Room 7
February 15, 2008
Friday’s Message:
Walking Tour on Tuesday
Our field trip on Tuesday to Chinatown and the BART lunar new year presentation are outside activities. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that it won’t rain. I’ve told students they need to:
-dress in layers
I also recommend they bring a jacket
(they can leave it in the car if it is a warm day)
-wear “closed” shoes
-after the performance, I’m hoping to take the kids to a nearby park
-bring a bag lunch
For the parents driving/chaperoning on this trip, we will be leaving school at 9:15.
More than a Taste
Leah brought matzah from Israel. She told us the story of how the Jewish people had been slaves in Egypt. When the ruler of Egypt, the Pharaoh, agreed to let the Jews go, they had to leave quickly and could not wait for their bread to rise. The flat bread they brought with them is called matzah. They left Egypt and crossed the desert into Israel.
Lynn, Leah’s mom, read a story about Passover. Passover is when Jewish people are imagining their first day of freedom. They have a ceremony called a seder. There is a book everyone reads from, it is called the Haggadah. They eat matzah in memory of the flat bread the Jews carried as they escaped Egypt. There are bitter herbs to remember the bitter taste of slavery. There is a mixture of apples, wine, and nuts called haroset. It is to remember the cement the slaves made for the pyramids; this mixture also a little sweet and also reminds them how sweet to be free. Lynn explained that though Passover is a Jewish holiday, friends are often invited. Freedom is for everybody.
Before tasting the matzah, students estimated how many pieces were in the box.
Then I counted the pieces, and Leah told who had the closest estimate. There were 11 pieces, but I asked what am I going to do since there are 20 students? They knew to break them in two, but first we discussed the difference between two pieces and equal halves. After cutting four pieces in half, I had students figure out how many halves would there be when we cut all the matzah equally.
Celebrating a Day of Love
Thank you everyone that brought treats for the Valentine’s Day party. The kids thoroughly enjoyed all the goodies. We had heart shaped sandwiches, cupcakes, fruit, crackers and cheese, cookies, and juice and water. Hopefully they still had an appetite for dinner. Thank you Jen, Isabel’s mom, for organizing the party.
Star Students
***Alexander Arriola*** was the star this week. Next week
***Christian Singleton*** is the star.
READING
Read and record in your Reading Log.
MATH
I’ve been making more reference to the clock as we do activities. When they had to be quiet for 100 seconds, they watched the second hand go around as I counted off the seconds by 5’s. We’ve counted the minutes on the analog clock and have been telling how many minutes past the hour. When we do activities in the class, I usually tell them how much time they have and where the “big” / minute hand will be.
This week have them go on a clock hunt around your house. How many clocks can you find? Draw a picture of the clock and/or what it is on/part of. Write what it is. Show the time on the clock.
WRITING
Students will be writing for BOTH field trips. This week have your child write
for lunar new year performance and chinatown tour. Write about something saw, heard, smelled, tasted ( a food not in their lunch), and touched. Extend each statement and tell why they like it or didn’t like it.
The second writing assignment will be due with next week’s homework. I’m giving it now while the Theaterworks performance is “fresh” in their minds.
for the Aesop’s Fables performance, write which story was your favorite and why. Then tell what lesson/ moral is from the story. If your child would like to tell the lesson from another story, please encourage him/her.
(Later in the spring, the first grade classes will be presenting their performance of Aesop’s Fables.)
SOCIAL STUDIES / Where my ancestors came from
Now I’m reading Captain Bill Pinkney’s Journey. It’s about the first African American to travel by sailboat around the world alone. As we’re reading, we found out his ancestors came from Africa. I told the class my grandfathers, ancestors, came from China.
Tell your child what country their ancestors came from before coming to the United States. Help your child locate the country on the map provided. Draw a person in the country/countries (if the country is small, draw an arrow from the person to the country.)
At the bottom of the map, have your child write the name of the country/countries their ancestors came from.
Then draw a house where YOU live. Color the ocean blue