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Monday, February 24, 2014

Week of February 24th

Wow!  There are only two more weeks of this quarter.  It is crazy how quickly it has flown by.  Thank you to all the parents who helped out at our field trip either by being a chaperon or by donating snacks.  The children had a grand time and we all enjoyed seeing all the animals.

As always, we have a busy week ahead of us.

Literature: This week we are studying "Rumpelstiltskin."  We had a fun time reading the story this week.  Throughout the week we will work on sequencing, and writing summaries.  We are also starting to work on writing better sentences.  We have started talking about what makes a sentence and how to make it more interesting.  We will continue to work on this throughout the rest of the year.  Please note that as we are working on getting the children ready for second grade, we are also going to be checking homework a little more closely and expecting high quality work.

Science: This is our week where we will be studying sharks.  This is always an exciting unit for the kids as we get to draw and paint life-size sharks.  This year we will also be making dolphins with our sharks.  We will be painting on Thursday morning.  If any parent, with a fingerprint clearance card, wants to come and help us, please send me an email and I will let you know the definite time.

History: We are starting to wrap up our unit on the Revolutionary War.  We will end this unit talking about some of the important symbols of our nation.  We will specifically talk about the American Flag, the bald eagle, and Washington D. C.  We will finish the week with a fun review of the Revolutionary War.

Upcoming Events: 

Field Day is on Wednesday, March 5 for Kindergarten and 1st grade.  Students do not need to wear their uniforms on Field Day as long as they wear athletic clothes instead.  Students are also permitted to bring hats and sunglasses to use while on the field.  Please remember to put sunscreen on your child also.  Please note that while this is a fun day for the children, unfortunately, we cannot have parents who are not signed up to volunteer come and watch.

Spring Break is March 8-16.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Week of February 18th

Welcome back from our three day weekend!  Thank you to everyone who sent in snacks and goodies for our Great Heart's Day celebration.  The students had a fun time and we all enjoyed celebrating a week of friendship.

This week will go by quickly with only four days of school and one of those being a field trip.  All the students are so excited for the field trip.  It will be a great week this week!

Literature: We are learning about Sleeping Beauty this week.  We will read the story, do some sequencing of events, fill out a vocabulary worksheet, and do some creative writing all having to do with Sleeping Beauty.

Science: We are still learning about Oceans.  This week we will keep talking about tides and what causes the tides.  We will also talk about tide pools and what you can find in a tide pool.  Finally, we will begin to talk about sharks.

History: In history, we are still learning about the early colonies to independence.  This week we will focus a couple of days on George Washington and who he was.  We will also start talking about some of our American Symbols starting with the Liberty Bell.

Field Trip: We are very excited for our field trip this week.  We will leave the school by 8:30 and be back around 2:30 or 2:45.  Please remember to put sunscreen on your students in the morning.  Also, please send them with a lunch that is in a disposable bag with disposable containers and a disposable water bottle.

         

Monday, February 10, 2014

Week of February 10, 2014

We have a week full of lots of fun things.

Literature: We will be talking about friendship all week in celebration of Great Hearts' Day.  We started by talking about friendship today and writing a letter to a "secret" friend.  We will make these letters into a card later this week and then they will exchange these cards on Friday.  We will also read the poem, "Sing a Song of People" by Lois Lensky and read The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.  

Science: Today we talked about the lantern fish and we will get to make one this week.  We will also be talking about what makes the ocean salty.  We have two experiments that we will get to do in relation to the salt in the ocean.  At the end of the week we will talk about waves and what causes high and low tides.  

History: We started the week off talking about Thomas Jefferson and his important role in writing the Declaration of Independence.  The rest of the week we will be talking about Benjamin Franklin and the important contributions that he made to our nation.  In connection with this, we will read Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares in reading groups.  If you have not sent yours in, please send it in as soon as possible.  

We will also have a small celebration on Friday in honor of Great Hearts' Day.  Our classroom liaisons are helping to plan the celebration and it should be a fun time for the kids.  

Please remember to send in your Ben Franklin books and to register for the Field Trip.  The registration for the field trip ends on Wednesday.  You can register here: http://archwaychandler.org/component/content/article/92-general/409-wildlife-world

Have a wonderful week.  

Monday, February 3, 2014

Week of February 3, 2014

Welcome back to a new week!  We are excited to announce that we are going to have a 1st Grade field trip on Friday, February 21 to the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium.  I will send you a link sometime this week in order for you to sign your child up for it.  We will also be looking for 7 parent volunteers to join us.

Here is the curriculum for the coming week.

Literature: Today we discussed the saying, "It could always be worse."  Tomorrow we are going to start studying Rapunzel.  We will spend the week talking about the story and its different story elements.  We will also get to talk about adjectives that describe Rapunzel.

Science: This is our week on Whales.  We will talk about the two different types of whales.  This afternoon we made the Orca Whale (which can also be considered a dolphin).  We will also talk about the Norwahl, the Beluga Whale, and the Humpback Whale.

History: We will continue to talk about Colonial America.  We started the week talking about Paul Revere and his midnight ride.  We will also talk about the first battle of the Revolutionary War.  Finally, we will end the week talking about the Declaration of Independence and making our own Declarations of Independence.  
We hope you have a marvelous week!