First Grade: March 24-28, 2025
Dear First Grade Families,
The class had a busy, buzzy week of further math learning, spelling skill building, and auction project development last week! The auction project is coming along nicely, with the children tapping their painting and sewing skills to lovingly adorn the charming figures that will inhabit the lucky auction winner’s nature table in just a few short weeks! Thank you so much to the parent volunteers who lent their time and talents last Monday and Wednesday. We are so grateful for all the ways families provide support.
During Circle and Main Lesson, students have been cementing their knowledge of math facts of 10 as well as memorizing doubles up to 18, e.g. 2+2, 3+3, 4+4, etc. Once they have mastered these facts, they will be able to draw on that knowledge for addition and subtraction strategies such as near doubles. For example, since 5+5=10, then 5+6 is just 10+1=11, which is easy mental math. Going the other way with subtraction, students can find the answer to 5+4 by viewing the math problem as 10-1=9. Another math learning tool that the class has benefited from is a giant number line on the floor to move forward for addition and backward for subtraction in addition to skip counting.
In other news, students’ books about themselves and their buddies are providing them with the opportunity to practice their handwriting, spelling, and sight word knowledge. They are excited about both the subject and the skills practice involved. Students have also been practicing their phonemic awareness of vowels, in particular, by stretching the sounds. Taking a piece of stretchy material (in this case, a wool sweater cut into strips by students), learners stretch the word with their voices in sync with stretching the fabric to a greater length. This exercise helps bring students’ awareness to the way their mouth and throat look and feel for each vowel, as well as the sound, which helps them identify the vowels in the middle of short words. Learners at this level benefit from such support due to the typically greater challenge of recognizing vowel versus consonant sounds.
This Friday is Grandfriends' Day. We invite all students and families to join us from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. We will start with a grades presentation in the sanctuary followed by light refreshments on the playground. Children are welcome to dress in their best, as usual!
Announcements and Reminders for First Grade:
Weather gear: Please check your child’s backpack for wet/dirty clothes, black gloves borrowed from school that need to be returned (as many pairs are missing), and seasonally appropriate spare clothing. Thank you!
4/4: Half Day: Grandfriends’ Day 11:00 a.m.
4/7 - 4/11: Spring Break (No School)
4/25: Annual Auction Fundraiser - Half Day
4/26: Community Work Day
Warmly,
Ki Michelle
