Weekly Update, October 1 - 5

Hello Stupendous First Graders and Super First Grade Families!

Reminders:
* Conferences are this week.
* We have early release days Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
* We do NOT have new spelling words for the week.

This week we are doing a social studies unit on Flat Stanley! We are also continuing our study of Johnny Appleseed in our center activities. Flat Stanley is a chapter book and the kids are so excited to read another chapter book. I will read one chapter to the kids each day and then we will do a Flat Stanley activity. Today we read chapter 1 and we learned how Stanley became Flat Stanley! After we read, the kids made their own Flat Stanleys. They turned out so great! The kids will take their own Flat Stanley with them on Fall Break and write about their adventures! On Tuesday we will read about Flat Stanley’s adventure of being mailed as a letter and the kids will write a friendly letter to Flat Stanley. On Wednesday we will read about how Flat Stanley gets turned into a kite and the kids will make (and fly!) their own Flat Stanley kites. On Thursday we will read about how being flat helped Stanley solve a crime. The kids will explore the classroom to find flat things and they will write about why flat things are helpful. On Friday we will read about the adventures that Arthur, Flat Stanley’s brother, plans for him. The kids will write about the adventures they want to take Flat Stanley on during Fall Break.

The kids have an activity to do with their Flat Stanley over Fall Break. This is due the day we return from Fall Break, Monday, October 15.

The kids had a great time in centers and they worked so hard! The centers for the week include:
1. Listening - The kids watched a story about Johnny Appleseed on the computer. It is a neat video where a narrator tells the story of Johnny Appleseed and he draws an illustration as he talks. After the video, the kids write about Johnny Appleseed using Johnny Appleseed specific vocabulary.
2. Science - The kids loved practicing the scientific method to complete a science experiment! The kids did an experiment to see what would happen when you put a carrot and an apple in water. They hypothesized, performed the experiment, recorded their results and made their conclusions. They even got to draw a picture! They were excited to learn a lot of great science vocabulary and they loved doing the experiment!
3. Writing - The kids wrote about their favorite thing about Flat Stanley.
4. Math - The kids did two activities: sequencing and patterning. In the sequencing activity, they sequenced the steps that Johnny Appleseed would take to plant his apple trees. In the patterning activity, they looked at patterns and decided what would come next. After that, they created their own pattern.
5. Reading - The kids read leveled books in the Bee Quiet corner. The children are on new reading levels and they are enjoying their new levels!

In writing we worked on writing friendly letters and writing thank you letters. The kids are becoming experts at letter writing!

In reading we are working on reading for information, retelling and predictions. The kids are having fun making predictions about Flat Stanley!

In math we are working on using addition strategies to solve vertical and horizontal addition problems.

Kids – be sure to check the weekly questions! Answer them and show your parents how much you learned and how smart you are!

Have a great Fall Break and I’ll see you on the 15th!
Mrs. Johnston