This week in First grade...

Dec 15-18
This week we will wrap up our first semester.  We have had 76 days of amazing learning experiences in our classroom and I am so proud of my student's hard work! The Winter Party is right around the corner!  Our committee has been hard at work creating a great event for the Cowpokes.  Thanks to all of you who signed up to bring items for the party.  I am sure the children will have a great and memorable time. Hope to see you all on Thursday!

Now for the not so good news, we seem to have an illness going around our classroom.  I had the Flu (type A) over the weekend.  My symptoms were cough, fever, headache and sore throat.  If your child has similar symptoms I recommend that you take them to the doctor.  I was able to get TamiFlu which shortened my illness.   We have six little people out today!  We will disinfect our classroom and wash our hands frequently!! 

 REMINDERS

Monday: No reading folder, but please encourage your child to read over the winter break and take advantage of online resources such as Razkids, BookFlix, PebbleGo, and MackinVia.  We are going to make sure our usernames are in our Blue Agenda folders before we go on break.  All other passwords to online resources are printed in your brand new copy of the Caraway Directory!

Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please return signed Tuesday folders on Wednesday morning. No Math Homework- Have the kiddos work on iXL math for at least 10-15 minutes. Hopefully when I check our account, I will see 100 percent participation! ( Areas of focus: subtraction facts and problem solving)

Wednesday: Pajama Day (optional).  Have your child come to school in their Pajamas.  We will read the Polar Express book, make hot cocoa and watch The Polar Express movie while drinking hot cocoa.  This is a long time Caraway First Grade tradition!! 

Thursday: Last day of this semester. Winter Party! 1:30-2:30- Hope you can join us.

Dec 19- Jan 5: Winter Break! I wish you all a safe, and peaceful holiday break!

 READING

This week we will read our favorite holiday books including the Polar Express.  We will work on comprehension strategies such as identifying the plot (series of events that happen in order in the story), main characters, problem and solution.  We will also practice retelling, and summarizing the stories in our own words.


WRITING
This week we will learn and practice writing letters. We will learn that people write letters for different purposes.  Sometimes we want to express ourselves, or to tell some people about our feelings, our needs and etc. Other times we write letters to say "thank you", or make someone's day.  We will write short letters and put our ideas in logical sequence.  We will also learn about the conventions of letter writing such as date, salutation, body (text), and closing. 

MATH
This week we will work on making graphs and reading graphs.  Graphs allow us to put our information/data in an organized form and make it easier for us to understand the data. We will have some fun holiday related graphs such as gingerbread, reindeer, and snowman survey.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We will travel around the world and learn about customs, holidays, and celebrations. We will learn about the importance of various beliefs, customs, language, and traditions of communities and how communities celebrate their heritage. Our elf has been so busy traveling around the world.  This week, he is going to travel to Japan, and Germany.

THANK YOU!

Thank you for stuffing the folders, and being willing to help in the classroom or outside the classroom. Your helping hands and hearts are greatly appreciated!  I'm planning on sending out a 2nd semester volunteering schedule!

More than anything, thank you for supporting your child's learning at home.  Your child's success and education is a result of, us working together! So thank you for being a partner in your child's learning

Celebrations in England

This week in First grade...

Dec 8-12
We are rockin' and rollin' as we wrap up our first semester of First grade!!  

BOOK FAIR
There will be book fair at our library DEC 8 through 12.  The library books are not due this week. Please feel free to come by and visit the book fair.  The Book Fair is one of the BIGGEST fundraisers the Caraway Library does!!  Mrs. Letendre uses the money earned to purchase new, exciting and popular library books!!  The library is open after school until 3:30 and will stay open late on Thursday!!

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Monday: Homework folders come home.  
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please return signed Tuesday folders on Wednesday morning. 
Wednesday: Math Homework is due
Thursday: Library/book fair
Friday: Library/book fair

Reading and Math homework is due.  

 READING

This week we will explore a new genre in fiction: The Folk Tales.  We will learn about the elements of Folk Tales.  Folk Tales have animals with human characteristics as the main characters, and there is usually a lesson to be learned at the end of the story.While we read some of the most beloved children's stories such as the Three Little Pigs, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and The Little Red Hen, we will work on many comprehension strategies such as retelling the story (telling the events in logical order), and summarizing the story which is telling the important events in the story from the beginning to the end.  When we summarize we tell the important events in a short paragraph. We will also review main characters, setting and the problem and solution in the story.

RAZ-Kids:  http://www.raz-kids.com/main/Login

When you click the link if our class does not appear enter: mrsc4116

We sent notes home about login information in October.  If your child does not know their password please email me and I will send it to you!!  

WRITING
In writing we will continue writing facts about traditions and celebrations around the world. As our elf is traveling around the world, we will learn about many new traditions. 
Lat week we learned about traditions in United States, Israel, and India.  This week we will learn about Mexico and England.  We will also write a expository writing about the traditions and celebrations in our own family.

MATH
This week we will continue working on subtraction.  Last week, we practiced on many math problems that involved "taking away, separating from a set, taking a part away from a whole".  This week, we will focus on subtraction as a way to find the difference between two quantities, or a way of comparing two different quantities.  If team A scored 12 goals and team B scored 9 goals, how many more goals did team A score than team B? At the beginning of the year, the children learned to solve these kinds of problem by thinking addition: 9+ ?=12.  Now, they are learning that they can actually use subtraction to solve these kinds of problem: 12-9=3.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We are learning so much as our Elf, Frisbee, travels around the world.  He's been to NYC, Mexico and Brazil!! Next up we are sending him to European countries!!  We will travel around the world and learn about customs, holidays, and celebrations. We will learn about the importance of various beliefs, customs, language, and traditions of communities and how communities celebrate their heritage.

Doing some serious learning!

We were working in small groups this morning as we used books, computers and the iPad to research Holidays in the USA! After we worked with our partners we wrote facts about the holidays we celebrate with our families! 

This week in First grade...

Dec 1-5

Welcome back! It sure was nice to have the whole week to spend with my family!  I'm sure you all enjoyed your time off as well!

Early Release Day
Wednesday, Dec 3rd is an Early Release Day.  Dismissal is at 12:45
PTA Spirit Night at Newks starting at 5:00 p.m.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Monday: Reading folders come home.  Reading folders are due back on Friday.
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please return signed Tuesday folders on Wednesday morning. Math Homework
Wednesday: Return Tuesday folders
Thursday:
Friday: Library Day! All library books are due by Friday morning at 8:00. 

Reading homework is due.  

 Here is what we will be doing this week:

READING and WRITING
With the holidays approaching, for the next several weeks we will be learning about many different winter celebrations around the world. We will explore the customs and traditions in different countries by researching and recording some facts about their traditions. 

Before the break I attended an exploratory workshop on Project Based Learning.  It was incredible!  Project Based Learning is exactly what it sounds like.  

1. "Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to a complex question, problem, or challenge."  -www.bie.org

   We began our project to explore holidays and customs around the world today.  We asked questions such as, "What do we need to know to be successful on our mission?"  Our Elf, Frisbee, will travel the world to help bring us information.  Unfortunately, he will have to spend the night in the Elf Hospital for at least one night.  Hopefully, after a regimen of Peppermint Extract and Hot Cocoa 'round the clock he will be ready to help us on our Mission.  

   Today the students met in small groups and partnerships to make a plan.  One group, "Santa's Little Helpers" will decide what countries we will travel to based on our classmates heritage.  Another group will be our "Travel Agents".  They will arrange travel for our Elf and find out the best way to get to countries all over the world.  Another group will make a list of questions that have to be answered when our Elf goes to each country.  The last group will inform our Elf about the weather and seasons in each country so he can pack his suitcase and take the appropriate clothing.  Of course, we can't forget to include traditional clothing worn for a holiday celebration in each country.  

   I am so excited to see the learning going on in our classroom.  We will have a showcase the last week of school before we go on our Winter break!  

MATH
We will continue our double addition strategies and move on to subtraction. Subtraction names a missing part by taking away, removing or comparing to find a difference. We will use concrete and pictorial models including ten-frames, math racks, Base Ten blocks ad other manipulatives to represent word problem situations involving separating or comparing sets of whole numbers up to 20 where the unknown may be start, change, or result for joining and separating problems.

SCIENCE
This week in science we will learn about force and movement.  Energy causes force and force causes motion/movement.  Force can be defined as a "push" or a "pull" which causes objects to move in different ways such as straight line, zigzag, up and down, side to side, round and round and slow.  We will also explore magnets.  Magnets can pull or push certain objects.  The push and pull caused by magnets is also a force.

As always, Thank you for supporting your child's learning at home.  I want to extend a special Congratulations to Adithya for being on the Top 10 list of Sticker Earned for iXL!!  He is one of two first graders!  Way to go, Adithya!!

Have a warm week!