Family Newsletter

Dear Families,
We had another busy week last week.  Here are some highlights.

Writing:
We finished our opinion writing unit.  All students should have brought home a persuasive letter addressed to either a family member, or a member at our school.  This was part of this writing unit and we wanted to share them with you.  We hope you read them at home.  Perhaps you were even convinced by your child's argument and reasons?
We started our animal writing unit as well, using books, articles and online resources for finding information.  The students are doing a great job finding relevant information and writing it down in their own words.

Reading:
We continued reading and learning about non-fiction in our classroom and guided reading groups.  Among other things, the students collaborated in small groups to do a book sort.  They had several fiction and nonfiction books which had to be sorted into two groups.  Then, they worked together to show their understanding of the different literary elements using a Venn Diagram.  Pictures will soon follow.

Math:
First grade mathematicians will start a new unit this week.  Informational letters will be sent out in this week's Friday folders.  In this unit, we will primarily focus upon the concept of equality.  The students will explore how we can express number relationships in different ways to show how different parts are equal, or "same as" something else.  For example, they will learn expressions such as 3+2=4+1 in many different ways through games and work place activities. First grade mathematicians will also take home several games to play at home.  These games are voluntary, but yours to keep at home.  Please look for them in your child's Friday folder.  Thank you.

Technology:
Many students have asked how they can get some of the apps we have on the school ipads at home.  Here is a link to the document in case you are interested in getting some of these at home.
https://sites.google.com/a/cssu.org/wsd-ipads/apps-on-abs-ipads 

News and Reminders:

•  Lyn Porter, our PE Teacher at ABS, is still providing early morning gym sessions.  Please arrive early.  They end at 7:50am, when students are dismissed to their classrooms.
• We have no school next week.  Our Winter Break is from 2/27-3/3.  School starts again on 3/6.
• We will start the Iditarod Reading Race when we return from the winter break.  More information will follow.
• We will also start our new science unit on the Solar System when we return from break.  More information will follow.

Best,
Maria