Update January 29th

*On Monday, we will welcome a new student to our classroom.  I'm excited to welcome her in and I know the students will be welcoming, inviting and a great help!

*On Tuesday, we will have School Store for first grade.  The students will have time to shop at School Store in the morning. Please remember that $2.00 is more than enough for students to spend.

*On Friday, we will have Patriot's Spirit Day to cheer on our New England Patriots.  Students are encouraged to wear red, white and blue or Patriots clothing.

*On Friday, we will walk up the Robifulli trail to the Crisafulli School to meet with our 4th grade Book Buddies.  We always look forward to seeing our book buddies and reading with them.  Please dress students for the weather.

*In Math, we will finish up the Unit 5 Assessment and the Mid-Year Math Assessment.  The assessments that students completed last week showed great growth in math concepts.  We will also play math games and finish up math journal pages.

*In Writing, we will continue to talk about facts and opinions.  Students will write about their favorite fruit and provide reasons for why they think their fruit is the best.

*In Social Studies, we will learn about Abraham Lincoln and Clara Barton.

Update January 22nd

*Tuesday, January 24th is School Store for First Grade.

*In Math, we will finish up Unit 5.  This week we will focus on comparing numbers and finding the difference between 2 numbers.  Students will learn a game called the Difference Game.

*In Writing, we will shift our focus to Opinion writing.  During this unit, students will learn about the difference between fact and opinion.  They will also begin to write opinion pieces with reasons to support their opinion.  This week, we will write about our favorite fruit.

*We will finish up our unit on Light and Sound in Science.  Starting this week, we will begin to learn about famous Americans in Social Studies.  We will begin with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln this week.  We will create a large timeline featuring all of our famous Americans.  

Update January 13th

*There is no school Monday, January 16th and Tuesday, January 17th.

*We will have spelling homework this week.  The new spelling list will be going home today, January 13th.

*In Math, we will do more exploring with base 10 blocks and place value.  We will also focus on measuring and comparing larger numbers.  We have learned lots of math games this past week that can be played with a regular deck of cards (A-10.)  The games are "Before & After," "Addition Top It" and "The Digit Game."

*In Science, we will finish up our unit on Light & Sound.  Students will explore "How do people use light and sound to send messages.  The class will work in teams to create a secret code that uses light or sound.  They will use the code to play a game similar to "Simon Says."

*On Friday, we will assess students on handwriting.  This informal assessment is given bi-monthly to assess student's progress in handwriting.  At this point, I am looking for students to be starting letters at the top, using mostly lowercase letters and checking and fixing sinkers and floaters.  Ask your kiddos what a sinker and floater are.

*We are in need of plastic forks and spoons for snacktime.

Update January 2nd

Happy New Year! I hope you had time to rest and relax with family and friends over the holidays.  We will start back at school tomorrow (Tuesday.)  Later this week, we will introduce a new class fish to our classroom.  I hope to get to the Pet Store after work on Tuesday to pick out the perfect addition to Room 3.  Students will help name of the fish and take care of it.

*On Friday morning, we will welcome our 4th Grade Book Buddies to Robinson.

*There will be no spelling list this week.  Spelling will start back up next week.

*In Math, we will begin the 5th unit of Everyday Math 2.  Our focus this week will be on place value.  We will use base 10 blocks and coins to study the ones and tens places.

*In Science, we will continue our study of Light and Sound.  This week, we'll explore homemade instruments and how their materials make us hear noise.

*In Writing, we continue to edit stories for punctuation, spelling and adding details.  

Looking Ahead:

Monday, January 16th- No School MLK Jr. Day

Tuesday, January 17th- No School- Professional Development

Update December 16th

*Thursday- All school holiday sing-a-long.

*Friday, December 23rd- 12:20pm Early Release

11:00am- Winter Party- No snack is needed this day. We will have snack at our party.

No School December 26-January 2nd.  We will return to school on Tuesday, January 3rd.

*We will finish up Unit 4 of Everyday Math.  The students are excelling in making sums of 10 and adding 3 numbers together.  We will assess students progress in math during the week.

*There will be no spelling list this week or the week we get back from vacation.

*In Science, we will answer the question: How Are Shadows Made?  We will experiment with light and paper gingerbread people.

*We will continue learning about holidays this week.  Our focus this week will be on:

*Las Posadas

*Kwanzaa

*Eid & Ramadan

*St. Lucia Day

*Christmas

*I want to wish you and your families a happy winter break.  Thank you for all you to do to support your child at school.  They are all excelling and showing great growth.  Thank you!

Update December 11th

*This Tuesday, we will have school store for first grade in the morning.

*We will begin to learn about Fall/Winter holidays this week.  The holidays we will focus on throughout the next two weeks are:

Diwali

Hanukkah

Las Posadas

Kwanzaa

St. Lucia Day

Christmas

*In Math, we will finish Unit 4 of Everyday Math.  Our focus this week will be on combinations of 10, adding 3 numbers together and 10 more/10 less.

*In Writing, we will continue to talk about adding ending punctuation, adding fancy words and details to our stories.

*This week in Science, our focus will be on whether light goes through all materials.  We will do an experiment focusing on using a flashlight to shine light through many materials.

*As our weather turns to snow in the forecast, please remember that students need proper attire to play in the field at recess.  Please consider sending in snow attire in a reusable shopping bag with your child's name on it.    Reusable shopping bags stand up on their own and do not break which is helpful in our crowded coat room.  In order to play in the field, students need:  boots, snowpants,  a winter coat and gloves.

Looking Ahead:

*Friday, December 23rd- 12:20pm Early Release

We will have our holiday party this day.  You do not need to send in snack.  Thank you Ruthanne Madsen for organizing this party.

Monday, December 26-Monday, January 2nd- No School

We will return to school on Tuesday, January 3rd.

Update December 5th

*This Thursday, December 8th is a 12:20pm Early Release.  We will have snack in the morning.

*On Friday, we will walk to Crisafulli for Book Buddies.  We will leave around 9:15 and return around 10:30.  Please dress appropriately for the walk through the woods.

*In Math, we will collect and represent data through graphs, work on double facts (2+2, 4+4) and explore with shapes.

*Last week, students produced pieces of writing to show all they've learned so far in first grade.  I was so impressed with their writing.  I will be making copies and sending them home this week.  Additionally, this week we will work on adding fancy words and interesting endings to our stories.

*In Science,  we will begin a new unit called "Light and Sound." This week, we will observe how light can help you see.  We will play a game called "spotlight," observe different types of light and write a story about light.

*Mrs. Kane will come to our classroom on Wednesday to read our next Care to Read book, The Other Side.