Hello 1JB Families!

Just like that, the month of September has come to a close. 

It has been so much fun watching 1JB become a community. 

Here are some important dates and reminders:

• Friday, October 6: Family Visiting in 1 JB (8:30am)
• Monday, October 9: Indigenous Peoples Day – School Closed
• Tuesday, October 10: PD day, no school for students
• Wednesday, October 11 (6-7:30pm): Meetinghouse for “A 21st Century Quaker Community”.
• Thursday, October 12: After School Decorating
• Friday, October 13:  ALL-SCHOOL SPIRIT DAY!
• Thursday, October 26: Picture Day
• VOLUNTEER AT THE FRIENDS SHELTER– If you have any questions please reach out to Katy Homans at katy@katyhomans.com

Here is a glimpse of what September looked like in 1JB:

Math: https://blogs.friendsseminary.org/lsmathematics/: Check out Hilary and Monica’s lower school math blog.

Our geometry unit has begun! We reviewed and learned important shapes: triangles, hexagons, trapezoids, and rhombuses. We asked questions like, “How many triangles fit in a rhombus?” Students created math faces out of shapes that were equivalent to 10 triangles. When students finished, they counted to show how many triangles would make up their faces.

We also played a game called “Let’s Pattern Block It”. Students took turns filling a large hexagon with shapes. After the hexagon was filled, they had to count the amount of each pattern block they used. Seeing all the different ways shapes can fill up a hexagon was exciting!

Another important part of math for 1JB this year is weather graphing. Each student in 1JB has their own weather graphing book where they will graph the weather at the end of every month! This Friday all students created their first weather graph for September! You can ask your child, how did your graph look? Do you remember how many sunny days you had in September?

Read Alouds:

One of our read-alouds this month centered around the idea of names…We all have names! Our names were chosen just for us and are part of our identity, or who we are. In 1JB and at Friends, we take care and respect each person’s identity. We read the book Alma and How She Got Her Name to support us with this idea.

After hearing the story, students were able to go around and share important parts of their families/names. You can ask your child about this story and engage in your own family conversation about names. Your child may even ask you if there is a story behind their name!

Throughout the story, Alma learns about her elders and ancestors and how they each connect to her life. To help students in 1JB think about their families and name stories, each student created a family tree.

Reading:

This past week 1JB was introduced to Just Right Books! Students were able to explore different books in our classroom library and find books that felt just right for them! Ask your child about this process! What books did you find? How did you know it was just right?

Fundations:

1JB is continuing to review the sounds and formations of letters. Ask your child: what sound does this letter make? How do you sky write it?

Journals/Handwriting:

1JB began journal writing! This a time when children not only practice writing but also work on their handwriting. All students in 1JB are working on using lowercase letters. We remind students that if we have reviewed the formation of a letter during Fundations, they are expected to be writing it in lowercase.

Social Studies:

In thinking about our future Post Office study, 1JB took part in a Post Office KWL (Know, Wonder, Learned). As they shared their pictures from their summer post office visits, students discussed what they already knew about the Post Office, their observations, and questions. Look how much 1JB knows and wants to find out about the Post Office!

Community Period

1JB met with their fourth-grade buddies! To help 1JB get to know their new buddies they created venn diagrams and asked each other questions. They discovered things they had in common and things that made them different! Ask your child about their new buddy. What is the name of their buddy? Did they have anything in common?

Classroom Community

In our classroom, we learn and practice Whole Body Listening. As a class, we discussed the importance of Whole Body Listening and how it helps our minds and bodies learn better! Ask your child what this looks like?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hope you all had a safe and dry weekend!