March Blog 2

First Grade Blog Highlights

March 30th, 2018

Dear First Grade Parents;

Happy Spring!!! We are so proud of our 1st grade performers. Every one of our students worked hard, practiced, showed bravery, and shined!!! Our Motown Performance of Understanding is will always be remembered.  Thank you parents for helping with costumes, rehearsing, and supporting our children.  We had a blast learning about the roots of Motown as well as teaching our community about how Motown has influenced all of us in some shape or form.

In Language arts (Reader’s Workshop, Writer’s Workshop, and Word Work), our students have been learning more about nonfiction literature and writing. Students learned how to use information presented in various types of nonfiction material, and used the multitude of expository texts daily including newspapers, National Geographic books, biographies, instruction manuals, recipes, and maps.  The first graders were particularly interested in creating Table of Contents, creating “How To” books, and providing “Fun Facts” about topics of interest. For our next Publishing Party, the 1st grade will be presenting their non-fiction essays to their 4th grade buddies.  

During Math Lab, we have been working on telling time on analog and digital clocks to the hour, half hour, quarter past and quarter till.  They have also been learning about coins and their worth (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters).  First grade has also been working on fact families, using a number line as a tool to solve addition and subtraction problems.  A firm understanding of these skills and concepts will benefit them as they move forward to more advance math.

Our theme for March has been “Insects”.  Our young entomologists have studied life cycles, body parts, importance of insects, as well as unique and weird insects of the world.  We will be going to the Lawrence Hall of Science “Insects in Action” on Tuesday, April 10th to learn more about the amazing world of these amazing creatures.

Welcome Eva to our first grade family! This week we were fortunate to have Eva’s doctors from Children’s Hospital visit and teach us  about leukemia.  The students were able to ask questions about Eva’s health and her experiences. We are so happy that you are a part of our community.  Her transition has been smooth, and it seems as though she has been with us all year long.

Announcements & Reminders:

1. Upcoming Field Trips: - Lawrence Hall of Science  “Insects in Action” April 10th

 - Bay Area Children’s Theater production of “Judy Moody” April 19th.  (Please see online field trip form for details and chaperone opportunities)

    2. Homework Menus and Sharing Calendar and will be handed out after the break.

Gardening

Although the rain has kept us indoors these past weeks, first graders have enjoyed some indoor activities connected to our garden learning. First graders got to learn, sing and act out a fun Food Chains song this week, and observed and compared three types of soil.

First graders have been hard at work getting our garden ready for planting. They’ve been weeding, sifting and turning compost, and putting finished compost on the beds.

We’ve continued to explore garden organisms and different ways to classify living things. This goes perfectly with the study of insects that they are doing in class. In the coming weeks they will compare soil and learn about the soil food web.

Through a cooperative effort, 1st graders are earning “Tasting Points” and will soon be rewarded with a garden tasting party.

Thank you, first graders!

First Grade Science

First Graders enjoyed the month in science. They started out nature journaling in the US Garden, which is undergoing a lot of change. We will revisit the garden periodically throughout the spring to watch the plants change and grow. Students then began an egg drop challenge. We approached the project like engineers but were delayed by rain. We will finish this project in April under sunny skies! We also studied Insects and worked on an insect booklet.

Here are some fun photos from PE!

In art class we have been drawing our shoes and working on clay sculptures for the upcoming art exhibit in the spring. It is fun to hear the stories that go with the kids art pieces and we are looking forward to sharing them with you all! Also, just a reminder to please bring your empty art portfolio back to the studio if you haven’t already.

The First Grade is learning about a variety of percussion instruments. Today we explored the similarities and differences between the shekere and the cabasa. We are also learning a fun rhythm game using lummi sticks, which are similar to but used differently than rhythm sticks.