Help....Save Us!!!

I am absolutely LOVING being back in first grade!!  I taught it one year approximately 10 years ago, so I’m having a blast re-learning how fabulous first grade is!!

I’m amazed by the growth I’m already seeing in my little (and I DO mean little) class.  I only have five students.  Seems like a dream to many of you, but it scares me.  Y’all pray for our school.  I teach at an amazing private Christian school.  Last year our enrollment was 100, this year it’s 75!  The tough economic times have really hit us hard.  We desperately need to raise funds during our fall funding campaign.  I’d like to humbly ask for your help!  Please consider clicking on my link:

http://championevents.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=9691

and checking out mine and my daughter’s fundraising page.

She is in Pre-K, and as you know, I teach first.  We love this place.  What an amazing place to be a beacon in our community.  The love of Jesus infiltrates our school.  The children are challenged academically, loved, encouraged, and inspired.  I cannot imagine teaching in a better school or having my daughter attend a better school.  However, the drop in enrollment is putting our school (and our meager paychecks) in jeopardy.  We really need to have a successful fall funding campaign!  Please prayerfully consider giving to our campaign at the link above.  $5, $10, or whatever you feel led to give.  In gratitude, I want to give everyone who donates to the campaign a free product of your choice from my TPT store.  You can email me at ashleybowlesreed@hotmail.com and let me know that you donated and what product you want.  It’s a safe online donation site where you can pay securely using a credit or debit card.  Our family has set a goal of raising $1500, but I pray that we can raise much more.  Please consider helping us out!

Now on to happier things…lol.  My firsties were learning the concepts of horizontal and vertical addition sentences today.  This is a trick I have used with lots of kiddos and it always seems to click and stick!  I point out the middle (horizontal) line on an H. Then, we make that horizontal line with our arms like this:

I say, “H, H, H, horizontal!” and they do the motion.

For vertical, we make a V with our arms and then jump into the air straight and tall so that our body is vertical.  Again, I say, “V, v, v, vertical!”  Like this:

They love doing this.  Then we play a game of simon says where I mix it up and call out horizontal or vertical and they have to  quickly do the motion.  Lots of fun, gets us moving, and makes this concept stick!  Hope you can use this trick in your classroom.  I’m working on a mini unit for introducing the tricky concept of tally marks.  I hope to have it released in the next few weeks. 

From the bottom of my heart, thanks for considering donating to our small, yet fabulous, school.  It’s hard to get grants since we are a Christian school, I can’t participate in donors choose since we’re a private school, and when you don’t get state and federal funds, it’s hard to come up with all the resources you need.  God bless you for your generosity!  May he multiply your gift one hundred fold, and may all you give come back to you (and more!).  My kiddos thank you, too. :)