Let’s Hear a Roar for Week Four!

ablauwkaClass News

CELEBRATIONS

Star Students: We had four special star students this week. Thanks for being my helpers Atticus, Ellery, Lily, and Major!

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday: We celebrated Evelyn’s 7th birthday (9/13) on Monday! We loved reading the book How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow. Thank you for donating this fun book to our classroom, Evelyn!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote of the Week: This week’s quote went to Ava for always being a great listener! She is such a curious first grader and is always interested in wanting to learn more. Way to go, Ava!

 

First Grade Family Time: Here are our “award-winning” first-graders from today’s family time. Our friend’s who joined the shoe tying club are: Isaiah, Breckon, Sydney, and Ava! Our lost tooth club friends include: Melwyn and Isaiah!

  

 

OUR LEARNING

Fall: We are already for fall to come! These adorable trees with falling leaves will be hung in the hallway for everyone to see. We are “fall”ing for first!

 

 

 

 

 

Constitution Day: On Thursday, we celebrated Constitution Day by coloring and reading a booklet about what it means! We talked about how it is the law of our country and it was created to help protect the citizens of our country. They also got to have some fun and come up with their own law for the Constitution!

 

 

 

 

 

Reading: We all signed our Reader’s Workshop Contract promising to stay on task and complete our reading jobs. We also went book shopping in our classroom library and got to fill our book bags with some of our favorite books!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing: We started our small moment writing unit! At the beginning of the week, the kiddos picked something that has happened to them or something they do as a topic to write about. We talked about the process of writing a story and how we need to think, plan, write, and revise. We practiced using our pictures to help us add detail to our writing. I was proud of their hard work and the time they took to add on and revise their stories!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Math: We are becoming experts at number partners! This week we learned partner of 7, 8, and 9. We had some fun by having the kiddos take turns being the group of 8 and one of their classmates split them up into the partners that make 8. Last week we took our first quiz, so be on the lookout for those coming home this next week!

 

 

 

 

 

Word Study:  Our class mascot, Rasheed, was introduced this week! He taught us how we can study names by looking at the letters and sounds within them. We started by studying his name, and then we studied our names with our table partners. On Friday, we practiced some letter writing by tracing the alphabet and writing our names neatly in the lines!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes for Parents:

  • Walkathon paperwork came home with your child last week. This is our ONLY fundraiser of the year, and it is HUGE for our PTC! Please return these fundraisers in your child’s blue folder before the Walkathon this Thursday, September 24. The winning class gets a pizza party! *I included the document under the First Grade Information tab at the top.
  • Don’t forget to place your Scholastic book orders before September 30th. Our class code is: WX2DF  *I included this information under the First Grade Information at the top.
  • If your child participates in a fall sport, please email me their schedule! I would absolutely LOVE to come and support them at a game!
  • It’s beginning to get colder outside, so if you could remind your child to grab a jacket in the morning, I would greatly appreciate it!

Upcoming Dates:

  • Monday, September 21 – Art, LIBRARY (books due)
    • Spirit Day: PJ Day
  • Tuesday, September 22 – STEAM
    • Spirit Day: Silly Socks
  • Wednesday, September 23 – Music
    • Spirit Day: Crazy Hair
  • Thursday, September 24 – Gym, Walkathon
    • Spirit Day: Hat Day
  • Friday, September 25 – Art
    • Spirit Day: Maize & Blue Day
  • Wednesday, September 30

Come See Week Three!

ablauwkaFirst Grade Blogs

Celebrations

First Grade Family Time – Every Friday, all of the first graders at Georgetown get together for a little assembly! At the assembly, we celebrate our learning, give awards for the quote of the week, along with awards for lost teeth, shoe-tying, & birthdays from the week. Here are our “award-winning” first graders from this week’s family time.

Gabba’s Birthday: Gabba turned seven on September 6, so we celebrated her on Monday! She donated the book A Mud Pie for Mother. Thank your sharing your book with our class, Gabba! Her friends had a blast decorating a page to go in her birthday book 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Quote of the Week: Each week, our class learns a new quote and what it means to embody it. This past week our quote was: Mistakes are proof that you are trying. Throughout the week, I pay close attention to who embraced the quote best, and this week Bryce was awarded with the quote. Way to go, Bryce!

 

 

 

 

 

What We Learned

Social-Emotional: This week we started our daily feelings check-in calendar. Each morning, we identify which emotion we are feeling and then color the day in with the color that corresponds with that emotion.

 

 

 

 

 

Word Study: We have been reviewing our letter names and sounds over and over and over! After having six months off of school, we have gotten a little rusty with this skill. This would be an awesome activity to practice at home as well! Another skill we practiced is that one word gets only one tap when using our pointer power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing: The first graders worked on writing personal narratives this week. We had some fun prompts such as: favorite summer memory and what was the best part of kindergarten! Throughout the week, we reviewed what we need to include in our writing to make it our very best work.

Math: We learned all about 5-groups and partners for numbers 2-6. We even were able to use our math books for the first time! In the pictures you will notice the stair stepper, and this represents that in order t0 get to the next step, we either need to add one (going down the stairs) or take one away (going up the stairs). The kiddos also did a hands-on activity where they used their pencil as a break a part stick to represent the partners of 6.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reader’s Workshop: Before engaging in Reader’s Workshop, we had to learn what is means to be a “book lover” vs. a “book bully”. Then we found out what Mrs. Blauwkamp’s job is as the teacher and what their job is as the students. The main goal is to have LOTS of reading time!

 

 

 

 

 

Important Notes and Reminders:

  • Walkathon paperwork came home with your child on Friday. This is our ONLY fundraiser of the year, and it is HUGE for our PTC! Please return these donations in your child’s blue folder (if not completed online) before the Walkathon on September 24.
  • Please take a look at the note that was sent home on Friday for information on how to place a Scholastic book order for this month if you wish to do so.
  • If your child participates in a fall sport, please email me their schedule! I would absolutely LOVE to come and support them at a game!
  • It’s beginning to get a little colder outside, so if you could remind your child to grab a jacket in the morning, I would greatly appreciate it!

Next Week:

  • Monday, September 14 – celebrate Evelyn’s birthday (9/13); Art
  • Tuesday, September 15 – STEAM
  • Wednesday, September 16 – Music
  • Thursday, September 17 – Gym
  • Friday, September 18 – Early Release (dismissal @ 12:15 p.m.); no special today
  • September 24 – Walkathon
  • September 30 – Scholastic book orders due

 

 

Week Two Flew!

ablauwkaClass News

We survived our first week with full days!!! We were all very tired and definitely needed the long weekend. During the first week, I had everyone color this coloring page that says, “I can do hard things.” This was such an encouraging reminder for the kiddos to see throughout the week. Full days can seem very long after having half days, but they made it through and they did an amazing job!

     

 

A Look at What We Learned

Word Study: We went outside and sat in a circle to practice snapping and clapping the beats in our friends’ names! It was so fun for them to have all of their classmates say their name and figure out how many syllables their name has. We then practiced blending the syllables back together to say the word smoothly. On Wednesday we played a game to work on sound (phoneme) manipulation. The kiddos told me some things they ate for lunch that day and I wrote them on the whiteboard. I picked some volunteers to come pick a letter from my secret basket, and we had to replace that letter with the beginning letter of one of the words on the whiteboard. For example, one kiddo pulled out the letter m, so banana became manana. Lots and lots of laughs from this activity!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Math: We worked on writing numbers 1-10 and how to write out equations. On Tuesday, we used Unifix cubes to show all the ways to make 10. To practice skip counting, the kiddos all had a turn to come in front of class and skip count by 2’s and 5’s. They were responsible for holding up their number at the correct time as the class counted. The more we practiced, the faster and faster they got!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technology: Everyone was able to get logged into their computer! Phew!!! They each have a red folder with all of their login information that we will need throughout the year. After everyone was logged in, we practiced using our Clever badges and they had some free time to play games on ABCya!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rule #4: The kiddos learned our last classroom rule which is: Be kind. To help understand this rule, we read the book Words and Your Heart by Kate Jean Neal. This taught them that the words we tell people can leave an everlasting impact on the people we say them to. I demonstrated this by showing them a flat, paper heart and told them to imagine that the heart was theirs. As I was holding the heart, I said that people were saying unkind words to them at recess and I began crumpling the heart. After going through this process a few times, I asked the students if the heart looked the same. They told me that the heart was now broken. This was a great example of why we need to be careful with what we say to others to help protect their hearts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote of the Week

Each week, our class learns a new quote and what it means to embody it. This past week our quote was: The only way to have a friend is to be one. Throughout the week, I pay close attention to who embraced the quote best, and this week Sydney was awarded with the quote. Way to go, Syd!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reminders:

  • Please send in two snacks for your child each day. It works wonderfully if these snacks are in a spot in their backpack and not in their lunchbox; this saves first graders any confusion about what they should be eating for snacks and lunches! 🙂
  • Gym shoes should be kept at school so we can try and limit them being worn outside as much as possible. Thank you!

Next Week:

  • Tuesday, September 8 – celebrate Gabba’s birthday (9/6); Art
  • Wednesday, September 9 – STEAM
  • Thursday, September 10 – Music
  • Friday, September 11 – Gym

 

 

Week One Fun!

ablauwkaClass News

This first week of school was incredible thanks to your amazing first graders!!! We have such a sweet class, and I am SO lucky to be their teacher! I know school is very different than what we are used to, but I am very proud of how well they have adjusted to our new “norm”. I love having everyone back together and seeing the joy on their faces as they play with friends and make new friends too! Throughout the week, we learned all about our classroom rules and some of the procedures we follow every day. Check out the pictures below to see a glimpse of our first week of first grade!

 

First Day Jitters: On our first day, we read the book First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg. It can be a little scary coming to school and meeting a new teacher and having a different class, so we drank some Jitter Juice to help calm our nerves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Masks: We talked a lot about safe mask wearing and unsafe mask wearing since we are required to wear them if we are not social distancing. On normal school days, we will take two mask breaks in the morning and afternoon in addition to snack and lunch times. Thank you for your help with getting your child used to wearing a mask!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classroom Rules: We have four important rules that we follow in our classroom daily! We talked about number 1, 2, and 3 this week. They did an awesome job practicing these rules, and each day they will have the opportunity to earn points their amazing behavior! If they earn more points than Mrs. Blauwkamp by the end of the day, they will get a star. Each star they receive will work toward a special reward!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soft Start: Every morning we do something called soft start. This is a way for our first graders to ease into the day rather than jumping right into work. It’s a great way to help prepare our minds and bodies! This week we played with some Play-Doh and created first week of first grade books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recess Friends: Mean Jean the Recess Queen taught us how we can do better at recess and be Recess Friends instead of Recess Queens. We made special Recess Friend crowns as a reminder of how we can play nicely together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dismissal: At the end of the day, we have recess out on the 2/3 playground which the first graders absolutely LOVE! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classroom Sneak Peek

ablauwkaFirst Grade Blogs

Here is a mini tour of our classroom! It is connected to Mrs. Tindall’s classroom, so we are not too far away from what they were used to in kindergarten. If you are new here, my room is the second to last room on the north side of the hallway. In the video, I made sure to include some signs I have outside of my door to help them know where to go on the first day. Please please please prep your child that we will NOT be using our lockers on the first day of school. I know a lot of them were looking forward to using them! With all of our classroom supplies, we will be taking our backpacks right inside with us. I hope your child enjoys the video and it gets them excited to learn more about the classroom!

 

Room 113 is a rainbow of possibilities!

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!

ablauwkaClass News

Welcome to our first grade class blog! Please subscribe to our class blog by typing your email in the upper right-hand corner box. I will be updating it with important first grade information throughout the school year. In addition, please make sure to subscribe to the Georgetown School Blog. Mr. Waldie will provide school-wide information on his blog throughout the school year.

 

Once you have subscribed and browsed through our blog, please take a moment to complete a few housekeeping items:

 

1. Open houses will NOT be happening this year which is so sad because I was looking forward to meeting all of you before the first day. Some of you already know me from last year, but those of you who don’t, please know we will find other ways to connect! I know the other first grade teachers are planning to do a supply drop off at school this Saturday, but I will sadly be out of town. My family had a Ludington trip planned before the new start date was announced. I have my laptop with me, so PLEASE reach out with any questions you may have. Since I will not be doing the supply drop off, please send your child’s supplies on the the first day of school. It can be a lot for the littles to carry, so feel free to spread it out over the first couple of days!

2. Please take a few quick minutes to fill out this brief Parent Survey This survey helps me to get a better picture of your child as a learner and provides me with some necessary contact information for this year. Thank you in advance!

3. One final optional form is this Shared Parent Contact Info. Form. The results will be visible to you, allowing you to contact other parents to set up playdates, birthday parties, etc.

4. Take a look at our first grade school supply list and have fun shopping for these items before our first day of school.

 

I can’t wait to get the school year started with this amazing group of first graders!

Looking forward to meeting you soon,

Abby Blauwkamp