Ms. Shelby leading a lesson:
Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Social-Emotional Learning:
We continued getting to know each other this week. We finalized our Class Contract and we also played “Guess Who?” together, both in the classroom and online. We learned that we have so many things in common! We also learned that each person in our class is unique and has their own personal preferences and ideas.
We continued working on being mindful and how to use our whole body listening skills.
Reading:
We continued working on improving our reading stamina during independent reading times. The students received individual daily goals for reader’s workshop. These goals help our young learners create a manageable objective for the time we have. They are learning to navigate between books, online reading and writing/drawing about the books read.
We started reading books about Mercy Watson. These books are written by Kate DiCamillo and the students already love the characters in these books! Ms. Shelby or I read them on the document camera, which means the students can follow along in the text as we read because the pages are projected for everyone to see. Isn’t technology great? We will improve our understanding of character traits next week when we study Mercy Watson more deeply. We will learn about how we can describe Mercy on the outside (ie, what she looks like) and on the inside (ie., what she says, feels, and how she acts)
Writing:
This class is full of authors! They worked so incredibly hard this week writing their personal narratives. We are so proud of them all. Writing can be hard, particularly when you have to sound our words, come up with ideas, spell and write full sentences. WOW! They all showed a growth mindset and persevered. We started by using a graphic organizer, planning out the beginning, middle and end with words. Then, the students chose their writing booklets and began writing the first part. Next week, we will learn about transition words and how to stretch out the middle, where all the action and suspense is.
First Grade Math:
We continued developing a better understanding of 10. We focused on developing automaticity recognizing parts to ten and number facts. We used a variety of strategies, such as 10-frames, rekenreks and unifix cubes.
We also continued our work on subitizing. The students are getting very confident and fast when it comes to finding efficient ways to group parts of dot patterns to figure out the total rather than counting by ones.
We also practiced taking turns in math when we share our thinking and listening respectfully and actively to our friends when they share.
Science:
We learned about spiders through a series of investigations and activities culminating in our Friday Workshop with Mrs. Benoit’s second graders. We had several stations the students rotated through. They did spider crawls, tried to get through a spider web challenge and they did a spider paper craft. Ask your child to tell you more!
News and Reminders:
There is no school on Tuesday, November 3rd, but Wednesday, November 4th is a regular remote learning day.
We have noticed that several students do not charge their chromebooks at home. We understand you are juggling many roles, but please try to remember to charge your child’s chromebook at home so we can use it at school if needed. Chargers stay at home.
As the weather changes and gets colder, we want to remind families that the Physical Education staff is planning to be outside with PE classes as a first priority. PLEASE DRESS APPROPRIATELY FOR THE TEMPERATURE AND CONDITIONS... (jackets, hats, gloves, etc). We recommend bringing in or keeping a few extra pairs of socks, gloves, or mittens in a cubby or backpack. Additional layers (snow pants or boots) would be acceptable for PE if needed. If younger students need snow pants for recess, they should wear snow pants to PE. Fresh air and movement is good for us all; let's be safe and prepared for the weather!
This is a great time to start practicing some of those fine motor skills all children need during this time of the year. Their backpacks are getting full with added clothing. Please encourage your child to pack, and unpack, his/her own backpack at home. Learning how to position objects inside a limited space can be challenging for some and quite frustrating too. Having skills and patience when completing these daily tasks help them be successful here at school. I also strongly encourage families to encourage their children to put away their lunch/snack boxes, zip them, take containers out, etc. All of these skills are important as we manage lots of little containers here at school. Thank you!
Here is a link to the School Bell.
Have a great weekend,
Maria
Ms. Filion visiting us as the Queen Bee:
Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Social-Emotional Learning:
It was wonderful to be together as a whole class this week! The students did an outstanding job sharing the space and waiting their turns.
We started talking about our classroom culture and learning community and what it means for us now to be safe, kind and responsible when we are together. Next week, we add to our already existing classroom contracts and agree on guidelines for all of us. We will also focus our work on kindness. We will deepen our understanding of ways we can spread kindness at school and learn new strategies to empower ourselves when others use unkind and hurtful words.
The students finished their self-portraits this week. We will share pictures of them once we have decided on a good place to hang them. Perhaps around our new class contract?
This week, we started Digital Safety and Digital Citizenship activities. We learned about different ways we can stay safe online and what we can do when we feel uncomfortable online. We learned that internet safety is like a traffic light. When we feel unsafe, we should stop, x out and ask for help. When we access web-sites and activities assigned by the teacher, we can continue and “go” on, just like we can when we see the green traffic light. Next week, Ms. Scott will join us in these lessons. Thank you Ms. Scott!
Reading:
Reading assessments are almost done. I hope to finish by the end of next week. Once I have finished, I will send out a document for you and your family to sign up for an online parent-teacher conference. They will be 15-20 minutes long. More information will follow so please stay tuned.
The students continued building independent reading skills and stamina this week. We learned that good readers pay attention to both pictures and words.
I have assigned a book per student on razkids for online/remote learning next Wednesday. Don’t be surprised if you see it on razkids and your child clicks on assignments/assigned books. If your child wishes to read it prior to Wednesday, that is, of course, fine. Let me know, and I can also assign another one.
Writing:
We continued our guided/interactive writing. This week, the students wrote their own letters and we wrote letters to the second graders, inviting them to our first Friday Workshop (more details below)
Next week, the students will deepen their writing skills in personal narrative. Stay tuned!
First Grade Math:
First grade mathematicians worked on partners to 10 this week. We played a game called “Yogurt”, finding partners to 10. Ask your child to explain.
First grade mathematicians also explored concepts of composing and decomposing numbers and finding patterns using our Number Corner Calendar cards.
First grade mathematicians learned about number bonds. They learned to create two different groups of a number using unifix cubes. In other words, we looked at how we can break any number into two smaller groups.
Science:
We explored Mystery Science and learned about owl and why they make the sounds they make. Next week, we are going on a listening walk ourselves at school. We don’t think we will hear any owls since they are nocturnal, but we learned that if you go outside and try to make the traditional owl sounds, sometimes an owl will call you back! You might want to try this at home?
News and Reminders:
Your child needs sneakers and extra socks (just in case) on Mondays and Tuesdays when we have PE.
It is getting chilly outside, especially in the mornings. Please send your child to school in weather appropriate clothing as we are outside on most days.
Your child still needs a water bottle every day. Please fill it at home since we cannot use the water fountains in our classrooms. Thank you.
Don’t forget to charge your child’s chromebook on Tuesday nights so your child can join us for our remote learning on Wednesdays. The chromebook (and headphones) come back fully charged on Thursdays again for continued learning at school. The chromebooks go back home again for the weekend. Don’t forget to charge them! If your child wishes to access SeeSaw, razkids or any other links on our website portal, he/she is encouraged to do so.
Have a great weekend,
Maria
