Thank you for helping your child complete their winter break PechaKucha presentation! The students enjoyed seeing holiday photos and hearing about what everyone did. At home you can visit the PechaKucha website and watch more presentations uploaded by UST teachers and G1-G6 students. Please take a moment to check that your child's presentation has been added to the UST G1A Winter Report folder. Thank you! |
Math
Addition within 20
This week students practiced different ways to add using numbers to 20.
Ways to Add
- Use numbers bonds to help you add
- Add by counting on
- Add by making a 10
Writing
Poetry
Students began working on rhyming poems during writing class this week. First, they picked a topic and wrote words to describe and tell about their topic. Next, they listed rhyming words that could be used in their poem and worked on writing AABB and ABAB poems (2-4 lines). They were also introduced to Blues music during music class.
12-Bar Blues
The pattern is usually 3 lines long. The first line tells you the main problem.
The second line can be a new line, or just repeating the first line.
The third line is a new line that rhymes with the first line and comments on it.
Samm Bennett
UST Email:
Dear Parents,
This year our Poetry Slam event is on Friday, January 29th.
As in the past, all students will be writing poetry in class during this month. The theme for this year’s poetry is Musical Poetry (spoken word, song, rap, etc.) Students will choose and recite one of the poems that they created for a class poetry competition. Your child's teacher will let you know when the in-class competition will be, but expect it to be between January 25th - 27th. Class winners will be selected (two from each G1 - G6 class), and they will perform their poem during the Poetry Slam event on Friday, January 29th.
For the Poetry Slam on January 29th, all students are invited to dress as beatnik poets for the day (black t-shirt and jeans work well, and a beret if you have one!)
Our plan for this year’s Poetry Event is for it to be a grade-level event, so there will be a maximum of 32 children attending. We will hold the event outside at a park for health and safety reasons. In case of rain on January 29, we expect to hold the Poetry Slam on Monday, February 1st.
Poetry Recitals
In addition to the Poetry Slam, children can also memorize and recite poetry in class to earn a raffle ticket for prizes that we give out at the end of the week. Below are the days that the children can recite the poems and the type of poem they can recite each day:
Wednesday, January 20th - Funny Poem
Pick a funny poem, memorize it, and recite it!
Thursday, January 21st - Rhyming Poem
Pick a rhyming poem, memorize it, and recite it!
Friday, January 22nd - Haiku Poem
Pick a haiku poem, memorize it, and recite it!
*Grades 1 and 2: The poems must be at least 8 lines or more (except for the Haiku)
*Grade 3 - 6: The poems must be at least 12 lines or more (except for the Haiku)
Students can earn up to 3 raffle tickets for the week to be part of the raffle and win an exciting prize!
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If there are any questions about this event, please refer to your child's homeroom teacher.
Sincerely,
Augustine Yoon
Grade 2A Teacher
Journal Writing
On Monday students wrote about their weekend and shared their writing with their table group during our morning meeting.
Reading
Dramatizing Characters and Deepening our Comprehension
Our new reading unit will help students deepen their understanding of characters and the stories we read. This week our class learned that actors perform to make characters come alive. As readers, students have been practicing how to act and become the characters in our books by using their voice (volume, tone), gestures, and facial expressions to show how character's feel.
Science
Light
During Science our class explored how to use mirrors to redirect a light beam and learned about reflections. They played the Rearview Mirror game where one student sat in a chair and held a mirror while their partner stood behind them holding up an object. They had to move the mirror into a position to observe what was behind them.
Science Vocabulary
Reflection - the word for the image you see in a mirror
Students also used a mirror to look at their reflection and draw a picture of their eyes. They learned that their eyes are light receivers.
Recess
Have a wonderful weekend!
- Ms. Allison