Project: We will be celebrating the 100th day of school on Thursday, February 14th. This is a BIG day for us! We have been working on counting up to 100 since the first day of school! Please help your child to design a Valentine box that contains 100 of any item. (100 stickers, 100 beads glued on, 100 hearts, 100 buttons, 100 wiggly eyes, 100 of anything! You could even do 10 groups of 10!)
La lectura
This week we completed our Wind unit. A few of the stories we read this week were Tormenta de Nieve and Feriado. The students especially enjoyed listening for all the rhyming words in Feriado.
I have been very impressed with how the students are doing during our word of the day. I always ask for volunteers to use the word in a sentence. Typically every student provides at least one sentence. Their Spanish word of the day is written in their planners. They are pretty close to reaching 1000 tallies (which earns them a piñata)!
delante de (in front), detrás (behind), debajo (under), al lado de (next to), encima (on top of)
We also started working on prepositions, words that show location. This was very fun! We rolled a pictorial die and drew names sticks to have students put their whole body in certain locations/positions. We will continue to work on this for ….ever!
All students received a new reader this week (some received 2). Please remember to have your child read to you each night (and to read to them!). They should mark off their treasure sheet each time they read a book. They should read their new books and then can go back and read older books too. These reading binders should go home and come back to school each day please! Students are always bummed when it’s time to read and they have forgotten their books at home.
Please look for an email regarding our upcoming Valentine’s Day and 100th Day celebrations.
Las matemáticas
This week we focused on composing and decomposing the number 16. The students all did a great job using their two sided circles as a visual representation, as well as using number bonds/ números conectados and equations.
We started looking at how numbers work together and form number families. (3+5 is the same as 5+3) We also started talking about subtraction. (8-3 is 5 and 8-5 is 3).
These activities are part of our operations & algebraic thinking and help us to better understand addition and subtraction.
History & Geography
Abraham Lincoln
Our objectives this week were to:
• recognize Abraham Lincoln as an important president of the United States •identify that Abraham Lincoln was known as Honest Abe
• recall information about Abraham Lincoln’s younger life
• identify the Emancipation Proclamation and how this affected our country.
• recognize Theodore Roosevelt as an important president of the United States
• know that Theodore Roosevelt overcame childhood health problems
• know that Theodore Roosevelt loved the outdoors
• know that Theodore Roosevelt worked for nature conservation
Playing outdoors
Science
This week we learned about seasonal activities and sports and how these help us feel less cooped up. We also read about severe weather and how we protect ourselves by using proper gear and practicing safe behavior. Students did an interactive drawing activity with a partner, showing severe weather and ways they can protect themselves. They then shared these pictures with the rest of the class.
Our objectives were to:
• describe any unique seasonal differences that are characteristic of our own locality
• Identify the four seasons and activities that are associated with those seasons
• identify the following characteristics of thunderstorms: heavy rain, thunder, lightning, and strong winds
• identify and describe different types of severe weather
• describe safe and unsafe behaviors during severe weather
What to do in a thunderstorm if you can’t get to shelter.
Specialists:
Art with Ms. Kelly
K/1 Class
The students did a wonderful job on 2 challenging projects in January:
Art Project: Make a Winter Landscape with Animals, using collage technique
Book: “Over and Under the Snow” by Kate Messner, with art by Christopher Silas Neal
Goals:
- Observe illustrations in the book, especially close-up and far away trees
- Learn about forest animals in winter
- Cut out geometrical shapes to make a red fox and a mouse
- Cut out shapes to make trees, and add texture with crayon
Art Project: Folk Art Flowers
Book: Art From Her Heart, Folk Artist Clementine Hunter, by Kathy Whitehead
Goals:
- Learn about Clementine Hunter, an African American folk art painter
- Draw a bowl or vase with crayon, and add flowers to fill page
- Paint with tempera paint