First Grade News

Dear First Grade Families,

We hope that you had a lovely break.  It has been great to be back for our first full week of school.  We have enjoyed seeing friendships blossom with our new classroom communities.  This week has been full of community building, getting back into the school routine and learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In Reading we learned sight words, those words we know by heart and in a snap.  We spoke of the importance of studying a word in order to know it more deeply.  For example, we studied words to see if they have digraphs, long vowels, blends or a double ee.  As a class, we read the book Thank You Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco.  This story is about a student who was being made fun of by peers for not being able to read well and how grateful she felt when she found teachers who helped celebrate her uniqueness. In response to the book, students talked about what they had gratitude for and how to celebrate their own uniqueness.

In Writing we had a class publishing party to celebrate our All About Books.  We read our stories to our friends, and shared our expert knowledge about a topic.

In Math we practiced making fact families and talked about how addition could help us with subtraction.  We learned that if we know the facts for one problem, they would be the same for the other.  For example.  7 + 3 =  10 would have the same facts as 10-3 =  7.

In Social Studies we learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the March on Washington, and the importance of coming together in order to make a change in the world.  We discussed how things are not fair at times, and injustices we would like the world to be rid of.  Students came up with thoughtful examples such as: rudeness, pollution, people being mean to other people. guns, fighting, garbage. We calculated how many years the March on Washington was by counting by tens, and looked at live footage of the March to see the crowd.  Students noticed how people swayed and held hands, singing in solidarity.

In Science we expanded our weather study to learn about temperature.  Students shared their knowledge about temperature and using a thermometer when they are sick.  We looked at pictures of many different thermometers they had never seen before.  The scientists’ minds were busy at work figuring out the purposes of the various thermometers and why they are necessary instruments. Sadly, one of our classmates became sick with a fever Thursday in class, but it did provide a real life example of the need for thermometers, how they are used, and how temperature relates to our bodies.

Have a wonderful weekend, Shabbat Shalom!

The First Grade Team