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So many changes are happening when your child enters 1st grade. The first change is the dreaded homework. Throughout the years I have had many discussions with parents/educators/students, over this very topic and every year it's the same comments made:
Cons: Why do we have homework? How much homework should your child have? Is Miss Palmer even teaching our child if she sends home so much homework? Pros: I love spending time with my child, seeing what he is learning. She cannot put her books down at home, found a love of reading. It gives us quality talking time, instead of running errands or sitting and watching TV. I am learning new things about my child. My child teaches me something new every day. Consensus: I had no idea my child was going to learn all of that in 1st grade! My thoughts, I know! When I entered Manzanola's 1st grade classroom 10 years ago, I had no idea how in depth learning would be at 1st grade. How many new and important concepts they will learn, which they will use the rest of their life. In their 1st grade classroom, they set their foundation for every subject they will learn throughout the rest of their education. They also start valuing the important of learning through repetition, struggle, and they will mimic what their most important people in their lives, their parents, say and think about school, as well as what their parents think about their child's teachers. You are your child's first educator and the most important person in their life. It is because of this and all of our many firsts, I would like all parents/guardians to take the time and answer some questions I have about your child's homework. Please be honest, we all grow every day and I would like the opportunity to grow as an educator and person, so I can be the 1st grade teacher you would like your child to have. This year has flown by so fast! Not only has it flown by so fast, but we have been learning so many new concepts and ideas. Most of these concepts and ideas are BRAND NEW to your child. Always remember to ask your child questions about what they're learning. Here's some ideas on HOW you can ask your child questions about their learning. In hopes of getting more than, "Nothing." or "I don't know." Although this school year is coming to an end, we still have so much to learn!!!!!!
Here's a sneak peak of what FUN and EXCITING topics and things we'll be ending the year with: - Finishing up our Geology Domain. We still have Domains about Animals, American Independence, and Frontier Exploration (all about the Gold Rush, Pioneers, & the events and values that the United States was founded upon!) - Spring Concert - YMCA field trip - End of the Year Zoo field trip - Money, shapes, telling time, and so much more MATH!!!!! Let's finish 2017-2018 school year off RIGHT, continue to *READ *PRACTICE SPELLING WORDS *FLASH CARDS *ANY EXTRA PAPERS TOO! PARENTS!!! Please remember to check folders daily, there are important papers that come home towards the end of the year, plus every night your child will have homework. Thank you all for being amazing! I have truly enjoyed this school year! Although it's still summer time.... Keep on having fun!!! Some important dates to remember:
First Two Days of School- August 14th & 15th NO School- August 16th & 17th This year has flown by. We are wrapping up the third quarter and about to begin the fourth and final quarter. Your little ones are phenomenal and incredibly intelligent. They are ready for the next step in their educational careers, second grade! We will continue to work hard and we have a few more domains left in reading. We will be learning about animal habitats and frontier life. In math, we are ending our chapter on time but we will continue to work on that concept for the rest of the year. These children are like sponges and have understood such complicated concepts with ease!!! We are going to begin looking critically at shapes and how to count money.
As always, please check your child's folders for parent notes home so you know what we're talking about in class. If there is ever a photo or video or story that you would like to share that's related to what we're learning let me know. We LOVE guest speakers! As of Monday, we have turned on the heater in the 1st grade classroom. It is chilly in the mornings and hot in the afternoons. We just ended Domain 2: The Human Body and the students have learned so much! I am so proud of them! You could ask your child any of these questions (and probably more) and they can tell you the answer to it. 1. How long does it take for blood to circulate throughout our bodies? (1 min) 2. What is the organ/muscles that we need and if we didn't have it, we would die? (the heart) 3. What are the 5 body systems we learned about? (skeletal, muscular, digestive, circulatory, and nervous systems) 4. What are their primary functions? (hold us up/protection, so we can move, our food, our blood, and our feelings/control center) 5. What is our control center, or how do we control our own body? (our brain) We have been enjoying our new Domain about different fairy tales from different parts of the world. The first fairy tale that we're learning about is Cinderella. After your child writes their morning message in the mornings, we go onto gonoodle.com so they can warm up their bodies and their brains before we learn a Spanish word/phrase for the day. Here are the students during gonoodle- they LOVE IT!!!! The Spanish phrases that we have learned so far are as follows:
Como estas? How are you? Muy bien! Very good! Buenos dias! Good day! Buenas tardes! Good afternoon! Buenas noche! Good night! I love this time of year and i'm excited to see how much the students are going to grow throughout this quarter. We are almost done with testing- YAY!
Next week, Monday and Tuesday we will be NWEA testing. Then students will be placed into groups to help them grow both academically and socially. I have had many questions/concerns about HOMEWORK. 1. I expect students to be read to and read to their parent/guardian every night of the school week. 2. Sometimes, there will be worksheets your child had time to finish in class and for one reason or another it was not completed by the time it was due. Those worksheets will be sent home with a pink homework page attached to it, normally with a note from me, and are expected to be returned the following school day. I was so excited to see all of my students' smiling faces over the last few days. I am excited to see everything they will accomplish throughout the school year. I will be putting pictures, school work, and other information on the website. Eventually, the students will be contributing ideas to the website- after all it is their classroom! I will send out a reminder if anything has been changed or added.
Thank you for the privilege of teaching your child, Miss Palmer This is what the reminders will look like if there is a change or addition to the website. |
AuthorMs. Emily Palmer is the brave and compassionate leader of Manzanola Elementary's fabulous 1st grade classroom. Archives
August 2020
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