Archive of ‘Class News’ category
Notes for Parents:
- Friday journals were NOT sent home before spring break… we will pick these back up when we come back!
- A new word list was NOT sent home this week. The next list will come home the Monday we return from spring break!
CELEBRATIONS:
Spring Fling – To celebrate spring, first grade had spring fling! Students played bingo, drew a peep, did spring yoga, and more.
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – To wrap up our persuasive writing unit, students got to choose their favorite persuasive letter to send to someone! If your child wrote to you, feel free to write back to them.
Word Study – We focused on learning tricks to remember how to spell snap words this week. One trick is an acronym for ‘family,’ “Father And Mother I Love You.” Another trick is using our hands to make the word ‘bed.’
Reading– While we got to know our characters better this week we looked for clues to make our acting just right, imagined new endings to stories, and thought about the audience we were reading to. It has been a great March is Reading Month. We enjoyed celebrating with your children and can’t believe all the growth they have shown.
Math- This week we took our Unit 5 test! It was a tricky unit for our kiddos with a lot of different skills mixed in. Please take some time to look over the questions to gain a better idea of where your child is at. Keep practicing tens and ones at home! After break, we will be starting Unit 6: Comparisons and Data.
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, April 12
- Tuesday, April 13
- Wednesday, April 14
- Thursday, April 15
- Friday, April 16
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to ADRIAN for always seeing challenges as opportunities to grow!
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – This week, students practiced editing their persuasive letters. We practiced rereading and asking ourselves, “Does it make sense?”, correcting our capital letters and punctuation, using the word wall to spell snap words correctly, and stretching out the sounds in tricky words.
Word Study – Students learned that the /er/ sound in the middle of words is usually made by ir or ur. One strategy to figure out which one is correct is to try writing it both ways to see which one looks right. We also studied some different spellings of the /air/ sound: are, ere, air, and ear.
Reading – This week while getting to know our characters we- imagined what characters might say by using the pictures, worked to smooth out our voices, and tried putting ourselves in the character’s shoes.
Math – We used a 100 grid to help us add and subtract groups of ten. Then, we practiced adding groups of ten to any 2-digit number using a variety of strategies such as 10-stick drawings, math mountains, and mental math. Next week we will take our test for this unit!
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, March 29
- Tuesday, March 30
- Wednesday, March 31
- Thursday, April 1
- ART
- Wear your pajamas for comfy reading!
- Friday, April 2
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to GABE for always having a positive mindset and seeing the good in everything!
First Grade Family Time – Here are our Family Time award winners from this week!
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – This week we continued our persuasive letter writing unit. Students began writing their own letters asking for more homework, new books for our classroom library, and more!
Word Study – We started learning about bloopers we might make while writing tricky words. Bloopers are actually GREAT for us, because we learn from our mistakes! We also started learning about bossy R and the way it changes vowel sounds (ar, er, ir, or, ur).
Reading– In reading as we worked on continuing to get to know our characters we paid close attention to the end, worked to use all the pages of the story, matched our voices and body gestures to the feelings while we read, and thought about what was happening while we were reading.
Math- We continued working with story problems, and we focused on how the unknown number can vary from problem to problem. They were also introduced to problems with three addends (partners). This is a tricky skill that we will continue to build on! Please take some time to look over the first quiz from this unit that came home in your child’s folder this week.
Social-Emotional– This week for conflict resolution we learned about ways to solve a problem. One strategy we tried was using “I feel..” statements.
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, March 22
- ART
- Wear crazy socks for Rock Your Socks to celebrate World Down Syndrome Awareness Day!
- Tuesday, March 23
- Wednesday, March 24
- Thursday, March 25
- Friday, March 26
- ART
- Library
- “Hoedown” wear jeans day! You can even add a belt or boots if you’d like.
Notes for Parents:
- Please continue to read with your child for 20 minutes each night. For March is Reading Month, students who read for 20 minutes, 5 times a week (100 minutes total) will be entered into a book raffle and will also get to pick out a new desk pet each Monday!
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to XANDER for always caring about his classmates!
First Grade Family Time – Here are our Family Time award winners from this week!
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – We began our Persuasive Writing unit this week! Our class worked together to write a letter to Mr. Waldie asking for one-to-one computers for our classroom. We practiced using a greeting, topic sentence, three reasons, a mini moment, conclusion, and closing in our letter.
Word Study – We added /aw/, /au/, and /igh/ to our vowel teams chart. Then we wrapped up Unit 4- Word Builders by building Vowel Town. The kids had a lot of fun with this! Help your child hunt for these sounds when s/he is reading!
Reading– We are starting a new fiction reading unit this week. This unit is all about getting to know the characters in our books. We practiced taking a sneak peek to get to know the characters, worked on looking for important characters, and worked to understand our character’s feelings by looking at facial expressions, body language, and gestures.
Math- This week we started Unit 5. We worked on solving story problems with unknown partners using teen numbers and reminded students of the make-a-ten strategy. We focused on using whatever strategy best helps them solve these problems- math mountains, scooping and counting up (or down), and/or making a ten.
Social-Emotional– We are starting a new unit. This unit is all about conflict resolution. We will start with a story- Little Penguin’s Big Fight.
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, March 15
- Tuesday, March 16
- Wednesday, March 17
- Thursday, March 18
- Friday, March 19
- PE
- Library
- “Wild about Words” – wear a shirt with words on it
Notes for Parents:
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to AMIN for his hard work and love for reading!
First Grade Family Time – Here are our Family Time award winners from this week!
Pizza Ranch Retell – Our class had a blast at our pizza parlor on Friday. Students practiced reading books making retell sandwiches. They looked just like chefs in their aprons and chef hats! At the end of the day we celebrated with some yummy pizza.
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – We ended our Review Unit this week with one final book review and spent this week publishing our best one. We sent home all of our review writing to go over with you during parent-teacher conferences.
Word Study – This week we learned about the vowel teams oi and oy which make the same sound but look different. We also learned about the vowel teams ew and ue.
Reading– We wrapped up Unit 3 this week. We have learned so many tools for understanding our books. Our last focus was on sounding like a “Reading Star.” We are also so excited for all our special March is Reading Month events. We encourage you to find fun ways to read with your child at home to “mix it up” this month. Read to a stuffy, flashlight read, FaceTime a relative to read them a story, find something fun to help beat the end of winter blues!
Math- This week we took our Unit 4 test. Tests were sent home and we will review them with you at parent-teacher Conferences.
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, March 8
- MUSIC
- Parent Teacher Conferences
- Book Fair Preview
- Tuesday, March 9
- Wednesday, March 10
- Thursday, March 11
- Friday, March 12
- MUSIC
- Library
- Dress like a cowboy/cowgirl – wear flannel or plaid
Notes for Parents:
- March is Reading Month will begin next week! Please continue to fill out your student’s reading log each time you read together. Students who read 20 minutes each night (100 minutes a week) will be entered into a book raffle.
- Thank you so much for everyone who signed up to donate an item for our classroom pizza parlor next Friday! Please remember to send $1 in an envelope labeled “Mrs. Kuiper” in your child’s blue folder by next Friday, March 5th.
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to HARRISON for always seeing each day as a fresh start and an opportunity to grow!
First Grade Family Time – Here are our Family Time award winners from this week!
Star Prize – Our class earned another 10 star prize this week and celebrated with a pajama day on Friday!
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – We began our final bend, book reviews! Students picked their favorite books and started writing convincing book reviews.
Word Study – We learned about the two sounds that the vowel team ‘oo’ can make. Sometimes it says /oo/ as in ‘school’ and other times it says /oo/ as in ‘book.’ Our class mascot, Rasheed, returned from his construction adventures this week. The students were so excited to see him again.
Reading– We tried making movies in our minds as a strategy to help us think about what is happening in the book. Focusing on who’s talking in our book, we looked at dialogue. We made sure we were reading the best words and getting the job done quickly.
Math- We learned how to add a 2-digit + 1-digit number together (e.g. 49+7) by grabbing the bigger number and counting on the smaller partner. Next week we will be taking our Unit 4 test!
Black History Month- This week we learned about Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden. These female African American mathematicians worked as computers and helped put US astronauts on the moon.
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, March 1
- Tuesday, March 2
- Wednesday, March 3
- ART
- Pizza Parlor supplies due
- Thursday, March 4
- Friday, March 5
- PE
- Fast Friday
- Wear a cowboy hat, bandana, or handkerchief
Notes for Parents:
- Friday journals were sent home yesterday. Please take a minute to write back to your child! Even a sentence or two will brighten your child’s week.
- Please have your child continue to practice zipping his/her coat and tying his/her shoes at home!
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to CELIA for always being brave and not being afraid of making mistakes!
First Grade Family Time – Here are our Family Time award winners from this week!
Star Prize – Our class earned another 10 star prize this week and celebrated with a GoNoodle dance party!
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – We learned more about writing reviews and practiced making comparisons, writing catchy introductions and conclusions, and editing our writing with peers. Next week we will begin our final bend, book reviews!
Word Study – We learned about the diphthongs ‘ou’ and ‘ow’ which can both make many different sounds.
Reading– We continue to be the boss of our reading. We used words we know, snap words, and tried different sounds to make sure we are sounding fluent and understanding our books.
Math- We completed our second math quiz for the unit! It was all about place value and being able to identify how many tens and ones there are based on a drawing. We also began comparing 2-digit numbers using <, >, or =.
Social Emotional– We LOVE that our focus this month is Kindness. This week we took it a step further and talked about spreading and seeing kindness throughout our school. Each student spread kindness by making a special card for somebody that they love!
Black History Month- This week we learned about Henry “Box” Brown, a brave man who mailed himself in a box to escape to freedom.
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, February 22
- Tuesday, February 23
- Wednesday, February 24
- Thursday, February 25
- Friday, February 26
Notes for Parents:
- Friday journals were sent home yesterday. Please take a minute to write back to your child! Even a sentence or two will brighten your child’s week.
- Please have your child continue to practice zipping his/her coat and tying his/her shoes at home!
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to REAGAN for always doing her best and not worrying about other students’ choices.
First Grade Family Time – Here are our Family Time award winners from this week!
Mystery Reader – Addison’s mom surprised us as a mystery reader this week!
Valentine’s Party – Students played Valentine’s bingo, graphed their candy hearts by color, made a special Valentine’s craft, and did a Valentine’s directed drawing!
Star Prize – Our class earned their 10 star prize this week… Mrs. Kuiper came to PE with the class!
OUR LEARNING:
Writing – We continued learning how to convince our readers through persuasive writing! Students chose what they wanted to review this week. Games, movies, toys, restaurants, and vacations were among the many topics that students wrote reviews about.
Word Study – Rasheed is visiting construction sites in New York City to learn about how to be a word builder. We’ve been helping him use vowel teams to build some tricky words. This week, we learned about the vowel teams ai and ay, and we started making our own vowel team charts.
Reading– We started to think about our reading in terms of the whole book we are reading and not just the individual pages or pictures. We worked on keeping track of what’s happening in the book and using the story to problem solve. When reading a tricky word we thought about what words would fit in the story and also reminded ourselves to continue to slow down and break words into parts.
Math- We continued working on place value and drawing ten-sticks and circles to represent numbers. We place practiced comparing numbers using >, <, and =.
Social Emotional– This week we continued to talk about Kindness. We specifically focused on how we can be kind in our class.
Black History Month- This week we learned about Ruby Bridges and had some very important conversations about her bravery and courage.
Chinese New Year- We spent this week learning about the Chinese New Year. Students watched a few videos, read “How to Catch a Dragon,” learned how to write “good luck,” and made this special dragon display for our hallway!
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, February 15
- Tuesday, February 16
- Wednesday, February 17
- Thursday, February 18
- Friday, February 19
Notes for Parents:
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.
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, February 8
- Tuesday, February 9
- Wednesday, February 10
- Thursday, February 11
- Friday, February 12
- PE
- Valentine’s Day Celebration
- Wear Red for Chinese New Year & Valentine’s Day
- Library
Notes for Parents:
- 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.
- Please take a moment to read how we will do Valentine’s cards in first grade![embeddoc url=”https://emilykuiper.edublogs.org/files/2021/01/ValentineCards.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]
- 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!
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, February 1
- Tuesday, February 2
- STEAM
- 100th Day Celebration
- Wednesday, February 3
- Thursday, February 4
- Friday, February 5
- Early Release
- Chinese New Year Celebration (wear red to school)
- Monday, February 8
