Dear Parents,
It is my pleasure to welcome you and your child to First Grade at St. Joseph School! 
This will be my sixth full time year at St. Joseph’s Catholic School and I could not be more excited to teach this wonderful upcoming first grade class! I also look forward to meeting all of you at our Grade Level Meeting on Wednesday, August 16, 2016 at 5:30 PM in the first grade classroom.
As you prepare your child for First Grade, please refer to our classroom’s supply list below. I have also included a list of supplies for art class that your child will need in addition to the supplies needed in the classroom. Please label your child’s supplies with a Sharpie marker or name labels.  It is very helpful to have every marker, crayon, glue stick, etc. labeled with your child’s name as students will manage their own supplies. The art supplies should come in the tote bag so the students do not get the art supplies mixed with their classroom supplies.
 
School Supply List
1 box (no higher than 24 count) of crayons
5 sharpened pencils
1 large eraser
2 glue sticks
2 2-pocket folders
1 backpack
1 pencil case or box 
1 dry erase marker
1 coloring book  
1 package of disinfectant wipes
1 box of tissues

Mrs. Fagnani’s Art Supply List
1 tote bag (approximately 12 x 16)
1 box (24 count) of crayons
1 art shirt (pull-over)
1 box of colored pencils
1 box of fat classic colored markers
4 glue sticks
4 pencils
1 eraser
1 box of tissues
1 package of baby wipes
 
Each student will receive a lined copy book, a homework journal, and a writing journal at school.  Should you have any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, please feel free to contact me at any time! You can reach me by calling the office at 717-632-0118 or emailing me at sbiggins@sjshanover.org. Enjoy the rest of the summer! 
 
With anticipation for a very blessed school year,
Stacey Biggins
​

Our field trip was so much fun! We had a very adventurous day! First we had a fascinating assembly with real dinosaur fossils. Mr. and Mrs. Straka are paleontologists that have found some amazing fossils, some of which are displayed in the Smithsonian. I even got to hold dinosaur poop, while the students guessed what it was from a series of clues! Then we dug for many, many different types of minerals and fossils, which we used to build stegosauruses, just like real paleontologists do. We had a pizza party and popsicles, we played dodge ball, made fossils out of play-doh, and made dinosaur art. It was a great day! 

The first grade used their attribute blocks to make lots of fun pictures. Manipulating and combining the shapes to make pictures helps the students recognize how shapes are related. Having the shapes physically in their hands and tracing the shapes onto paper helps them gain concrete skills in geometry. And let's not forget just how much fun it is to "play" with blocks! The students were super creative! They made trees, seashells, and ice cream cones with help of outlines. They made flowers, soccer balls, rocket ships, birds, peacocks, houses, potatoes, and many cool designs without outlines.

Our most recent mystery reader read the Bubble Factory by Tomie dePaola. It is a great book about a set of twins that visit the bubble factory with their grandpa. Their grandpa has to get the twins out of trouble a lot, and their adventure is no different at the bubble factory. There are lots of great places for the twins to get into trouble in the bubble factory, such as the Bubble Boutique, Bubble Bathery, and the Bubble Gummery. Our mystery reader brought bubbles for everyone to get into their own bubble trouble! 

Friday, April 7th, the first grade will be hosting the elementary school Mass in the gym at 10:30. All are welcome to join us. The first grade students will be reading, leading the congregation in song, greeting, and presenting the gifts.

Some other important dates in April include:

Apr. 2-3: Texas Roadhouse Fundraiser
Apr. 7:  Mass 10:30
Apr. 9: Time Capsule 6:30 p.m. at St. Joseph Parish
Apr. 12:  Early Dismissal 11:30 a.m.; First grade Easter party
Apr. 13-14:  NO SCHOOL
Apr. 17:  Snow make-up day; we do have a full day of school
Apr. 21: Race for Education
Apr. 25: Indoor Field Trip for kindergarten, first, and second grades
Apr. 28: Golf Tournament 

If you have not handed in an address for Flat Stanley, please get it to me as soon as possible. If you do not have anyone you can send it to, please let me know. I can help. 

If you want to be a mystery reader, even if someone else in your family has already done it, let me know what dates you are available. 

I want to say thank you again for the beautiful flowers! I think the kids must have shared with you my two favorite colors - pink and yellow! I have told the kids pink is my favorite because it's pretty and yellow is my favorite because it just seems like the happiest color! And what a beautiful surprise for my treatment to get pink and yellow flowers! I also want to thank you all for the two large bags of goodies last treatment! I was so overwhelmed by all of it! I just can't find a good enough way to say to thank you! Words do not seem like enough! The joy your children give me daily is gift enough, but the support you have shown me has been so overwhelming and so appreciated! It has made me feel very special and truly blessed! You have helped to turn this difficult challenge into something beautiful by lifting me up! Thank you all very much! 

First grade is out of tissues:( If anyone would like to donate some boxes of tissues, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!