Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Social-Emotional Learning:
This week, first graders continued to practice empathy and compassion. We focused primarily on what we can say to others in order to show empathy and compassion. We made empathy hearts for our classroom calming box. The empathy cards were decorated and contained words/short phrases of kindness, such as “You are amazing”, “You are a kind and great friend”. These cards will be available for students in need of some extra kindness when taking a break.
This week, we also continued working on our Friendship booklets. We started these booklets last week with our second grade buddies and this week we had a chance to add more words of kindness to each other.
We practiced yoga every day this week. We used gonoodle to learn new effective strategies to calm our bodies to get ready for learning and listening.
Reading:
This week, we continued to learn about interesting people who persevered while showing bravery and resilience. The people we read about this week also demonstrated creativity and individuality. We read the book “Just being Dali” by Amy Guglielmo, and learned about the artist Dali who just wanted to be himself and show his tremendous individuality in his art.
We also read books about Dizzie Gillespie and Stevie Wonder. We learned so much from these books and about the importance of being true to, and, expressing yourself!
We had partner reading again this week too. This week, the students practiced taking turns reading our books while listening carefully to their partners reading.
The students also continued working on their sight words this week. Being able to quickly read trick words and high frequency words help young readers read more fluently and with more automaticity. We had some of our words on index cards. The students created their own duplicate set and played a matching game, almost like “Go Fish”, to find their word matches. These cards/words will come home before the holiday break. We also used jenga blocks and popsicle sticks to practice our trick words.
Writing:
The students added another chapter to their “All About Me” books. This week, first grade authors wrote about what they want to do when they grow up. They had wonderful ideas. We have a class filled with aspiring animal trainers, astronauts, marines, authors and teachers!
We also continued working on building independence in writing, while also checking to make sure that the writing reflects capital letters at the start of each sentence, includes finger spacing between words and ends with a period (or question mark).
First grade spellers are learning about digraphs this week. We were “digraph detectives”, searching for them in books and other texts. We were also learning how to carefully listen for these sounds and spell them. The digraphs covered this week were: ch, wh, sh, th, ck
First Grade Math:
First grade mathematicians learned about data collection this week. Through small groups and whole class discussions and work, they learned about tally charts, bar graphs, pictographs and pie charts. I hope you get a chance to look through their Home Folders today because you will see their data collection work. They are true mathematicians and budding statisticians! In addition to learning that mathematicians use a variety of charts to organize information, the students learned to interpret them by answering questions such as “how many more or how many fewer”, “how many in each category” and “how many participated in this study”.
First grade mathematicians also continued building their number sense understanding in our Number Corner activities and classroom games.
Technology:
The students continued to explore computer coding this week. They learned how to persevere through challenging computer puzzles and coding problems. They did a nice job!
News and Reminders:
Our last day of school before the holiday break is Wednesday, December 22nd. This will be a pajama day. If your child wants to bring his/her stuffed animal that is fine too. Please make sure the stuffed animal is small enough to fit inside his/her backpack and on his/her desk. We will have regular outdoor recess so please make sure your child does not wear slippers or pajamas with built-in socks/feet.
If your child has been vaccinated for Covid, please email the school nurse a copy of the vaccination card. Her email is slove@cvsdvt.org
We try our best on Harmony House to make your child feel special on his/her birthday. Your child gets to choose a special birthday surprise from the front office and from the classroom prize box. Your child also gets a balloon and a special cupcake covering on his/her desk for the day. We sing as well; both in Swedish and English! Please refrain from sending in food treats as we have many different dietary restrictions and allergies. If your child wants to share a special book from home, I would be happy to read it to the class too. Students whose birthdays are in the middle of summer or during our holiday breaks will get to celebrate their birthdays in class at another time. Please do not worry that we will forget! Please email me with any questions you might have. Thank you.
Have a great weekend,
Maria
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