First Grade – Kitah Alef

We jumped right into math after our morning work!  Today we did a fun activity to help us review about position and direction.  We each had a partner and Ms. Lewis gave us directions to follow.  We had to go up, down, under, over, to the left, to the right, EVERY WHERE!  Our math lesson turned into a perfect warm up for PE

After PE we came back and had an early snack.  We had an early snack because we had our ice-cream from yesterday today!  Since it was a meat day we had to make sure that we left enough time between meat and dairy.  After snack we started language arts.

During language arts we worked in our practice book with our spelling words and our high frequency words.  In our grammar book we had a page where we had to figure out which sentence was the correct exclamation.  We also did silent reading today.

We got ready for AR quizzes next.  After we took our quiz we went to the library to get our new AR books for NEXT WEEK!  After AR we had a few minutes before it was time for music.  Ms. Lewis let us watch a short episode of ‘Car Toons’!

Music was fun and then it was off to lunch!  After lunch we did science.  We talked all about food at a pond.  We also talked about the food chain.

Once we finished science we got to go outside until Jewish studies!

Tomorrow is Friday.  HOMEWORK IS DUE!  We will have library in the morning for our research project.  Tomorrow is our spelling test also.  WE WILL HAVE SHOW and TELL!!!  We also have our ticket drawing.  There will be no Jerry drawing because Jerry is busy traveling to New York!! We have a mystery reader tomorrow afternoon also Friday’s are great!!!!

If there are any questions or concerns about anything, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Ms. Lewis

After our morning work we jumped right into science!  During science we started learning about the living parts of a pond.  Coincidentally, a big part of our lesson was about the life cycle of a frog!!  After we finished science it was time for PE.

Wer came back from PE and started math.  Today we made subtraction stories and shared them with the class!

We had snack after math.  During snack we had a surprise birthday celebration!  Someone who has a Summer birthday got to celebrate today at school  Happy EARLY birthday to Elliana!!!

Language arts was next!  We had more practice with our spelling and high frequency words.  In our grammar books we had great practice with using exclamations!  After we finished our workbooks we read our newest story in our Reading Street book.  The story taught us a GREAT and important lesson..ask your kids what the lesson was

We went to lunch after language arts and came back for our spelling bee after lunch.  Since we all did so great with our spelling bee, we got to have a bit of free time before Jewish studies!

Tomorrow is Thursday.  We have PE, AR quizzes, and music.  DON’T FORGET YOUR AR BOOKS!!!

We had such a great day!  The crazy thing about our day was that we had library 3 times!!  Can you believe it?!

We started our morning with the pledge, hatikvah, the weather and days of the week.  We started a journal but NO ONE finished it!!  We had our first library class at 8:15 this morning!  We were getting ready for a skype call with an Author!  Her name is Ame Dyckman.  She wrote a great book called ‘Boy + Bot’.  We came up with some questions to ask her and we practiced what we would say.

After our skype prep we went to PE!  We came back from PE and had language arts (quickly).  We started to learn about exclamations! We also got a chance to use some of our spelling words and high frequency words.  After language arts it was time for snack.  Ms. Lewis got some lettuce to feed the tadpoles, so during snack we were able to go see the tadpoles!

We were finished with snack it was time for our skype call!  We were so excited!!

After our skype call we came back to do math.  During our second day of review we talked about addition stories.  We each got to color a picture and we had to make a math story to go with it.  We shared our math story with the class and the class had to solve the problem!! We had a lot of fun doing it and came up with some great problems!!

We worked on and shared our math stories all the way up until lunch time!  After lunch we went back to the library for our 3rd time of the day.  Our 3rd library class was our regular class.  We continued to work on our research project!

When we came back from library it was time to go to Jewish studies.

Tomorrow is Wednesday.  We have PE and our weekly spelling bee!  Do some extra studying tonight

Last Friday was our 157th day of 1st grade.  Today, on the 158th day of 1st grade, we were busy!  We started our morning with a challenging journal question: ‘How can new ideas help us see things differently?’  After talked about and answered our journal we did the weather and the days of the week.

Once we finished our morning work we started language arts.  We did our practice book which helped to introduce us to our spelling words and then we took our spelling pre-test!  After our pre-test we changed desks!  Our process got interrupted by a code red drill.  We did a great job of getting to our safe place, but had a difficult time staying quiet.  It was the longest time we were ever in our safe place!  We finished moving desks after the drill.  We missed art today and will have double art next week!!

We had snack and started math.  We are very excited to say that we finished our Singapore math book!!  We finished BOTH the A book and the B book!!  Since we still have about a month(-ish) left of school, Ms. Lewis decided to spend 2 weeks reviewing everything we’ve learned.  We will take a day to review things we learned in a week!!  After we finish reviewing we get to start 2nd grade math!!!!!!!!!!!  We are SUPER excited to start math above our level–it just shows how smart we are So we started our review with number bonds today.  The cool part about our review is that we won’t be doing any writing.  We will be doing FUN stuff on the board, or with tools!!  To review number bonds, everyone had to make their own on the board and let the rest of the class solve it.  Once the problem was solved, we had to use tools to make a story about the number bond AND put it in a number sentence!!

After we finished math we got to go to recess.  We went right from recess to lunch.  After lunch we did science.  We learned about ponds during the winter time!  We also talked more about our tadpoles and how we would take care of them if we brought some home!

Once we finished science we were surprised with a puppet show from Lily’s Bubbie and Zaide!!  We were so glad they could come and share a silly story

As soon as the story was over it was time for Jewish Studies!

We have homework packets this week!  PLEASE NOTE: math homework is all review!  Spelling is the same as usual.

Tomorrow is Tuesday.  We have PE and library!!  Please wear your sneakers and bring your books!!

Kol Tov

We got a lot done on this very short day!  We started with a journal question which illustrated the life cycle of the frog.  We then moved on to the weather and days of the week.  We were able to start a bit of our math before it was time for the Bikkurim Festival.

After our festival we came back and had snack.  We also got to watch a show!  We went to library after snack time.

When we came back from library we worked in our math workbooks.  We learned about shopping earlier in the morning!  We got to practice in our workbook.   PLEASE REMEMBER TO PLAY WITH MONEY AT HOME!  THIS WILL BE A HUGE PLUS TO HELP US LEARN!!!

Once we finished math we started language arts.  We did a syllables worksheet where we had to ‘clap out’ words!  Then we all got to do a reader’s theater!

Then it was time to go home!  Have a happy Shavuot!!

(Ms. Lewis will not be at school on Friday.  Ms. Tolisano will take GREAT care of us and will be teaching!!  If you need to get in touch with Ms. Lewis, she will be available via email!!)

We had a great Monday!  Everyone was so focused and we had a great fun day We started our morning with the journal question, days of the week, and the weather.

We started language arts after our morning work.  During language arts we did our work that we were supposed to do last Friday!  We worked in our grammar book talking all about commands.  In our practice book we learned a little about how to take notes.  We also got to buddy read our story from last week, “Tippy-Toe, Chick, Go!’.  Once we finished language arts we went to art.

We came back from art and had snack.  We jumped right into math after snack.  We did our problem of the day and then had a quick review.  We took a test after our review!  They will be in our daily folders tomorrow.  Our test was all about money; bills and coins.  It would be SO beneficial to ALL students to start playing with money at home.  By playing with the spare change and bills it helps us to get familiar with the values, names, and what each coin/bill looks like.  

After math we got to go outside for recess.  We went straight to lunch then came back to do social studies.  We did a weekly reader all about the needs of seeds!  We also had a little bit of science today.  Jake found a diagram that helped us to visualize the life cycle of a frog!  We read the stages and then got to color the pictures!

Then it was off to Jewish studies.

Tomorrow is Tuesday.  The school will be celebrating Shavuot tomorrow so remember to send in a basket with fruits and vegetables. Also send your child dressed in white–It does not have to be uniform clothes. If your child doesn’t have white bottoms, khaki is fine.   Please remember that our students will be carrying their own baskets so make it manageable for them–it doesn’t need to be filled with large amounts of fruits and vegetables.  Students will be dismissed at NOON tomorrow and there is NO SCHOOL Wednesday and Thursday of this week. 

There is NO HOMEWORK this week: no math, no spelling.  You can still read if you want…I would, it’s so much fun

Whew!!  We had an INSANELY busy day!!!

We started our morning VERY early.  SO early that we didn’t do the journal question, we didn’t do the weather, and we didn’t do the days of the week!  We started with science. As many of you know, the tadpoles have arrived, I repeat, the tadpoles have arrived!!!  We have a 20gallon tank filled with about 1000 (or more) tadpoles!!  We got rocks, weeds, and extra water this morning for our tadpoles.  They came in a bucket so we poured the whole thing into our tank and got more stuff to add.

We managed to get all this done before our 9:00 assembly for Memories of Love!

Ms. Lewis said yesterday that we probably won’t be able to watch the WHOLE life cycle of our tadpoles because it is so close to the end of the year.  During our research yesterday we discovered that it can take 6-9 weeks just to turn from a tadpole to a froglet!  So, Ms. Lewis said that we could each take home some tadpoles at the end of the year so that we can continue to watch the life cycle!  I will post more information and send emails when it gets closer to adoption time.  This is an OPTIONAL adoption, it is not required to take home any tadpoles at the end of the year.  We can discuss the habitat they need, what they eat, and more details.

After we got back from the assembly we took our spelling test and did our problem of the day.  We took a break from our regular lessons because we had SO much to do today!  Once we finished our work for the day we had snack and got started on our secret art activities.  We get to take them home and we hope that everyone likes their surprises!

After we finished our activities we got to go outside until the 4th graders came.  Some of the 4th graders created tutorials to teach about pronouns and homonyms.  They were great!!  We really enjoyed learning from our 4th grade friends!!!  Once 4th grade was finished teaching us we went to lunch.

After lunch we had a mystery reader!  Our mystery reader read to us in Hebrew and in English!  Thanks so much to…………………..Hallel’s mom for reading to us!!

Congratulations to Evan who gets to take home Jerry before his big trip to New York next week!!  Hallel, Lucy, and Jacob G., won the ticket drawing–great work!

Next week is a VERY short week!  We will not have homework or spelling words.

Have a great weekend and Shabbat Shalom!

We started our Thursday morning with the journal question, days of the week, and the weather.  We also spent some time talking about our upcoming schedule and sharing announcements.  We went to PE and came back to start math.  Since we had so much to talk about this morning, we only did our problem of the day for math and then we moved on to language arts.  We will continue with our regular math lessons tomorrow!

We started language arts with our practice book.  During the middle of language arts we had our first real code red (drill) with the whole school.  We did a great job! We were in our safe place for the longest that we had ever been (at least 7-8 minutes).  It got a little toasty, but we did wonderful!  We were quiet and were great listeners.  Once we got the ‘OK’ to get out of our safe place we started language arts again.  We talked more about commands in our grammar book.  We also did some silent reading with our Reading Street story.  Once we finished language arts we had snack and got our AR books so we could review before it was time to take our quiz.  After our quizzes we went to the library to get new books for NOT NEXT WEEK, but the week after.  Our next AR quiz will be May 20.  

We went to music and then straight to lunch.  After lunch we got to go outside for a little bit!  When we came back inside we started science.  We are VERY excited to announce that after watching the life cycle of a butterfly, we are now going to watch the life cycle of a frog…well frog(s)!  Ms. Lewis will be bringing in tadpoles (A LOT!) tomorrow for us to observe!  They will be in a tank and we will give them pond water.  We did lots of research during science about what tadpoles eat, how there water should be, and how long it takes for them to grow.  We are super excited to start watching!!

After science we went to Jewish Studies.

Tomorrow is Friday.  WE ARE SOOOOOOOOO BUSY TOMORROW!!!  In the morning we have a Rosh Chodesh assembly.  We have 4th grade coming to teach us a special language arts lesson.  We also have some surprise work to do that we will get to take home!  After lunch we even have a mystery reader!!  Whew!

WE WILL NOT HAVE SHOW&TELL TOMORROW! (We won’t have time.)

HOMEWORK IS DUE TOMORROW!!  DON’T FORGET TO STUDY FOR YOUR SPELLING TEST!

What an amazing Wednesday!  We started our morning with the journal question, the weather, and the days of the week.  We all got to share our journal responses so we worked up until it was time for PE.

When we came back from PE we started math.  We began with our problem of the day and then started to work independently in our workbooks.  We were still working on counting change.  It is important that we practice at home!!  We can help at the grocery store, or just count some change at home to get familiar with the names and values of each coin.

We had snack and then had the BEST SKYPE CALL EVER!!!

We finally got to meet the infamous Mike Fisher.  He came to us via Skype wearing a sombrero and sunglasses.  He was silly!  It made us think he was in Mexico, but he tricked us!

  We guess where he was first.  He gave us some tricky answers, but we figured it out!    He was in Buffalo, NY!  After we figured out where Mr. Fisher was we asked some fun questions.  Mr. Fisher shared some of the poems he wrote with the 4th grade illustrations.  Mr. Fisher did something VERY special and even wrote a poem JUST FOR US!  We have a secret plan (It’s so secret that only Ms. Lewis and Ms. Tolisano know about it..so far!!) about something fun we are going to do with the poem Mr. Fisher wrote for us.  Mr. Fisher asked us questions about school, about our favorite books, and about traveling!  We introduced Jerry also.  We all came up with a plan…..Jerry is going to TRAVEL to Mr. Fisher!  We are going to send Jerry to Mr. Fisher next Monday and the following week, when Mr. Fisher has Jerry and Jerry’s journal, he is going to take Jerry somewhere special and we will Skype again.  Ask your kids where Jerry will be going

   After our 47 minute Skype call (!!!!!!!) we started language arts.

During language arts we talked more about commands and we worked with our high frequency words.  We also read our next story.  We started our LAST reading street book today!  Our story was called ‘Tippy-Toe, Chick Go!’  It was a very good story!  It told us that it doesn’t matter how small you are, you can always solve a problem if you try your best and use your brain

After language arts it was time for lunch.  We got to go outside after lunch and then when we came back inside we started our spelling bee.  During our spelling bee we had a practice code red.  Ms. Lewis and Ms. Tolisano were SO proud of how well we did!  We all got to move our clips up for doing a great practice drill!

We finished our spelling bee and then it was time to pack up for Jewish studies.

Tomorrow is Thursday.  We have PE, AR quizzes, and music.  DO NOT FORGET YOUR AR BOOK!