This is a kind reminder that we do not have school on
Monday, February 22nd and Tuesday, February 23rd.
I hope everyone has a wonderful mid-term break!
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Grade 1 students are going on a social studies field trip to the Japan Open-air Folk House Museum on Thursday, March 4. We plan to leave UST at 9:45 am and return to school around 2:45 pm.
Japan Open-air Folk House Museum website: https://www.nihonminkaen.jp/
Are you ready for the field trip?
Please help your child bring these items to school on the day of the field trip:
- Orange UST shirt (P.E. shirt)
- Comfortable walking shoes (outdoor)
- Warm clothing (jacket) - Students will be outside during the field trip.
- Regular snack - We will eat snack at school before we leave.
- Regular lunch - We will eat lunch outside at a park. Please cancel your child's LucaDeli for this day.
- Small picnic blanket for lunch
- Water bottle
- Restroom towel
Students will bring their backpacks on the field trip. Inside they will have their picnic blanket, lunch, water bottle, and restroom towel. All folders will be left at school. Thank you!
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Week of March 1st - Life Today vs. Long Ago
Please check your child's homework folder and Seesaw for information about our social studies Show and Tell presentations.
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Friday, March 5th
100th Day of School
On Monday, Feb. 15th we had a lot of fun celebrating the 100th day of school! In the morning we talked about place value and added the hundreds place to our Days of School chart (10 tens = 1 hundred) and traded our coins for $1 on the money poster. Students also made their own I AM 100 DAYS SMARTER crown hat, danced and sang along to GoNoodle songs all about numbers to 100 (counting, skip counting), and found a hidden message in a special 100th Day of School scavenger hunt.
Math
Numbers to 40
This week students worked together to count, read, and write numbers to 40. We also reviewed place value (tens, ones) and practiced how to show numbers to 40 on a place-value chart. To end the week we started comparing sets and numbers (greater than, less than, more, fewer).
Reading
Dramatizing Characters and Deepening our Comprehension
During reading students chose familiar books and practiced how to ask and answer thoughtful questions about the characters.
Thoughtful Questions:
Who is your character?
Where is your character?
What is your character doing?
When did your character do something important?
How does your character feel and why?
Reader's Theater
This week each student had a part in a Reader's Theater performance. Students worked in groups to read their lines, take turns and listen to each other, and follow along so they were always prepared for their part. We practiced "making the characters come alive" by thinking about our voices (volume, tone), gestures, and facial expressions. Reader's Theater is also a great way to practice fluency!
What is fluency?
Fluency is a key foundational skill that helps students read complex text with greater understanding. When students read with accuracy and expression at an appropriate reading rate, their fluency supports their comprehension. Repeated reading practice with short passages improves word recognition and automaticity.
Next Reading Unit:
Our next reading chapter is called We Can Be Our Own Teachers When We Work Hard to Figure Out Words. The focus of this chapter is to help students become independent and successful readers by using all the reading strategies they've learned.
- Readers use everything we know about reading to get through the hard parts - We think, “What else can I try?”
- Readers smooth out the rough parts - After we make sure our reading looks right, sounds right, and makes sense, we reread to put it all back together.
During independent reading students started making a list of the tricky words they felt "stuck on" while reading. We will take time next week to look at these words and talk about which strategies (eagle eye, stretchy snake, chunky monkey, etc.) we can use to figure out the words.
Writing
Descriptive Writing
We have come to the end of our descriptive writing unit. During this unit, students practiced using their five senses, telling what something looks like, sounds like, smells like, feels like, and tastes like. This week students published their 2nd descriptive paragraph and read their writing aloud to the class.
The class was also introduced to our next writing unit. During this writing unit students will follow the writing process to publish made-up stories. We will focus on characters, setting, plot, problem, and solution. Each story will include a main character that faces a problem. The character will try three things to solve the problem until they find a solution.
Grade 1 stories will include:
- Main character - describe the main character of your story
- Setting - tell when and where the story happens
- Problem - tell the trouble the main character faces and list 3 things the character will do to try and solve their problem
- Solution - tell how the problem is solved
- Beginning - name the main character and setting, tell about the problem
- Middle- tell how the main character tries to solve the problem
- Ending - tell how the problem is solved and how the main character feels.
Social Studies
Maps
During social studies students created their own maps of a town. Each map included a title, map key with symbols, and a compass rose. Students followed a set of directions to draw each symbol in the correct spot on their map.
What was school like long ago? We also started a new social studies unit focused on what life was like long ago. Our class began looking at historical artifacts and students talked together at their tables to answer these two questions:
We will continue learning about these artifacts and other facts about schools long ago next week. |