Language Arts
In language arts we read Los bomberos/The Firefighters.
In writing this week the students finished their friendly letters. We learned about how to write a summary/resumen using our story about the fire fighters as an example. We discussed that when writing a summary we must first tell what we are going to write about and then talk about what you just introduced, but with more details. We also used a graphic organizer to help visualize the order in which the story took place. They used words that indicated the order of the story that they also used in their friendly letters such as primero/first, después/next, luego/later and por ultimo/finally. We also watched a video about a little boy named Pedro that with the help of his friends, set out to find a treasure. The kids did a great job summarizing this story as well!
Math
This week in math we continued working on addition and subtraction with regrouping. The kiddos are starting to get the hang of it. I am so proud of their hard work! Ask your child if he or she can remember our new regrouping poem. We had lots of fun practicing it with some cool moves!
We also began our section on the addition of 3 single digits with the help of number bonds and the “making 10 strategy”. For example: 3+9+7=19, if we use the “making 10 strategy” we would add the 3+7 first which equals 10 and then add the 9 which equals 19. We reviewed how it’s always much easier to add a number to 10.
We also worked on word problems with addition and subtraction. We used connecting cubes and diagrams to help us solve problems with and without regrouping. The kiddos then checked to make sure their answers were correct by either adding or subtracting.
History & Geography
We started the week off by reviewing the Boston Tea Party and how a blockade in the Harbor could have such an impact on the colony of Massachusetts. We didn’t read about the shot that was heard around the world and Paul Revere’s famous ride. We watched a Schoolhouse Rocks video on the Boston Tea Party as well. This week we added to our class timeline and we practiced our colonies chant and the song Yankee Doodle Dandy. We read a trade book that had Paul Revere’s Ride poem in it. On Thursday we read about the Declaration of Independence we looked at a copy of the independence and we watched a short film about the signing of it.
Science
In science this week we finished our lesson on the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. 
We read about the exploration of the Moon and we wrote in our journals about what it’d be like to land on the moon. We also watched a short clip of the landing of Apollo 11. We read several trade books that were both nonfiction and fiction about the moon and we discussed the differences between the two.
English Spelling
This week we got our new sorts, which are looking at long and short i sounds. We reviewed how the e at the end of words makes the i say its name. The class was responsible for two activities this week, many did rainbow words while others chose pyramid words or writing them out 3 times. We also played hang man to practice spelling and recognizing patterns. I met with individual students to help work on certain aspects of the sort. The spelling test will be next Friday, April 1st. For grammar this week we talked about contractions and other places that we see apostrophes in words. We also played some games with our Zoo phonics.
Art
The first graders continued their Matisse project this week in art. They cut out fruit, vases, and flowers for the still life, and then they worked on making a landscape in the window. They still need to put a few finishing touches on these fun collages.
Music
The class watched YouTube videos of several several songs from Rogers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I,” including “The a March of the Siamese Children” and “Getting to Know You.”