Cottone's Dream Team

Hoppy Easter!

2008-03-24T09:02:00.003-04:00

Hoppy Easter Dream Team!!! I hope you had a super day spending time with your loved ones. I am in New York right now visiting my husband's family. There is just a little snow, but the temperature is right around 30 degrees. It is a HUGE difference from our North Carolina weather.

I also wanted to say Thank YOU for your help with our Egg-stravaganza! We had so many parents come to celebrate with us and help in SO many ways. On the way to New York my husband and I stopped by 5th Street Ministries in Statesville. We dropped off the amazing Easter baskets the Dream Team players made. They were extremely appreciative. Thank you parents for all of your incredible donations. We are so lucky to have such a WONDERFUL team. Thank you for all you DO! :0)

An Egg-Stravaganza

2008-03-19T17:57:00.003-04:00

Two holidays in one week! Oh my! This Friday, March 21st at 12:15 will be our Egg-stravaganza. Please remember to send in your items and Easter eggs asap. The team is super excited about making the Easter baskets for the needy children at 5th Street Ministries. We have already received so many wonderful donations. The baskets are going to be AMAZING. THANK YOU! Let me know if you have any questions about anything. The team has been doing a great job this week. I am so proud of their writing progress and their effort on the math time tests. WOW! :0)

2008-03-18T20:00:00.000-04:00

2008-03-18T19:56:00.000-04:00

2008-03-14T17:58:00.001-04:00

Oh, the wee ones are back again! Every year those pesky little Leprechauns visit Lakeshore and create mischief. Somehow they seem to make their way into the kinder rooms and create chaos. SO this year, in first grade, we have attempted to STOP them before they could even get their tiny little feet through our door . . .

The first step, of course, was for the team to write stories explaining how they would catch the leprechauns before they ever entered room C113. Let me tell you- THE STORIES WERE INCREDIBLE!!! WOW! For three days straight all they wanted to do was WRITE. They were so excited and I JUST loved it since writing is our big PDSA goal. After the team published their amazing works of art into little books.

Okay, so then it was time to get down to business. Each team member created the traps and obstactles they wrote about in order to keep the little wee ones out.

The Dream Team made the most amazing traps . . . their creativity was out of this world. We had SO much fun. The best part was at the the end when the incredible TEAM decided to combine their various traps together to make sure the leprechauns could not escape them. Seeing those wheels moving inside their heads was just the absolute best!!! Check out the pictures and see all the excitement!

Thank you parents for sending in the materials. :) Remember to wear green on Monday for St. Patrick's Day! Stay tuned to see what happens with the little wee ones. . .

Charlotte's Web Field Trip

2008-03-06T14:22:00.003-05:00

The field trip today was wonderful!! The dream team loved watching the Charlotte's Web play. It was an incredibly funny performance! The actors were marvelous, especially Templeton the rat! The boys voted him best character- hands down.

Thank you to Mrs. Hamrick, Mrs. Cating, Mrs. Evenson, and Mrs. Tucker for chaperoning! You made the trip so enjoyable. We have a such a great TEAM of parents and children. I am just the luckiest teacher EVER!!! :)

County Writing Test

2008-03-03T08:55:00.004-05:00

Please be on the lookout for writing samples being sent home today. Review areas that are circled on your child's rubric. Capitals and periods, along with complete sentences, are SUPER important!!! Also remember to add details! Please remember no visitors, volunteers, or dropping off of lunches tomorrow because of the NC Writing Test. Good luck! Sleep tight and eat a power packed breakfast! Go TEAM GO!!!! :)

P.S. Today's book character costumes are INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!! :) Check out the first grade Sneetches... READING ROCKS!

Reminders and Updates

2008-02-28T17:10:00.003-05:00

Thank you for the great response about electronically sending the weekly newsletter. Hopefully this will help with our paper shortage and save some trees along the way! I will be sending the first electronic email this week.

Some important reminders: (1) Next Monday the entire first grade will be dressing up as their favorite Dr. Seuss character or their favorite book character. I can't wait- of course! (Secretly I really decided to become a teacher just so I could dress up like I am still 4 years old! It ROCKS!) (2) Tuesday, March 4th is the 3rd quarter writing test. Get lots of sleep and eat a super energy-packed breakfast. Also, over the next few days you may want to do some finger lifts to strengthen those finger muscles. :) (3) Thursday, March 6th the Dream Team will be leaving the campus and attending the Charlotte's Web play. Remember to send your packed lunch. (4) Do to our different schedule next week we will not have a reading selection. Instead we will be doing the quarterly reading tests- DRAs.

Thank you for all you do!

3rd Quarter Writing Test

2008-02-27T17:05:00.002-05:00

The 3rd Quarter writing test will be next Tuesday, March 4th, instead of March 11th. The county has changed the date to coincide with the 4th grade state writing test. So, we have been in full gear preparing! We have even started writing detective teams to help us. The Dream Team looks hysterical in their detective gear. They are such little actors! Who says writing cannot be fun?! If you have any questions please let me know. The first grade writing rubric is available on our class website under "writing" if you have misplaced your copy. I can email you the link if you need it. Thank you for all you do! :)

Read Across America

2008-02-24T19:37:00.005-05:00

Please remember to send in your picture showing the "wackiest" place to read your favorite Dr. Seuss book by Tuesday, February 26th. Also, in celebration of Read Across America Day & Dr. Seuss's birthday the entire first grade will be dressing up as their favorite book character on Monday, March 3rd. Thank you for all of your support!

P.S. Last week the Dream Team did an amazing job working on their entry for the Super Power Writing Contest. I will be posting some of the writing samples on our WebPage. They did an incredible job. Our big PDSA goal in writing is sentence fluency- capital letters, punctuation, details, etc. The teams determination is so inspiring!

Mrs. Cotton- Our Substitute on the 100th day!

2008-02-18T16:04:00.005-05:00

Mrs. Tucker, our wonderful room mom, was nice enough to send in a picture of Mrs. COTTON-the Dream Team's substitute teacher from the 100th day. I know the Dream Team have missed her and will be thrilled to see her picture. :) Thank you Mrs. Tucker!

The Polar Adventure Comes to and End

2008-02-17T13:53:00.004-05:00

Wow! What a great adventure we have had exploring the North and South Poles. We have learned so much about survival, adaptation, migration, hibernation, and animals from these polar regions. The projects students created were incredible. After we finish presenting the projects the players will bring them home. If you need to pick up a project please do so by Friday. Once again, thank you for your help and all of your creativity. YOU are amazing parents and an oustanding team to work with! :)

Check out the team as they are using their survival gear to handle the harsh conditions of the Antarctic chill. As we took down the polar cruise ship... the team set up "camp" by rolling out sleeping bags, pulling out flashlights, and eating their survival snacks- I love how some of the players chose to survive on fruit roll ups, listen to music on their cell phones, and of course read some of their favorite chapter books!!! Reading while surviving... now you know they are die hards!!! You just have to love first graders! :)

Mystery Reader

2008-02-15T13:36:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Goodman, thank you for reading to our class on Friday! We loved the story and look forward to the spring. The team loved the Girl Scout cookies too. You are too sweet! :)

Love Bugs on the Loose!!

2008-02-14T19:27:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! The dream team dressed up as love bugs, passed out valentines and made tasty love bug snacks. Check out the cutie pies! This group is just TOO much fun. Gosh, I just LOVE this job!!! :)

100th Day of School

2008-02-06T19:05:00.004-05:00

Hooray! It's the 100th day! To celebrate the first grade dressed up as if they were 100 year olds and donated over 100 bags of sugar to the Mooresville Soup Kitchen. "It's Sweet to Share" The first grade took a group picture outside of their favorite elementary school- Lakeshore!

Throughout the day the team completed 10 different activities associated with the number 100. They made 100th day necklaces and trail mix. In teams they answered 100 math facts, made 100 pattern block puzzles, wrote 100 words they have learned, and wrote about what their life would be like when they are 100. The day ended with a "BANG" when the team jumped around the room popping the 100 balloons that were donated to our class! Thank you so much for everyone's help with this memorable day! P.S. The class loved their 100 year old sub- Mrs. COTTON. She promises to come back and visit soon. :) Don't forget to practice the funky grandma dance she taught you!

Hibernation Day

2008-02-02T18:36:00.001-05:00

On February 2nd, the Dream Team's polar cruise ship landed in the Arctic to explore the world of the polar bears. The creative team decided to camouflage themselves as polar bears so they could get right in there and live the life! The little cubs spent their day fishing for goldfish and graphing their results, making and eating groundhog cupcakes, creating eskimos out of mittens, and participating in the ultimate blubber experiment! (The dream team's favorite event of the day.) Garrett still holds the class record of 5 minutes! Their action packed day ended with reading in their bear caves and the team igloo. What a great day! Thank you dream team fans that helped to make this day so much fun! A special thank you to Mrs. Tucker and Mr & Mrs. Arnold for helping at the different stations. :)

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T18:51:00.000-05:00

Toasts for Change! The class wrote their resolutions for the new year. We then gathered together for a special toast... each player read aloud their goals and then we toasted them!!! The team had fabulous goals and I know they will stick to them!! :) Happy New Year Dream Team & fans!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-26T18:59:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of my little puppy on Christmas day! Much like her mommy, she LOVES to dress up in the spirit of the holiday! She is adorable and a BUNDLE of energy. Mugs is about 3 months old and 5 lbs. I know the dream team loves to see pics and hear stories about her!

Lazy Five Field Trip

2007-09-23T19:29:00.000-04:00

Last Tuesday the Dream Team went on their first field trip to Lazy Five Ranch! It was an absolute blast!! Thank you to all the parents that came and helped. We couldn't have done it without you. We are so lucky to have such a great TEAM!! The Dream Team loved having the animals eat right out of their hands. They could not get over the buffalo's long purple tongue or the spazzy ostrich who appeared to have not been fed in weeks!!!! Check out the pictures. If you would like me to send them to you just email me. Let's have a great week together!! Don't forget our moto: Together Everyone Achieves More. :)

PDSA Celebration

2007-09-16T19:34:00.001-04:00

Yahoo! The Dream Team met their first PDSA goal of the year! We celebrated by having an ice cream party. 20 out of 20 students can now count by 2's to 40 or more. Each player on the team showed amazing teamwork by helping their other teammates practice in the classroom, on the bus, and outside for recess. It was truly remarkable! Keep it up team! :)

All About Me

2007-09-05T20:51:00.000-04:00

During the first week of school the dream team made "All About Me" people. Each day they wrote interesting facts about themselves on snazzy team t-shirts. Some wrote about their family, their pets, things they like to do, and, of course, their goals for first grade! On Friday the players put togegther "mini-me's" complete with team hats, wiggly eyes, and fabulous hair. Take a look at their marvelous creations. Way to go Dream Team!

The Dream Team's Starting Line Up

2007-09-03T20:12:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the First Grade!

2007-08-31T21:09:00.000-04:00

The dream team has had a Grand Slam week!