Well, we're back after an unexpectedly long weekend! I am sure the bonus time at home was spent polishing up those 100-Page Books. :) If not, you will probably be pleased to note that the 100th day of school is now no longer February 15. The students have written the new date in their student planners. Check your child's planner for the date!
Morning work was a football maze and coloring sheet. The Question of the Day was: Did you try blowing soap bubbles outside? We talked about this during our morning meeting. After this, we headed to the auditorium for a second quarter celebration assembly. There were classroom shout-outs and reminders about behavior expectations.
Arnav shared his Student of the Week board. We learned that he would like to be a zookeeper when he grows up, one of his main talents is drawing, and he has visited Legoland. We are a week behind in our Student of the Week schedule so if your child has not had a turn, please plan accordingly.
The super bonus word in the Unit 18 Spelling Test was housekeeping. After this, we examined the Unit 19 words, identified antonyms, and solved analogies.
Our schedule for specials classes has changed somewhat for the new marking period. The first change took place today. On Z Days, the students now have art class in the morning right before lunch instead of in the afternoon. This makes for a long period of togetherness in the classroom, so we will have our recess break in the afternoon on Z Days.
The melting snow has made our playground a bit of a wetland. There were quite a few children with wet clothing and shoes after lunch recess. Some of the dampness was accidental or unavoidable, but some could have been prevented. We chatted about this. Please continue to have your child wear boots to school. He/she can then change into dry footwear while inside. Thank you!
The day's math lesson focused on both the commutative and associative properties of addition. Moving around the numbers and grouping them in different ways does not effect the outcome when adding. The first graders put this into action when solving addition problems with three addends. An important part of today's math class was having the students share the different ways they used to come to the same answer.
We officially ended our study of matter by taking home the crystal trees today. This was optional as the trees were quite fragile and not likely to survive the trip home. In fact, some did not make it to the auditorium! Our new science unit will see the first graders become geologists and explore a variety of earth materials. Today, they examined three different types of rocks and made observations using their senses of touch and sight. Ask your child about the rocks! We will return to these rocks, with the addition of a new variable, for more observations tomorrow.
The first graders ended the day by creating their February calendar of events. Even though this is the shortest month, it will be the only one with two Taste events! Taste of Europe will take place on Wednesday and Taste of Africa is tentatively scheduled for February 28.
Please check backpack mail for a trip slip for our next field trip. Several other trips have been planned for the remainder of the year. You will receive a chaperone sign-up sheet for these trips in backpack mail tomorrow.
We will learn about Chinese New Year tomorrow!
Morning work was a football maze and coloring sheet. The Question of the Day was: Did you try blowing soap bubbles outside? We talked about this during our morning meeting. After this, we headed to the auditorium for a second quarter celebration assembly. There were classroom shout-outs and reminders about behavior expectations.
Arnav shared his Student of the Week board. We learned that he would like to be a zookeeper when he grows up, one of his main talents is drawing, and he has visited Legoland. We are a week behind in our Student of the Week schedule so if your child has not had a turn, please plan accordingly.
The super bonus word in the Unit 18 Spelling Test was housekeeping. After this, we examined the Unit 19 words, identified antonyms, and solved analogies.
Our schedule for specials classes has changed somewhat for the new marking period. The first change took place today. On Z Days, the students now have art class in the morning right before lunch instead of in the afternoon. This makes for a long period of togetherness in the classroom, so we will have our recess break in the afternoon on Z Days.
The melting snow has made our playground a bit of a wetland. There were quite a few children with wet clothing and shoes after lunch recess. Some of the dampness was accidental or unavoidable, but some could have been prevented. We chatted about this. Please continue to have your child wear boots to school. He/she can then change into dry footwear while inside. Thank you!
The day's math lesson focused on both the commutative and associative properties of addition. Moving around the numbers and grouping them in different ways does not effect the outcome when adding. The first graders put this into action when solving addition problems with three addends. An important part of today's math class was having the students share the different ways they used to come to the same answer.
We officially ended our study of matter by taking home the crystal trees today. This was optional as the trees were quite fragile and not likely to survive the trip home. In fact, some did not make it to the auditorium! Our new science unit will see the first graders become geologists and explore a variety of earth materials. Today, they examined three different types of rocks and made observations using their senses of touch and sight. Ask your child about the rocks! We will return to these rocks, with the addition of a new variable, for more observations tomorrow.
The first graders ended the day by creating their February calendar of events. Even though this is the shortest month, it will be the only one with two Taste events! Taste of Europe will take place on Wednesday and Taste of Africa is tentatively scheduled for February 28.
Please check backpack mail for a trip slip for our next field trip. Several other trips have been planned for the remainder of the year. You will receive a chaperone sign-up sheet for these trips in backpack mail tomorrow.
We will learn about Chinese New Year tomorrow!