1A Classroom Update 3
October 19, 2018
Dear 1A Families,
Time flies when you are in first grade! It is hard to believe we are towards the end of our second month of school. Students have notably grown through our invigorating classroom discussions, academic challenges, partner work, and many humorous moments. We are looking forward to gathering as a school community next week for the Halloween parade! We are sure creativity, goofiness, and good cheer will be rampant!
Important Dates
- Thursday, October 25 | Parent Coffee (K-2) 8:30-9:10am
- Friday, October 26 | 3rd Annual Multicultural Potluck
- Tuesday, October 30 | BPCS Halloween Parade
- Tuesday, November 6 | No School
- Wednesday, November 7 | PTSO General Body Meeting
- Monday, November 12 | Veteran's Day (School Closed)
- Thursday, November 15 | Fall Curriculum Share
- Monday, November 19-23 | Thanksgiving Break
RAZ-Kids Update
There was a school wide problem with the Raz-kids website and all classes were not able to access their accounts. The accounts have all been updated and the teacher username did as well. We sent home the updated login parent letter today with your child's Take-Home folder. Here are the instructions:
1. Go to www.kidsa-z.com
2. Enter or choose the teacher's username, mip01
3. Find child's username on the class chart (first and last name in lowercase - e.g. mandyip)
4. Enter child's password (first and last name in lowercase - e.g. mandyip)
School-wide Lit Block
Our school-wide Lit Block has officially begun at BPCS! It's a big change from Kindergarten where Lit Block occurred only in the classroom. Starting this year, we are moving across classrooms in all grades in order to read with students on our same levels. That means that students of the same level are grouped together regardless of what grade they're in. We have Lit Block 4 times a week this year for 1 hour each.
Just a reminder that while some kids are aware of their reading level, other friends are not, so we try our best to not emphasize the "level" as much because we know that students can get self-conscious in comparison to other friends. It definitely gets harder as the kids get older since they like to talk and share information so we just let the students know that it's best to focus on self-improvement and progress no matter what anyone else is doing.
Academics
ELA
Back to Back (think of answer)
Face to Face (share answers with partner)
Alex, Jemma, Lorelei, Jeremiah, and Zara plan their magnificent thing
Noushin, Aura and Dash are brainstorming their plan
What is yellow table's plan for their magnificent thing?
Liam, Emma, Michael, Jordyn and Malachi think of ideas
Amalia, Dylan, Lena, and Sophia collaborating on a plan
Red and purple table writing in their Magnificent Thing Notebook
Green table take notes in their Magnificent Thing Notebook
We write what materials and tools we want to use
We add sketches to help us plan what we build
We write about the size, shape, and color to help us build
Guess what green table is making!
What are Teddy and Aura making?
Sneak peek of one magnificent thing we're building!
Math
Phonics & Sight Words
Our 1A friends have been working super hard to practice how to spell CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words in Phonics! We have begun our unit on consonant digraphs. A consonant digraph is two consonants that come together to make one sound. For example "s" and "h" together make the sound "sh." The five consonant digraphs we've been learning are: sh, ch, wh, th, and ck. When reading at home, you can practice tapping out words with consonant digraphs to help your child sound the word out. For example, the word "sh o p" has three taps even though there are four letters because there are only three sounds to the word.
Below is the link to our updated sight words. These are high frequency words, which means that they show up in our reading and writing most often. Most cannot be sounded out, therefore, students should memorize how to read and spell these words to help both their reading and writing progress in First Grade. Some ideas for practice at home are: making flashcards, writing them with special markers or on an easel, writing sentences using the words, or practicing spelling them in the car (out loud or written).
Halloween Parade Update (T: 10/30)
We are very excited about the approaching Halloween parade. On Tuesday, October 30th, the Halloween parade will be held. Students can wear costumes on the day of the parade, however, Wednesday will be a regular day and students are expected to wear uniform. You will be receiving additional Halloween update from the School Smore soon.
Specials Update
Science
Spanish
Bienvenidos to another exciting school year! I am happy to announce that this year the students, parents, faculty, and staff will experience 100% Spanish Immersion. Our goal is to keep exposing students, in this case, first graders to the Spanish language (oral, visual and written) all the time. The Spanish immersion will be supported by theater, TPR (total physical response), storytelling, music, games, dance, art, and cultural exploration.
1A is doing a maravilloso job in Spanish. So far, we explored our emotions using fun theatre conventions. We reviewed simple vocabulary of the things that are in our classroom such as: lápiz, mesa, silla, puerta, etc. Moreover, we relearned and discovered new colors: rojo, azul, amarillo, gris, turqueza, among others. Currently 1A is learning about Families and how they all look different. They learned that in Latin America people use two last names instead of one. They are learning vocabulary words such as: mamá, papà, hermanos, abuelos, primos, tíos and mascotas. I am super excited to see how the bilingual brains of 1A keeps growing and developing!
There are plenty of ways you can support our learning experience and encourage your student to grow her/his interest in Español by reading books at home and listening to music in Español. Participate in cultural events in your community that expose your student to the Spanish culture, such as plays, concerts, and festivals.
Muchas gracias,
Maestra Nivia
Please feel free to contact me with any question at nmarrero@brooklynprospect.org