Our First Week of School!

WOW! What an amazing first week! These first graders are ROCKSTARS and have worked so hard this week. Check out what we’ve learned so far:

OUR LEARNING:

Morning Routine – We are practicing using our lockers, taking care of our blue folders, making our lunch choices, and starting our morning on the right foot. Here is a picture of your child’s morning routine here at school.  

Soft Start – No one likes to get right to the hardest jobs when we arrive to work in the morning! It’s helpful for our students to ease into the school day, too, by relaxing when they arrive. “Soft Start” is a time when students can chat with their friends, do a calm activity, and prepare for the day in a non-stressful way. We got to practice lots of soft start choices this week: coloring, play-doh, whiteboards, book boxes, blocks, putty, and more.

Reading – We learned how to be a “book buddy” this week! Our classroom library is full of books, and we practiced treating these books appropriately. We have some stellar readers in our classroom! In addition, each student got the chance to pick out a “beanie buddy” to read to. Here are pictures of our beanie buddies!

Bathroom Buddies – Since first grade classrooms do not have a bathroom inside the room, we are learning all about how to use the restroom quickly and appropriately. 

Classroom Rules – We have four important rules in our first grade classroom. This week, we have been practicing what each rule looks like and sounds like! Following these expectations helps our classroom be a safer and more loving place where everyone can learn. Our classroom rules are follow directions quickly, raise your hand to speak, make smart choices, and be kind. Ask your child if he or she can show you the hand motions to go with each rule!

Scoreboard – Mrs. Kuiper loves playing games at school! Our class plays the scoreboard game every single day. Students want to earn “Speedy Wolf” points so they can race toward the finish line! But, we earn “Slow Turtle” points when we are not following classroom rules, because it slows down our classroom learning. At the end of the day, if our class earns more “Speedy Wolf” points, we get a STAR! 10 stars = a class reward. 

Notes for Parents:

  • Please send in two snacks for your child each day. It works wonderfully if these snacks are in a spot in their backpack and not in their lunchbox; this saves first graders any confusion about what they should be eating for snacks and lunches! 🙂 
  • Information about classroom birthdays will be sent home with your child on Tuesday. This document is also linked here on our blog.
  • Please practice shoe-tying with your first grader! This is a BIG BIG help for us as we have lots of little shoes to tie each day. 

Upcoming Dates:

  • Tuesday, September 3 – ART
  • Wednesday, September 4 – STEAM, Library
  • Thursday, September 5 – MUSIC
  • Friday, September 6 – P.E.

Here are some more pictures from our FIRST week of FIRST grade!

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