Sunday, March 25, 2018

Week 30: March 25th - March 29th



Thank you so much for reading our weekly news. We had a busy week last week with our field trip to Mohamed Ali's Mosque and our Founders Day assembly - thank you to all the parent chaperones who volunteered their time to help with this day, we truly appreciate it.




From the Curriculum Corner:

READING WORKSHOP:  Dramatizing Characters

The Essential Questions are:
1) How do you bring characters to life?
2) What is the role of the director?

This week the students will continue with readers theatre. They will work in groups to read different scripts, focusing on the role of director and actor.

Writers Workshop - From Scenes to Series: Writing Fiction

Essential Question:

- How can I use what I have learnt from other authors to help me?
- When I want to tell my story to other people, what steps can I take to revise my first draft to make it better?

This week students will continue to add chapters to their series focusing on chapter one as their introduction, chapter two as their middle or where their 'trouble' occurs, and chapter three for their ending or 'solution'. Students will also focus on using patterns to give more details to events that happen in their stories. During this week students will reflect back on their series stories to check to see if their pages include enough 'sparkle' words, they will check to see if they have used separate chapters for their beginning, middle, and end, they will check to see they have used the word wall to help spell tricky words, and lastly they will check to see if their illustrations match what they have described in their pages. 

MATH: 

Identifying, Composing and Partitioning Shapes

The essential questions for our mathematicians in this unit are:
- How can shapes be described?
- What are the characteristics (attributes) of a shape?
- How can circles, squares and rectangles be divided (partitioned) into equal parts.
- How are numbers used to show fractions?
- How are portioned shapes used to show fractions?

This week in Math students will continue to partition shapes and recognize halves and quarters of circles and rectangles. They will explore how to construct a paper clock by segmenting a circle and telling time to the hour. They will recognize halves within a circular clock and tell time to the half hour.  
                              




Please click on the link for parent tips for topic D

Science

Matter Manipulations: Solids and Liquids


Essential Questions:
1) How and why do scientists change matter?

As we continue learning about matter we will focus on solids and how they can be changed? We will discuss how the properties may change but the actual state of matter remains unchanged. Students will continue to learn how to use the scientific method, questioning, making a hypothesis, observing and writing results and a conclusion.

Experiment 2 Question : How can a solid be changed?


CIRCLE SOLUTIONS:

1C This week we will continue to talk about friendships and what makes a good friend?

1M  This week we will continue to practice good listening skills, and talking skills. We will use sentence starters such as: I like talking when..... I feel that I'm listened when..... I can be a good listener by..... It's best to talk when.....

1S  This week students will continue to focus on strengths, students will learn more about what character strengths they possess and how to recognize these in others.  



Assembly Notice:

Parents please remind your child that if they are late on Tuesdays when we have our school assembly your child should sit at the back of the hall. We are trying to teach audience etiquette and this is one way that we can show courtesy to the class that is hosting the assembly.

Message From Our Guidance Counselor:


Dear CAC Parents,


In guidance we have finished our until on emotional management and ended with a fun activity where your child made a stress ball and brainstormed their favorite “calm down” strategies. It was a lot of fun to make and I hope the kids are finding the strategies useful.


We are now working on ways to be better problem solvers.  Being able to effectively problem solve helps people in every aspect of life. Students who can solve interpersonal conflicts with peers are less likely to engage in impulsive or aggressive behaviors.  We will use the Second Step curriculum and the problem solving steps, after calming down, to develop these skills. Here are the  STEP’s that we use to teach problem solving. Creating a neutral problem statement, generating safe and respectful solutions, and evaluating the consequences of these solutions will help steer students toward selecting the best solution.


As you know, our Core Value for March is Perseverance.  The ES CAC definition of perseverance is, “never give up and work toward a goal”. One way that you can expand your child's understanding of perseverance is to share with them a time that you persevered in order to succeed or to share a figure from history who persevered.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Best wishes,
Dana Purpura

Library News:

Mark your calendars! The annual ES Book Parade Assembly is on April 10, the day we get back from the April break. This year, the ES Library Council has declared the theme to be GRAPHIC NOVELS! Stay tuned for more details.



ES Talent Show Date revised to April 30
Due to a request to support our PTO gala our ES talent show date has been moved to 5:00 PM on April 30 and our rehearsal will be 3:15 -5: 15 PM.

Important Dates to Remember:

April 1-9: Spring Break
April 10: Character Book Parade
April 30th: ES Talent Show


If you have any other questions or concerns about this week, please don't hesitate to contact your classroom teacher.

Your Partners in Learning,

Taryn Carr (tcarr@cacegypt.org)
Gaby Morales (gmorales@cacegypt.org)
Charlie Saunders (csaunders@cacegypt.org)

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Week 29: March 18 - March 22



Thank you for taking the time to read our weekly news. A big thank you to all the parents who met with us at parent conferences last week. Such a great opportunity to discuss progress and new goals for trimester three. The home-school partnership is invaluable to your child's success so please remember our door is always open should you need to discuss anything about your child's learning.

We had an exciting week last week enjoying the new playground and our first grade students are having some great conversations about perseverance and how we show this in and outside the classroom.

From the Curriculum Corner

Readers Workshop

Dramatizing Characters

Essential Questions:
- How do you bring characters to life?
- What is the role of the director?

This week week we continue to learn about character inference. Readers will be thinking deeply about the important moments in the middle and end of the story so that they can step into the character's shoes and understand them better.
This week we will also begin readers theatre where students learn about the director and actor's role. Students will be given scripts where they can take on a new role.

Students enjoy thinking about character feelings.

Writers Workshop

From Scenes to Series: Writing Fiction


Essential Questions:
- How can I use what I have learnt from other authors to help me?
- When I want to tell my story to other people, what steps can I take to revise my first draft to make it better?


This week as the students continue their series writing they will be exploring what makes realistic fiction realistic. Writers will also remind themselves to show not tell by focussing on tiny details in their writing. Finally this week students will learn about how writers include chapters in their books.

Thank you to all those families that sent cereal boxes to school. We now have enough.
So no more cereal boxes needed.


Math

Identifying, Composing and Partitioning Shapes

Essential Questions:

  • What are the characteristics (attributes) of a shape?
  • How can circles, squares and rectangles be divided into equal parts?
  • How are numbers used to show a fraction?
  • How are portioned shapes used to show fractions?

This week our first grade mathematicians will be combine shapes to create a new composite shape. Students will identify the name of the new shape and the the name of each shape that forms it. We will also be identifying shapes made from equal parts and shapes made from unequal parts.
Students will also partition shapes and identify halves and quarters of circles and rectangles.





Practicing our fluency

Exploring composite shapes


Science

Essential Question: Why and how do scientists change matter?

After being introduced to the concept of matter and understanding what a scientist does, first graders are ready to conduct their first experiment. This week we will begin to discuss our essential question, how and why scientists change matter by turning a liquid into a solid. In our first experiment we will be making butter.


 


CIRCLE SOLUTIONS:

1C This week we will continue discussing cooperation and fairness and how to be a good friend to others. 

1M This week we will continue to focus on positive communication skills to promote effective interactions, with the goal of fostering motivation and opportunities to interact; promoting self-confidence, interest in others and clarity of meaning, expression and articulation.

1S  This week we will be focusing on strengths, students will learn about what character strengths they possess and how to recognize these in others.  

Library this week

Due to our field trip this week our library times have changed. See below. Students are still more than welcome to bring their library bags on Tuesday and we will keep them safe until they visit the library.
1C - Thursday
1M - Wednesday
1S - Tuesday

ES Talent show

The ES Talent show will be on May 3. Auditions will be held on March 18, 19 & 20. 

For further in formation please click here

Founders Day Assembly

On Tuesday, March 20 at 2:30pm we will be celebrating our 72 Founders Day by saying           "Thank You" to CAC.
Students will be writing cards expressing what they are thankful for at CAC. We invite parents to use the note cards provided outside to say "thank you" to CAC.


Interesting Article

Recently my own child said, "Mom, I'm bored." As a parent this often makes me feel like I need to solve this problem. After doing some research I have learnt that, children being bored is a good thing in an over stimulated world. It helps them learn to be creative and manage their own time which are both excellent skills needed for learning. For further ideas read this interesting article  Handling Boredom: Why It's Good For Your Child

Important Dates to Remember:

March 18: ES After School Activities - Session 3 Begins
March 20: 1S Assembly
March 20: Field Trip
March 20: Founders Day assembly 2:30 - 3:00 (Parents are invited)
April 1-9: Spring Break
April 10: Character Book Parade


If you have any other questions or concerns about this week, please don't hesitate to contact your classroom teacher.

Your Partners in Learning,

Taryn Carr (tcarr@cacegypt.org)
Gaby Morales (gmorales@cacegypt.org)
Charlie Saunders (csaunders@cacegypt.org)

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Week 28: March 11 - March 15


Welcome to another week in first grade. We had an exciting day opening the new playground.



I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and had some to relax and have fun with your family. This week we are looking forward to sharing students' progress at conferences and discussing goals for trimester three. We will also be starting a new math unit this week on Geometry which will be lots of exploring and having fun.

From the Curriculum Corner

Readers Workshop

Dramatizing Characters

Essential Questions:

- How do you bring characters to life?
- What is the role of the director?

This week week we continue to learn about character inference. We will be discussing how quotation marks indicate the difference between the character and the narrator and we can change our voice to match. We will think about how character's feelings change in the story. Students will also be using their envisioning skills as they think about the important parts in the story, step into the character's shoes and imagine everything around.


Writers Workshop

From Scenes to Series: Writing Fiction

Essential Question:

- How can I use what I have learnt from other authors to help me?
- When I want to tell my story to other people, what steps can I take to revise my first draft to make it better?

This week students will continue to learn how to write a series book. We will be learning how to introduce the character in book one of our series and develop dialogue between the characters.
This week our writers will also be revising their books and celebrating their first series.


Math

Identifying, Composing and Partitioning Shapes

Essential Questions:

  • What are the characteristics (attributes) of a shape?
  • How can circles, squares and rectangles be divided into equal parts?
  • How are numbers used to show a fraction?
  • How are portioned shapes used to show fractions?

This week our first grade mathematicians will be sorting, analyzing and comparing shapes, and identifying the attributes of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. The students will be building on their knowledge of shape from KG and adding to their repertoire the names; trapezoid, rhombus, cone and rectangular prism.

Parent Tips Topic A

Science

Essential Question: Why and how do scientists change matter?

In this unit students will understand that solids and liquids have properties that can be changed. This week we will continue learning about the concept of matter and learning about the different types of matter. Students will see that matter can either be a solid, liquid or gas. For this unit, we will focus on just solids and liquids. Students will be introduced to lots of different scientific vocabulary and gain an understanding about what a scientist is and does.


CIRCLE SOLUTIONS:

1C This week we will be discussing cooperation and fairness. We will be thinking about strategies we can use in and outside the classroom to be a good friend.

1M  This week and the following week, we will focus on positive communication skills to promote effective interactions. The goal is to foster motivation and opportunities to interact, self-confidence, interest in others and clarity of meaning, expression and articulation.

1S  This week we will identify feelings that arise in different situations, both in school and at home. Students will learn how to express these feelings in appropriate ways that are beneficial to their emotional growth.


ES Talent show

 The ES Talent show will be on May 3. If your child would like to audition they will take place on March 18, 19 & 20. 

For further in formation please click here


Shelter Drill

We will be having a drill on March 12 to practice shelter procedures. Teachers will discuss this as “shelter practice” with students in age-appropriate ways, but you may also want to also talk to your child about the subject. Last year, we shared this article with helpful suggestions for talking to children about safety procedures and practices. One of the things addressed is the impact of the terminology we use. Staff members will be going over this in advance, as we work together to ensure that students feel safe, protected, and aware of what to do in different situations.

Talking to your kids about a lock down

- The drill will be held at 12:00 pm, so if you are on campus, we ask that you follow instructions when asked to go to a safe place.
- Everyone who is outside will be moved to the ES Hall.

Movie Night

Thursday, March 15, 3:10 pm - 4:15 pm

Brought to you by the student leadership Team!
Pixar Short Films V2 From 3:10 - 4:15
Location: ES Hall open for PreK - 5 ( PreK & KG must be accompanied by a parent).
Tickets will be on sale by the student leaders on the week of Sunday, March 11. Students need to return the parent permission slip and 20LE to purchase a ticket. There will be no ticket sales at the door.
Ticket Price: 20 LE
 Parent Permission Form

Important Dates to Remember:

March 12: Shelter Drill 12pm
March 13: House Event: Walk-a-thon (Information here)
March 14: Parent Conferences (No school for students)
March 15: Movie Night
March 18: ASA session 3 begins
March 20: 1S Assembly in  ES hall
March 20: First Grade Field Trip

If you have any other questions or concerns about this week, please don't hesitate to contact your classroom teacher.

Your Partners in Learning,

Taryn Carr (tcarr@cacegypt.org)
Gaby Morales (gmorales@cacegypt.org)
Charlie Saunders (csaunders@cacegypt.org)

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Week 27: March 4 - March 8


Welcome to another week in first grade. Thank you so much for reading our weekly news. Last we had such a busy week beginning two new units and finishing off our Social Studies work on families. It was exciting to see our own reviews in the library. They were so popular that our librarian asked if she could keep them on display for 3 more days. Wow! Great work first grade students!




From the Curriculum Corner


Readers Workshop

Dramatizing Characters

Essential Questions:

- How do you bring characters to life?
- What is the role of the director?


This week we will begin to look at Character Inference. In our books we will be stopping and thinking about how the character feels and how our voice should sound when the character is speaking. We will be exploring tag words (eg: shouted & cried) and punctuation. These are both tools that guide the reader to understand how the characters are feeling.


Writers Workshop

From Scenes to Series: Writing Fiction

Essential Question:

- How can I use what I have learnt from other authors to help me?

- When I want to tell my story to other people, what steps can I take to revise my first draft to make it better?

This week writers will be taking stock and asking themselves, "What am I doing well?" and "What do I want to improve on?" After reflecting on their writing students will begin to learn about how to write a series book. Writers will discover how to introduce their character in book one and how to make their characters come alive by using dialogue.


Sharing realistic fiction stories



HELP NEEDED

If you are a family that eats cereal for breakfast, please save the boxes. We are needing cereal boxes for our writing unit. Please start saving them now and send them to school when it is convenient for you.

Math

Essential Question:

- What are efficient ways to count?
- How does counting by tens and ones help you count larger numbers?
- What is place value?
- How does a digit's position affect it's place value?
- How can numbers be expressed and compared?
- In what way can numbers be composed and decomposed?

This week our first grade mathematicians will use their knowledge of place value to add two-digit numbers by adding like place value units. They will need to use all they have learnt to add a pair of two-digit numbers when the ones digit has a sum that is greater than 10.
We will end the week with our module 4 assessment to see what our first graders have learnt.

                                

Parent Tips Topic E

Parent Tips Topic F

Science

Essential Question: Why and how do scientists change matter?

In this unit students will understand that solids and liquids have properties that can be changed. This week we will be introducing the concept of matter and learning about the different types of matter. Students will see that matter can either be a solid, liquid or gas. For this unit, we will focus on just solids and liquids. Students will be introduced to lots of different scientific vocabulary and gain an understanding about what a scientist is and does.

Counseling Corner

Dear CAC Parents,

In guidance we are discussing strong emotions, how they make our bodies feel and calming down strategies. It is important for kids to understand that everyone gets upset but that we are still responsible for our behaviors.

We discussed the concept of “flipping our lids” and how to calm down when our emotions take over our thinking.  We are sharing calming down strategies and practicing different ways to calm ourselves down when upset.  Grade one students  will make a stress ball that they can use as another strategy for calming down. 
Please share with your children strategies that you use when you have a strong emotion.

Best Wishes,
Ms. Purpura

CIRCLE SOLUTIONS:

1C Unfortunately 1C will not be having circle time this week due to the CAC holiday on March 8

1M  In our lives we all find challenging situations that we call "amygdala moments". This week we will continue to talk about those situations, and how we can best react to them, acknowledging our feelings and taking a moment to think and not react. 

1S  This week we will be focusing on emotional knowledge, students will learn about different feelings and how to understand these feelings. Students will brainstorm different strategies that can help us to manage these feelings. 





Shelter Drill


We will be having a drill on March 12 to practice shelter procedures. Teachers will discuss this as “shelter practice” with students in age-appropriate ways, but you may also want to also talk to your child about the subject. Last year, we shared this article with helpful suggestions for talking to children about safety procedures and practices. One of the things addressed is the impact of the terminology we use. Staff members will be going over this in advance, as we work together to ensure that students feel safe, protected, and aware of what to do in different situations.

Talking to your kids about a lock down

- The drill will be held at 12:00 pm, so if you are on campus, we ask that you follow instructions when asked to go to a safe place.
- Everyone who is outside will be moved to the ES Hall.

Important Dates to Remember:

March 4 - 10: ASA session 3 sign up
March 7: Early release day (Students dismissed at 11:30)
March 8: CAC holiday
March 12: Shelter Drill
March 14: Parent / Teacher Conferences (No school for students)
March 18: ASA session 3 begins


If you have any other questions or concerns about this week, please don't hesitate to contact your classroom teacher.

Your Partners in Learning,

Taryn Carr (tcarr@cacegypt.org)
Gaby Morales (gmorales@cacegypt.org)
Charlie Saunders (csaunders@cacegypt.org)