February is a short month. February also tends to be the doldrums of education. The students lose their “September optimism” for a fresh start. They come back in January, after winter break, realizing that we are right where we left off but more, because of testing. In Michigan, it is cold and grey outside and the kids are ready for the sunshine and warmth that comes with spring.
To counter this, I have switched seats. Our science is more hands-on engineering and exploration. We are also learning on an individual level with access to IXL. IXL is adaptive questions that meet the child where they are at. They can work on skill practice which is a combination of math, reading, and grammar. I can also have your child work on specific learning goals linked to their NWEA.
Also, our Benchmark Unit 5 is about technology. The third week was specifically about writing to someone via email. I’m going to teach the students how to message me using Schoology. I will also teach them how to read to me by recording a video and sending the video. During the hybrid learning of 2020/2021 my students and I communicated back and forth with messages as well as lots and lots of videos.
Hopefully, this will perk up our February routines. My goal is to motivate and spark a passion for learning.
Dearborn Public Schools: Student Portal
If your child has access to a tablet or a computer device, then please have them spend some time on IXL, Zearn, and Raz-Kids. Here is a hyperlink to get you started. It would be good to make a bookmark of it for your first grader.
Clever will take your child to IXL. (Geer Park paid for our access.)
Schoology will take your child to Zearn (this matches our math) and RAZ-KIDS. (I paid for our access to RAZ-KIDS.) Your child should read a bit on RAZ-KIDS every day. It has reading and comprehension built in and it will level up when your child has completed all the books (listen, read, and quiz) at their current level.
- Monday, January 30 – Pizza Monday – $1 a slice
- Tuesday, January 31 – Krispy Kreme Donut Delivery – These were pre-ordered last week.
- Wednesday, February 1 – Parent Education Meeting at 9:30 (Your child will get a free popcorn ticket with your attendance. They love their free popcorn.)
Valentine’s Day is Tuesday, February 14th. I will be having a small party in the classroom with a snack, Valentine’s Day bingo, and hand-out and open Valentines. If you would like to buy and work on Valentines with your first grader, please remember we have 20 kids. Out of kindness and friendship, your child should make a Valentine for each friend. Here is a list of names:
- Abdallah
- Cori
- Emanuel
- Elene
- Layan
- Afnan
- Miliah
- Hamzah
- Hesham
- Zayden
- Mohamad
- Lilian
- Mohamed
- Noah
- Jeremy
- Jamal
- Jayla
- Jebriel
- Abraham
- Abbas
ELA
Reading Groups – Small group instruction will start again on Monday. PLEASE, have your child read to you. Old books are for fluency and comprehension. (Your child should not have to sound out any words for an old book.) New books are to expand their reading vocabulary.
Writer’s Workshop – We will finish our informational writing about the Sun on Monday. The first grade team will decide if we are going to model one more or if we are going to assess their informational writing on Tuesday.
Spelling – I must say that last week was not the best way to start off our spelling grades. The students who completed all 4 spelling homework got a perfect or near-perfect score.
Week 16
- vine
- mine
- line
- life
- strife
- slice
- rice
- nice
- after
- her
- call
- large
Math
We are almost finished with Module 2. We have 4 lessons about number stories this week and a quiz on Friday, February 3rd. The picture and number sentences are crucial for understanding. Next week, we will break apart 2-digit numbers into 10s and ones and have a quiz on Friday, February 10th. The Module 2 final assessment will be on Monday, February 13.
Science
We learned that some stars have been named by scientists. Our star is named Sun. It is not the biggest star. It is not the hottest star. It is not the oldest star. The Sun is the closest star. The Sun is the center of our Solar System. The Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune revolve around the Sun because of its gravitational pull. It takes 365 days (one Earth year) to revolve around the Sun. Finally, we learned that it looks like the Sun is moving across the sky each day, but actually, the Earth is spinning on its axis. (One revolution is 24 hours which is 1 day.)
We will learn about how the seasons are caused by the Earth having a tilted axis and the revolution around the Sun. Then we will learn about the Moon. It is a satellite of the Earth.
Social Studies
To go with Science, we will learn about landforms and bodies of water on the Earth. There are many types of landforms, but we will learn about plains, hills, and mountains. The same can be said for bodies of water, but we will be learning about rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Due to time constraints, I might not be able to fit all of my goals this week, but I will try.
Have a great weekend and week.
Mrs. Korte