First Grade News

We had an exciting and productive first week of school! First graders have been thrilled to be with their old friends and to meet new ones.

Next Monday, September 11th, please join Karen, our school psychologist, for “Coffee with Karen.” She will be discussing all things first grade related! “Coffee with Karen” takes place in our school library at 8:15 AM.

On the first day of school, we began our “kindness chain.” Each time a student in our class does something kind, they can add a link to our paper chain. Our goal is to have the chain stretch from the General Studies classroom to the Judaics classroom by the end of the year. We already have so many links of kindness on our chain!

First graders have been learning the routines of our classrooms. We have been so impressed with their ability to transition into a new grade with new routines. They completed a classroom scavenger hunt, learned about how to take care of our classroom supplies, and practiced borrowing books from our classroom library.

In Math, we started by reviewing numbers 0- 10 and began working with our new math text books. We were so impressed with how they shared their books with a partner and followed along. We also played a new math game: stand-up, sit-down.

First grade writers got to work on the very first day of school and wrote about what they love. Next week, we will begin working on small moment stories. We’re looking forward to seeing all of their decorated writing folders!

This week, first graders also chose their “home” spot in our classroom. Each first grader has his or her own cozy spot in our classroom where he or she can curl up with a book during independent reading times. They also learned about “just right” books. A “just right” book is a book that is neither too hard nor too easy. We talked about how in “just right” books are different for everyone and as we learn more about reading, the books that are “just right” for us will change.

In Science, first graders answered the question, “What do scientists do?” They thought about how scientists can discover new things using their five senses and special tools. We also introduced our first unit, weather!

In Hebrew, we all shared our Hebrew names and introduced ourselves in Hebrew. We learned how to write the letters tav and what sound it makes when we add the vowels, kamatz and patach. The first graders were so excited to get their first classroom assignment. We also added words to our vocabulary like tapuz (orange), tof (drum), tarnegolet (chicken), tut (strawberry) and tamrur (traffic sign).

In Yahadut, we spoke about the meaning of Tefilah (praying). We decorated our Siddurim (prayers book) covers and made the first page of our Siddur, which is about the tefilah modeh ani. Each student shared about what he\she is thankful for. Everyone did a beautiful job!