First Grade: Specials Spotlight
Third Quarter 2016-2017
Exploratory Team
Library
Art
Music
3rd quarter was highlighted by the 1st grade music program, “S is for Sunflower”! I’m very proud of these young musicians for working so hard to prepare for their first RE program! After watching and evaluating their performance, we moved on to some rhythm practice and combined rhythm, instruments, and the story “Drummer Hoff!” Ms. Reeves and I have teamed up to work with 1st graders on a special project combing their knowledge from PE and Music classes. We are excited to share this project with families and other students later in the year!
Technology
We got a start on our next project which entails writing our own story, illustrating it and then publishing it through PowerPoint. We will be diving into a little internet safety and programming with Ozobots as the year comes to a close.
PE
At the beginning of third quarter, the students learned some new warm-ups such as “octopus tag”, “rolling rocks”, and “timed run”. A big portion of third quarter was spent learning to jump rope, which is no easy task! I have spoken with many adults that have said they wished they learned how to jump rope at a younger age. I am thankful that I am able to teach this age of kids and can help them learn skills that will help them all throughout their lives! Jump rope is a great cardiovascular skill, and you don’t need to do much before realizing that you are getting some great exercise. We spent a lot of time getting familiar with the ropes, how to hold them properly, swing them properly, and practiced jumping over the rope. The most important thing was that the students did not give up. I was extremely proud of them for trying their hardest, even when things got tough! Another chunk of the quarter was filled with climbing. I am always so excited for the climbing unit of the year for first grade, because they get to experience the rock wall for the very first time! We learned how to climb the rock wall safely as well as be a helpful spotter. They always do a great job about remembering how important their safety is! Ms. Kellogg and I have joined together and are working on something very special with the first graders that we have worked so hard to keep secret. It has been such a fun experience working together with the first graders and we are excited to be able to one day reveal to others our hard work! The words for each week were: potential, healthy lifestyle, challenge, mindset, perseverance, endurance, and flexibility. I am looking forward to fourth quarter and a strong finish to a great year!
Counselor
Happy fourth quarter. Time has flown by. This quarter we will be finishing our Too Good for Drugs units. Their purple workbooks will be coming home with them so they can share what they have learned. The rest of the time we will be reading and learning the 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey. I would like to remind everyone that all community service hours need to be recorded, hours totaled, and turned into me no later than April 7th. If you are in need of addition logs please let me know. tthurmanmunsey@usd232.org. The window for community service hours is April 2016-April 2017. Again, please email me with any questions. I look forward to an exciting new quarter.