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First Grade News

What an action packed week in first grade! It was wonderful to welcome grandparents and other family members on Kesher Day to our classroom.  First, the students played a game called “pop up, pop down”, standing up or down depending on if you shared a similarity with others.  Then first graders and family guests interviewed each other.  We had fun learning new things about our family and drawing pictures.

We really loved celebrating our small moments stories with parents at our publishing party and sharing what we have been learning in Hebrew, Science, and Art through displays of our work.  Students also enjoyed performing their Kesher Day Hebrew song for everyone!  Celebrating each other and our work is what makes our grade a true community.

In Math we have been learning a new tool to help us with our addition.  We learned how to use a number line! The first step is making sure you circle the greater number.  We practiced counting how many more it would be from that number. For example: 3 more than 4 is 7.

In Writing we worked on editing our published pieces for the publishing party. We used our editing checklist to make sure we had spaces between our words and added how we felt in our stories.  Next, we published our pieces.  We made a cover with a title and drawing.  We made sure we were able to read our work and that it made sense.

In Reading groups we have been introducing ourselves to new texts. Whether it is a non-fiction text that gives us information, or a fiction text that we learn new vocabulary from.  Readers are learning how to tackle a  more “uphill text” on their own and in small groups.

In Phonics students have been learning about long vowels and short vowels.  We have been identifying what vowels are in our names and if they are short or long.  We are studying words more closely by seeing how many syllables are in them and if they have consonants or vowels. We are applying the phonics lessons to writing and making sure to add vowels and identify if the vowels are short or long.

In Science we continued learning about wind through non-fiction texts.  We went to a high place in our building, the rooftop, to use our wind flags to test the amount of wind outside.  We used the information to make our daily weather observation on the calendar.  We also made wind paintings.  Each student blew air through a straw on a paper that had watercolor paint on it.  It took a lot of wind to make the paint move!  Each painting was unique and beautiful.

In Hebrew this week, we learned the letters shin and sin and added new words to our word wall. We continued practicing our reading and writing.

In Tefila, we learned a new prayer from the amidah called hael hakadosh, which we thank God for the holly thing (siddur, mezuzah, etc.) and times (Shabbat, chagim, etc.) in our life.

This week Parasha is Chayei Sarah This parasha is about finding a wife for Isaac. We learned about how kind and giving Rebecca was and we thought about times when we did acts of chesed (acts of kindness) and acted like Rebecca. As an example, for hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests). To show our appreciation to all the staff members who help to make our school such a welcoming community, the first graders made them a thank you cards.

Shabbat shalom!