Mrs. Jansen's First Grade Class
Weekly Newsletter: April 11, 2016
KEYSOR PRIDE: MISSION & VISION
Community - Character - Achievement - Impact
"The Keysor community works together to support all learners on their journey as empathetic, creative and critical thinkers who actively impact the world around them."
"The Keysor community works together to support all learners on their journey as empathetic, creative and critical thinkers who actively impact the world around them."
Happy April to One and All!!
Our month is off to great beginning! Thank you to all families who volunteered for donating blood during our drive on Friday and to those who joined us for finishing the Read, Right and Run Marathon! It was exciting to have our friends Peter, Desmond and Nina there to end the terrific tasks of reading 26 books, completing 26 good deeds and running 26 miles. Way to go to all who participated in the program this year!
Last week we had a great time celebrating our friend Camren as Leader of the Week! Camren is wonderful friend to many, and shares really smart insight during our weekly lessons. Also, way to go to our friends Simone and Elie who were chosen as Students of the Week, for exhibiting hard work and determination during our reading and writing lessons this past week.
Last week we had a great time celebrating our friend Camren as Leader of the Week! Camren is wonderful friend to many, and shares really smart insight during our weekly lessons. Also, way to go to our friends Simone and Elie who were chosen as Students of the Week, for exhibiting hard work and determination during our reading and writing lessons this past week.
Special Classes/Weekly Events Schedule:
Monday, Apr. 11th: D Day - Library with Mrs. Ems, books are due
Tuesday, Apr. 12th: E Day - Art with Mrs. Lang; PTO Meeting @ 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Apr. 13th: A Day - P.E. with Coach Widamen; Wellness Wednesday for walking, running or riding your bikes to school
Thursday, Apr. 14th: B Day - Music with Dr. St. Clair
Friday, Apr. 15th: C Day - Wellness with Mrs. Ehrlich; MAP Assembly at 9:00 a.m.; Walking Field Trip to Kirkwood Park, 9:30 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Sunday, Apr. 17th: Project IDEA Work Day, 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.; Kirkwood yard waste bags and gardening tools would be greatly appreciated along with our wonderful families to assist!
Tuesday, Apr. 12th: E Day - Art with Mrs. Lang; PTO Meeting @ 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Apr. 13th: A Day - P.E. with Coach Widamen; Wellness Wednesday for walking, running or riding your bikes to school
Thursday, Apr. 14th: B Day - Music with Dr. St. Clair
Friday, Apr. 15th: C Day - Wellness with Mrs. Ehrlich; MAP Assembly at 9:00 a.m.; Walking Field Trip to Kirkwood Park, 9:30 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Sunday, Apr. 17th: Project IDEA Work Day, 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.; Kirkwood yard waste bags and gardening tools would be greatly appreciated along with our wonderful families to assist!
Writing Reviews - Favorite Books
Last week was spent in a complete Writer's Workshop project, creating writing reviews of each of the children's favorite stories. Independently, the children summarized a story of their own choosing, shared their opinion of the text, and rated it on a scale of 1 - 10. Then, the finished off the week with publishing their review within Pages upon their iPads and sent them to print! I am so unbelievably proud of their awesomeness and you should be too! Their published reviews will be available for viewing upon our bulletin board outside of our classroom.
Surveys galore!
We have found out so many interesting facts about our classmates over the past week! Last week we concluded our survey and graphing work to summarize collective thoughts by our classmates. The experiences each day in creating graphs, learning about how to visually report data and summarizing the information, has been awesome by the kids. I've even heard there are some fun surveys being created at home too! Thank you for all of your help in supporting your child, to realize their opinions matter as well as their views on various topics of interest!
Walking field trip to Kirkwood Park
As shared in email last week, we will be taking a walking field trip to Kirkwood Park on Friday, April 11th. As we near the end of the year, it's great to take time to celebrate each other, experience the Spring season and explore the community around us. The children will be doing so with all of the other first grade classes on Friday. Please make sure your child is dressed comfortably and brings a sack lunch to enjoy. Thank you to our parents who have already volunteered to support our experience. If you are available during Friday and would like to join us, please email respond.
Sight Words and Sound Focus
Our sight words this week are: much, before, line, right, too
The children will also participate in learning lessons about suffixes, beginning with the suffix 'ing'. They will be thinking about how to change an action word into telling about doing something in the present, such as 'jumping,' 'skipping,' and 'running.'
We will also spend some time with thinking about how words can share elements in common, such as how many letters, same endings, CVCe patterns. Later in the week, the children will also be having some writing practice with 'Look, Say, Cover' opportunities with various sight words that still pose some spelling difficulties.
The children will also participate in learning lessons about suffixes, beginning with the suffix 'ing'. They will be thinking about how to change an action word into telling about doing something in the present, such as 'jumping,' 'skipping,' and 'running.'
We will also spend some time with thinking about how words can share elements in common, such as how many letters, same endings, CVCe patterns. Later in the week, the children will also be having some writing practice with 'Look, Say, Cover' opportunities with various sight words that still pose some spelling difficulties.
Writing Workshop: Realistic Fiction Story Workshop
As we have concluded the writing review workshop, the children are moving back into our beloved Story Workshop experiences. These experiences will provide for realistic fiction creation of the children's own stories, as developed through play, creation and illustration. The work will include developing a story line with characters, setting, problem/solution or cause/effect relationships. This workshop will result in books being created by our class and will conclude with a Publishing Party during the first part of May. I can't wait to see how their stories develop!
Measurements: Fish lengths and animal jumps
More new learning during April! As we begin this week, the children will also begin their new unit in measurement. The measurements being completed will be using the standard American unit of one inch and non-standard units with 1" tiles. The children will be using diagrammed models and reported animal jump measurements to complete their measurement experiences, so get ready for some tape measure practice at home too!
Economics: Opportunity Costs and Production
As we conclude our unit developing economic understanding, the children will be learning about opportunity costs and production. Both of these concepts build upon our work in thinking about goods & services and scarcity. The children will learn about the importance in decision making for items they desire and realize the components of production the items we enjoy, entail. If you haven't had a chance already, please be sure to visit PBSkids.org. Within the Mr. Roger's Neighborhood section, many interesting videos about materials production are available for the children's viewing. They absolutely LOVED the fortune cookie production line video!
Mrs. Traci Jansen
Email: traci.jansen@kirkwoodschools.org
Website: http://keysor.kirkwoodschools.org/pages/Keysor_Elementary/Classes/Jansen
Location: 725 N Geyer Rd, Kirkwood, MO, United States
Phone: 314-213-6120 (2164)
Twitter: @TraciJansen