Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Social-Emotional Learning:
The students filled our buzzy jar twice for being safe, kind and responsible! We celebrated with extra exploration/game time and with making paper airplanes that we tested outside. What an amazing group of first graders we have!
The students participated in several collaborative group games and activities to build our classroom community of learners who respect and trust each other. We played many new games together and the students had a chance to share their “Me Bags”. It is so much fun getting to know each other better through these special collections. Thank you for helping your child select items that reflect your child’s passions and preferences. While the students share the contents of these bags, they have also learned more about what it means to be a respectful audience-member and how we can listen to each other respectfully. The students are learning that having a calm body with eyes on the speaker shows that we care what the speaker has to say. Additionally, having hands to yourself also shows respectful listening. The students also learned that when we’re presenting, we use a “big” presentation voice. We have some visuals in the classroom to support this learning and help the students. They did an outstanding job! We will continue sharing our “Me Bags” next week. If your child’s “Me Bag” came home this week that means that your child already shared. Ask your child to tell you how it went. They all did a great job.
We continued to build the routines and expectations around our restorative circles, a time when all the students have a chance to share their voice about the topic we are discussing. Restorative circles provide a safe and nurturing way for our learning community to share thoughts and feelings and repair harm and relationships. All students have a voice and all students have something to contribute to our circle conversations. They are doing a wonderful job sharing their perspectives and ideas. I am so proud of them.
You Can:
You can support your child’s emerging listening skills by encouraging them to have a calm body and pay attention to the speaker when you are conversing at home. Simply waiting for your child to show you that they are ready to listen before giving a direction, for example, helps establish a calmer, quieter conversation. In class, we use the phrases “whole body listening” and “brain in”. When speakers and listeners are “brain in”, they are paying attention to each other!
Encourage your child to share his/her thoughts and wonderings with you daily. Validate the feelings your child expresses and find ways in which all voices can be heard at home too.
Reading:
This week, the students practiced reading together in the classroom and in our library. They practiced what it looks like and sounds like to listen to another teacher/adult read out loud to them. They had the opportunity to practice active listening with their whole bodies. They are encouraged to find a responsible listening space on our rug before the reading starts.
We also discussed how people read books. We discovered that sometimes readers read out loud, but at other times readers read with whisper voices or quietly in their heads. Readers sometimes partner-read and share stories with a friend. During those times, readers sometimes whisper-read together or “popcorn” read (which means that each reader reads a page before the reading “pops” back to the other reader. Ask your child how we popcorn read a Pete the Cat book together in class.
We started a new reading mini-unit in our class. The students will learn more about the author Kevin Henkes and his amazing books.
You can:
You can support your child’s reading at home by asking your child to do different kinds of readings with you. Ask your child to “popcorn” read a book with you. Ask your child to whisper-read to you or a stuffed animal. How about reading a book out loud to a sibling or caregiver? Don’t forget to read your child’s library books together this week! If your child struggles with finding “just right” books to read, encourage your child to point out words he/she can recognize. Harmony House will start sending home “just right” books and sight words for your child to read soon. Stay tuned.
Writing:
First grade spellers participated in a district-wide spelling assessment this week. Team Harmony will start spelling groups in the next few weeks. Traditionally, we run several spelling groups on Harmony so the students are mixed up based upon spelling instructional needs. More information will follow soon.
This week, the students did a written response to the book “Wemberly Worried” by Kevin Henkes. This book tells the story about Wemberly who is feeling nervous about “big things and small things and everything in between”. We had wonderful conversations about the different things children and adults worry about and we discovered that we have so many things in common. The students wrote about what Wemberly was worried about in the story and they shared about what they themselves worry about. Ask your child to share more.
You Can:
You can support your first grade speller's emerging love of writing by encouraging him/her to take risks in writing and not give up during writing at home. Having a growth mindset in writing is key to future success, well-being and a sense of accomplishment in writing. Writing can typically be a daunting task for first grade students, but with support and time, even the most reluctant writer discovers the joys of writing stories and ideas down on paper. If your child is writing at home, encourage your child to do his/her best. It is okay if the word is not spelled correctly and perfectly. Invented spelling is just right at this age (and at this stage in the school year). Young learners develop a sense of independence and confidence in writing when they know that mistakes are okay. We want those wonderful ideas down on paper so other people can learn from them too!
Math:
We continued to build our classroom community of mathematicians by focusing on collaborative games, personal responsibilities and active listening this week. As more math tools are introduced to our young mathematicians, it is vital that they understand the importance of using these tools for math learning (and not for playing games, etc).
First grade mathematicians continued to practice proper number writing to build speed and fluency, while also building confidence in their ability to show their thinking.
This week, we looked at numbers to 10, using ten-frames and finger flashing combinations. The students also used rekenreks to build numbers to 10 (In first grade, a rekenrek is a mathematical tool that shows the number 20 with 2 groups of red beads and 2 groups of white beds, in two rows)
First grade mathematicians also started their number scrolls. This week, they created their first decade. They are learning that the same number sequence is repeated in our number system but each digit has a different place in our numbers.
First grade mathematicians also learned some new games this week. They learned a game called EggHead and some new dice games while also practicing addition facts. They also used dominoes to practice addition facts too.
You can:
You can support your child’s love of math by engaging in daily conversations about numbers. Numbers are all around us and math should be a social activity. In our classroom, math is something we engage in together. Sometimes, we tackle math problems as a whole group and sometimes the students work in partnerships or smaller groups. Sharing ideas and solutions, while using words and drawings to justify one’s thinking are key components to math. Ask your child to find groups of 5s, for example. How many groups of 5s are there in 10, in 15? Where can we find groups of 5s? Groups of 10s, or 2s? Other groups? Finding groups of things outside provides hands-on experiences that encourage your child to see how math is connected to real life too.
Count forwards and backwards with your child. This week, we practiced the first decade and beyond.
News and Reminders:
There is no school on Monday, September 25th (Yom Kippur)
Our school picture day at ABS is fast approaching. School picture day is on Monday 9/18. We are scheduled to have our pictures taken at 8:05am. If you wish to order photographs for your child, please return the photo-order form to the classroom or contact the photographer online per the directions on the slip that was sent home a couple of weeks ago. If you and your family need another copy of this photo order form, please contact the front office. Thank you.
Our ABS Open House will occur on Thursday, 9/28 between 6-7pm. More information will follow shortly but please keep that night open for some socializing and visiting at ABS!
Have a great weekend,
Maria
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