Week 2  August 15-19, 2016


It was a fun and exciting first week in 1B!  Students learned quite a lot of procedures, and practiced them daily.  Thank you parents for you patience with so many of the new details!

Curriculum night is this Wednesday and I hope all, if not many, of you can come.  Have questions in hand and I will answer them, or help find the answer for you.

You are cordially invited to our Curriculum Night events, taking place on Wednesday, August 17th 

(grades K-2) and Wednesday, August 24th (grades 3-5). The event starts at 6:00 p.m. in the Arete gymnasium, with opening remarks from Mr. Gillingham, Ms. Pantalena, and Mrs. Mason.

The purpose of this event is to acquaint you with the school's curriculum and individual classroom procedures across all grade levels. Teachers will give parents an opportunity to ask questions. (Please note, this is a parent only event.) We look forward to seeing you there!

 

 

Schedule

 

K-2 Curriculum Night: Wednesday, August 17th

3-5 Curriculum Night: Wednesday, August 24^th

 

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^{It is evident many of the students are very happy with being in first grade.  I thought I would add an "Ask Me" section to my blog to help you find out more details of the week.  This should enable you to have a more articulate conversation with them also.}

 

^{ASK ME:}

^{Ask me about how our class saved Fred using the scientific method.}

^{Ask me about the sentence jingle we learned using our five fingers}

^{Ask me about "Google Guy" (for fun).}

^{Ask me where north, south, east, west, are located in my home.}

^{Ask me about Aesop and the fables he wrote.}

 

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Lessons for this week.

Literature:

In Literature, we will continue to explore the morals in Aesop’s Fables. We will read “The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs,” “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” “The Maid and the Milk Pail,” and “The Fox and the Crane”. We will talk about the human-like characteristics that the animals have and the different virtues that could have been shown in the stories, had the characters made different choices. We will take a mini quiz on Aesop’s Fables on Friday, where students will match up each moral with the corresponding story we covered in class.

 

Spalding:

This week we will be working on forming our capital manuscript letters. We will also be working on two-letter phonograms to prepare us for our upcoming spelling words! At home, please listen to your child say the sounds as they write each phonogram three times. There are also some old (single letter) phonograms to review each night!

 

Writing:

In “Writing with Ease,” we will do copy work and narration exercises from The Adventures of Pinocchio.

 

Grammar:

In Grammar, we will learn a noun jingle! We will discuss how a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. We will also distinguish between common and proper nouns and apply this knowledge on a noun word sort. 

 

Poem:

“The Caterpillar” by Christina G. Rosetti – Continue to work on stanza 1. We will recite the entire poem on September 2^nd in class!

 

Math

This week we will start with ample review of our key concepts from last week so that our students can ace their very first test on Tuesday. Both the review and the test will give students a chance to master counting and comparing numbers within 10. Starting Wednesday, we will begin number stories and number bonds. We will use pictures and items to practice grouping and counting different features within sets. Please note that for homework this week students will receive a practice test for Monday, some important rest time after their first test for Tuesday, workbook pages 15-16 for Wednesday, workbook pages 17-18 for Thursday, and finally a very fun zoo animal themed number bond worksheet for Friday. 

Science:

This week, we will continue to explore the scientific method. We will practice making careful observations and asking questions. We will review the steps of the scientific method by completing a science experiment!

Geography Week 2

This week students will be learning about various landforms in their world.  The vocabulary for the week will include; hills, mountains, islands, volcanoes (gases, eruptions, lava), deserts, plains, canyons and valleys.  We will learn about specific named landforms (Grand Canyon, Mojave Desert, Great Plains, etc.), and actively find their locations on the map.


Thank you parents for your attention to homework this week.  I know it was a little chaotic learning the new procedures, but you all did very well, and so did the children.

It is important that your child reads to you each night.  If they are too tired, you may read to them for about 15 minutes.  I have enclosed a reading log for you to fill out each night and  this is checked by Mrs. Zavala each morning.  At the end of the week, students who have read, or have been read to, receive a star on their reading chart.  At the end of the year this is given in a reward form for their accomplishment.

Students will have math each night and Spalding letters (or spelling words) to write also.

We are working hard to write the homework assignment in the planner each morning, (practice for second grade).  I tell them that you will check the planner to know what the homework is.  It is also on the blog each week.  This encourages responsibility, and that they are accountable for their learning.

As always, if you have questions or comments Mrs. Zavala and I are here for you.

Virtue of the month:

Responsibility

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves.  The process never ends until we die.  And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.

~Eleanor Roosevelt


Have a wonderful week!