Mrs. Jansen's First Grade Class
Weekly Newsletter: October 12, 2015
KEYSOR PRIDE
We are Respectful, Responsible and Safe.
Ending an Amazing First Quarter!
It is so hard to believe, but so wonderful to celebrate this amazing quarter that is coming to an end this Friday! The children have grown SO much in just these past nine weeks together and I CAN NOT wait to see where the next three quarters will take us! Our classroom family continues to grow stronger, as this past week we began using 'Pride Paws' for table groups and our class family, to celebrate friends caught being great listeners by following directions the first time given. You'll see the Pride Paws that are received by our friends, to the side. Last week our class earned many! We're planning for even more this week!
Congratulations also to our newest Leader of the Week: Sarah! Sarah continues to be a great role model in class, as she always perseveres in her lessons to create wonderful stories and use accurate strategies when reading through her work or solving math problems. She is always a kind friend to have in class too! Also, way to go for our Students of the Week: Liam and Simone. Liam has been an awesome participant in our classroom discussions, while Simone really demonstrates wonderful attention to her peer work in both math games and reading partners. Great job friends!
Congratulations also to our newest Leader of the Week: Sarah! Sarah continues to be a great role model in class, as she always perseveres in her lessons to create wonderful stories and use accurate strategies when reading through her work or solving math problems. She is always a kind friend to have in class too! Also, way to go for our Students of the Week: Liam and Simone. Liam has been an awesome participant in our classroom discussions, while Simone really demonstrates wonderful attention to her peer work in both math games and reading partners. Great job friends!
Special Classes/Activities Schedule:
Monday, Oct. 12th: B Day - Music with Dr. St. Clair
Tuesday, Oct. 13th: C Day - Wellness with Mrs. Ehrlich; Keysor Night at Amigo's! Proceeds from both lunch & dinner will be donated to Keysor!
Wednesday, Oct. 14th: D Day - Library with Mrs. Ems, books are due; Wellness Wednesday (Trail Trotters) PLEASE NOTE: every child that either walks/rides their bikes to school and/or participates in Trail Trotters, counts towards our class 'foot' on the Wellness board.
Thursday, Oct. 15th: E Day - Art with Mrs. Lang; 2:30 & 7:00 p.m. MADCO performance in gym; All families welcome
Friday, Oct. 16th: A Day - P.E. with Coach Widaman
Tuesday, Oct. 13th: C Day - Wellness with Mrs. Ehrlich; Keysor Night at Amigo's! Proceeds from both lunch & dinner will be donated to Keysor!
Wednesday, Oct. 14th: D Day - Library with Mrs. Ems, books are due; Wellness Wednesday (Trail Trotters) PLEASE NOTE: every child that either walks/rides their bikes to school and/or participates in Trail Trotters, counts towards our class 'foot' on the Wellness board.
Thursday, Oct. 15th: E Day - Art with Mrs. Lang; 2:30 & 7:00 p.m. MADCO performance in gym; All families welcome
Friday, Oct. 16th: A Day - P.E. with Coach Widaman
Story Workshop
Last week, our final publications were completed of our first Writer's Workshop. After many celebrations of our authors reading their work, we moved into our first Story Workshop. This writing model is very similar to Writer's Workshop, as the children are sharing a story of their own, while using imagination traits shared in workshop. However, the methods in Story Workshop include more opportunities for play and creativity to start, through children painting, building and designing their stories within their mind through using natural story-telling tools in class. Following the play and story-telling, the children will then move this week into drafting their second 'formal' stories in class.
Chrysanthemum: What's in a name?
We are continuing this week with 'Making Connections' as the children will think about kindness between friends, especially when related to something as special as a name. Through the story Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, the children will be thinking about how to be kind to others at all times and support one another, when down. We will also pair the story with some creative acrostic poems of our friends names in class!
Math Workshop: Learning through play
As the children have been hard at work learning about how to combine numbers, many opportunities in playing and exploring with math racks and moving numbers has occurred. These opportunities in paired play, enable for greater friendships to be formed while the academics are extended even more. We also revisit the variety of math games shared during our Monday Math Explorations that happen first thing in the morning. Last week, our friends learned how to play the math game "Passenger Pairs" as shown, where they are matching different combinations of 'riders' on their bus (i.e. 15 passengers = 7 & 8, 10 & 5, 9 & 6).
Sound and Sight Word Review
This week and next, we will be reviewing our sight word that have been introduced thus far: can, do, play, like, had, use, an, there, want, how, will, said, but, come, made, went, some, not, what, into, were, then, saw, give, one, here, because, would, two, him. Additionally, the children will have some further explorations with the short vowel sounds of a, e, i, o, and u. Please continue to review these words and sounds with your child each evening.
Writing Workshop & Assessment
As the final week of the quarter is here, I will be completing our final writing assessments with classmates. All quarter the children have been developing their writing expertise through journaling, free writes and focused workshops. Together, all of these pieces along with dictation and writing samples will be used in assessing the children's progress for the first quarter. We will also be continuing in our Story Workshop, as shared above. Our class has become incredible authors and will continue to grow even more as the journey in writing continues through the year.
Thinking about Subtraction and Completing Assessments
The children have done a wonderful job of combining numbers through 20 and sharing their strategies for solving equations, during our daily Math Congress' together. This week, we will move into further subtraction practice along with some end of the quarter skill assessments, that will occur each day. Thank you again for your continued support at home with Dreambox. The children are really enjoying their time with the program and practicing their strategies acquired during this quarter.
Civics: Exploring the Symbols of our Community, State and Nation
Last week, the children learned many facts about our national symbols of the bald eagle and the American flag. This week, our explorations will move into finding out about the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore. Please look for a fun art and reflection piece regarding our national symbols to come home on Friday the 16th, that may be completed during this long upcoming weekend together.
Mrs. Traci Jansen
Email: traci.jansen@kirkwoodschools.org
Website: http://keysor.kirkwoodschools.org/pages/Keysor_Elementary/Classes/Jansen
Location: 725 N Geyer Rd, Kirkwood, MO, United States
Phone: 314-213-6120 (2164)
Twitter: @TraciJansen