Mrs. Jansen's First Grade Class
Weekly Newsletter: September 28, 2015
KEYSOR PRIDE
We are Respectful, Responsible and Safe.
Creating, Analyzing, and Sharing Together
Thank you to all our families who supported our Fall Fun Run this past Friday! We had a terrific group of friends, enjoying the morning together in an exciting and active way. We then extended our morning to even more good times through our celebration of Liam's birthday. As we move into our last week of September together, we are continuing in our times of creation and sharing, but also analyzing our work in reading and writing to plan for the first weeks of October.
Congratulations also to our newest Leader of the Week: Bella! Bella continues to shine as a caring, hard-working classmate who is a role model to many in following directions the first time. Also, way to go for our Students of the Week: Elie and Ryan. Both have been working hard in all of their studies and have continued go above our expectations in learning and caring choices. Great job friends!
Congratulations also to our newest Leader of the Week: Bella! Bella continues to shine as a caring, hard-working classmate who is a role model to many in following directions the first time. Also, way to go for our Students of the Week: Elie and Ryan. Both have been working hard in all of their studies and have continued go above our expectations in learning and caring choices. Great job friends!
Special Classes/Activities Schedule:
Monday, Sept. 28: Half day Professional Development; Dismissal at 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 29th: C Day - Wellness with Mrs. Ehrlich
Wednesday, Sept. 30th: STEAM Showcase, 9-11 a.m.; D Day - Library with Mrs. Ems, books are due; Wellness Wednesday (Trail Trotters) PLEASE NOTE: every child that either walks/rides their bikes to school and/or participates in Trail Trotters, counts towards our class 'foot' on the Wellness board. Currently we are at three!
Thursday, Oct. 1st: E Day - Art with Mrs. Lang
Friday, Oct. 2nd: FIRST FRIDAY READING, 8:25 - 8:55 a.m. in our classroom; A Day - P.E. with Coach Widamen
Tuesday, Sept. 29th: C Day - Wellness with Mrs. Ehrlich
Wednesday, Sept. 30th: STEAM Showcase, 9-11 a.m.; D Day - Library with Mrs. Ems, books are due; Wellness Wednesday (Trail Trotters) PLEASE NOTE: every child that either walks/rides their bikes to school and/or participates in Trail Trotters, counts towards our class 'foot' on the Wellness board. Currently we are at three!
Thursday, Oct. 1st: E Day - Art with Mrs. Lang
Friday, Oct. 2nd: FIRST FRIDAY READING, 8:25 - 8:55 a.m. in our classroom; A Day - P.E. with Coach Widamen
Using our Senses in Project IDEA
Did you know our Project IDEA space includes THREE sensory gardens? The children loved taking their scientific observations outdoors to SMELL the variety of plant life growing in our smell garden. Some favorite scents included the lemon balm, lavender and rosemary. There was an overall vote though, that the catnip smell was not pleasant at all! All reflections were recorded in the children's science journals.
Friendships: Similarities and Differences
Through the past weeks, the children learned about the reading life and practiced with their responsibilities during our reading experiences. This week, we are moving into our new unit of reading study as we think about Making Connections. The story of Matthew and Tilly will give opportunities for the children to think about friendships and how to come to resolutions peacefully upon a disagreement occurring. The children will also be working with new reading buddies to support these discussions.
Exploring Scientific Tools
As we're concluding our 'Being a Scientist' unit during topics, the children participated in eight different station rotations, learning about and exploring an array of scientific tools including: microscopes, magnifying glasses, droppers, goggles, thermometers, balance scales, timers, and measuring cups. Be sure to inquire as to how these array of tools help them as scientists, to discover their world around them while paired with their senses! I'm positive they'll give you a thorough explanation. :) Also, with the end of our unit of study there will be a Smilebox video sent, summarizing all that the children have enjoyed!
Sound and Sight Word Practice: Short e Word Family (et, en) & New Sight Words
Our sight word development this week, will be with the words: were, then, saw, give, one. Additionally, the we will be working with the short e sound in words like: hen, bed, net, peg. The children have been using a 'tapping their elbow motion' to remember the sound. Please continue identifying this sound in words when reading together at night.
Writing Workshop
As we finished off last week in our workshop, we noticed there were a few more way to enhance the writing pieces being developed in class. This week, the children will have practice in making their stories come 'alive' through detailed enhancements on their illustrations and the use of speech bubbles. These final additions will lead into the publishing (AT LAST!!!) of their small moments stories. We're hoping to have some ready to share with you at our First Friday reading this Friday for October.
Developing our Mastery of Numbers through 120 Continued
The children have been working very hard in their understandings of the numbers through 120, adding one or ten to change the number, and this week, understanding greater than and less than concepts. These concepts will continue to be addressed throughout the year, but initially we are giving awareness lessons in using the >, <, and = sign to define numbers by their quantities. In addition, the children will have practice with the 120's chart, writing missing numbers and thinking about patterns in numbers when looking at the columns and rows upon the chart. Lastly, we will have our first 'sprinting' experience, as the children will complete a math sprint in 90 seconds trying to solve as many equations as possible. This 'sprint' will be sent home, identifying how many questions have been answered and how many are correct. Feel free to practice and/or review these problems at home over the course of the week.
What is a Scientist? Sharing our Observations and Explanations
This week we will be concluding our unit about "What is a Scientist?" The children absolutely loved their scientific tool rotations and learning together in small groups. As we finish off our week, the children will be sorting their rocks and exploring flotation with their rocks. Lastly, they'll reconsider all that a scientist does to learn about the world around them.
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