Notes for Parents:

• If you would like to sign up to be a Mystery Reader, please view the sign-up linked here. I am looking forward to having you “join” our class for a fun read aloud!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, February 22 – Gym, LIBRARY
• Tuesday, February 23 – Art
  • Gracie’s birthday!
• Wednesday, February 24 – STEAM
• Thursday, February 25 – Music
• Friday, February 26 – Gym

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CELEBRATIONS

Mystery Reader: Sydney’s grandma was our Mystery Reader this week! She read the book Cactus Hotel. It was so fun for the kids because she is in Arizona right now, so she sent us a picture of a live cactus to tie in with the book. Thanks for “visiting” our classroom for this fun read aloud!

Star Students:  Zoe, Bryce, and Sawyer were our Star Students this week! Thanks for bringing in one of your favorite books to share with the class for the day.

First Grade Family Time: No new friends joined the lost tooth club or shoe-tying club this week. Please have your child continue practicing tying their shoes at home!

• Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to Major for being brave enough to try new things and not worrying about making mistakes along the way. Way to go, Major!

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OUR LEARNING

Writing: We learned more about writing reviews and practiced making comparisons, writing catchy introductions and conclusions, and editing our writing with peers. Next week we will begin our final bend, book reviews!

Word Study: We’ve learned about even more vowel teams this week, including ou and ow. We also learned that sometimes vowel teams can make two different sounds like how “ow” sounds different in rainbow and flower.

Math: We completed our second math quiz for the unit! It was all about place value and being able to identify how many tens and ones there are based on a drawing. We also began comparing 2-digit numbers using <, >, or =.

Reading: We continue to be the boss of our reading. We used words we know, snap words, and tried different sounds to make sure we are sounding fluent and understanding our books.

Notes for Parents:

• If you would like to sign up to be a Mystery Reader, please view the sign-up linked here. I am looking forward to having you “join” our class for a fun read aloud!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, February 15  – Music, Library 
• Tuesday, February 16 – Gym
• Wednesday, February 17 – Art
• Thursday, February 18 – STEAM
• Friday, February 19 – Music

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CELEBRATIONS

Valentine’s Day Party – The kiddos had so much fun doing a panda directed drawing, playing Bingo, completing a graphing activity with candy hearts, and making a craft!

Chinese New Year – We had so much fun learning about the Chinese New Year! We even practiced learning how to write “Good luck” using Chinese symbols.

 

Mystery Reader: Joshua’s dad was our Mystery Reader this week! He read The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room. Thanks for “visiting” our classroom for this fun read aloud!

 

Star Students:   were our Star Students this week! Thanks for bringing in one of your favorite books to share with the class for the day.

First Grade Family Time: Isaiah and Norah joined the lost tooth club! Please have your child continue to practice their shoe-tying at home.

• Birthdays: This week we celebrated Lucy’s half birthday in our classroom. Happy half-birthday, Lucy! We also celebrated Breckon’s birthday during Family Time!

• Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to Claire for always focusing on the positive and not worrying about what others are doing. She always has a smile on her face!

 

 

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OUR LEARNING

Writing: We continued learning how to convince our readers through persuasive writing! Students chose what they wanted to review this week. Games, movies, toys, restaurants, and vacations were among the many topics that students wrote reviews about. 

Word Study: Rasheed is visiting construction sites in New York City to learn about how to be a word builder. We’ve been helping him use vowel teams to build some tricky words. This week, we learned about the vowel teams ai and ay, and we started making our own vowel team charts.

 

Math: We continued working on creating groups of ten to help us add 2-digit numbers. We then practiced counting on with groups of ten while we were adding. This can be a tricky skill for kiddos because they sometimes get stuck on counting by ones and have a difficult time understanding that one ten stick represents a 10 instead of a one. This is a great skill to practice at home too!

Reading: We started to think about our reading in terms of the whole book we are reading and not just the individual pages or pictures.  We worked on keeping track of what’s happening in the book and using the story to problem solve. When reading a tricky word we thought about what words would fit in the story and also reminded ourselves to continue to slow down and break words into parts.

Notes for Parents:

• If you would like to sign up to be a Mystery Reader, please view the sign-up linked here. I am looking forward to having you “join” our class for a fun read aloud!
• Here is the sign up for our Valentine’s Day party! Please send in supplies by Tuesday, February 9th.
• Please take a moment to read how we will do Valentine’s cards in first grade!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, February 8 – NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, February 9 – Music
  • Valentine’s Supplies Due
• Wednesday, February 10 – Gym
  • Valentine’s Day Cards Due
• Thursday, February 11 – Art
• Friday, February 12 – STEAM
  • Valentine’s Day Celebration – wear red
• Saturday, February 13 – Lucy’s half-birthday!

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CELEBRATIONS

100th Day of School – Our class had so much fun dressing up like we were 100 years old for the 100th day of school.

Mystery Reader: Norah’s mom was our Mystery Reader this week! She read the book The Giving Tree. Thanks for “visiting” our classroom for this fun read aloud!

 

Star Students:  Gracie, Finn, and Ellery were our Star Students this week! Thanks for bringing in one of your favorite books to share with the class for the day.

Birthdays: This week we celebrated Breckon’s 7th birthday in our classroom. Happy birthday, Breckon!

 

 

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OUR LEARNING

Writing: This week we did a fun writing activity on the 100th day of school! We wrote all about what we think our lives will be like when we are 100 years old. We continued our unit on writing reviews and added a few new tools to our writer’s toolbox. Students learned how to respectfully disagree, give awards for last place, and quote others.

Word Study: We’ve spent this week “building” the middle parts of words. Lots of words contain vowel teams in the middle, so we learned about ea, ee, oa, and ai. We’ve been practicing building bigger words using these vowel teams!

Math: This week we took our first math quiz for this unit! It focused on doubles and making a 10. We practiced drawing out double digit numbers using ten-sticks and ones. Also, we continued working on understanding tens and ones and how we can group ones into tens. This is a skill that will be used all throughout the unit to help our first graders begin to work on addition problems with double digits.

Reading: We continued to work on being the boss of our own reading.  We read to self check, set new goals for our reading, and practiced how to get help when we need it. We can work together with our reading partners to solve hard words.

Notes for Parents:

• We will be celebrating the 100th day of school on Tuesday, February 2nd! To celebrate, we will be dressing like we are 100 years old if your child is interested.
• If you would like to sign up to be a Mystery Reader, please view the sign-up linked here. I am looking forward to having you “join” our class for a fun read aloud!
• Kids Heart Challenge information came home today and will begin on Feb. 1.  Please note that this program is for the American Heart Association and can only be done online.  For more information ask your child for the KHC envelope they received on Friday and you can also go to the PE Blog. Reminder- PE Apparel Sale will be closing Feb. 1. The store is online only.  Here is the link to the store if you are interested. https://onitink-hps.square.site/
• Please take a moment to read how we will do Valentine’s cards in first grade!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, February 1 – Music, Library, Return Baggie Books
• Tuesday, February 2 – Gym
  • 100’s Day Celebration
• Wednesday, February 3 – Art
• Thursday, February 4 – STEAM
  • Breckon’s Birthday!
• Friday, February 5 – Early Release Day (students dismissed at 12:15 p.m.)
  • Celebrate Chinese New Year – wear red
• Monday, February 8 – NO SCHOOL

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CELEBRATIONS

Mystery Reader: Chase’s dad was our Mystery Reader this week! He read the book Pete the Cat: Pete at the Beach. Thanks for “visiting” our classroom for this fun read aloud!

Star Students:  Kendall, Major, Evelyn, and Breckon were our Star Students this week! Thanks for bringing in one of your favorite books to share with the class for the day.

First Grade Family Time: This week, Mr. Waldie joined us for First Grade Family Time! He talked about the importance of SOARing at Georgetown.

• Birthdays: This week we celebrated four half-birthdays in our classroom. Happy half-birthday to Sawyer, Ava, Atticus, and Kendall!

• Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to Evelyn for always being able to turn the day around and make the best of things. Way to stay positive, Evelyn!

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OUR LEARNING

Writing: We began Unit 3, Writing Reviews this week! Our unit kicked off with the great cookie debate… the oreo vs. the chocolate chip cookie. Students used opinions, reasons, and examples to argue why the oreo or chocolate chip cookie was better, and of course, we had to taste test! Then we began reviewing our collections to find the “best in show.” To do this we put everything in a line, compared the same thing on each, and decided which was the best and why.

Word Study: We began Unit 4 which is all about being word builders. We practiced matching up contractions to the two words they are made up of. Also, using unifix cubes with word parts on them, we practiced “building” big words together!

Math: We continued working on tens and ones and learned a new strategy to solve addition problems. Students can make a 10 and then add the remaining number to find the total!

 

Reading: This week we ended Unit 2, Reading to Learn About the World. It has been great to see the kids become so interested in non-fiction books and they are doing well picking out the non-fiction features.  We started Unit 3, Readers be the Boss- Say I Can Do This! We are excited to continue to build our students’ confidence in reading and continue to let them take ownership of their learning.

Notes for Parents:

• We ran out of disinfectant wipes in our classroom, so if you are willing and able to donate any, we would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!
• If you would like to sign up to be a Mystery Reader, please view the sign-up linked here. I am looking forward to having you “join” our class for a fun read aloud!
• Next week we will begin Unit 3 of Writer’s Workshop, “Writing Reviews.” Please send in a shoebox collection with your child on Tuesday, January 26th!

• The Annual PE Apparel sale is happening now until February 1. The store is online only.  For more information go to the PE Blog. http://mvankoev.edublogs.org
• Please take a moment to read how we will do Valentine’s cards in first grade!

 

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, January 25 – STEAM, Library, Return Baggie Books
• Tuesday, January 26 – Music
  • Bring shoebox collection for Writer’s Workshop
• Wednesday, January 27 – Gym
  • Atticus’ half-birthday!
• Thursday, January 28 – Art
• Friday, January 29 – STEAM
  • Kendall’s half-birthday!

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CELEBRATIONS

Pizza Party: We all enjoyed some yummy pizza and a Clifford movie during lunch on Friday!

Mystery Reader: Sawyers’ mom was our Mystery Reader this week! She read the book Be You! and the message was adorable. Thanks for “visiting” our classroom for this fun read aloud!

Star Students: Melwyn, Tucker, Lily, and Claire were our Star Students this week! Thanks for bringing in one of your favorite books to share with the class for the day.

First Grade Family Time: 

• Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to Joshua for having a desire to learn and making smart and kind choices. Way to go, Joshua!

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OUR LEARNING

Writing: This week we practiced writing our last non-fiction book with our table partners! We researched by looking at pictures in real books and used what we learned to add more details to our writing. Next week we will begin Unit 3, “Writing Reviews.” Please send in a shoebox collection with your child on Tuesday, January 26th!

Word Study: We learned lots of new snap words this week! Our word wall keeps growing as we learn new snap words and spelling patterns. We also learned about contractions this week. We practiced smushing two words together and adding an apostrophe to make a contraction.

Math: We began Unit 4: Place Value Concepts, and the kiddos are off to a great start! A lot of the skills were taught in kindergarten, so it has been a great review for them. We talked all about decade numbers and the number of tens each decade number has. This was a great foundational skill for us to practice before we began to add a ten on to a given decade number. Half way through the week, we started working with teen numbers. We broke them down into tens and ones, and we learned a quick way to draw out the number using a tens stick! We also compared two teen numbers using these symbols: <, >, or =.

Reading:  We are coming to a close of our nonfiction reading unit. The kids have just loved it and tying it in with writing has been great.  This week they found interesting facts to share with a partner, practiced reading with feeling, reading like a writer, and looked for keywords.

Notes for Parents:

• If you would like to sign up to be a Mystery Reader, please view the sign-up linked here. I am looking forward to having you “join” our class for a fun read aloud!
• The official end of Semester 1 was Friday, January 15th. I’ll be finalizing report cards and they will be sent home Friday, January 22. Unfortunately, we won’t meet together until March for Parent-Teacher Conferences. I will do my best to be as thorough as possible and give explanations. We will continue to use the 1, 2, 3 scoring (while 3* is on the report card as advanced, we do not use this score). Please remember that receiving 2’s is totally acceptable and means your child is growing on their way to where he/she needs to be by the end of the year.
• The Annual PE Apparel sale is happening now until February 1. The store is online only.  For more information go to the PE Blog. http://mvankoev.edublogs.org
• Our class won a pizza party from a previous Jet’s Pizza Night! They will NOT need a lunch Friday, January 22. They are SO excited to be able to eat pizza in our classroom together!
• Please take a moment to read how we will do Valentine’s cards in first grade!

***Please return these items to school if you have not done so yet! Now that we have the computers back at school, we will be using them 2-3 times a week. Also, next week we will be starting book clubs and using the packets you see below.

1. NOTEBOOK/JOURNAL 
2. headphones 
3. Book Club Pack (looks like the picture below at your child’s level)

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, January 18 – Art, Library, Return Baggie Books
• Tuesday, January 19 – STEAM
• Wednesday, January 20 – Music
• Thursday, January 21 – Gym
• Friday, January 22 – Art, Pizza Party!
  • Sawyer’s half-birthday!
• Saturday, January 23
  • Ava’s half-birthday!

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CELEBRATIONS

Fancy Friday: We had a blast dressing up fancy on Friday and enjoying a fancy treat! The kiddos were absolutely adorable. Take a look at the pictures below to see for yourself… too much cuteness!

Mystery Reader: Kendall’s mom was our first Mystery Reader this week! She read the book Gobble-Gobble Crash! A Barnyard Counting Bash. Thanks for “visiting” our classroom for this fun read aloud!

Star Students: Gabba was a Star Student this week! Thanks for bringing in one of your favorite books to share with the class for the day.

First Grade Family Time: Ava joined the lost tooth club this week! No new friends joined the shoe tying club. Keep on practicing!

• Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to Isaiah for always being able to put a smile on our faces! He is full of silly jokes and knows how to cheer others up when they need it. Thanks for being a bright spot in our classroom, Zay!

 

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OUR LEARNING

Writing: This week we practiced writing with details and helping readers pictures by using comparisons. We also practiced making lists in our nonfiction books and fixing up our books by pretending to be a reader.

Word Study: We practiced using ALL of the things we’ve learned about words to help us figure out big, long words! We also learned the importance of having a vowel in every syllable of a word, especially when we are writing words. 

Math: We finally finished Unit 3 which was a tricky one! I am SO proud of their hard work as we completed each lesson as well as the test this week. The test had 10 story problems, so the kiddos were exhausted by the end of it. Having the early release this week was perfect timing for them to rest up and get ready for Unit 4: Place Value Concepts!

Reading:  This week we tried to figure out what to do when we learned new words.  We looked at clues around the new word to see if we could find a way to figure out how to read it and what it means. We also worked on finding key words and making our voices sound smooth and fluent while we read.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: We spent Friday learning all about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the significance he had on our country. We learned about his dream that all little boys and little girls be treated equally no matter the color of their skin! We will continue to celebrate him tomorrow and continue to do our part in helping make his dream come true.