Hello 1JB Families!

Happy Spirit Day! 1JB had such a fun day being in community with one another and celebrating being at Friends!

Here are some important dates and reminders:

• October 21 Fall Family Day of Service
• October 26: Picture Day!
• October 28 LS Halloween Party
• November 3: Family Visiting Day
• November 9th and 10th: Parent Conferences (in person)
• Extra clothing!! Many went home during the rainstorm
• VOLUNTEER AT THE FRIENDS SHELTER– If you have any questions please reach out to Katy Homans at katy@katyhomans.com

Check out what we’ve been doing in 1JB:

Community Time:

During the past week, 1JB talked a lot about peace and keeping people and places in the light. Students created their own peace crafts to represent images and words that mean peace.

Pumpkin Exploration!

1JB was gifted a batch of beautiful pumpkins! We began our classroom pumpkin exploration by making observations, learning about pumpkin facts, and sketching our pumpkins. Ask your child if they know the name of their pumpkin. What color is it? What other facts did you learn about pumpkins?

Sankofa: Check out this doc to see news from Mama Adia about what students have been learning and doing in Sankofa! News From Mama Adia

Handwriting and Spelling: 

1JB worked very hard in Fundations the past two weeks! They completed their review of all the letters, sounds, and their lowercase formation. We ended our week practicing the alphabetical order of our letters. You can practice sounds and letters with your child by asking questions like “What sound does the letter s make?” “What letter makes the /b/ sound?” “What is the keyword for letter d?” Next up, we will be reviewing and teaching how to blend and read three sound-short vowel words (CVC words). Students will also be learning how to segment and spell the words as well.

Ask your child about the vowel poster! Can they show you how we practice our vowel sounds?

Each week we will introduce three new trick words. These are high-frequency words that children should recognize instantly without sounding them out. Recognizing words by sight helps them become faster, more fluent readers. Many trick words are tricky to read and spell — they aren’t spelled the way they sound. Each week, when we introduce new words, the goal is for the children to learn how to read and spell them. Students will be introduced to spelling through multiple techniques and practices. This week we practiced: the, and, of

Ask your child about these words.

October Song

What words rhyme? What words are in color? How did you illustrate this poem?

Writing (Journals):

Journal writing is a weekly writing opportunity in 1JB. Students will respond to the prompt, “Who is someone that you spent time with this weekend? Why was that special for you?” Additionally, when students have had the opportunity to work in the block area, they will write about their creations.  All children are encouraged to use sound spelling but are moving toward conventional spellings of words as they are ready. During writing times, the children are encouraged to use resources in the classroom. We work individually with students to edit their work. We expect that students accurately spell words that follow a phonics pattern we have taught. For example, we have taught short /i/, and now the children should write those words correctly. Additionally, children should spell the sight words (that we have taught) with consistency.

Math

1JB has wrapped up its Geometry unit! Up next is building number sense! The focus of this unit is on understanding how numbers can be made from other numbers. For example: 12 can be made from 6 and 6, from 10 and 2, or from 6,4, and 2. Taking numbers apart and putting them back together in different ways forms the basis for a lot of the mathematical work that your children will do in the elementary grades. 

Students will play games and solve problems in which they break numbers into parts in different ways.  For example, looking at a single pattern of 10 dots, some children see it as two groups of 5, some as five groups of 2, and some as two groups of 4 with 2 extra. As they share their way of thinking, they learn different ways of breaking 10 into parts.

Calendar Math

One of the math activities we do monthly in first grade is calendar math. Before starting calendar math, we discuss the days of the week and months of the year. To reinforce our learning, we watched videos and practiced naming the days of the week and months of the year. This knowledge helps students complete the calendar math assignments. During calendar math, students fill out a calendar grid to match the month we are in. After completing the grid, students answer questions focused on understanding the month.

The name of this month is ___________________.

There are ________ days in this month.

The FIRST day of the month is on a ________________.

The LAST day of the month is on a  ________________.

Reading

1JB is getting in the groove of D.E.A.R. time…Drop Everything And Read! Once a week students get to go book shopping for books that are just right for them and books of interest. Watching students dive into their books and read independently is so exciting. Ask your child what they read this week.

Family Visiting

Thank you for visiting 1JB! It was such a blast having a classroom full of families and fun. We can’t wait to have you back soon.

Activities

1JB truly enjoys the morning activity period. Chess, block building, pattern blocks, legos, and more! Check out all the creativity and joy that happens in our classroom during this time:

Ask your child what they like doing during activities!

See you all soon!