Weekly Update 2/28

Field Day was a day filled with laughter, excitement, and friendship! We had a blast playing games and cheering each other on. We even participated in an opening and closing ceremony. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We loved having many families join the festivities and cheer us on today. Thank you for all the ways you supported this day for us.

Important upcoming dates:

3/4: Kindergarten graduation pictures (students will be wearing a hat so please consider this when doing hair)

3/7: Early Dismissal at 12:30

3/10-3/14: Spring Break

Upcoming Quarter 4:

3/28: Spirit Wear, Birthday Book club & Treat Friday

4/5: Fine Arts Festival at Archway Lincoln with Usborne Booksale

5/9: Kindergarten Field Trip - more information soon

***Kinder celebration will be held on May 21rd at 11 am***

Spalding:

Our goal is to continue building recognition of the 70 phonograms and the weekly words. With the words, we talk about why the letters say the sounds referencing the rules so that there is an understanding of which phonogram to use. These words are most often sight words so we also hope they will recognize these words in the in books they are reading. Keep encouraging writing at home through random words as well as building sentences. Practice with this is crucial for 1st grade. Make sure as you practice you keep switching the order to give them the best practice. 

Literature:

We are nearing the end of Mr. Popper's Penguins. We have now seen the Popper's take the penguins on tour to perform a show. It has been fun to read about how the music Mrs. Popper played told the penguins what to perform. We also finished our Fairy Tale unit by talking about Snow White. We learned that the story version is a bit different than the version we have been familiar with. Our weekly poem this week was Jack Be Nimble. We talked about how it isn't smart to jump over a lit candlestick but some people in the past thought it would bring you good luck. In Grammar, we also practiced retelling short stories using the words First, Next, and Last.

Math:

The scholars reviewed addition equations this week as we wrapped up our addition unit. Most students favor the number line or counting on as a tool to help them solve problems they do not know; however, a good number of students are using their fingers to find the answer. We also focused on the "friends of ten" again. Knowing the facts of 10 is critical for future levels of math to have automaticity in knowing which numbers can make ten. Please take the time to practice this skill at home with your scholar. The more automatic it becomes for your child, the easier mental math will be later!

History:

We learned about another important President this week- Thomas Jefferson! The students learned that he served as Vice President before becoming our third President. They understand that while he accomplished many great things in his life, the most important is his involvement in writing the Declaration of Independence. We discussed the significance of this document and how it allowed Americans to be free from England's rule. Knowing that he was one of our most important Presidents, they were eager to guess which forms of money he is found on. 

Science

We spent this week digging more into invisible forces by reading two books investigating gravity, air, and movement. We recognized how gravity works, experimenting more with ramps with various objects and demonstrating how some objects can be moved up the ramp using magnetism. We also had fun exploring how a straw can use the force of air to move objects. We observed that objects with more mass fell faster and that using the force of air had many factors to consider before determining if the object would move.

Weekly Update 2/21

  Important upcoming dates:

3/4: Kindergarten graduation pictures (students will be wearing a hat so please consider this when doing hair)

3/7: Early Dismissal at 12:30

3/14-3/15: Spring Break

3/28: Spirit Wear, Birthday Book club & Treat Friday

4/5: Fine Arts Festival at Archway Lincoln with Usborne Booksale

4/18-21: No school

**Field Trip for Kindergarten is scheduled for May 9- more info to come **

***Kinder celebration will be held on May 21st at 11 am

Check out what we learned this week:

Spalding:

Please continue to review phonograms 1-70 by focusing on 10-15 cards each night. Remind your child seeing, saying, and hearing each phonogram will help their brain catch on faster. Then, please encourage them to use those phonograms as they read and write. We have been working very hard in school to practice writing sentences, remembering Capitals and spaces, sounding out, and punctuation. 

Literature:

We are also coming to a close of our Fairy Tale unit and read Cinderella this week. We discussed Cinderella's kind-hearted actions towards her family at the end of the story. For Poetry, we read Sing a Song of Sixpence and learned many vocabulary words we did not know. We also found many rhyming words. In grammar, we read multiple short stories and shared how the characters behaved in the story by creating a retelling using the words First, Next, Then, and Last. 

Math:

This week in math we finished learning all of our addition strategies. Once the scholars choose the method they are most comfortable and confident in we like to encourage them to continually solve their problems that way. Now that we know the "how" and "why" behind addition, we can move on to becoming quicker at solving the answers and eventually memorizing our math facts. We will continue to practice addition with sums to 10 for the next week to really cement the addition process for the students.

History:

We discussed the importance of President's Day and why the holiday causes schools to be closed. The students understand that this is a day to honor and celebrate our current and past Presidents of the United States of America. We learned about our first President, George Washington, who is often called the father of our country. They were eager to guess which coin and bill George Washington's face was on! We were excited to learn that President Washington loved animals. 

Science:

As we began wrapping up our unit on forces, the students investigated the theory of magnetism. We recognized how magnets are attracted to certain things, which feels like a strong pull. We discovered what was magnetic and what was not. We also learned that sometimes magnets repel away from each other, which feels like a strong push. We noticed that magnets have a North and South pole, which is what determines if they will attract or repel the other magnet.

Weekly Update 2/14

Great Hearts Day was a day spent making a card and bracelet for a friend in our classrooms. Thank you for helping us make the day a success.

Important upcoming dates:

2/17: No school - President's Day

2/28: School Field Day

3/4: Kindergarten graduation pictures

3/7: Early Dismissal at 12:30

3/10-3/14: Spring Break

3/21: Spirit Wear, Birthday Book Club & Treat Friday

4/5: Fine Arts Festival at Archway Lincoln with Usborne Booksale

4/18-4/21: No School

**Field Trip for Kindergarten is scheduled for May 9- more info to come **

***Kinder celebration will be held on May 21st at 11 am

Check out what we learned this week:

Thank you for helping us celebrate our first Great Hearts day, where we discussed friendship. We enjoyed reading stories and making a friend a friendship bracelet for someone in our class. We continue to remember the golden rule: treat others how you want to be treated. 

Spalding

We have learned all 70 phonograms and will spend the remainder of the year reviewing and practicing them. Continue to support our practice by having your scholar tell you the sounds from the cards by giving them the sounds and having them practice recalling the letters on the paper. These essential skills help them develop their reading and spelling independence for 1st grade!

Literature

We continued reading in our chapter book Mr. Popper's Penguins. The family began designing a Penguin show by adding music to the penguins daily activities such as play fighting, marching and tobogganing, in hopes of having them perform on stage. Our Fairy Tale unit continues by taking us across the ocean to a German story called The Bremen Town Musicians, where a group of animals team up to go on a journey. We talked about teamwork and making new friends. For Grammar, we spent the week reviewing our story, The Lion and the Mouse. We spoke of the First, Next, and Last of the story's most important events. 

Math

Our math lessons included more addition strategies this week. The students continued to use the manipulatives and ten frames and number lines to solve the equations. We know that many students have memorized some facts, which is excellent! However, we would like to focus on the ability to use multiple ways to find the answer instead of "being correct." Please help us in this endeavor by asking your students to show you more than one way to solve an addition problem. So far, we have practiced using manipulatives (blocks/counters), ten frames, drawing pictures, and number lines. There will be plenty of time to memorize facts, but we are focused on the "how," not the answer.

History

This week, we continued our exploration of America by learning all about President's Day. We learned about the two most famous Presidents who inspired this holiday, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. It started as a regular holiday on February 22nd until 1968 when it was mandated that all Federal holidays occur on Mondays. Yay for the introduction of the three-day weekend! We also learned about the positive influence of Theodore Roosevelt. We owe all our beautiful National Parks to him.

Science

In our Pushes and Pulls unit, we started learning about other invisible forces that can make objects move, aside from physically pushing or pulling them, such as gravity and magnetism. We discussed how all life activities are affected by gravity, such as people coming back down to the ground after the jump. We noted how various objects move and which fall faster, such as a bouncy ball and a feather. We discussed outer space and what astronauts experience when there is no gravity. We also learned about a scientist named Sir Isaac Newton. 

Weekly Update 2/7

  Important upcoming dates:

2/8: Daddy-Daughter Dance 6-8:30 pm (tickets on Payment Portal)

2/11: Class picture day

2/14: Great Hearts Day - A celebration of Friendship (NO valentines)

2/17: No school - President's Day

2/21: Birthday Book Club, Treat Friday, Spirit Wear Day

2/28: School Field Day

3/4: Kindergarten graduation pictures

3/7: Early Dismissal at 12:30

3/10-3/14: Spring Break

**Field Trip for Kindergarten is scheduled for May 9th- more info to come **

Check out what we learned this week:

Spalding

We have learned all 70 phonograms and will spend the remainder of the year reviewing and practicing them. Please continue supporting our practice by having your scholar tell you the sounds from the cards and giving them the sounds when unsure. Also, stress giving them the sounds and having them practice recalling the letters on their paper without seeing the phonograms. These essential skills help them develop their reading and spelling independence for 1st grade! Please encourage them to seek out their phonograms in the books they read and start writing sentences by sounding out and determining the phonograms that work. 

Literature

We have now made it halfway through Mr. Popper's Penguins, and they have added ten baby penguins. They have also decided to take the penguins on tour around the country. We are excited to read what happens. With our unit on Fairy Tales, we read the story Little Red Riding Hood this week and discussed the importance of following directions and listening. In poetry, we read Little Miss Muffet and found all the rhyming words. We also talked about how to be brave and face our fears. We also began our new monthly poem, Rain, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Please remember to practice this at home as well. In grammar, we worked on using have, has, and had in sentences. We continued talking about how sentences tell us when something will or has happened. We also continued our practice of retelling stories by remembering the author's words and describing the pictures the illustrator drew. 

Math:

We took a hands-on approach to introduce our addition unit to the students by incorporating number bonds and manipulatives. We began by emphasizing the concept of combining two groups to find the total, relating back to our previous learning of number bonds. Then as we moved forward we used tangible objects like counters, blocks, or other manipulatives to help us act out the addition equation and find the answer. Physically moving objects will help make the learning of addition more concrete to our students and is an essential step in Singapore math.

Science:

This week, the students applied their push and pull knowledge to create an obstacle course! We brainstormed ideas as a class about how we could implement barriers and different surfaces into our course to ensure it had different types of motion. In addition, we related our knowledge of pushes and pulls to other everyday items in which we use these forces, such as pushing a grocery cart or pulling open the refrigerator. We also enjoyed investigating push, pull, and force with a mini golf club. We set up a target area to see how well we could make the ball stop in the correct location. 

History:

This week the children learned all about Symbols of the United States. We discussed the Statue of Liberty. The children learned that the Statue was a gift from France in 1885 and was designed by Gustav Eiffel (famous for a certain tower in Paris!) We also learned that the statue has 354 steps to the top, and 25 windows are in her crown. Another symbol we discussed was the White House. We learned this is where the president lives and it has 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 different levels! The children have enjoyed learning about the symbols of our country.