Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Social-Emotional Learning:
This week, the students learned different strategies for managing their emotions. We reviewed that we all experience a range of emotions, from happy and calm feelings to very strong feelings that make us feel uncomfortable.
We listened to a Calming Song, which helped us remember the importance of finding individualized calming down strategies. Some of us like to do positive self-talk, while others prefer to take deep belly breaths or count to 10.
The students filled our classroom buzzy jar again for being safe, kind and responsible learners while at ABS. We celebrated with Balloon Tennis this time. The students made their tennis rackets out of paper plates and forks. We played outside for a while but the winds were too strong and took our balloons away. We had to move indoors. Your child got his/her own balloon to take home for possible balloon tennis games with family. Have fun!
Reading:
We continued to explore both fiction and non-fiction books in reader’s workshop this week.
We also had the opportunity to read with our partners and explore poetry together. During this time, the students take turns reading. We call that “popcorn read”. Ask your child to popcorn read with you at home too!
We continued working on making our reading reflect the plot and the characters, while showing proper intonation and phrasing. Reading out loud helps us pay close attention to the punctuation and word choice!
Writing:
First grade authors learned more about poetry this week. We focused upon onomatopoeia, writing words that imitate and reflect sounds we hear. We had so much fun adding these sound words to our poems this week. Ask your child to share some sound words we discovered! They are very creative!
Animal Habitats and Reports:
This week, the students applied their understanding of the Arctic when they started to create their animal habitat dioramas. They were encouraged to show their animals’ habitat in a variety of ways, using a variety of materials. We started out by painting cardboard boxes. Then, we added cotton balls, bubble wrap and paper crafts to show ice, snow, ice bergs, trees and water. The students did a great job showing their understanding while also sharing paint, pipe cleaners, beads and glue. What an outstanding group of kids!
The students will create the animal they studied using salt dough next week. Here is a sneak peak of their habitat dioramas:
First Grade Math:
First grade mathematicians continued their work on subtraction this week. They deepened their understanding of the relationship between addition and subtraction. We discovered that many times, we actually prefer to use addition to solve subtraction problems! For example, if we are solving 9-3, it is more efficient to think about the number bond 3+6, to solve 9-3, than it is to count back from 9. This week, we used game markers and a cup to “act out” the subtraction equations. This was also the math assignment from our remote learning day on Wednesday.
We also continued our Number Corner work on geometry, learning about attributes to define half-circles, quarter-circles, rectangles and squares. We also learned about polygons, hexagons and triangles.
Arbor Day:
We celebrated Arbor day together as a school today, Friday May14th. We participated in online activities around the official planting of a new tree. We also created crafts using scraps in our classrooms and we shared the Rain Song we did with the second graders in Mrs. Benoit’s class.We have grown grass in individualized cups in our classroom for the last couple of weeks as we’re learning about soil, water and the importance of our sun. Our grass is finally growing tall and strong. Today, some students decided it was time to cut it. Since we planted this grass in small cups showing a photograph of their face, it looks like the grass is their hair. Hence, we called it “giving ourselves a grass/hair cut”. We had so much fun exploring different looks. Enjoy the pictures:
Technology:
Please see the following message from our IT Desk:
As the end of the school year approaches, we want to alert families that ALL K-8 school-provided devices - Chromebooks or iPads and their respective charging cords - need to be returned to school by June 10th. Most of these devices, which pre-COVID were always in the buildings, have been going back and forth between school and home, and in some cases, remaining at home, for more than a year. Our industrious IT staff needs to access each and every device to check on the status and condition and provide any needed repairs. Please return all devices, along with the charging cord, to your child’s classroom teacher(s) by June 10th.
If your child will be participating in a summer school-based program that requires a Chromebook, one will be provided to them at that time. Other possible device needs for the summer will be determined soon and a check-out system will be in place. Watch for future communications!
Thank you for your help and understanding.
News and Reminders:
We have PE on Mondays and Tuesdays. Please make sure your child comes to school prepared for outdoor PE classes. Sneakers, rain boots, jackets or sweatshirts are still needed for our early morning sessions as the wind is still chilly and the ground is still wet.
All library books are due back on May 28th.
I will start some end-of-the-year reading and math assessments next week and the week following next. Ms. Shelby will be our guest teacher for two of those days.
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Have a great weekend,
Maria
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