Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a relaxing break and wonderful holidays. The two weeks went by very fast, it seems like we just left on break, but we are all very happy to return :)...

Ms. Cotter Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a relaxing break and wonderful holidays. The two weeks went by very fast, it seems like we just left on break, but we are all very happy to return :) Yesterday all the children told me about their wonderful presents they received from Santa, sounds like everyone had a great Christmas!! A big thank you to Jack Mallon and his family for taking such good care of Lucky over Christmas break, Lucky looks like he had a great time!! He loves his New Year's hat too :) He can't wait to go home with Sebastian this Friday! Thank you to all the parents who have sent in extra supplies yesterday. The children really do love getting new crayons and I appreciate the baby wipes! We are still in need of baby wipes though, so any and all are appreciated!! Thank you!! Here is a look at this week... Monday Letter Tt picture page for homework. Due back on Tuesday. A copy of our story was sent home, "Tag." Please practice reading this story with your child. I do not want the children to memorize the story, but previewing it before we read it in class is always a big help. A good idea is to have your child pick out certain words from the story, (kinda like an I Spy for words, this way the kids get excited about finding and reading the words!) Tuesday In Math we are working on recognizing numbers 10 to 30. The 2nd quarter ends next Friday, and the children will be expected to count up to 50. We will be practicing this at circle time, but you can have your child count for you at home too, they are usually very eager to show off their counting skills!! Check out the blog tomorrow for our January tree picture! We are hoping to go out today and quickly take our picture. Wednesday I will read the story "Tag" with the children in small groups. While I am reading with the children, the other students will be copying a sentence from the story and illustrating it, these will come home with the rest of our Tt papers on Friday. Homework: Letter Tt printing, due back on Thursday. Starting this week the children are now to write both their first and last name on all papers. On the letter Tt printing paper, they will also practice this. Please let me know if you would like extra printing paper sent home. Thursday Tomorrow we will have our show n' tell! Each child may bring in ONE present they would like to share with the class. If the present does not fit in your child's bag please place it in a bag so I can hang it on their hook until it is time for show n' tell. Friday Library books are due back! Show n' Tell! Spelling test on letter Tt words. Have a great weekend! Happy New Year! ~Mrs. Dougherty tag:www.stlblog.org,2009:/ccotter//39.462 2009-12-15T23:35:54Z 2009-12-15T23:47:36Z

It was a lot of fun today searching for that gingerbread man! We finally found him in the extended day room with a great surprise. Here are some pictures to show our adventure :) Here is our first clue! We...

Ms. Cotter Here is our first clue! We found it in our classroom and it lead us to the office... Here we are at the office and Mrs. Delisi was kind enough to send us on our way with the second clue to 1st grade! Mrs. Lehnerer was kind enough to keep our 3rd clue safe, she found the gingerbread on her computer this morning!! Here she is leading us to the clue... After this clue we made our way to computers... Then we had to go all the way to Art and then our hardest clue was found! We had to go to middle school and search for a clue in Ms. Mossuto's room. Here we are searching... Our next stop was the preschool room, and finally this lead us to our last clue. We found this clue in the extended day room and we found our gingerbread man... He left us with lots of cookies to decorate... We were quite full, so we decided to join the gingerbread man on the counch and listen to some Christmas music and watch the fire! It was very cozy :) ]]>