Weekly News

WEATHER
We will go outside for recess every afternoon unless it is raining, extremely icy, or below 18 degrees F. Please send your child to school with adequate winter gear. Extra layers, boots, snow pants, mittens, hats, scarves, and gloves make a world of difference on these chilly days. Also, this is the season for chapped lips and dry skin. Feel free to send your child with chapstick or lotion in their backpack to apply during the day.

MORNINGS
School starts promptly at 8am. The classroom doors open at 7:55 to ensure that students are ready to begin work and learning at 8 am. Students arriving after 8:05 will be marked tardy and should report to the main office to sign in

WORD WALL WORDS
be      go      so     from     they

READING HOMEWORK
In an effort to acknowledge the many activities you already do at home and the rich discussions you are already having, and to change things up a bit, there will be a new format for reading homework, called READ-O, similar to BINGO.  On this week’s homework, you will see a 5x5 grid in the place of the reading record sheet. You and your child may choose 5 activities in a row to complete throughout the week. Of course you may do more than 5! You might choose different activities each week or stick to some favorites. I’ve attached a copy of the read-o for you to keep at home as a reference.

*If you and your child are in a great routine of reading 15 minutes a day and would like to stick with that, feel free to record your reading on a piece of paper and turn it in with your homework.

COMMUNITY
We are continuing to focus on friendship and strengthening our community. We have talked about it throughout the year, but these past few weeks we have especially focused on the many meanings of fair. Fair can mean everyone gets the same thing or the same amount of time. Some examples of this definition include: same size piece of birthday cake at a party, rotating through the Leader of the Day job so everyone gets a turn, and everyone getting to learn at school. The more confusing definition of fair is the one where fair means that each person gets what he or she needs, even if it is not the same. Some examples of this definition include: giving extra snack to someone who did not eat breakfast, getting time with a special teacher to learn English, taking a movement break to move your body so that you can do your best listening, using a guide dog to walk if you are cannot see. We were very impressed by the children’s ability to think about and discuss this challenging topic. Like many things, this is easier to talk about, and tougher to understand in the moment. Having these discussions have laid the groundwork for understanding when issues arise and the question of fair comes up. We will continue to discuss this topic and examples of these different type of fair.

SCIENCE
You may have noticed the many facts we already know about teeth posted on our door. We will continue to dive deeper into the topic of teeth. In the coming weeks we will learn about the importance of teeth, the different types of teeth and their jobs, we will do experiments to learn about the enamel of teeth and cavities, and we will learn about how to take care of teeth.

MATH
We began chapter 8 in our math curriculum. This chapter focuses on Symmetry, Doubling, the Quarter and the fractions ½, 1/3, and ¼. We will work to get the doubles addition facts stuck in our brains (1+1. 2+2,… 10+10), so that this will help us in the future to add doubles plus 1 and doubles plus 2 facts. (For example, when you see 6+7, think “I know 6+6=12 so 6+7= 13). We will practice doubling with coins and objects. 

SNACK
Please check in with your child about lunch and snack. Maybe it’s a growth spurt, or the weather, but many children are still feeling hungry after they have eaten their entire snack and/ or lunch. We are thrilled that the children are taking time to eat all of their food, rather than talking so much they forget to eat.

FIRST GRADE WISH LIST
We welcome donations of the following items for our classroom:
•    Glue Sticks
•    Thick and thin markers

ASK YOUR CHILD…
These questions can be conversation starters to discuss the week in school.
•    Ms. McDonnell read 3 Helen Lester books in Library on Wednesday, which book did you like best?
•    What are we reading lots of Dr. Seuss books this week?
•    What sport are we learning to play in PE?