SPRING IS HERE!

STUDENT REPORTING

This week was Conference week.  Mrs. Mc had us work very hard!

We started our All About story books on our own in Writers Workshop.  We feel great about our stories! 

In math, we learned strategies for figuring out math problems.  One that is really tricky is called Fact  Families when you have 3 numbers in a family and can write 2 subtraction facts and 2 addition facts using the same numbers.  Doubling is also helpful.

St. Patrick’s Day made us feel very lucky for many things.  Some of us thought there was a real leprechaun on the playground.  It didn’t play any tricks in the classroom.

The first place winner of the Iditarod dog race in Alaska was John Baker.  This was the first time he was in the race and he broke the fastest record.  He takes good care of his dogs.

Mrs. Mc wants families to be on the lookout for some upcoming dates this spring (field day, musical performance, memory share).  Coming soon!

Student Reporting by Austin, Peter and Jeremiah on Friday afternoon.

Student Reporting

We continued to read Dr. Seuss stories and learned that Dr. Seuss helps us with rhymes and important messages.

We shared our non-fiction team reports with kindergarten classes. That made us feel great.

In math, we learned about Capacity of containers and comparing objects using a balance scale.

We put 3-D objects together to make a creation that looks like a space ship or cruise ship.

We checked into the Iditarod dog race in Alaska. We found out that they will finish at the town of Nome.

Student Reporting by Andrew, Jack W, and Jack Y

STUDENT REPORTING

We celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday by making rhymes and having moms and dads make us green eggs and ham.  We also read a lot!


Simone shares Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

We are working on non-fiction writing projects in teams of 3 students. Some of our topics are shooting stars, dolphins, glaciers, marvelous mammals, blizzards, and America.

When a character talks in a book, we try to talk like them.

In Math, we are studying 2-D, flat shapes and 3-D shapes.

Student Reporting by Jacqueline, Madden, and Valentina

MARCH MCMONTHLY NEWS

IN LIKE A LION, OUT LIKE A LAMB?

March is coming in like a lamb this year.  Let's hope the lamb weather gets a little warmer!  You will be amazed at how fast time will fly in first grade this spring!

We kick off the month with Dr. Seuss' birthday!  We will participate in "Read Across America" in honor of Dr. Seuss this Wednesday.  A few ways the children can show their spirit for Read Across America and our "Green Eggs and Ham" Activity Afternoon is to wear red, white, and black clothing as "Cats in the Hat."  Or, if your child has a favorite hat or some crazy or mismatched socks, he or she could wear them on Wednesday as well.  In addition, if your child has any favorite Dr. Seuss books, he or she should feel free to bring them in to enjoy with their classmates throughout this week.

LANGUAGE ARTS

We continue to review short vowels, long vowels, and we are learning tricky sounds that look a little different and "don't follow the rules."   Paying close attention to the longer stories we are now reading helps us to rigure out what to do when words are tricky, and it also helps us to "jump" right into books with characters!  We are increasing our writing skills and focusing on compete sentences, proper punctuation, and story details.  We have been enjoying non-fiction writing and we officially move into writing our own "All About" stories.

MATH

We now begin to enjoy a new understanding of geometric shapes and have fun with different units of measurement (perhaps we can help cook more now!)  By the middle of the month, we will return to focus on the parts and total in addition and subtraction stories by using strategies such as doubling, counting on, counting back, and more.

BIRTHDAYS

Wednesday, March 2:          Simone Yang

REMINDERS

Wed, Mar. 2:  Wear red, white & black clothing, crazy socks, or hats

(Class Spirit Day in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday and Read Across America Day)

Fri., Mar. 4:  Scholastic orders due

Mar. 7 - 31:  Pennies for Patients School-wide Fundraiser

Mon., Mar. 11:  Progress Reports home

Mon-Wed., March 14-16:  Conferences, 1:30 dismissal

SPECIAL NOTES

• Thanks for the continued box tops. The collection continues through May.
• Thanks for your generous support in the Daffodil Drive.
• Continued thanks to our Room Moms, Marijke Hart and Nancy Lombra, and all families for all the work you do with your children supporting our first grade learning

FEBRUARY WORDS



any

ate

blue

by

fly

from

funny

give

live

many

may

our

out

of

pretty



STUDENT REPORTING

Wow!  It has been busy in first grade.

We worked really hard on HOW TO stories.  We are experts at lots of stuff.  Now we're starting a new unit on ALL ABOUTs.

In Math, we have been adding Tens and Ones with really big numbers.

We enjoy our Superstars of the week and whoever the Class Pets visit.

In January, most of us had fun playing on the snow days at home.  But some of us wanted the groundhog to predict an early spring!  On the playground, the first graders made some cool creations and enjoyed playing on the big hills.  Some days were so cold that we couldn't even go outside!  It has been quite a winter!

It was cool when High Touch High Tech visited first grade! We studied shadows. We learned that you need three things to make a shadow: some light, an object, and a spot for the shadow to go (a surface).


On the 100th day of school (which turned out to be Wednesday, Feb. 9th) we made marshmallow creations!  We were able to touch some animals from the Darien Nature Center.  We learned a lot about the way animals move.  We had lots of fun on Valentines Day.  We shared valentines and celebrated friendships.

Mrs. Mc wants to remind parents that conference week was changed due to the 5 snow days and will be held one week later.

FEBRUARY MCMONTHLY NEWS

Will the groundhog see his shadow?



Will the groundhog not see his shadow?



Our favorite photo spot is now too deep for us!

     

It's coming......

THEME

Incredibly, as of Feb. 1, the 100th day of school should arrive on Tuesday, February 8th!  This month is filled with holiday celebrations and theme awareness such as Chinese New Year, Groundhog Day, Force and Motion/Shadows, the 100th Day, Valentine's Day, and Presidents' Day.  We don't know how we're going to squish in vacation!

LANGUAGE ARTS

We continue to learn long vowel sounds that are spelled in many different ways and review short vowel sounds.  We continue to increase our sight vocabulary!  Our confidence in spelling new words will help us as we continue to do more non-fiction story writing!  We are excited to have our "How-To" Writers' Celebration very soon.  We realized that we are experts at many activities!  Next focus:  "All-About" stories.  (We know a lot about many things, so that should be exciting!)

*Special Note:  If your child wishes to do a very brief "how-to" video, feel free to film them and send their creation to me via email, camera, flash drive, etc.  We have learned that "acting out" helps us put more details in our writing, so this is a terrific form of encouragement.  (No pressure though!)

MATH

We have been working hard to investigate how numbers go together in fact families.  We will soon return to place value to help us make sense of some big numbers!  We will also study 3-D objects to understand geometry and measurement.

BIRTHDAYS

No February birthdays

REMINDERS

Jan. 31 - March 4:  Daffodil Drive (Delivery March 14th)

Wed., Feb. 2:         Enrichment Program,
                              Shadows With High Touch/High Tech

Thurs., Feb. 3:        Chinese New Year

Fri., Feb. 4:            Superbowl Spirit Day;

Wear your favorite team/sport jersey or Ox Ridge colors/gear

Fri., Feb. 4:           Scholastic Orders Due

Tues., Feb. 8:        100th Day of School

Fri., Feb. 11:         2nd marking period ends

Mon., Feb. 14:      Valentine celebration

Feb. 21 - 25:         Presidents Week/Vacation



SPECIAL NOTES

• I can't thank you enough for sending in the mid-year supplies.  It has been so nice to restock some items that we have used up quite quickly, and it's neat to have some new goodies too (ex: soft tissues!)  Thank you for your generosity!
• Please remember to include all your classmates when you make/write your Valentines!

• We will be making 100th Day creations in class; no need to send in any goodies.

• With the chilly/snowy weather, please label all cold weather gear and send to school with your child in some kind of "snow gear bag."  Thank you for helping the children stay organized with their belongings!
• We currently have 2 bags with unclaimed snowpants (one Trader Joe bag and one big brown bag).
• Thank you for your support in sending in the "Box Tops for Education."  Please keep them coming!
• Thank you for your support in the Daffodil Drive!
• We were lucky to have Jeanne Yurman and Joanne Frawley present a terrific environmental/recycle program sponsored by the DAEG in January.  Thanks!  The students are excited to care for their environment way before the arrival of Earth Day.
• Continued thanks to our Room Moms, Marijke Hart and Nancy Lombra, and for all Volunteers!

JANUARY SIGHT WORDS

did

do

going

into

know

must

new

no

now

old

open

over

so

some

soon

those

too

use

will

with