The Explorer
Mrs. Knippenberg & Mrs. Lowery's First Grade News 10/14/16
Welcome Aboard! We hope you enjoy watching your child grow in academics, character, and leadership this year.
Micah Brechler is our First Mate of the Week!
What Makes This First Mate A Fabulous First Grader?
Adventures Through Academics!
Building Character
This Friday, we held our first peace circle. A peace circle will be a special kind of morning meeting every Friday where your child will have opportunities to learn about and participate in peaceful community building activities. This morning, we brainstormed what we thought the word peace meant. Responses included: safe, calm, quiet, and happy. Throughout the year, we will continue to work on how to be a classroom of peacemakers. The kids really enjoyed our first meeting and look forward to next week!
Reading
This week was all about Adjectives. We enjoyed many hands on activities to practice describing a noun. It was fun to get out hands gooey in a pumpkin, share and write about special objects and paint pictures to describe what we hear.
Because of the short week ahead, we will combine our next weekly reading unit between this coming week and next. We will not have a reading test this coming week.
Every Friday, your child will be assessed on the skills taught in class each week. A formal letter explaining the weekly concepts will be sent home Monday so you are informed about what your child will need to know on our Friday tests.
Please also remember to send your child's book pouch with the book inside. They will not be able to receive a new book if they have not returned the old one. Thanks for your continued support on this!
Writing
This week, we will work on writing descriptive sentences about animals and will be assessed on our writing soon.
History & Science
This week, Siri demonstrated her science fair project in front of our class. She will miss the fair, so she was able to get her project done a little early. It was a great opportunity for the other students in our class to see what will be expected of them in a couple weeks. Students will be graded on their presentation as well as displaying all five steps of the scientific method at our First Grade Science Fair on Wed., October 26. I will resend our Science Fair letter via e-mail this weekend.
Also, in history we have begun our studies of ancient civilizations, starting with Mesopotamia. We will learn about how these cities began, and how it all started with farming. Ask your child how the ancient Mesopotamians were able to water their crops. Can they tell you what Mesopotamia means?
First Grade Fall Festival Party - Monday, October 31
Special thank you to: Jeanette Geisbauer, Kelly Van Ranst, Kristen Sheehan, Kristen Brechler, and Carrie Beth Schrader!
Pirate's Chest Store Items Needed
Mark Your Calendar
Mon., Oct. 17 Mill City Field Trip Registration Due
Wed., Oct. 19 All School Marathon
Thur., Oct. 20-25 No School
Wed., Oct. 26 First Grade Science Fair 3:00-3:30 in PAC
Thur., Oct. 27 Mill City Museum Field Trip (Must be in uniform)
Nov. 10-11 Lower School Conferences
Tues., Nov. 15 Fall Music Concert (Grade 1, 6:00 p.m.)
Mrs. Knippenberg
Email: mknippenberg@stcroixprep.org
Website: www.stcroixprep.org
Phone: (651)395-5933