Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
It was great to be back after our Thanksgiving break. The students were excited to be back in school to play and learn with their friends again. It was nice to hear them share about their holiday adventures and activities.
Social-Emotional Learning:
This week, the students filled the classroom buzzy jar again for being safe, kind and responsible. We celebrated with “Bring your stuffed animal to school” day! The students had so much fun sharing about their stuffed animals and playing and learning with them during the day.
This week, we continued our work on empathy and kindness. We continued sharing ideas and questions around unexpected choices and what we can do to show thoughtfulness in all situations. Ms. Nicole visited our class again for some of this work. The students did an amazing job sharing their ideas and opinions respectfully and with compassion. We also wrote letters to local postal workers, thanking them for their service during the year but particularly now during the busy holiday season.
The students also started planning a puppet show. The students are partnered up and they are writing a story together, which they will perform with their puppets next week. We will invite our buddies from Mrs. Benoit’s class. The stories will reflect our Problem-Solving Steps taught in Second Step. The students did an amazing job planning their characters this week. We have animals from all parts of the world and its habitats represented!
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Reading:
This week, we focused on improving our reading stamina. Coming back to school from having had a week off from school can be challenging. Every day, the students read for a little longer. They also tracked their own reading stamina by coloring in books on a reading log, representing the books read.
We did many read alouds in class this week around perseverance and having a growth mindset. All the books this week were around sports and different athletes too. We read a book about Pedro Martinez, who eventually ended up playing baseball for the Boston Red Sox, and we read the books “Touch the Sky” (written by Alice Coachman) and “Dream Big” (written by Dave McGillivray). All of these books taught us about facing different sorts of challenges in life and how the community around us and our own inner drive can help us reach our fullest potential.
Writing:
The students added another chapter to their “All About Me” books. This week, they wrote about their families.
This week, first grade authors were also asked to show proper punctuation in their own writing. They were also asked to start each new sentence with a capital letter and adhere to proper spacing between words inside each sentence.
First grade writers also participated in our unit 2 Fundations spelling check-in. After each unit they have the opportunity to show their understanding of the concepts taught and practiced. Next week, we will start unit 3. A parent letter was packed inside your child’s Home Folder today for information about upcoming trick words, skills and concepts covered in this unit.
First Grade Math:
I wish to welcome Ms. Bianchi to our busy math classroom. She is our Williston Math Coordinator and she will join our math class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We are so grateful to have an extra adult in our class to help us. Her expertise in math will benefit everyone! You might hear your child mention her name as she will assist in our small groups twice a week.
First grade mathematicians continued building their understanding of fractions this week. The focus was on fourths/quarters. The students folded pieces of paper to snow the many ways we can create fourths. Look for these inside your child’s Home Folder today.
First grade mathematicians also learned a new game called “Sort the Sum”. They used dominos to graph them according to their respective sums. We are building an understanding towards mathematical equality, understanding that 3+1=2+2, etc.
We continued working on doubles and building a deeper conceptual understanding how doubles can help us solve math equations and math problems more efficiently. Friday’s math story problem contained doubles. Ask your child to explain how the following story problem can be solved: Mrs. McC brought in some cookies to school to share. Ms. Emily had 6 cookies. They were so yummy she doubled her serving! How many cookies did Ms. Emily eat in all?
Science:
We brought snow into the classroom this week! We packed plastic tubs filled with snow and the students worked in partnerships to create polar habitats for our plastic polar animals. They worked collaboratively, shared the snow/animals and took turns deciding on what to build. Having opportunities to share, take turns and practice a flexible mindset are skills all first graders work on. They are making great progress. The students also explored placing tropical animals in this snowy habitat and they also built sledding hills for the animals. So much learning! So much fun!
News and Reminders:
The weather is getting colder so please make sure your child has weather appropriate clothes for school. With the arrival of winter and snow, your child will need snow-pants, gloves/mittens, boots, hats and a winter jacket as well for everyday outdoor fun. Having indoor shoes, such as sneakers, helps your child stay dry and comfortable throughout the day (and prepared for PE too!).Thank you.
If you have an extra plastic grocery/shopping bag, please send it in with your child for him/her to keep their soggy outdoor gear in. The lockers are narrow and it is crowded with other children’s backpacks hanging on the locker doors. Having a large grocery/shopping bag for wet/soggy snow pants, hats, mittens, etc, make packing up for the end of the day easier and less frustrating. It also helps your child during dismissal time since all gear neatly fits into a bag, rather than being dragged, or worse, lost, in our hallways as we walk to the buses or cars. Thank you.
Since we are on the topic of soggy clothes, I wanted to ask you to send in some extra masks for your child as well. They more easily get wet now during outdoor time. It is not comfortable to learn with a soggy/wet mask on. Thank you.
Last reminder about the changing weather; Please make sure you swap out your child’s extra clothing to reflect the changing temperatures too. We will do our best to help your child bring home his/her ziplock bag of extra clothing this week so you can check what is inside. Many parents have not changed the contents of this bag since the beginning of the school year and having to put on shorts if your pants get wet during the school day is not cozy! Thank you.
Here's a link to this week's Bell
Have a great weekend,
Maria
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