Sunday, October 8, 2017

October 8th - 12th


Dear parents, thank you for taking the time to read our First Grade News. We had a busy week in our Reading and Writing units, we have continued to water and taken care of our garden, and we have recorded observations about our bean. In Math we are approaching the end of Module 1 of Eureka math, and we are now all used to routines in all subjects.

DEAR Assembly this Tuesday!

This Tuesday morning, October 10 at 7:55 am,  join us on the elementary lawn to Drop Everything And Read! Bring a book (and probably a hat or sunglasses because it will be sunny), and join the elementary students for some sustained silent reading. Please make sure to pack a book for your child so they can get right to it when we start our reading. We hope you will join us. Modeling reading with your children is a great way to highlight the importance and joy of reading. Please have your child drop their bag at their assembly spot, and come to the lawn.




Global Math Week

From the 15th to 19th October the CAC elementary school will be celebrating Global Math Week, the world’s biggest community mathematics event. The aim of the event is to unite one million students around the globe in a shared experience of joyful uplifting mathematics. During this week at CAC there will be a number of different mathematical activities going on for students and families to enjoy. These include:


  • During their math class that week, students will participate in the Global Math Week focus activity - Exploding Dots!
  • A Math Trail will be set up around the elementary school grounds. Students and families can complete the tasks during recess or after school and submit their responses each day. At the end of the week a display will showcase the most creative solutions.
  • A Problem of the Day will be posed to challenge our most dedicated mathematicians. Parents are allowed (and encouraged) to help!
  • A Parent Workshop will provide an opportunity for parents to share in the joy and fun of Exploding Dots alongside their children, and will share some tips for keeping the math fun going at home.

The ultimate goal of Global Math Week is to change the way the world sees math. We want to help our students appreciate math as joyful, relevant, meaningful and creative. Join us in celebrating the wonder of math!


Global Math Week Parent Workshop

Tuesday 17th October, 8:30 - 9:30am

What will we be learning this week


Reading

This week our first grade readers will learn: 

Teaching Point 6 - Readers always think what our book is mostly about, the main points and how they link together.
Teaching Point  7 - Reading partners can help each other understand the information from our books by asking and answering questions.
Teaching Point 8 - Non-fiction readers stop and jot ideas that come to their mind as their reading.
Teaching Point 9 - Readers can explain their jots after they read, and have reactions to the information from their books.

Teaching Point 10 - As readers, we envision what we're learning by making a picture or movie in our mind, and pausing to reflect.

Writing


This week, our first grade writers will learn to:


Teaching Point 5 - Using Fancy Words to teach others about a topic.
Teaching Point  6 - Non fiction writers use readers to help them add and/or subtract information from their pieces.
Teaching Point 7 - Writers self-assess their pieces by asking: what have I already learned, and then we set goals by asking: what do I still need to work on?
Teaching Point 8 - Non fiction writers edit their pieces, and look at their spelling, capitals, and punctuation.
In writing we are learning that our pieces don't have to be perfect, that they are a work in progress, and that we can always go back to revise and/or edit. Expect to see writing pieces where there are words crossed, sentence paper strips glued that stick out of their books, and other things. Writing is a process, and in first grade we are learning that our published pieces can show all the work that we've been through to get to a final product. 


Students' daily handwriting practice


Math

Lesson  28 - Solving take-away math stories, using drawings, true number sentences and statements; by crossing off what's taken away.
Lesson  29 - Solving take apart math stories, using drawings, true number sentences and statements; by circling the part that we know.
Lesson  30 - Relating addition and subtraction in our math stories to find the unknown part.
Lesson 31 - Using counting on or counting back to solve math stories.
Lesson 32 - Solving put together and take apart stories with unknown parts.



Science

Our first grade scientists will have a very busy week conducting and recording observations of their garden, their class bean, and having discussions about the changes they observe. As they learn about plants and parts of the plant, they will conduct an experiment with a stem (celery) and record their observations. Finally, they will talk and learn more about a plant's life cycle, and conduct some research with partners or independently.
Observing and measuring our plants

From the Counseling Corner

Interesting Article:

Aha! Parenting.com is a great resource that shares information and parenting articles spanning pregnancy to teenagers. I am passing on a recent article about growth mindset.  Growth Mindset is an idea based on the extensive research of Stanford University psychologist,  Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D..  Put simply, it is the idea that people are not born with a fixed intelligence. It is the idea that our brains act similar to a muscle that grows stronger with use. Take a look and let us know what you think.


Guidance:

In our weekly guidance lessons, first grade are continuing to learn about their own feelings and the feelings of others which will help them to better control their emotions and be more accepting of their peers.  During guidance time we will be covering Second Step lessons about understanding feelings and emotions.  Students look at facial expressions, tone of voice, body language and situational clues to better understand how others might be feeling.  Students will also be looking at ways that they can better identify their own feelings by noticing physical clues that happen within their bodies. We will discussing and practicing different strategies for managing feelings in appropriate ways. We will do this through books, activities, role play and lesson discussions.  

Important Dates

October 10  - 7:55am DEAR assembly in the ES lawn
October 11 -  Christy Curran: How to promote writing with your child.    First floor common room                              (2pm- 3pm) Bring a pen 
October 17 - Global Math Week parent workshop (8:30 - 9:30) in the first floor common room.
October 26 - Halloween Parade 2:30pm (Parents welcome)
October 27 - Halloween Carnival (2pm - 6pm)

If you have any questions or feedback for the first grade team please don't hesitate to contact us.

Your Partners in Learning
Taryn Carr (tcarr@cacegypt.org)
Gaby Morales (gmorales@cacegypt.org)
Charlie Saunders (csaunders@cacegypt.org)

                                             


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