A few FYI's -

First Grade Math - We have been working on subtracting.  We are writing equations and using proof drawings to solve the equations.  Today we learned about how adding and subtracting are related.  (3+5=8 and 8-5=3)

Phonics - This week we continued to work on bonus letters.  Today we learned about a new concept - glued sounds.  Today's glued sound is -all.  (ball, wall, tall, etc.)  We learned how to mark glued sounds and how to tap the them out.

Religion - This week in our Religion book we read about the sign of the cross and the rosary.  In our Promise Papers we made a prayer book.  We learned about the Gospel this week.  We are still finishing up our Mustard Seed books.  They love the parable of the mustard seed.  We even planted our own mustard seeds.  Here they are sprouting -

Fr. Bob stopped in today.  The kids loved having him come in and talk to us.

Reading - We started working in our reading groups this week.  Each group is taught at their reading level.  We have four different reading groups.  Group 1 this week focused on the initial h sound and repetition in their story.  Group 2's story and poem focused on the short a sound and final consonants.  Group 3's poem and story focused on the ea vowel team and the suffix ed.  Group 4's poem and story focused on r-controlled ar (bossy r) and the suffix ly.  Our word work center this week is rhyming.  We also added a spelling center.  The students have been practicing their spelling words with playdoh, wikki stix, magnetic letters, and stamps.  While I am meeting with groups, the students are in their daily 5 centers.  The centers are read to self, read to someone, listening, work on writing, and word work.  One of the very popular centers is the the writing center.  One of the activities that they can do is write notes/cards to others.  This is where I'm asking for a little help - They love to do this! However, we keep running out of cards.  If you have some blank cards and you would like to donate them to our class, the students would be very thankful.  :)  I bought 5 packs last weekend - and we're out again!  Thank you!

Science - This week we compared inside and outside temperatures.  We started a temperature graph.  We have seen it go down this week.  :)  We did an experiment with water.  We put a thermometer in hot water, a a thermometer in cold water, and then we mixed the two bowls together to find out the mixed temperature.


DWP - This week we continued to work on the listening skill.  We sang a song with the six step of listening and played a game similar to musical chairs.  Instead of taking away the chair - we had the ear chair.  If you landed on the ear chair, you had to recite the six steps of listening.  We are just starting to get into the second skill - following instructions.  We played a right/left game.  A story was read while we were sitting in a circle.  One person was holding our owl, Echo.  As they listened to the story, if they heard the word right or left, they had to pass Echo that way in the circle.  It was a fun introduction to our new skill - using both listening and following instructions.

First grade has been busy learning expectations for various activities in the art room. One of our first projects was a class bird tessellation. A tessellation is a work of art that has interconnecting pieces, like a puzzle. Each student created a bird puzzle piece to add to the tessellation. Art has meaning, and this work shows how we are all connected, each an important piece of the puzzle, working together as a whole class. We just finished a collage learning about how artists, like Piet Mondrian, use lines and shapes to create art. Now we are building on this idea using shapes to draw a cityscape.            

 Have a great week. Mrs. Jeanne Ihlenfeldt

OCTOBER

PE

K-2

It is already ½ way through the first trimester.  WOW!!!  Where did the time go.  I see all of your children 2 times each week.  There are some large classes but they are working hard on listening and having fun with the activities.

Each grade is working on their gross motor skills.  It is fun but hard work.  By gross motor skills, I mean walking, running, skipping, galloping, seal walk, bear walk, jumping jacks (they need a lot of work on this one), swaying, balancing on one foot, jumping, leaping, jiggling, rolling, catching, throwing, kicking, climbing, etc.  Many of the things we do involve gross motor.  While we are working on these skills, they are also learning about the differences between right and left and how to decide which is which (right  hand goes over your heart, left hand makes the “L”).  I am right and left impaired so I use the “L”method a lot.  

I see 1st and 2nd grade on Mondays and Fridays.  On Mondays they are together.  I am doing station work where they can use partners to learn the skills and all keep busy.  It is loud but they do have fun.  They do one station each week and after 4 weeks we will change the stations to 4 new ones.  So far it is working okay.  I am seeing a lot of improvements in their skills and their partner work.  The only issue that I push is that I ask that they use different partners each time.  

I see the kindergartners on Tuesdays and Fridays.  There are a lot of little bodies in the MPC, but they are doing a nice job.  We have a couple that are highly competitive and I am working on that with them individually.  I stress skill development and help for all and not being a winner or a non-winner (I hate the “loser” word).

A reminder to all to please continue to work on shoe tieing at home.  There are some that do a nice job.  I stress with them to tighten the knots down a bit so they stay tied longer.  Some are even trying the double knot.  Great job to those.  Many try very hard and do the first part, but I step in to help when I see frustration.  And, we have some that will help other tie their shoes as well.  YEAH!!

Enjoy this time with your children.  They grow fast.  Love those hugs and cherish every moment.  My youngest is 24 and I miss the days of him sitting on my lap and me reading stories to him and him reading stories to me.  It was always so relaxing.  We all need that time to relax.  When we feel rushed, that is when we have to slow down and love and cherish all of those “Why’s” and “How’s”.