ANNOUNCEMENTS & SHENANIGANS:
It’s hard to believe that we are about halfway through our first grade year together! The children have worked so hard and have made tremendous academic progress since August! I just love watching their confidence blossom!
We had a special treat at school on Thursday when the Grisham band, orchestra, and choir came and put on a holiday concert for us.
We also had a guest reader this Friday. Blake’s dad came by and read to us. We love having parent readers. They always look forward to seeing their families in the classroom.
We loved learning about our friend Ethan this week while he was the superstar.
WINTER PARTY
Our winter holiday party will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 19th from 2:00-2:45 and will be a very exciting time for the first graders. We encourage you to come and be a part of the fun that day and spend some special time with your child. Our wonderful room moms, Ricki and Shweta, have put a lot of time into planning this party and making sure that it’s a memorable one for our kids!
Thank you to those parents who have already signed up to help with the party. Please make sure to complete the necessary district background check before the party. It takes about 72 hours to process and is requirement before volunteering in the classroom. It must be completed each school year. Click here to fill out the volunteer application.
HEADPHONES AND NEW SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS:
We would like to have each child in first grade have their own set of headphones. They will be helpful as we continue to use iPads and integrate laptops into our classrooms. Too many noises coming from various computers can pose a problem, so having their own headphones is necessary. You can find inexpensive ones at places like Target or Five Below. Please send a pair of headphones with your child’s name on them in a Ziploc baggie. The headphones are needed when they return from the Winter Break. In addition to the headphones, we are asking that children bring a new spiral notebook to school after the Winter Break to be used during our Math Workshop time. We have been documenting our learning and have gone through much of the notebook already. Thank you for your help with these needed supplies.
SUPERSTAR: Our Superstar this week is Asha! We are really excited to learn more about our special friend. She will be our last superstar of 2018! We are excited to learn about more friends in 2019!
This past week,we spent an hour learning computer code under the guidance of our Instructional Technology Specialist, Donna Owen. She gave great insight into the world of computer science and explained the computer language of coding. The students were fully engaged in the process and persevered through some really fun challenges. What smart, tech-savvy students!!
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
Dec. 14: Parent Reader (Nidheesh’s Family)
Dec. 19: Winter Party
Dec. 20-Jan 7: Winter Holiday, No School
Jan 8: Students return to school
Jan. 21: MLK Holiday, No School
THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE…
READING:
– Review features of traditional literature: fables, folktales, and fairy tales
– Read & respond in writing to literature
WRITING:
– Continue to write brief stories of interest
MATH:
– Partition 2D figures to make equal parts
– Read and understand fractions that represent halves and fourths
– Discuss time to the hour and half hour
SOCIAL STUDIES:
– Continue our study of holidays and celebrations
HOMEWORK FOR THE WEEK:
-
Read 10-15 minutes each night.
-
Record 4 reading responses a week (Mon-Thurs.).