We had a blast watching the movie today!!! We also had some computer time in the library - learning how to properly log on and off of the laptops at school. Happy Weekend!
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We enjoyed a lovely community meeting this morning! We also finished reading James and the Giant Peach, so tomorrow is our movie day! Yahoooo! Thank you so much for being quick with the permission slips!
We compared two versions of one folktale today, looking at The Nice Mitten story in our Wonders key book and The Mitten adapted and illustrated by Jan Brett. In both stories, a boy drops a mitten in the forest, and animals come along and squeeze into the mitten to rest. Ask your child how the two stories are different!
You are being bombarded with permission slips! Yesterday, a slip was sent home for permission to watch the James and the Giant Peach movie. Today a slip went home for permission to walk to the Historical Society in town. We plan to visit the Historical Society with our learning buddies on Friday, February 14th. Please sign these slips and send them in as soon as possible. Thank you!!
Today we started learning about shadows. Ask your child: can a statue's shadow move? We had a great day! We started number scrolling... students will be writing numbers on grid paper, practicing their number handwriting and counting skills, and they will keep going, creating a long scroll of numbers! We also started publishing stories today! Each student will be working on editing his or her work before creating a final copy in book form. In science today, we observed our sprouts and asked questions about them. What kinds of questions does your child have about seeds, sprouts, or plants?
The seeds that we planted on Monday are really taking off! Check it out!!! Today we performed some plays for each other. Our reading group books were in the form of a play or drama, so we practiced our parts all week, and we rocked our performances today! Ask your child about it!
We tested our umbrellas this morning, and they all blew over at first, but students then went back to change their designs and retest - did your child's umbrella withstand a gust of wind? If not, what ideas does your child have for a new design? Scientists are always looking for ways to make designs better!
We wrapped up our map studies today with a special surprise! We reviewed where we live - what continent, country, state, and town, and then we took a trip on Google Earth overseas and looked at what the continent of Europe looks like. We even dropped down in street view in London and saw double-decker buses! Mr. Willard had been traveling in England for work, and he picked up double-decker bus key chains for all of the kids. Enjoy! Today we started a cool science activity. Students are trying to design an umbrella that will not be blown over in a gust of wind. They are looking to trees for inspiration... Students learned that trees have roots, bendy trunks and branches, and a canopy of leaves or needles that lets air through. Because of these features, trees usually are not blown over by a gust of wind. Students will finish and test their umbrella inventions tomorrow!!!
Has your child told you about the read-aloud story we've been enjoying - James and the Giant Peach? Today we started illustrating each chapter, and we will be putting all of our summaries and illustrations together to create our own digital version of the story!
January is a tough month. We are not getting enough sunlight, fresh air, and exercise, and then the school work gets harder to boot! Please make sure your children get a good night's sleep and have a healthy breakfast each day. Also, talk with your children about trying their best in school. Learning takes effort! Thank you for your support from home!!! We learned a lot about Martin Luther King Jr. today, and we discussed some heavy subjects. We learned about the terms racism, segregation, and equal rights. Please talk with your children about these terms and about what Civil Rights Day means to you and your family.
We also planted seeds today, and we can't wait to watch them grow! Students could choose from pea, radish, clover, or kale seeds. Which seeds did your child plant? We finished up our Social Studies unit about maps today. We also had a Social Skills lesson with Ms. Brown today, relating to how our bodies feel when we're in the "yellow zone." Ask your child about it!
We have a spelling test on long a words tomorrow! We made magic kits today! Ask your child how he or she can use a "magic e" to change can to cane or fat to fate!
We started using base ten blocks to help us understand the concept of place value. We build numbers with cubes, and then if we have 10 cubes, we can trade them for a "long" block. For example, the number 56 would have 5 longs and 6 cubes.
Students learned about Jump Rope for Heart today in gym class, and they brought home some information in their folders. We started a new Wonders Unit today - all about changes over time. Once again, because our "key" books were replaced with grant money, I am sending home an old copy of the book for your child to keep. This book is called the key book because it covers ALL of the key literacy skills we work on each week during the unit. It is a great resource to have at home! Today we read the story Nate the Snake is Late and we added the "words to know" to our word wall. We were introduced to the vowel-consonant-silent e spelling pattern, which creates a long vowel sound (the vowel says its name). For example, make, game, and late all have the long a sound and a silent e on the end. We did not get to the spelling pretest today, so I sent it home blank. Your child can take the pretest or simply copy the words on the page.
We also started a new math unit today, so there is a Everyday Math letter in your child's folder too. We are starting to learn about place value, and we will be working on telling time as well. We are continuing to learn some map skills in social studies this week, and we even used Google Earth to get a birds-eye-view of our school and my house! First graders are expected to learn their addresses as part of our social studies curriculum, so please chat with your child about your home address. Thank you!! As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out! We enjoyed a concert this morning by the NBCS Band and Strings. We also started Senior Readers today - a wonderful program through the town recreation department in which seniors from our community come to school on Thursdays to read with readiness and first grade children. We have a spelling test tomorrow on some very tricky words! Please review tonight if you can!
The behavior in our class today was fantastic! The students are settling in!
Today we worked on adding three numbers together in math. We practiced adding two numbers first, then adding on the third. (eg: 5 + 5 + 3 = 13 ... 5 plus 5 is 10, plus 3 is 15!) We also learned a lot about maps today! Ask your student how he or she can remember the directions on a compass rose. (Never Eat Soggy Waffles) We created a list of words that begin with "ch" today, and then students made paper mugs of hot chocolate and wrote ch words on the marshmallows! How many ch words can your family come up with tonight??? chip, cheese, cherry, etc............
We have a class goal for 2020! Our goal is to have calm and quiet behavior in the classroom. Today we drew pictures of ourselves doing calm and quiet classroom activities. We will need the quiet to do our best learning, because the skills we are working on are getting harder and harder! This week's spelling words are the most challenging ones we've had. Make sure your student gets some time to practice his or her words at home. Thank you!!!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break! I sure did! I wanted to thank everyone again for your generous gifts for me and for the classroom. Our classroom is so well-stocked with wipes and tissues and extra snacks! It's fantastic!!
Although it's difficult to come back to school after so much fun family time, your kids were awesome today. We settled in slowly with journal writing, centers, and news ball time. We made a birthday book for Abby. We are continuing to read James and the Giant Peach, summarizing each chapter. We read paper books and used text evidence to answer questions about the story. We had social thinking time with Ms. Brown, and we practiced number handwriting. We got so much done! I think 2020 will be a productive year! |
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