Room 7
April 27, 2007
Friday’s Message:
Walkathon Tee-Shirt Drawings
Congratulations to Amir! His t-shirt drawing was chosen to represent our class on the Joaquin Miller Walkathon t-shirt. Students did their t-shirt drawings in the class.
Star Students
***Toby Bazeley*** and ***Sirr Dezion Johnson***were the star students this week. ***Mack Fee*** and ***Emily Klyce *** are the stars next week.
Time Capsules
Your child brought home their time capsule this week. I told them to give it to you for safe keeping. They aren’t supposed to open it until next year, or later.....When my kids were young, we did time capsules and they enjoyed opening them and reading what they had put in them. They waited five years before opening their time capsule!
Breads Around the World
We are trying to finish up our breads around the world. If your child has not brought in a bread, please return the attached form. If you have a specific day you would like to do the bread, please indicate it. Thanks.
As a culminating activity, we will be going to a bakery to see how bread is “mass produced.”
Help Needed
I’ve been in the process of gathering your child’s work with the intention of making a 1st grade memory book for each student. It’s a lot of work organizing and putting bits and pieces together. I usually work on this project after school. If there are days/times you are waiting around for your child and/or can help, please let me know. I can use all the help I can get!
READING
Read and record in your Reading Log.
WRITING
It is “turn-off tv week.” It ‘s actually from April 23rd to the 29th. So for at least the weekend, can you turn off the television, computer, and electronic games? What other activities can you do?
Instead of watching television or playing electronic games, list :
- 10 activities you can do with a family member or friend
- 10 activities you can do by yourself
- 5 activites you can do in the car
MATH
Your child is bringing home number cards they made in class. They had to come up with addition sentences with sums of 11-20. On the opposite side of the card, they wrote a subtraction problem that started with the “sum”/ numeral (11-20).
Students could use their “number fact family” homework papers. Many students came up with a different subtraction sentence starting with numerals 11-20. Blocks were available to use as manipulatives.
Then students covered one of the numerals on their number sentence. They mixed up their cards and solved for the covered numeral. (The purpose of this activity is to reinforce number facts to 20). When they could solve for the missing number on their own set of cards, they worked with partners doing each others.
Have you child go through his/her set of cards with you. Then have them make a different set of cards, an addition and subtraction problem for each number, 11-20. Encourage your child to do different number facts besides just number fact families. Cover a numeral. Mix the cards up and solve for the missing number. Add the two sets together and play. If it’s not challenging enough, time yourself.
Return their set of “flash cards” in the ziplock bag. They will be using their cards in skill groups.
CREATING WITH RECYCLABLES
Earth Day is every day. We have been learning about ways to help care for the earth. Using recycled materials, have your child make something. Encourage him/her to be creative. Your child will share what s/he made.
Room 7
April 19, 2007
Friday’s Message:
Ready, Set, Dance!
Next Monday we will be performing our Khadra dance with the other 1st grades and kindergarten classes. There are two performances; 10:30 and 11:10. Hope you can make one of them. Students should wear bright colored clothing and shoes that won’t slip off while dancing.
I will not be here on Monday because my daughter has a dance performance in San Diego. If someone can video or take pictures of our kids dancing, it would be appreciated. I usually have students write for photographs. I know they would love to have pictures of them in action. Thank you.
Mrs. Dayle Veseay, will be substituting for me.
Star Students
***Micah Bloom*** was the star student this week. Next week the stars are
***Toby Bazeley*** and ***Sirr Dezion Johnson***
Scholastic Books
Attached is a book order form. If you are interested in purchasing books, have your child return the book order form and a check payable to Scholastic Book Club by next Friday, April 27th. Thanks.
READING
Read and record in your Reading Log.
WRITING
Help your child make a timeline of his/her life. Find a picture showing a special day and/ or event for each year of his/her life. Display the pictures in some manner. Have your child write a caption for each picture and tell his/her age.
If you don’t have photos, students can just write about it and/or use small trinkets or souvenirs that help them remember the occasion/year.
Students will be sharing their timelines.
MATH
We have been working with number facts between 11-20. For more practice with these number facts, have your child do six (or more)number fact families with number facts between 11- 20.
Make sure your child understands the concept and can explain/prove the answer.
A number fact family is when the same numerals are used in addition and subtraction
facts.
15 + 3 = 18
3 + 15 = 18
18 - 3 = 15
18 - 15 = 3
Students need to practice this concept at home. Answers should start becoming automatic. In the upcoming weeks, I will start “drilling” (using their math fact cards, other addition/subtraction flash cards, timed “tests”, etc.) with the class.
We’ve been working on the process all year. Now it’s a matter of mastering these number facts. Knowing number facts to 20 is a grade level standard. Practice with your child as needed.
EARTH DAY IS EVERY DAY
We’ve been learning all kinds of ways to take care of the earth. We need to do nice things for our planet every day. What can you do?
Name five ways you can save water.
Name five ways to save electricity or gas.
Name five things that can be recycled.
Room 7
April 6, 2007
Friday’s Message:
More Than Just A Taste
Camila’s parents, Debbie and Dave, made tortillas de maiz from Panama with the class. The ingredients needed to make this bread was corn flour, water, and salt. Each kid pinched off a small portion of dough, then rolled it into a ball, and flattened it to about 1/4 inch thick. Then Dave cooked it in a deep fryer. He had the kids estimate how many of their mini tortillas would fit / could be cooked in the fryer at one time. After they made their guess, they found out exactly how many as they counted while he put them in the fryer. Then he asked if he had two deep fryers, how many would they be able to cook. The kids did well answering the questions. We learned these tortillas are eaten at breakfast, lunch, or for a snack. They’re yummy when dipped into sunny side eggs or eaten with cheese. We enjoyed ours plain; it was crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.
Camilla told us things she sees when she goes to Panama to visit her grandparents and cousins. We learned there is a rain forest where she saw a sloth, monkeys, and a neque, a big guinea pig like animal. At the beach she saw live coral, big orange starfish, a barracuda, and dolphins. Camila also told us it’s hot there because it is close to the equator.
Debbie told us more about the canal. She showed where Panama is on the map. She pointed out that it is the last country before South America. It’s also the skinniest part of land in Central America and that’s why the Panama Canal was built there. Boat / ships use the canal to get from one ocean to the other, otherwise they would have to go all the way around South America. The Panama Canal is a shortcut between the Pacific and Alantic Oceans.
They also brought in “molas,” appliquéd cut out cloth in different colors and designs. Debbie explained these molas are made by the Kuna Indians, indigenous people of the San Blas Islands. They also showed several baskets woven with reeds. We also looked at the coins they use in Panama. They are the same size, colors, and value as the coins we use in the United States. They just have different pictures on them.
Micah brought matzah from Israel/ Middle East. Passover started on Monday and last eight days. During this time of year Jewish people eat matzah and things made out of matzah meal. Micah, with the help of his mom, Karen, explained the significance of matzah during Passover.
He told us when the Israelites were finally allowed to leave Egypt to escape the Pharaoh and the plague, they left in such a hurry they did not have time for their bread to rise. So they traveled through the dessert with their dough on their back, which the sun baked into hard crackers. This bread is now called matzah. The flour and water are combined into dough, flattened out, poked with a fork, and baked, all in less than 18 minutes.
Then Karen told us about the seder, a communal meal that tells the story of their flight from Egypt. During the seder, they drink four cups of grape juice, eat parsley dipped in salt water to remind them of the tears, eat bitter herbs (horseradish) to remind them of the bitterness of slavery, eat charoset (a mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon, and grape juice) to remind them of the mixture the slaves used as mortar and used to make bricks. Throughout the 8 days of Passover, they do not eat any leavened products. That means nothing made of the 5 forbidden grains: oat, barley, wheat, rye, or spelt. Bread and yeast products are forbidden. Matzah is the “bread” for Passover.
Before Passover, they clean out their house and cars. They try to get rid of every crumb of chametz ( leavened products). They donate their extra food or make a monetary donation as part of the “selling” of their chametz. They sell their chametz so that a non- Jewish person owns it during the week of Passover. This year their synagogue sent donations to both Mazon, a project that feeds the hungry, and Scattered Among the Nations, where they sent supplies to a small, poor Jewish community in Peru.
Star Students
The star students this week were ***Camila Nakashima*** and
***Sophia Conte***. When we return from Spring Break ***Micah Bloom**
will be the star.
We Will Be Dancing
On Monday, April 23rd, our class will be doing their Khadra dance performance. There will be two performances of the kindergarten and 1st grade classes. The times are:
10:20 and 11:10. Mark your calendars.
On the day of the performance, the Khadra teacher asked our students wear bright colored clothing.
There is no “formal” homework assignment over Spring Break. Just continue to read and record in your Reading Log.
When they return, one of the homework assignments will be to make a timeline of his/her life. They will need to find a picture of a special day and/or event for each year of his/her life. Over Spring Break you may want to help your child find pictures they might want to use. They will need to display it in some manner and write a caption/ sentence for each photo. Include their age.
HAVE A GREAT SPRING BREAK!