Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, first graders continued practicing strategies for calming down when they experience big emotions.  We listened to the Calm Down Song (linked here) and created different scenarios to practice our strategies.  A favorite strategy is to use positive self-talk and to think of something that makes us happy.  Some students might think of a beach or a favorite hiking place, while others think about a cozy corner at home or a stuffed animal.

• We also played a game similar to freeze dance to practice listening, following rules and solving big feelings.  Here is a picture of the visual poster we use to help us cope with big feelings.  Perhaps this can help at home too?

Reading: 

• This week first grade readers continued to read nonfiction books.  They participated in guided instruction groups and learned more about the purposes of the table of contents, photographs and bold print.  

• First grade readers also participated in a word hunt, searching for trick words and high frequency words found in magazines and books.  One day, the class also tried to read as many trick words as they could in one minute.  They beat the record from last year!  What a terrific group of readers we have!

• In partner reading this week, we continued practicing reading stamina while listening and staying engaged with our partners.

Writing:

• First grade authors continued writing their animal reports this week.  They worked in small groups with a teacher to better understand the content and the information provided.  They practiced invented spelling, sounding out words and creating complete sentences on their own.  In our small writing groups, the teacher would read a small passage out loud.  The students re-voiced the information using their own words and then wrote it down in its appropriate chapter.  They did an excellent job!  Next week, we will start to assemble our books, add labels to our pictures and create a glossary to go along with the writing.

• First grade writers also continued working on, and identifying, word endings for more fluent writing.  This week, we primarily focused on the word endings -all, -am-, and -an.

• The students also created a spelling bingo reflecting our nine trick words this week.  Ask your child how you can easily create these bingo boards at home too.

First Grade Math:

• This week, we started a new number corner calendar, reflecting the new instructional goals of the month of April.  Every day, the students are presented with a number bond, or an equation, with a missing addend or subtrahend.  The students are encouraged to figure out the missing part and show how they know. The students have whiteboards to show/draw their thinking.  The students share their thinking verbally with each other after they have had a chance to privately work on the problem.  The students are also encouraged to think deeply about what their friends say and make sense of it.  They are learning how to ask clarifying questions, such as “Can you tell me more?” or “What do you mean?”

Science:

• We continued our unit on animal adaptations and structures this week.  We learned more about how animals use their physical traits/adaptations to help them find food, for example.  The students participated in an experiment in which they used different materials to illustrate different types of bird beaks to gather food.

News and Reminders:

• We are still in need of show boxes or smaller cardboard boxes for our rainforest dioramas.  Please consider sending them in for this project.  Thank you!

• We have Spring vacation and no school the week of April 18th.  Students return to school again on Monday, April 25.

Have a great weekend,

Maria and Zoe

Family Newsletter

 Dear Families,

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, we focused on what we can do when we experience “big feelings”.  We talked about different situations in which the students sometimes experience these big feelings, such as in math when a problem seems hard, or in writing or reading when the task at hand seems difficult.  The students discovered that they sometimes have big feelings in social situations too, such as when they are asked to share materials or collaborate to play a game. We played a game called “In the river-On the bank” to explore these feelings and different strategies for how to solve them efficiently.  For the last few weeks, the students have explored different steps to calm down.  They are encouraged to first stop the activity and then name the feeling.  Then, they are encouraged to choose a strategy that works for them.  Some children prefer calm breathing, while others use positive self-talk, taking a quick break or another mindful activity.

• The students filled the classroom buzzy jar again!  This time, they voted for stuffed animal day again.  

Reading:

• This week, we started exploring nonfiction books in our guided reading groups.  The students learned how the nonfiction text features can help us navigate and better understand the topics.  This week, we primarily focused upon the importance of photographs and the table of contents to organize and present information.  The students had so much fun taking turns choosing which chapters we should read first since readers do not have to read these books sequentially!

• In partner reading, the students worked in small groups reading and discussed books about the rain forest.  They jotted down words/pictures on post-it notes, which we gathered on a class chart to show what new information we learned from these books.  Jotting down what you learn when reading nonfiction books is a powerful way for young readers to stay engaged with the reading process and it encourages deeper comprehension as it requires specific information to be written down and shared.  Perhaps you want to try this at home too when your child reads his/her own books?

Writing:

• First grade authors started their animal writing this week.  All the students have chosen a rainforest animal that they will learn to write about.  This week, they completed their table of contents and they started writing about what their specific animal looks like.  Each student received several photographs of their animals .  They were encouraged to use their own words to write sentences describing their animal in as much detail as possible.  They did a great job!  The students also started writing about the rainforest habitat, their second chapter in these animal books.  This week, we added a few sentences about the layers of the rainforest.  Lastly, the students used pebblego again to gather new information to place inside their books.  The students learned to “re-voice” what they learned and write it down using their own words.  Copying down word for word what someone else has written is discouraged since they will learn later in the upper grades about the importance of copyright and plagiarism.

First Grade Math:

• First grade mathematicians continued to deepen their understanding of clocks and telling time to the hour and half hour.  They participated in a unit assessment, showing their understanding of these concepts too.

• First grade mathematicians also continued to practice various strategies for “anchoring to 10” and the next decuple when solving addition problems and identifying numbers.  We played many new games together, but I think a new favorite is “Racoon”.  Ask your child to explain how we play this game while learning about “teen” numbers and “ty” numbers (ie thirteen is different than thirty, etc)

Science:

• First grade scientists learned about the tropical rainforest and its different layers this week.

• First grade scientists also learned about animal adaptations and survival techniques.  Through a series of experiments and hands-on activities in the next few weeks, we will explore how different animals have evolved to adapt to their respective environments.  We will eventually apply this understanding to our rainforest animals and learn how they have adapted to their unique environment.  This week, we specifically learned more about birds.

News and Reminders:

• If you have extra shoe boxes or paper towel tubes at home, please consider donating them to our classroom for our science unit.  The students will create their own rainforest habitat.  Thank you!

• Please read this message from the school nurse regarding return to school after illness:
  
  

We are seeing a spike in viruses other than COVID. We need to remember just because it isn't COVID we still don't want kids or adults coming to school and spreading "any" virus. 

If your child is sick, keep them home from school and other activities. If they have symptoms of COVID-19, get them tested. Talk to their primary care provider and school nurse about when to return to school.(VDH)

Students, teachers, and staff should stay home when they have signs of any infectious illness and be referred to their healthcare provider for testing and care.

This guidance emphasizes implementing layered prevention strategies to protect students, teachers, staff, visitors, and other members of their households and support in-person learning.(CDC)

Sore throat and runny nose are usually the first signs of a cold, followed by coughing and sneezing. Most people recover in about 7-10 days. You can help reduce your risk of getting a cold: wash your hands often, avoid close contact with sick people, and don’t touch your face with unwashed hands.

Common colds are the main reason that children miss school and adults miss work. Each year in the United States, there are millions of cases of the common cold. Adults have an average of 2-3 colds per year, and children have even more.(CDC)

See the CDC Link here: CDC Common Cold Protect Yourself and Others

Have a great weekend,

Maria