Update April 22nd

*Good Afternoon!  I hope everyone had a great vacation week.  I look forward to reading what you did over vacation tomorrow during Weekend News.

*The Friday before vacation, you should have received the first Distance Learning Bag (aka Blizzard Bag.)  Students are expected to return their bag by this Friday, April 27th in order to earn credit for a day in school.  If students do not return their bags, they will be marked absent on Saturday, April 28th.  Please let me know if you need any help from me to complete the work.  Students can return their bag any day this week.

*In Math, we will continue to divide shapes into equal parts.  We will also learn and explore with 2D and 3D shapes.  

*In Science, we will begin our unit on Sky Patterns.  Students will learn about the sun and moon and their roles in our universe.

*We're also learning about bird's eye view and creating maps in our social studies unit, Maps & Globes.

*In Writing, students will start to write their final draft of their informational writing on pond animals.  This process will take some time over the next several weeks to finish.

Update April 8th

*We had a great time visiting our 4th grade Book Buddies on Friday.  It had been so long since we saw them and the kids settled right in to read books and enjoy their buddies.  We'll welcome the 4th graders to Robinson in May.

*This Tuesday, April 10th we have School Store for first grade.  Please send no more than $2 for students to spend!

*On Friday, students are encouraged to wear blue, yellow and sneakers for a Boston Marathon Spirit Day!

*April Vacation is next week.  We will not be in school April 16-April 20th.  We'll return on Monday, April 23rd.

*This Friday, we will send home our first Distance Learning Bag for students to complete.  The theme of this bag is FROGS!  The first grade team had a lot of fun putting together fun and educational assignments.  Bags are due back to school before Friday, April 27th.  In order for students to receive credit for attendance, they will need to return their bags and completed activities.  I will be putting in attendance on Saturday, April 28th for all students.  Please let me know if you need anything to help your child complete their assignments.  In addition, if you're going away for April vacation and your child is going to be absent BEFORE April vacation, please send me an email letting me know!

*In Writing, we are continuing to gather research about pond animals.  This week, we'll research the food and habitat of our pond animals.

*In Math, we will begin Unit 8.  The focus of unit 8 is geometry.  Students will learn about polygons and equal shares of shapes this week.

Update March 30th

*On Monday & Wednesday we will go to the Library to research 5 famous Americans that we did not learn about in class.  Students will work in teams to learn about one American and share the information they learn with their classmates.  

*Wednesday, April 4th is a 12:20pm Early Release (yes, another one!)  We will have snack in the morning since students will not have lunch at school.

*On Wednesday morning, the students will see the 2nd graders play about famous artists! 

*We will continue learning about Maps and Globes.  This week our focus will be on compasses, compass rose and map keys.

*In Math, we will finish Unit 7 of Everyday Math.  We will learn about digital clocks.

*On Friday, we will walk to Crisafulli to visit our Book Buddies in 4th grade.  It's been quite a while since we've seen them so I'm sure everyone will be excited!

Update March 25th

I'm looking forward to being in school for a full week (almost) this week! It's been a while.  We do however have a 12:20pm Early Release this Friday.  Please send kids with snacks for Friday morning, since they will not have lunch before being dismissed.

*On Thursday, Dave McGillivary, the race coordinator for the Boston Marathon, will be presenting his book "Dream Big" to the school community.  We're excited to have Dave here.  He will teach the kids about never giving up!

*We'll finish up our Famous Americans unit this week.  Our focus will be on Ruby Bridges.  

*We will begin our Social Studies unit on Maps & Globes.

*In Math, we'll use different tools to practice addition facts, subtraction facts and skip counting.

Update March 18th

*We have another busy week this week!

Monday- We'll be heading to the Living Lab at the Day School from 9:10-11:00.  Please be sure that students are on time for school tomorrow so they don't miss the bus for this field trip.  Please dress for the weather and wear sneakers for this trip.

Tuesday- School Store for Grade 1.  Students may bring in money to spend at School Store.

Wednesday- Regular Day!  I will be out in the morning for an appointment.  Mrs. Carvalho will substitute (lucky kids!)

Thursday- No School- Parent/Teacher Conferences at night.

Friday- 2 Hour Delay- Students start their day at 11:00am.  Parent/Teacher Conferences before school.

*We will finally learn about Jackie Robinson this week (we've been trying now for a few weeks!)

*In Math, our focus will be on addition and shape attributes.

*In Writing, we will finish up our unit on Opinion Writing.  I look forward to sharing opinion letters with you at conferences.

Update March 12th

*We have another shortened week this week and we'll work hard to finish up assessments I had hoped to complete last week.

*In Math, we'll complete the Unit 6 Cumulative Assessment, which will assess student's knowledge of all math skills we've worked on so far in first grade.  We'll also continue work with fact families.  

*In Spelling, we'll finish writing the 100 high frequency words.  We will also begin a new spelling list.  As a first grade team, we've decided not to assess last week's spelling words since it was a review list.

*In Social Studies, we'll learn about Jackie Robinson.

*We will once again have Library on Wednesday this week.  This will allow students to return books and go to the Book Fair.  Book Fair information will come home in students BEE Binders on Monday afternoon.

*This Thursday, March 15th is a 12:20pm Early Release.  Students will not eat lunch at school but we will have snack in the morning.  Please send a note if there is a change to your child's dismissal plan.

*Parent/Teacher Conference sign ups begin on Monday, March 12th at 3:30pm.  Follow the link on the Robinson School website.

Looking Ahead:

*Thursday, March 15th- 12:20pm Early Release

*Thursday, March 22nd- No School - Conferences 2-8pm

*Friday, March 23rd- 2 Hour Delay- Conferences 8:15-10:45am

*Friday, March 30th- 12:20pm Early Release

Update March 4th

*We will have library on Wednesday this week.  Please return library books to school on Wednesday.  Thanks!

*On Thursday, we will travel to the Day School to visit the Living Lab.  We will be at the Day School from 12:35-2:25.  Students will do a lesson on Sky Patterns, which will prepare us for upcoming Science unit on the Sun, Moon and Stars!

*In Math, we will complete the Unit 6 math assessment.  I will share this assessment with parents during parent/teacher conferences at the end of the month.  We will also begin Unit 7.  Our focus this week will be Fact Families.  

For example:

2+3=5

3+2=5

5-2=3

5-3=2

*In Social Studies, we will learn about Martin Luther King Jr. & Jackie Robinson. Ask students if they can tell you facts about these famous Americans.  They should also be able to tell you a word they can use to describe them.

*We will assess students on the 100 power words this week.  We will do this over the course of 3 days.

Looking Ahead:

*Thursday, March 15th- 12:20pm Early Release

*Thursday, March 22nd- No School - Conferences 2-8pm

*Friday, March 23rd- 2 Hour Delay- Conferences 8:15-10:45am

*Friday, March 30th- 12:20pm Early Release