The Week of Dec. 17

The first and second graders had such a busy week...our many projects and celebrations really helped us to stay focused!

We will reschedule our poetry jam for the week of Dec. 31. I will let you know the day and time soon! 

Cultures Around the World Festival 

This week, we finished up our research on cultures around the world. Students used computers and books to take notes, answer questions, and look for interesting photos. Students worked in small groups to complete their projects which included a special craft. On Thursday, we opened our market to the community. Students and families enjoyed shopping around the market and learning about different places around the world. Please check out your child's poster or pamphlet hanging outside our classroom on display. 

Secret Santa Workshop 

We continued this fun tradition again this year. Each child picked a name from a hat and made a special gift for that friend. At our holiday party on Friday, we exchanged gifts! It is always fun to work with students from other classrooms! Here are some photos of the kiddos who came to my room to make their gifts!

 

Holiday Party 

Our holiday party was a big success! The kids loved exchanging gifts and snacking on the yummy treats you all sent in! Later in the afternoon, we watched Coco and enjoyed some popcorn and hot cocoa with Ms. Thomas' class. Unfortunately  my phone couldn't hold all of the photos... so here are the ones I got! 

Cultures Around the World Links

Cultures Around the World Project Links

China

Africa

Brazil


Australia

Pakistan

The Week of December 10

Upcoming Events

BUSY WEEK AHEAD
****PLEASE LOOK IN YOUR CHILD'S HOME FOLDER. EACH CHILD IS BEING ASKED TO DONATE A SPECIAL ITEM THIS WEEK. SOME STUDENTS ARE BRINGING ITEMS TO SHARE ON THURSDAY' AND SOME ARE FOR FRIDAY***

Secret Santa Workshop

12-18-18

 8:15-9:15 we will begin our day by breaking up into small groups throughout our school to make gifts for a friend!  Students will wrap their gifts and make cards. We will exchange our gifts at our party on Friday.

W.E.S. International Market
12-20-18
9:00-11:00 
W.E.S. families are welcome to attend. Please come and tour Ms. Thomas' and Mrs. Marcelino's classrooms and learn about cultures from around the world! Students will share their learning in different ways and have a chance to buy crafts from their friends! 

Poetry Jam
Dec. 21 

Holiday Party
Dec. 21, 2018
12:00-2:20
Students will give each other gifts made at our secret Santa workshop, share special snacks from home and then settle down for a movie or head outside to sled if the weather clears up...Friday looks like rain!

****Please look carefully through your child’s bag on Dec.21. There will be many ornaments to show you along with some other special surprises! ***** 

Cultures Around the World 
This week, we learned about nonfiction text features and how they can help us research. Students worked in small groups to read, take notes and summarize their learning. We used nonfiction books and computers to find information about our cultures. Students chose a way to share their learning with our community. This project also helped us to learn about working interdependently which is an important Habit of Mind. Please join us on Thursday from 9-11 as we display our learning to the community! 






Math
In math the first graders are working hard at learning and practicing efficient adding and subtracting strategies. Students are working on adding and subtracting 1, doubles facts, doubles facts +1 and sums of ten. Ms. Russin and I are working with small groups of kids to teach strategies through fun math games! Math groups are fluid and flexible and last about 2 weeks. In number corner we are learning about 3D shapes and their attributes. 

Poet Tree
Our class tree came out great! Students wrote  many types of poems and some even created their own! Later in the week, we chose our favorite winter poems to practice reading. We are working on reading our poems with fluency, expression and intonation. We will perform our poems with our Big Buddies at our poetry jam on Friday. 






Winter Concert 
The first and second graders did a great job on Wednesday night! 

Cultures Around the World Resources: Student Resource Page

Explore Cultures Around the World

Username: 1092123-user 

Password: digital

World Almanac

Username: 1092123-user 

Password: digital

World Book Online

username:  weskids

password: safepaws

Info Bits

Password: RUFUS 

The Week of December 3

Upcoming Events 

Winter Concert

Dec. 12, 2018  @ 6:00

Students will meet in our room between 5:30 and 5:45. They can leave their coats and boots in the classroom and return after the concert to get them.

W.E.S. International Market
12-20-18
9:00-11:00 
W.E.S. families are welcome to attend

Holiday Party
Dec. 21, 2018


***Please bring an ornament from home to decorate our class tree! We will need all ornaments by 12-12-18***
Happy Forest Celebration: Fort Day
We had a blast celebrating on Tuesday! Students made forts at their table spots. They really enjoyed reading in their forts during readers workshop and having snack too! 












Poetry Mini Unit 
This week we began a new mini unit during writers workshop. Students read some great winter poems. Students also explored things from nature and practiced using their five senses to observe and describe their items. We will be learning to write acrostic, cinquain and sensory/shape poems, and  will decorate our class tree with our special poems! We are calling our tree... our Poet Tree this year! 











Math 
In math the first graders began Unit 3. We are learning addition and subtraction strategies that can help us become more efficient when solving equations. We also used these strategies to solve word problems. 


Readers' Workshop
In reading we continue to work more on our nonfiction unit of study. We practiced strategies to tackle hard words in nonfiction texts. Students met in small groups, and practiced reading with their new partner during readers' workshop. I continue to conference with students each day to listen to them read and give them tips on how to improve their reading. Next week, we will learn about text features and how to use them. Students will meet in their Cultures Around the World book club to begin researching their favorite culture.

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Tree Farm Trip 
On Friday, we visited the Llama farm on Lapland Road. The first and second graders picked a beautiful tree. We enjoyed walking in the snow, sledding on the hills, visiting the llamas and having hot cider! Thank you to Ms. Cori and Garret Beeman for coming along and helping to cut our tree! It was a great trip. Make sure you check out our tree at the concert on Wednesday night.