I hope you had a nice weekend. It sure is getting cold out there! Please make sure your child comes to school in warm clothing every day with appropriate gear for outdoor winter fun. Thank you.
It is quite challenging to keep our winter clothing organized and neat by the lockers now since all the children come in with a multitude of clothing items so the students decided that, just like last year, we will try to earn "locker awards" for taking good care of our clothing by the lockers. The challenging is on.....The students will earn stickers on a chart by our classroom for hanging up their snow-pants and making sure their jackets, mittens and gloves are kept safe inside the lockers. We hope that by taking care of our clothing at school, we might also learn how to take care of them at home too! We also hope we will lose fewer items of clothing!
Technology:
This was an important week for our technology learning. We participated in the nation-wide coding challenge. We learned these skills through minecraft and watched a message from President Obama on the importance of coding. The kids loved it. If you wish to use it at home as well, there are many, many coding puzzles your child can solve on their web-site code.org
Reading:
We continued guided reading and partner reading last week. The students received new partners and learned new skills for sharing their thinking about their books. This week, we will start using specific "chat packs" with guided questions on the books read. Stay tuned for more information.
The students also took home some older versions of Scholastic magazines in their Friday folders last week. I will periodically send them home in their folders or book bags as supplemental reading materials. We have so many of them and sometimes our schedules do not allow us to complete them at school. These magazines are terrific so instead of wasting them, I will send them home. If your child wishes to use this magazine for homework/reading logs that is fine. These magazines are not "just right" levels for all readers so if a parent reads to the child that is fine too. The content is terrific! Thank you for supporting our reading and encouraging your child to read from many different genres.
Writing:
Our small moment stories are almost done. Last week, we continued working on our covers and titles. We are so excited to finish up. After break, we will start our "All About" non-fiction writing pieces. Last week, your child also added another monthly piece to his/her scrapbook. We had many stories about Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays.
Math:
First grade mathematicians are currently working on telling time to the hour/half hour, and parts to 10 and 20. We I will send home a family letter about our new unit in this week's Friday folders.
Upcoming Events and Reminders:
- Our last day of school before winter break is Thursday December 22. On Harmony, we traditionally celebrate with PJ Day and watch the movie Polar Express. If your child comes to school in his/her PJs, please make sure that your child can still wear boots/sneakers for recess. PJs with built-in socks/feet are sometimes difficult and uncomfortable to wear for a whole day. Slippers and teddy bears are not allowed and should stay home. The students like to eat popcorn during the movie. Please send in a ziplock bag with already popped popcorn for your child. Thank you.
- School resumes again on Tuesday, January 3rd.
- Report Cards go home on January 20th.
- We switch from PE on Tuesdays to Library on January 24th. This will not be an extra library choosing time. Rather, the children will learn how the library works and aspects of texts and literary genres.
Best,
Maria
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