October 28, 2013

Welcome back to a new week of First Grade!

It is hard to believe that it is already the end of October.  As the weather gets cooler and kids are bringing in jackets/sweaters, please remember to have their names somewhere on their jacket/sweater.

Literature/Reading: We will continue to read Frog and Toad in reading groups this week.  If you are able, please sign up for a day to come in and help with reading groups.  In literature this week, we will be learning about the Fairy Tale Jack and the Beanstalk.

Science: This week we will talk about Food Chains and the important role they play in our environment.  We will also assemble our Habitat poster boards.  Finally, we will talk about adaptations and the different ways that animals adapt to their environment.

History/Geography: As we continue to study Egypt this week, we will focus on heiroglyphics, papyrus, and the Great Sphinx.  The kids are having a lot of fun learning about Ancient Egypt, be sure to ask them about all the fun things they are learning.

Reminders: 

• This is the last week to send in items for the Medieval Faire for the auction basket.  http://www2.signupgenius.com/go/20F044CABA92F4-medieval

•  Remember to sign-up to help with the Medieval Faire. Every family is asked to volunteer for 2 - 30 minute shifts at the Faire.  Sign-up lists will be coming soon.  
• Mark your calendar for he Winter Music Concert on December 3.  
• Picture retake day is this Friday, November 1.  

Week of October 21, 2013

Today is the last day of our half-day schedule.  We will be back to our regular schedule next week.  Here are a few of the things we will be learning next week.

Literature/Riggs/Reading: This week we finished up all the Cinderella stories.  Next week we will get to learn the meaning of both "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" and "Practice make perfect."  We will also read and study the story The Pied Piper of Hamelin.  In Reading groups we will be starting our Frog and Toad books.  Please make sure that you have sent it in by Monday.  We have not had as many Riggs tests this week because of the shortened schedule but the tests will pick up again next week.

History: In History, we are still learning about Ancient Egypt.  In particular, we will continue to learn about camels and how they are able to live in desert climates.  We will also start talking about papyrus, scribes, and hieroglyphics  The students will also continue to work on their Egypt books.

Science: Next week we will finish our study of Rachel Carson and learn about the American Prairie habitat.  On Friday, we will complete an animal report together as a class about a prairie animal.  As mentioned in an email, we will be assembling our Habitat poster boards next week so please make sure you have sent in your black poster board.

Reminders: 

• Send in Frog and Toad.
• Send in a black poster board.
• Sign up to help with the Medieval Faire basket: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F044CABA92F4-medieval

Week of October 14

Welcome Back!  I hope that each of you had a nice Fall Break!  It was fun to see our class again yesterday.
Please remember that every day this week the students will be released at 12:15 and 12:30.  Additionally, there will be no tutoring or after school clubs.

Here is a run down of what we will be studying this week.

Literature/Riggs: We will be learning new Riggs words this week and homework will be coming home.  In Literature we are reading more Cinderella stories.  We will focus on Mexican Cinderella and Caribbean Cinderella.  The students have enjoyed seeing how many different Cinderella stories there are and comparing them.  We will be starting to study Frog and Toad next week so please send those books in if you have not yet.

History: Yesterday we started talking about Mummies and the mummification process.  Ask your students how this process works.  Additionally we will talk about beautiful Egyptian artwork and why pharaohs were put into a sarcophagus.  Finally, we will also talk about camels and the important role they played in Ancient Egypt.

Science: We are continuing to learn about climates in science.  Specifically, we will learn about the Underground habitat.  At the end of the week, we will learn about Rachel Carson and the importance of her research.  We are almost ready to put together our Habitat posters so please remember to send in a black poster board if you have not already.

Reminders: 

• Remember to sign up to donate to our Classroom Auction Basket for the Medieval Faire.  You can sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044CABA92F4-medieval. 
• Send in Frog and Toad books.
• Send in a black poster board.
• Mark your calendars for the Medieval Faire on November 16th.  
• Send in all your box tops by the end of the month.  

Week of September 30, 2013

This is the final week of our first quarter.  It is hard to believe that it is already time for Fall Break.  Please encourage your students to still work their hardest next week as they will get a well-deserved break next week.  Here is what we will be studying this week.

Literature: We will be reading some more Cinderella stories from around the world.  It has been so much fun to read these and see the similarities and differences.  We will wrap the week up by writing our own Cinderella stories.

History: We will continue to study Ancient Egypt this week.  Specifically, we will focus on pyramids and how they were the tombs for Pharaohs.  We will also talk about the mummification process and why the Ancient Egyptians created mummies.

Science: Our unit on habitats continues this week as we talk about Fresh Water Habitats. In particular, we will learn about living and nonliving things in freshwater habitats as well as be able to label the parts of a river habitat.  We will talk about the Riparian Zone, the area around a Freshwater habitat.  We will also do an animal report together as a class.

Evaluations and Conferences: As mentioned in the Headmaster Update, narratives and checklists will be emailed out in the next few weeks.  If a conference is also necessary at this time, we will be contacting you to set up a time for one.

Reminders: 
-Please bring in a black poster board if you have not already done so.
-Next week is Fall Break.
-The week after Fall Break will be all half days.

Week of September 23, 2013

Happy Autumn!  It was so nice this morning to have some cooler temperatures outside.  We hope you are enjoying it also.  Here is a summary of what we will be learning this week in first grade.

Riggs/Literature: First, every student's handwriting improved a lot this week as they each strove to do their best.  Please encourage your student to keep using his/her best handwriting.  Second, in Literature we will continue to study the Cinderella stories from around the world.  Specifically, we will finish discussing the story of Yeh-Shen and then learn about Egyptian Cinderella.

History: We are still learning about Egypt this week.  At the beginning of the week we will keep learning about the Nile river by making a cover for our Egypt book that will illustrate the Nile River and its surroundings.  Later in the week, we will talk about daily life in Ancient Egypt as well as learn about Pharoahs and Pyramids.

Science: We are continuing our study of habitats this week by focusing on Forests.  We will talk about classifying tree types within the forest habitat, animals of the forest habitat and other characteristics of the forest habitat.  If you have not done so already, please remember to send in a black poster board for our Habitat poster.

Reminders: 

• This Friday is a half-day.  We will have dismissal at 12:15 and 12:30.  
• Family Fun Night and Grand Opening of the Archway Library is on Thursday at 6:30. 
• Send in a black poster board, if you have not yet. 
• Read with your child every day.  

Week of September 16

What a fun and exciting week we have ahead of us this week.  Here are the things we are going to cover and a few reminders for you also.

Riggs: Last week we started our Riggs spelling tests.  Feel free to let us know if you have any questions about how these work.  Please note that Riggs homework (and all homework) should be done in the children's best handwriting and the each word on the test gets one point for handwriting.  This week we will be writing on the homework or test when the handwriting is not very neat.  Starting next Monday, we will having students redo homework during recess if it is not neat.  Please understand that we will be pretty strict on everyone until we can see what they can each individually do as their best handwriting.  

Language Arts: This week marks the start of our Cinderella unit.  The children always love this unit.  We will read many different Cinderella stories from around the world.  It will be a lot of fun to compare and contrast all the different stories.  Be sure to ask your students about the stories we are reading.  

Science: In science, this week, we are starting our units on Habitats.  We will begin by learning about what a habitat is.  Then we will learn about desert habitats and forest habitats.  As part of this unit, we will be making a poster all about habitats.  Please send in a black poster board with your child so that we can make these posters.  

History/Geography: We are also starting a new unit in History.  We will be learning about Egypt.  This week we will locate Egypt on a map, talk about some characteristic traits of Egypt, and learn about the Nile River and why it is so important to Egypt.

Upcoming Dates: 

• September 17th - Singapore Math Night at 6:30 pm. This is an informational meeting for parents.
• September 20th - Picture Day
• September 26th - Family Fun Night and Archway Library Open House

We hope you have a wonderful week!  Please remember to send in a black poster board and encourage your students to always use their very best handwriting.  

Week of September 9

It is hard to believe that we are already half way through the first quarter.  We have had so much fun in class.  Hopefully, you children are telling you about some of the fun things that we do each day.

This week is another fun week with the following things going on:

Science: We will be studying electricity this week.  Students will learn what electricity is and where it comes from.  They will also have a chance to do some hands on experiments with static electricity.  We will end the week by learning about the light bulb and Thomas Edison.

History: This week we will be finishing up our unit on Mesopotamia. As we finish, we will learn about the type of clothing that Mesopotamians wore and learn about their Gods and the importance of Gods in their culture.  

Literature: We are still learning about different Tom Thumb stories from around the world.  The first story we will study this week is Little Finger of the Watermelon Patch from Vietnam and the second one is the African-American story, The Knee-High Man.  They will also be finishing up their books about Tom Thumb stories from around the world so you can look forward to seeing those soon.  Finally, we will learn the saying, "A Fish out of Water."

Please remember to send in Mouse Tales if you have not already done so.

Thanks for everything that each of you do.  We really appreciate the support you give to each of your students.