Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Happening in First Grade

The First Grade has been learning about and celebrating holidays, famous people, and milestones. The girls enjoyed making cards for Meals on Wheels clients, Valentines for each other, reading for the Read-A-Thon, and keeping track of the days we have been in school.  They proudly paraded around the Lower School showing off their creative and unique shirts! Here are some pictures of the girls in action!

Making cards for Meals on Wheels clients 

Celebrating Winter birthdays

Chinese New Year parade! 

Happy New Year!

Valentine's Day card exchange



Happy 100th Day!


Parading around the Lower School! 

Friday, February 26, 2016

From the Library

First graders have been reading some fun and thought-provoking books recently, many of them with themes of fairness and compromise. Bryan Langdo's Tornado Slim and the Magic Cowboy Hat was a big hit. Ask your daughter about how hot the chili was (five alarm? six? seven?) In Candace Fleming's Clever Jack Takes the Cake, the main character has almost nothing but manages to make a beautiful cake. Ask your daughter what he has left by the time he arrives at the palace and what he gives the princess as a gift. The Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan led to a lively discussion about siblings and fairness.  Mary Ann Hoberman's The Seven Silly Eaters is a great tale of how people with very different tastes (and ideas) can work together to make something terrific. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst's classic story of undeserved misfortune, reminded us that we all have the occasional bad day, and led to a quick geography lesson on Australia. A Fine Fine School by Sharon Creech had us talking about how much school is the right amount of school and where else do we learn. Onward to Strega Nona tales we go. We can't get through the rest of first grade without learning about the magic pasta pot!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

French 100th day word list

In honor of the 100th day of school, I challenged each first grade class to come up with a list of 100 words that they knew in French.  They did a fabulous job.  Not only were they able to think of 100 French words, that they had learned, but both classes were able to think of at least 150 words.  When I put both lists together there were over 200 words.  Great work girls, bravo!  Take a look at what they have learned.


Le yaourt
la pomme
l'avocat
les cerises
Les bonbons
le pain
les fraises
le citron
la pêche
le croissant
le citron vert
la banane
un œuf
la poire
le gâteau
la glace
La pomme de terre
le chocolat
l'ananas
le poulet
la coccinelle
le serpent
le chat
le chien
la poule
les champignons
le cheval
le lapin
l'ours
le cochon
l'oiseau
la pastèque
le melon
Rouge
Vert
Jaune
Noir
Orange
Violet
Bleu
Rose
marron
Blanc
infinie
un 
deux
trois
quatre
cinq
six
sept
huit
neuf
dix
onze
douze
treize
quatorze
quinze
seize
dix-sept
dix-huit
dix-neuf
vingt
cent
zéro
lundi
mardi
mercredi
jeudi
vendredi
samedi
dimanche
janvier
février
mars
avril
mai
juin
juillet
août
septembre
octobre
novembre
décembre
le bébé
la mer
la mère
papa
la maison
le frère
la sœur
le père
la grand-mère
le grand-père
bonjour
madame
comment allez-vous
merci
au revoir
l'oncle
non
oui
dans
le cerf
le chasseur
il fait froid
les murs
entre
viens
le crayon
le livre
le taille-crayon
la gomme
le tableau
les fleurs
les ciseaux
le lait
le poisson
le feu
la voiture
le bateau
le camion
le train
le bus
l'avion
la fusée
la laitue
le chou-fleur
l'asperge
la vache
noël
c'est
l'amour
chanter
toi
un cœur
Eternel
du temps
sa voix
Familière
Douce
Claire
un enfant
Prière
Donné
Toute
la famille
Se Réveille
les volets
gymnastique
la musique
attrape
ouvrez
la journée
commencer
confiture
pieds
brûlé
chaud
pleut
neige
soleil
Monsieur
Zoo
la cuisine
la chambre
la salle de bains
la tête
épaules
genoux
yeux
nez
bouche
oreilles
les toilettes
qui est là?
toc toc toc
c'est moi
je dors
l'abeille
la girafe
la fée
le crocodile
la petite souris
maman
l'éléphant
le fromage
le poivron vert
le poivron rouge
le poivron jaune
l'orange
les petits pois
le salon
l'aubergine
l'affiche
et vous?
très bien
l'abricot
la neige
la carotte
la robe
le chapeau
Paris
le ciel
d'été
avec
les anges
si pur

Monday, January 11, 2016

Code!

We began learning about what a computer programmer is and what they 

do.  The girls learned about Ada Lovelace and participated in the Hour of 
Code.  This month, each girl will continue to work in Scratch Jr.  "Coding is the new literacy! With ScratchJr, young children (ages 5-7) can program their own interactive stories and games. In the process, they learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively on the computer.(Scratch Jr. Website)

Musical Rhythms


First graders are making names into rhythms!  We have to take into account the number of syllables and also where the accents fall in natural speech.





Sunday, December 20, 2015

Holiday Happenings in First Grade

The girls have had a busy December! Our social studies unit this month has been focused on holidays and the common theme of light. In class we made colorful menorahs for Hannukah, learned about the history of the poinsettia for Christmas, made wonderful Kinaras to celebrate Kwanazaa, and designed Rangolis, using color and sand for Diwali.  We were very luck to have a First Grade parent come in and tell us a lot of great information about the beautiful celebration of Diwali. Our Winter Festival focused on these winter holidays as well. Parents helped the girls make a placemat for Hannukah, a Mkeka for Kwanzaa, and taught the girls a simple meaning of Christmas. The girls were also treated to delicious foods that are typically eaten on these holidays. Here are the girls in action!


Making a big rangoli out of flower petals 


Learning about Christmas


Our wonderful Rangolis! 



We also have been studying the story of the Nutcracker. The girls worked very hard during this unit as they learned to read a script, read with expression, read loudly, and perform a puppet show! Our unit ended with a fabulous puppet show performance of the Nutcracker. The girls made beautiful scenery and detailed puppets to go along with their production.  Many grades in the Lower School came to see our performance; what a great day! 

Proudly showing our Nutcracker books

About to perform! 



The girls got another chance to perform during the holiday concert. They sang with loud voices and filled the audience with a lot of holiday cheer! We hope you and your family have a wonderful break and we will see you in 2016! 
Love, The First Grade Team


Holiday Concert 2015


Thursday, December 17, 2015

The Nutcracker Videos

The first grade did a fabulous job performing the Nutcracker reader's theater.