This week in First Grade...

Feb 23-27
It's going to get cold this week!  Hopefully, cross your fingers, this will be the last cold snap of the season!  We will continue to go outside unless it is below 32 (or the wind chill is below 32) so please send your child with warm coats and other appropriate items!  


PHOTOS NEEDED
This week we will be working on timelines in social studies and would love for the students to put some of their life events in chronological order.  Please send 3 photos of your child, at different ages by Wednesday 2/25.  For example, one from the time they were a baby, one when they were a toddler or in pre-school and one recent photo.  Please keep the photos 4x6 or smaller size.  We will be gluing them to construction paper, so please don't send any that you want back in perfect condition.  If it is easier to email them to me I would be happy to print them out at school. This will be such a fun project!


SIX FLAG READING LOGS
Six Flag reading Logs (optional) are due on Wednesday, February 25th.  Wouldn't it be fun to try to meet there and go together?!?!

 REMINDERS

Monday: reading folders come home.
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home.  Please  return the signed Tuesday folder the next day.
Wednesday:  
Thursday: Talent Show: Canyon Vista Middle School at 6:00 PM
Friday: Library Day.  All library books are due by 8:00 AM

Homework is due!

READ ACROSS AMERICA WITH DR. SEUSS
This week we will honor the life and work of Dr. Seuss.  Read Across America is a nationwide reading celebration that takes place annually for Dr. Seuss's Birthday.  We will read a biography about Dr. Suess and learn about his life.  We will also read some of his most beloved stories such as The Cat in the Hat, Wacky Wednesday, Green Eggs and Ham and Oh! The Places You'll Go! We will retell the stories, make connections and discuss the characters.


WRITING
In writing we will be writing stories with elements of realistic events and imagined events.  Being motivated by Dr. Seuss writing, we will write stories about incorporating our own ideas. Our stories could be a small moment in our lives that are blended with some exaggeration, or untrue events that could spice up our stories. Oh, the Places our stories will go!!

MATH
This week we will wrap up our unit on place value.  We will continue to work on number lines and place numbers on a number line based on their value.  We will use the place value to compare whole numbers up to 99 using comparative language such is greater than or less than. We have had good practice in the last couple of weeks on composing numbers (joining parts to make a whole number) or decomposing a number (breaking a number into parts).  This week, we will work on fact families which includes joining the parts together to make whole and decomposing the whole into parts.


SOCIAL STUDIES
Last week we learned about the life and inventions of two great inventors, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison.  This week we will learn about another inventor, Garrett Morgan.  We will also learn and work on Timeline which is a picture of events arranged in chronological order.

This week in First grade...

Feb 17-20

Thank you to everyone for donating your time, talents and supplies to our Valentine Party!  The students loved celebrating their friendships and enjoyed eating ice cream sundaes!  Thank you as well for all of my treats!  The flowers are still beautiful and the candy is being shared with my family!  I truly appreciate your kindness!


HOMEWORK FOR THIS WEEK
Since this week is a short week, I will not be sending the reading homework home.  However, please encourage your child to read books from RAZkids.   There was Math Homework in your child's Tuesday folder. Math is due on Friday!

 REMINDERS

Monday: President Day.  Student Holiday.
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home.  Please  return the signed Tuesday folder the next day.
Wednesday: Guidance Lesson with Mrs. Reyes 
Thursday: 

Friday: Library Day.  All library books are due by 8:00 AM

READING and WRITING
This week we will be using our research skills and learn about two important presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  We will ask open-ended questions and develop a plan for answering these questions.  Our plan includes exploring a variety of sources such as books, digital books, Pebble Go, and Brain pop Jr, recording the information we gather, and organizing our ideas and information in our writings.   

MATH
We will continue working on place value.  We will work on number lines/number track, locate and place numbers on a number line based on their value.  We will compare the place value of whole numbers up to 99 using comparative language such as greater than or less than. We will use symbols such as >, < or = to compare the numbers to 99. We will work on problem solving involving ordering the numbers from least to greatest or greatest to least.


SOCIAL STUDIES
This week we will learn about a few historical figures such as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Garrett Morgan, and Richard Allen who influenced our nation by their individualism and inventiveness. We will learn about their inventions and the contributions that these important people made to our lives.

Thank you SOOOOO Much!!

I'm so excited to have so many parents willing to come in and read, write and help in our classroom!  

This week in First grade...

Feb 9-13

Our PE performance was amazing!  Great job to everyone who participated! 

We have a couple of exciting events planned for this week, celebrating 101 day of school on Tuesday and Valentine's Day on Friday.  The class list for valentine exchange were sent home in the Reading Folders yesterday.  Please feel free to send the Valentines.  We will make bags to collect our valentine cards.

VALENTINE'S PARTY and OPTIONAL PAJAMAS DAY
Our Valentine's  Day Party will be on Friday from 1:15-2:15.  It is also an optional Pajamas Day.  The children can come to school in their Pajamas if they would like to.  We will have CHOCOLATE FEVER!!

 REMINDERS

Monday: Reading folders come home.
Tuesday: I will be out on Tuesday due to district Planning Day.  Ms. Kim will be my sub.
Wednesday: Tuesday Folders will come home.  Sorry, we forgot!
Thurday: 
Friday: Library Day.  All library books are due by 8:00 AM  Reading folder is due. Valentine's Party (1:15-2:15)

Monday, Feb. 16:No school.  President's Day

 READING and WRITING
This week due to the special events, we have some fun reading and writing activities.  On the 101 day of school, we will imagine ourselves being 101 years old! We will write about how we think we will look like, do, or not do. I can't wait to see what the children will come up with. It should be lots of fun to read their writing. In relation to Valentine's Day, we will write an imaginative story about a time that we ate too much chocolate! We will also craft a sweet, heartwarming writing about "love".

MATH
This week we will go back and review "Place Value".  We will use concrete and pictorial models and compose and decompose numbers to 99 in more than one way as so many ten blocks and so many ones.  For instance, the number 45 can be shown with 4 ten blocks and 5 ones.  But it could also be represented as 3 ten blocks and 15 ones. We will use the place value to compare whole numbers up to 99 using comparative language such is bigger than or less than. We will use symbols such as >, < or = to compare the numbers to 99.


SCIENCE
Last week in science we learned about natural resources.  This week we will discuss how important natural resources are to us and why we need to conserve natural resources, reuse, recycle or reduce. The students will think about why it is important to conserve fresh water, recycle materials and not to pollute the environment.

This week in First Grade...

Feb 2-6

Please mark your calendar for Tuesday, February 3rd.  Our P.E coaches along with our fantastic first graders have planned a great performance for all of us!  Please be here at 6:15.  If possible, girls wear red shirts and boys wear white shirts.  All children must wear tennis shoes.  I hope to see you there!

I have two things to share with you...

1. We've started a fun Friday Tradition!  Friday Morning Dance Party!  We move it, move it to get our body ready for our last day during the week!  It's been fun so far!  Here's a picture of our dance party!

2. This month is Black History Month.  There are a lot of topics that might be discussed in our classroom.  When learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we discussed the need for equal treatment and being kind.  As a first grade team we decided not to enlighten the children about the fact that our fellow Americans were treated differently because of their skin color.  We encourage kind treatment of everyone not matter their differences.  We will briefly discuss Americans such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and many others.  We will do our best to make these American's contributions first grade friendly!

VALENTINES PARTY
Our Valentines Party will be on Friday, February 13th (1:15-2:15).  Please check your child's folder on Wednesday for a class list and have your child make a small valentine for each classmate.  You may choose to buy these from stores or have your child make their own valentines. We have almost two weeks, so there should be plenty of time for the kiddos to write their classmates' names on their valentines. The students can start bringing their valentines to school starting the week of Feb 9th.

 REMINDERS

Monday: RAZ-Kids and iXL for homework this week!
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please return signed Tuesday folders on Wednesday morning. 
Wednesday: Early Release Day. Dismissal is at 12:45.   
Thursday: 
Friday: Library Day.  All library books are due by 8:00 AM

 READING and WRITING
This week we will still continue our unit on research. As we ask questions about a topic and find out some information in books, magazines and internet, we realize that sometimes we come up with more questions.  We record things that we learn and questions that we still wonder about.  We are also learning about the importance of recording the information in our own words.  In other word we are learning how to paraphrase.  We will also learn what information are important.  Sometimes authors add some interesting facts, but not all are important for us to remember.

MATH
This week we will wrap up our unit on 2-D shapes. We have learned so much about different shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, trapezoids, circles, ovals diamonds and rhombuses.  We have learned about their attributes such as the number of straight sides, corners, curves and so on.  This week, we will learn about dividing our two-dimensional figures into two and four and decide whether or not the parts are equal or fair share.  We will use vocabularies such as equal parts, fair, not fair, same size pieces, half, fourth, fourths, quarters or a quarter of.


SCIENCES
This week we will learn about the natural world including rocks, soil and water.  We will learn about the physical properties of soil and sort different types of soil based on particle size, color and texture.  We will explore and discover about some useful products that we can make using rocks, soil, and water.