First Grade News
Mrs. Elsasser's Class February 12-16th
Recap of last week
Thank you for or attending Parent/Teacher Conferences! I enjoyed meeting with you and sharing your child's learning and progress. It's hard to believe we are starting to talk about the end of the year and preparing for 2nd grade! I look forward to meeting with the rest of the families very soon. Thank you for your commitment to your child's education.
Last week, we reviewed our next 5 First Grade words: before, because, over, find, sleep and practiced reading and writing them. We learned about the long o and long u sounds (spelled o_e/ u_e) and practiced identifying main idea and details in a story about astronauts and the moon. In Math, we worked on decomposing numbers and practiced breaking apart numbers using ten frames and counters to make a 10 when adding larger sets. Practicing this with concrete tools will help us to be able to do this strategy mentally later on. We continued our unit on Light and Sound and used our science notebooks to capture our learning about how sound moves and what produces sound.
We continue working on building stamina, independence, and improving organizational & problem solving skills as we prepare for 2nd grade.
Spring Party---Help Still Needed!
Spring Party: This Friday, February 16 2-3pm
Here is the signup to help at the party:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0E4EA8A823A5FA7-47585368-valentine
Valentine Exchange at Class Party
We will be exchanging Valentines at the party as well. If your child would like to participate, they may bring:
- a decorated box or gift bag to collect valentines from classmates.
- valentines or a treat to pass out to classmates. We have 18 students in our class (10 girls, 8 boys). Your child does not need to individually address the valentines to each of the classmates. Signing their own name to the valentines works perfect! Thanks!
Bring these items to school by Friday, February 16. Please let me know if you do not want your child to participate. Thank you!
Celebrations and Reminders
- We have a 5-7 minute snack time each morning to keep our bodies and brains fueled for learning. I try my best to have extra snacks on hand in the classroom, but donations of peanut-free, individually wrapped snacks are always welcomed. (ex. goldfish crackers, cheese-its, granola bars, apples, bananas, etc.) Thanks for your help!
- With the cold weather here to stay, please make sure your child is bringing the proper coat/outerwear. We plan to go to recess if the temp is above "feels like 15 degrees." Please let me know if your child is in need of a winter coat/outerwear. We have lots of district resources! Thank you for having your child practice buttoning and zipping their outerwear independently!
- Thanks for sending in a water bottle, snack and coat/sweatshirt with your child. This helps them meet their needs during class time.
- Wear tennis shoes on PE days! (There is a school-wide competition to see which class has the most students wearing proper shoes to PE. We would love to win!)
Our Learning This Week
Reading
- Reading and writing words with the the long e sound--spelled e, e_e, ee, or ea
- Practicing Visualizing while we read and comparing and contrasting texts
- Reading and writing compound sentences and identifying linking words such as or, but, & and
- Reading and writing 5 new first grade words: by, could, don't, car, maybe
Writing
- Organizing our opinion writing
- Writing to persuade an audience
- Supporting our opinion with reasons
- Writing a persuasive paragraph with less adult help
Math
- Reviewing different addition and subtraction strategies
- Solving for missing addends (ex. 6 + ___ = 11)
- Breaking teen numbers apart into tens and ones
- Determining if equations are true or false
- Solving missing addend story problems (Ex: I have 12 crayons. 8 of them are blue. The rest are red. How many crayons are red?)
Science
This week we will begin our science unit on light and sound!
We will learn some important vocabulary words:
- Sound (vibration that travels as a wave through material)
- Light (visible light energy)
- Vibration (back and forth movements)
- Waves (movements caused by vibrations that carry energy)
We will conduct some fun experiments to learn about how vibrations of matter and sound waves are connected! We will discover how sounds can change pitch and volume!
Friday Folder Items
Friday folder items:
- Student work
*Please return Folders on Mondays/first day of the school week.
Specials Schedule
Monday: Library *return library books*
Tuesday: PE (wear tennis shoes)
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Art
Friday: PE (wear tennis shoes)
Important Dates
February
16-Spring Parties *& Valentine Exchange* 2-3pm
19-No School-Staff Development
22-Pancake Man & Book Bingo Family Event
23-School Store (for those who want to participate)
Skating Party at Skate City *Crazy Hats* 5-7pm
29-1st Grade Music Program 6:30pm in gym
(Students should arrive at 6:15)
Please reach out if you have questions or concerns. Thank you!
402.898.0433
Notice of Nondiscrimination
The Papillion La Vista Community School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, age or other protected status in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Students: Dr. Trent Steele, Director of Secondary Human Resources and Student Services, 420 South Washington Street, Papillion, NE 68046 (402) 537-6214 (trent.steele@plcschools.org). Employees and Others: Dr. Kati Settles, Assistant Superintendent Human Resources, 420 South Washington Street, Papillion, NE 68046 (402) 537-6204 (kati.settles@plcschools.org). Complaints or concerns involving discrimination or needs for accommodation or access should be addressed to the appropriate Coordinator. For further information about anti-discrimination laws and regulations, or to file a complaint of discrimination with the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education (OCR), please contact OCR at One Petticoat Lane, 1010 Walnut Street, #320, Kansas City, Missouri 64106, (816) 268-0550 (voice), or (877) 521-2172 (telecommunications device for the deaf), or email ocr.kansascity@ed.gov