Mrs. Ball's Weekly Update
February 7, 2016
Love is in the Air!
We had a great week in first grade. Between Jump Rope for Heart and the Talent Show we were busy! Congratulations to Alexandra, Zayna, and Asher for sharing their talents with the school! It took a lot of courage to participate and we are so proud of you!
In addition to our daily routine, we practiced adding for stamina. The students were given 1 minute to complete 25 addition problems. Once they demonstrate mastery, they will be given the next level (For example they begin with +0, then move to +1…). Please know that this is not a competitive exercise. Like with reading, we are improving our fluency by practicing each day to know our addition facts quickly. The kids have enjoyed the activity thus far. Beginning this week, students will receive a certificate home with their current level and flashcards they can practice for the next level. There are also many free apps the children can use if you have extra time. With our penguin unit, we met the Gentoos and look forward to finding the Chinstraps this week. In science we will begin studying the weather and how it is forecasted. This, as you can imagine is very important in Antarctica! We will be recording the weather daily in our weather journals and reading our class thermometer throughout the day to see how the temperature changes. Our read aloud now is Mr. Popper’s Penguins which the students are really enjoying. Their book boxes are full of nonfiction penguin books. They are hungry for information and always want to share the new facts they find!
Next week is another big week… Friday is the 100th day of school and our Valentine’s Day class party! Please see the link below for more information.
Last but not least, we will have our class spelling bee on Thursday! This again will not be stressful and all students will be celebrated for their efforts. Our class champion will participate in our school wide spelling bee at the end of the month. Please click the link below for additional information and resources.
Hoping you had a wonderful weekend and enjoy the Superbowl!
Warmly,
Whitney