First Grade: November 4 - 8

Hello First Grade Families!

I lift my arms to the clear blue sky,

I stretch them wide and I stretch them high.

Firmly on the earth I stand,

To my neighbor I give my hand.

“What’s New in First Grade”

  • Current Block: We are continuing our language arts block. We are starting to form the letters into words by sounding out the sounds. If you see your child trying this at home please continue to encourage them, but not necessarily telling them the exact way to spell a word.

  • Letters: This week we will be finishing up the letter I and starting with the letters j and k. 

  • Math: We will continue with our math games. We have started counting backwards from 200 by 10's and 120 by 2's. 

  • Story: I will be telling the story of Jackal or Tiger, a Pakistani fairytale, and Never Kick a Slipper at the Moon. 

Dates to remember:

 November 25th through the 29th: No school 

Reminders:

Please remember to send a water bottle with your child. 

Thank you,

Ki Aja

First Grade: October 30 - November 4


Hello First Grade Families! 

I lift my arms to the clear blue sky,

I stretch them wide and I stretch them high.

Firmly on the earth I stand,

To my neighbor I give my hand.

“What’s New in First Grade”

  • Current Block: We are currently in our language arts block. The children really enjoy the activities that are taking place during this block.

  • Letters: This week we will finish up our letter h and then we will start with our letter i. We will make pictures for each story that is told for these letters and then on the back of their main lesson pages they will write the letters out. 

  • Math: Even though we are no longer in our math block we continue to do math activities during our extra main lessons. They really enjoy math Bingo, and would like to make it more challenging by adding the numbers together to get a number on their board.

  • Story: This week we will be finishing up our African fairy tail which is called The One-Handed Girl. I will then be telling the children and the story of Iya the Camp- Eater which is a Native American tale. 

  • More: The children are getting very excited about our thumbprint tree, as it is gaining more and more thumbprints. We currently have 93 thumbprints on our tree. The children are hoping to get to 100 by next week!

Dates to remember:

November 5th-no school

November 25th through November 29th- no school 

Reminders:

It is going to continue to get cold. Especially in the mornings. Please remember to bring your child with the necessary items for cold weather. 


Thank you,

Ki Aja 



First Grade: October 21 - 25

Hello First Grade Families! 

I lift my arms to the clear blue sky,

I stretch them wide and I stretch them high.

Firmly on the earth I stand,

To my neighbor I give my hand.

“What’s New in First Grade”

  • Current Block 

    • We are now in our new language arts block. We will be going over the previous letters and their sounds, while introducing new letters and sounds. The class will be forming more words by putting the sounds together. We will navigate our way into writing the words and forming them into sentences. 

  • Letters:

    • The letters we will be going over this week are g and h. They will be introduced through story. H will continue into next week. 

  • Math:

    • Even though we are done with our math block we will continue to do math through our morning circle as well as through our thumbprint tree. During our extra main lesson on Wednesdays we will continue to do math games such as math bingo and our acorn game. 

  • Story: 

    • The children will be listening to two different stories. They are The One- Handed Girl (African Fairytale), and The Boy Who Overcame the Giants (Canadian Native American Fairytale). 

  • More! 

    • We have new desk arrangements. The children appear to enjoy their new desk mates!  

Dates to remember:

November 5- No school 

Reminders:

We will not be dressing up at school for Halloween. 

Thank you,

Ki Aja 

First Grade: October 14 - 18

Hello First Grade Families! 

I lift my arms to the clear blue sky,

I stretch them wide and I stretch them high.

Firmly on the earth I stand,

To my neighbor I give my hand.

What’s New in First Grade

  • Current Block 

We are currently finishing up our numbers block. This has been a new and exciting block where the children have been able to add, subtract and learn the value of each numeral. We will be finishing this block on Wednesday, and our new Language Arts block will begin on Thursday. 

  • Letters:

We are continuing to do language arts activities during our language arts block. This helps the children with remembering the sounds we learned in our past block and also to form them into words. We have been able to play different games. A lot of the children enjoyed playing a game where they had to come up with funny words that rhyme with real words.

  • Math:

During this block, the numbers 1 through 9 have been introduced. We have practiced writing out the number, the roman numeral, as well as the word. After we practiced those, we worked on different number combinations for math families.

  • Story:

The children have been able to listen to the story of four children who want to become superheroes. Our class has put together a list of twelve goals that need to be completed in order to become the heroes they see flying in the sky on a daily basis. 

Dates to remember:

October 26 is the Kingdom of Halloween. If you have not signed up for anything please check the sign up to see which volunteer slots that need to be filled or email Sarah Darby at festivals@thegardenmarietta.org

Reminders:

As a reminder please  make sure that your child has the attire they need for the cooler and rainy weather. 

Please ensure that your child brings their water bottle to school with them. 

Thank you,

Ki Aja 

First Grade: October 7 - 11

Hello First Grade Families!

I lift my arms to the clear blue sky,

I stretch them wide and I stretch them high.

Firmly on the earth I stand,

To my neighbor I give my hand.

“What’s New in First Grade”

• We are currently in our math block.

• Letters: While our language arts blog has ended, we are continuing to do language arts during the day when we have extra main lesson. We will have activities such as rhyming words and putting letters together. This is not a part of our main lesson.

• Math: With the numbers one through five, we are learning how to write the numeral, the Roman numeral, and also how to write the word. We have also been learning some subtraction and addition as they find ways to make a number through adding and subtracting different numbers.

• Story: Our story for this block is a tale about four friends who want to become superheroes like the superheroes they see on a daily basis in their City. These Superheroes illustrate different ways of helping others, nature, and how to work together as a team.

• More: We have a new student beginning this week. We are all very excited to have him in our class and along for our journey together.

Birthdays:

Last week we celebrated Zoey’s birthday and she brought in some delicious vegan chocolate chip muffins.

Reminders:

All this week are half days and our parent-teacher conferences begin on Wednesday and end on Friday.

Thank you,

Ki Aja

First Grade: September 16 - 20

Hello First Grade Families! 

I lift my arms to the clear blue sky,

I stretch them wide and I stretch them high.

Firmly on the earth I stand,

To my neighbor I give my hand.

We are still on our second block of language arts which will end next week (the beginning of October). Last week, we went over the letters s, t and m. The children did a beautiful job with making their sounds, and forming them into the words I put on the board. They heard stories such as Strong Hans and a Tale of the City Mouse and Country Mouse.

We continue to do math games where we are adding and subtracting using gems, cards and dominoes.

The children now have different seating arrangements and are getting used to their new friends next to them.

Reminders:

October 3rd is parent night at 6:30. We will meet outside at the picnic tables.

Please continue to bring change of clothes as we will be continuing to go to the creek until it gets cooler outside.

Thank you,

Ki Aja

First Grade: September 9 - 13

Hello first grade families!

Last week we explored our letters a, w and d. The children enjoyed listening to stories about a brother rescuing his sister and a young man trying to escape a wizard. These stories come from Celic and Turkish backgrounds. We did activities in the sand and played games to help with sounding out the letters. The children's ability to draw pictures of the stories being told is growing.

The children are counting by 2's and 5's. We will be incorporating a jump rope soon into our morning activities and will start to also count by 10's. In the beginning only a couple of students were joining in with our counting, and now most of the class is jumping right in and they are able to go up to 100!

Reminders:

Day of courage is September 20, which is also a half day.

Parent Night is October 3 from 6:30-7:30.

Thank you,

Ki Aja

First Grade: September 3 - 6

Hello first grade families!

Last week we started our language arts block. We have gone over our sounds for the letters C and O. The children were able to listen to fairy tales from Norse mythology and a pesky little cat.

We have started our stations where groups of two are able to work at a station for 5-10 minutes on the letter of the day. These stations include making the letter on chalkboard, walking the letter, molding the letter in clay, and playing a game where they have to say words that start with the sound the letter makes. They quite enjoyed this.

We have started ASL, which everyone really enjoyed! They continue to really dive into languages and even have started characters in Mandarin. In handwork with Ki Gaby, our class created necklaces and bracelets which they were so proud to show off. They have also really been enjoying their clay lessons and water color painting. Soon, the children will be able to help with brushing the animals, as many of them often ask when they can start helping with the goats and donkeys!

The first Friday assembly went very well. Each student did a great job. As the months go on our performances will become more complex and you will be able to see the math activities that are done in our circle as well.

Our First Grade Class Parent Night will be at 6:30pm on October 3rd. Please note that this is a parent only evening. We will first gather at the picnic tables before heading into our first grade classroom to discuss our upcoming year. I look forward to seeing everyone there!

Thank you,

Ki Aja

First Grade: August 26 - 30

Hello first grade families!

I am excited to state that we have finished up our first block of form drawing. The children always showed excitement when they saw the form being drawn. They would work hard at making those forms and would become excited when they were able to show their other classmates. They enjoyed listening to stories about princes and princesses, three brothers on a journey to rescue their father, and a tailor boy who killed giants and became a king.

This upcoming week we will be starting our language arts block. We will not only be going over the sounds of the letters, we will be starting to form each sound to make the words that we use everyday. I will be bringing these letters with more stories and more pictures that will capture each child's interest and assist them with developing those skills they will need to someday become an avid reader.

The children continue to enjoy their special classes. Adding music to our curriculum has proven to be a positive move. The children are enjoying the songs that they are learning, and will, at times, start singing one in particular in unison.

Reminders:

Half day on Friday and first Friday assembly.

Please remember to bring a change of clothes each day. Even though we may not necessarily be going to the creek there are many times when we will be outside while it is raining or where there is mud.
Thank you,

Ki Aja

First Grade: August 19 - 23

Hello first grade families!


Last week we continued to work on our form drawings and exploring the stories of Grimm. The children are enjoying the stories that are being told to them and are progressing at retelling what has happened in the story. I encourage everyone to talk to their child about the stories that are given to them. In addition, much progress is being made in regards to taking their time and concentrating on the task at hand.

The transition from singing the songs in language class to going further in depth in Spanish and Mandarin has been a successful one. Our class has started to do their characters in Mandarin where they are starting to learn how to make the words that they are saying. While it may be difficult at first, everyone worked hard at trying to accomplish the goal of making the characters.

The students are excited to start American Sign Language with Ki Emily this upcoming Friday. They have already had movement class with Ki Emily and are excited to continue their journey with her as they add in another language. They have particularly loved handwork as many of you parents have seen the pom poms they have sent home.

Reminders:

Please take a look at the handbook in regards to lunches and possibly not sending a lot of sugary treats.

Talking about characters has slowed down a bit but it is still coming up throughout the day. Please give gentle reminders that we are not supposed to talk about movies, or shows, while at school.

If you have any questions the best way to reach me is through email.

We are outside a lot and the mosquitoes are still lurking about. While I do carry bug spray, if there is a specific bug spray you would like your child to have you are more then welcome to have them bring it to school.

Thank you,

Ki Aja

First Grade: August 12 - 16


Hello first grade families!

We have now officially finished our first week of school. I have told stories such as Hans My Hedgehog and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. The students have worked diligently at creating their pictures to go with their stories and that tie into our form drawings. We have worked on posture, holding the crayon correctly, and building up the stamina needed for standing during the main lesson.

They have started their specials with Mandarin, Spanish, and even environmental education. The children have moved into what is expected from them while they were in kindergarten to what is now expected from them in their first grade year.

We will continue to move through our form drawings as the children get to the hear the stories from Grimm and other fairy tales from around the world.

Reminders:

Moving forward with next week we will only be in the creek on Fridays.

Please give gentle reminders to your child about talking about things in the media. I have had to give constant reminders to the children about not singing songs from movies or talking about movies/ television shows. If you need help with finding other activities for your child to do, that is media free, please feel free to email me.

Thank you,

Ki Aja

First Grade: August 8-9

Hello first grade families,

With much excitement, we have now begun our first year of the grades. With yesterday's jitters behind us, the joy of what is to come is now becoming our reality. Yesterday, the children were able to get the first taste of form drawing and a wonderful story that came with it. The children were able to explore the school, no longer as kindergartners, but as older kids who can walk in a straight line quietly. They were able to enjoy our forest and creek towards the end of the day, in which they were all ready for.

This upcoming week our first graders will be listening to more stories while exploring nature through art and learning the curves and lines of our form drawings. They will enjoy The Enchanted Wood as it is being read out loud to them during their quiet time. Specials will also begin next week and the children will be filled with beautiful languages such as Spanish, Mandarin and will be starting American Sign Language. They will have handwork where they will be able to slowly navigate their way into knitting, and singing with Ki Kathee during music class. They will have their Environmental Studies where they will be able to explore more of the nature around them.

Please remember that children should be sent with a change of clothes everyday. Bathing suits for creek play should cover the stomach area, or the child should be wearing a shirt that does so. If you have any questions please fill free to email me.

Best regards,

Ki Aja