Happy New Year!
It is so great to be back together after a relaxing break. The First Graders were smiling and ready to come get back to business! I heard from the First Graders about the wonderful family time they had over the break.
In science, the students have a spent the week exploring the stages of the water cycle and how it relates to our weather. We sang and danced to the Water Cycle song, created a poster and traveled down to the science lab to visit Ms. Yuhas. On Friday afternoon, Ms. Yuhas had prepared a condensation lab for the student to observe all the stages of the water cycle. The First Graders first observed a beaker full of water and determined this was representative of accumulation of water, such as an ocean or a puddle. Next the beaker was set on a hot plate which caused water vapor or steam to rise from the surface of the water. One excited First Grader shouted “Evaporation!” Then Ms. Yuhas placed a plate of ice over the beaker to represent the cold temperature at higher altitudes. The students were able to observe what happens when warm water vapor meets cold air; it condenses and forms clouds (condensation). As the clouds get heavier with more and more water, it begins to rain or cause precipitation. The cycle begins again! These “tion” words are hard to remember and keep straight so we practiced using hand motions to try to make the ideas stick. Ask your First Grader to sing the Water Cycle song and show you the hand motions!
Math time this week was dedicated to geometry. Geometry is the study of shapes in space and of spatial relationships. Research shows that the study of geometry and developing spatial ability is related to problem-solving ability. Developing a student’s geometric concepts and spatial sense makes it more likely that they will benefit from the use of models and diagrams in their future studies in math. This week, our focus was on plane (flat) shapes. The students noticed the properties of shapes such as number of sides, the number of corners, whether the shape has a straight side or a curve and so on. We spent time sorting by attribute and drawing the shapes as a way of internalizing and constructing new concepts. Next week, we will explore solid shape and the concept of symmetry.
The difference between a verb and a noun is by far the most important thing a child will learn in the first grade. This basic grammar lesson will be the basis of each First Grader’s writing. Since verbs are words describing actions, they are the backbone of every story you’ve ever heard. We practiced creating verb lists because varying verbs helps drive each students narrative and makes it more fun to listen to what they are writing. Think about how many words there are for “go.” One can crawl, walk, skip, strut, etc. By promoting students to think about interesting verbs, the result will create master story-tellers. In the first grade, children are primed to learn about language. They love to talk and sing and do all the things that language empowers them to do. We are going to add adjectives to our grammar lesson this coming week to really spice up writing time!
With the New Year, we will start some new procedures in First Grade. Each Monday, I will send home a list of 10 spelling words we will be working on in class. The students will be tested on the spelling words each Friday. Next week we will have our first spelling test. Each week, we will focus on one phonogram (word family) at a time, such for example the –all family would include ball, fall small ect. Please look an informational letter and our first spelling list on Monday.
Per Archdiocesan rules, at this point in the year if you have not completed all of the Call to Protect training, you will not be able to help out in the classroom. I have received a short list of volunteers who have completed the necessary training to come work in the classroom from the office. I can let you know if you are on the list or not. Please see Angela in the office to find out what you need to do to complete your training. Thank you so much for understanding!
God Bless,
Jenn
Coming up:
Thursday, January 12th – All school Mass and Pizza hot lunch
Monday, January 16th – MLK day No School
Thursday, January 19th – First Grade leads All school Mass- Please come!
