Here is the supply sign up for our Valentine’s Day party! Please send in supplies by Wednesday, February 10th.
Please review with your child how to zip his or her coat over this long weekend!
CELEBRATIONS:
100th Day of School – Our class had so much fun dressing up like we were 100 years old for the 100th day of school. One of my favorite moments was a student telling me that I actually looked 400 from all of my drawn-on wrinkles!
Mystery Reader – Addison’s grandma surprised us as a mystery reader this week!
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – This week we did a fun writing activity on the 100th day of school! We wrote all about what we think our lives will be like when we are 100 years old. We continued our unit on writing reviews and added a few new tools to our writer’s toolbox. Students learned how to respectfully disagree, give awards for last place, and quote others.
Word Study – We’ve spent this week “building” the middle parts of words. Lots of words contain vowel teams in the middle, so we learned about ea, ee, oa, and ai. We’ve been practicing building bigger words using these vowel teams!
Reading– We continued to work on being the boss of our own reading. We read to self check, set new goals for our reading, and practiced how to get help when we need it. We can work together with our reading partners to solve hard words.
Math- We practiced drawing out double digit numbers using ten-sticks and ones. Also, we continued working on understanding tens and ones and how we can group ones into tens. This is a skill that will be used all throughout the unit to help our first graders begin to work on addition problems with double digits.
Social Emotional– This week we started a new unit with Little Penguin all about Kindness. We read Little Penguin’s Kindness Contest and got some ideas on how to help make other’s hearts happy and our own heart too!
Black History Month- We watched this video about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and read the book Richard Wright and the Library Card.
We will be celebrating the 100th day of school on Tuesday, February 2nd! To celebrate, we will be dressing like we are 100 years old. This is completely optional, but here are some ideas if your child is interested in dressing up.
Here is the supply sign up for our Valentine’s Day party! Please send in supplies by Wednesday, February 10th.
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to LIAM for always learning from his mistakes and using them as opportunities to grow!
First Grade Family Time – This week, Mr. Waldie joined us for First Grade Family Time! He talked about the importance of SOARing at Georgetown.
Mystery Reader – Elliott’s mom surprised us as a mystery reader this week!
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – We began Unit 3, Writing Reviews this week! Our unit kicked off with the great cookie debate… the oreo vs. the chocolate chip cookie. Students used opinions, reasons, and examples to argue why the oreo or chocolate chip cookie was better, and of course, we had to taste test! Then we began reviewing our collections to find the “best in show.” To do this we put everything in a line, compared the same thing on each, and decided which was the best and why.
Word Study – We began Unit 4 which is all about being word builders. Using unifix cubes with word parts on them, we practiced “building” big words together!
Reading – This week we ended Unit 2, Reading to Learn About the World. It has been great to see the kids become so interested in non-fiction books and they are doing well picking out the non-fiction features. We started Unit 3, Readers be the Boss- Say I Can Do This! We are excited to continue to build our students’ confidence in reading and continue to let them take ownership of their learning.
Math – We continued working on tens and ones and learned a new strategy to solve addition problems. Students can make a 10 and then add the remaining number to find the total!
The Annual PE Apparel sale is happening now until February 1. The store is online only. For more information go to the PE Blog. http://mvankoev.edublogs.org
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to EMILIE for always striving to learn more and be a kind friend!
First Grade Family Time – Here are our “award-winning” first graders from this week’s family time.
Mystery Reader – Ariya’s mom surprised us as a mystery reader this week!
OUR LEARNING:
Writing– This week we practiced writing our very own nonfiction book! We researched by looking at pictures in real books and used what we learned to add more details to our writing.
Word Study– We focused on snap words this week! We learned some new snap words, relearned some tricky snap words, and practiced building longer words with snap words inside of them.
Reading– We are coming to a close of our nonfiction reading unit. The kids have just loved it and tying it in with writing has been great. This week they found interesting facts to share with a partner, practiced reading with feeling, reading like a writer, and looked for keywords.
Math– This week we began unit 4 of math! We learned how to add groups of 10 together (60+10=70), write equations for teen numbers (10+5=15), and build numbers with ten sticks and circles.
Friday Journals were sent home on Thursday. Please take a few minutes to write back to your child this weekend. We will be reading these during our morning meeting throughout the week.
The official end of Semester 1 was Friday, January 15th. I’ll be finalizing report cards and they will be sent home Friday, January 22. Unfortunately, we won’t meet together until March for Parent-Teacher Conferences. I will do my best to be as thorough as possible and give explanations. Please know that we will continue to use the 1, 2, 3 scoring (while 3* is on the report card as advanced, we do not use this score). 2’s are totally acceptable and mean your child is growing on their way to where s/he needs to be by the end of the year.
The Annual PE Apparel sale is happening now until February 1. The store is online only. For more information go to the PE Blog. http://mvankoev.edublogs.org
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to MADI for always cheering others up.
Mystery Reader – Reagan’s mom surprised us as a mystery reader this week!
OUR LEARNING:
Writing– This week we practiced writing with details and helping readers pictures by using comparisons. We also practiced making lists in our nonfiction books and fixing up our books by pretending to be a reader.
Word Study– We practiced using ALL of the things we’ve learned about word to help us figure out big, long words! We also learned the importance of having a vowel in every syllable of a word, especially when we are writing words.
Reading– This week we tried to figure out what to do when we learned new words. We looked at clues around the word to see if we could find a way to figure out how to read the word and what it meant. We also worked on finding key words and making our voices sound smooth and fluent while we read.
Math– We took our Unit 3 test this week! Next week we will begin Unit 4 which will focus on place vale.
Social Emotional– We learned more about the parts of the brain (amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex) and how they control our emotions.
Friday Journals were sent home again today. Please take a few minutes to write back to your child this weekend. We will be reading these during our morning meeting throughout the week.
Please continue to read baggie books with your child EVERY night for 20 minutes.
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to REAGAN for always saying “I’ll try.”
First Grade Family Time – Here are our “award-winning” first graders from this week’s family time.
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – We continued our unit on nonfiction writing and began writing another nonfiction book. We practiced teaching with pictures as well as words, spelling domain-specific words, and using readers to point out parts of our stories that don’t make sense.
Word Study –We continued examining common word endings to make sure we read all the parts of words. We practiced hunting for blends and chunks at the ends of words (such as ing, ink, est). When we know these word parts well, we can read and write bigger, multisyllabic words!
Reading– This week we continued to work on making good habits for when we read hard words. We practiced crashing small word parts we knew together to make the whole word, doing a slow check to check all the sounds, and checking if the words looked right, sounded right and made sense. We didn’t let hard words get in our way!
Math– We are wrapping up unit 3 which has been all about story problems! We took our last quiz and spent the remainder of the week reviewing for our test next week. This can be a tricky unit for our kiddos due to increased reading and figuring out what the numbers represent (partner or the total). We will continue to practice and build on these skills!
Social Emotional– This week we picked back up with Little Penguin- Emotions and the Brain. We are continuing to learn about self management of our own emotions. We learned about the parts of the brain (amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex) and how they control our emotions.
Thank you so much for the generous cards, gifts, and love! I feel incredibly thankful to have the best job in the world. Teaching your children is such a blessing. I hope you and your families have time to relax and make memories together over the next two weeks.
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to RYLEIGH for always showing kindness.
First Grade Family Time – Here are our “award-winning” first graders from this week’s family time.
Holiday Party – Thank you to all of the parents who donated supplies to help make our holiday party a success. We had so much fun!
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– We continued our nonfiction reading unit! We worked on chatting about nonfiction books and doing a nonfiction 5-finger retell.
Writing – We finished up our All About Christmas books!
Math – Students solved mixed addition and subtraction story problems. They are really getting the hang of finding the total and partners, then making a math mountain to solve.
Word Study – This week students learned that digraphs can come at the end of words, too!
Social Studies – We traveled to India, America (where we learned about Kwanza), Mexico, Germany, and Sweden. Our class was especially excited to make gingerbread houses in Germany!
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to SUTTON for always being true to herself!
First Grade Family Time – Here are our “award-winning” first graders from this week’s family time.
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– This week we began our nonfiction reading unit! We worked on taking a sneak peek at non-fiction books, studying each page, and thinking about the topic before, during, and after reading.
Writing – We have been working on our All About… Non-Fiction Writing. We finished up Lions this week and started All About Christmas.
Math – We continued work with story problems. We focused in on subtraction story problems and addition story problems with a missing partner. First graders can solve these problems by making a math mountain! Please continue having your child do 5 minutes of MobyMax fact fluency each evening.
Word Study – We started our Tip to Tail Unit! This unit is about looking at words all the way through. We have been focusing on word endings this week. We have looked at -ing, plurals (s/es), and -ed.
Social Emotional – Our Kindness North Pole Ninja came for a visit! He brought us a kindness book and a challenge for each day!
Social Studies – This week we traveled to England, France, and Israel! We learned all about how people in these countries celebrate the holidays.
We made it through our first week of remote learning! I am looking forward to seeing all of your children back at school for in-person learning on Wednesday, December 9th. Here are all of the items that you need to send back with your child:
Specials-to-go bag
Gym Shoes
Blue Folder
Baggie Books
Please leave everything else at home in a safe place. If we have to do remote learning after our 2-week holiday break, this will ensure that your child already has learning materials at home!
When we return to in-person learning, we will be learning all about holidays around the world and celebrating together at our holiday party! We will be doing crafts, making gingerbread houses, and even having a Polar Express party. Shhhh… these will be surprises for our class! We will need some supplies to make these activities a success for our first graders. If you would like to donate something for our holiday festivities, please sign up here. Donations will be due by Friday, December 11.
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – We began our new unit on nonfiction writing. We worked together to start a nonfiction book all about lions!
Math – We began our new unit on finding the missing partner in addition equations.
Reading – This week we learned about letter twins (2 consonants in the middles of words), sticky letters (3 letters at the beginning of a word before a vowel), contractions, and compound words!
*This is the schedule we will follow every day EXCEPT Wednesdays. On Wednesdays we will have a morning meeting at 9:00 am and then flex time. Please view my Calendly to make a one-on-one appointment with me during Wednesday morning office hours.
The annual P.E. C.A.R.E.S food drive began on November 4. We are asking for your help by bringing in non-perishable food items for Love Inc. in Hudsonville. Food items to consider are canned vegetables and fruits, pasta, rice, baked beans, black beans, kidney beans, peanut butter, tuna fish, etc. (please no ramen noodles, and please do not break apart packaged food) The food drive will continue until Nov. 18. We will be keeping track of how many items each class brings in. The class with the most items brought in by NOON on Nov. 18 will win a P.E. C.A.R.E.S t-shirt and a bowling trip to Hudsonville Lane. (If allowed this year) This is a great opportunity for our students to care for their community, to teach our kids compassion and love for others. Thanks for sharing in this service project with us at Georgetown.
Our class will be previewing the Scholastic Book Fair on Tuesday, November 17th and shopping on Thursday, November 19th.
I am looking forward to virtual parent teacher conferences this week! Please fill out this form before our conference to help make the most of our time together.
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to EMMITT for always making smart choices!
First Grade Family Time – Here are our “award-winning” first graders from this week’s family time.
Mystery Reader – Madeline’s mom surprised us as a mystery reader this week!
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– This week we learned more about snap words! Snap words help our reading become easier and also help us solve more tricky words.
Writing – We continued working on our very one how-to writing pieces. Students also learned more about 5 star writing!
Math – We reviewed addition and subtraction at the beginning of the week and had our unit 2 test on Wednesday! Our class did great, I am so proud of their hard work and determination in math!
Word Study – This week we learned about the vowel teams ee and ea, which both say the long e sound in words. We also spent some extra time reviewing the bossy e that makes the other vowels say their names.
