K/1 Class Letter

September 2019

Dear Parents,

K/1 started the year with getting to know each other. We shared and wrote about our favorite things, such as foods, activities and books. We found favorite new books among our class read aloud, with the class particularly enjoying the Minerva Louise books, Chrysanthemum , and The Pigeon HAS to Go to School. 

The students worked and played together in pairs and small groups, using pattern blocks, linking cubes, cutting and gluing with scissors and scrap paper, reading and partner reading, coloring, and playing dominoes and bingo. We learned routines, how to treat our materials and where they go, modeled positive behaviors and had fun. We learned what to do for a fire and earthquake drill and participated in one of each with the whole school.

We also sang together. We've been learning patriotic songs, such as My Country 'Tis  of Thee, America the Beautiful, and This Land is Your Land. We have also been singing and dancing to Alligators All Around, The Months of the Year Song, and Chicken Soup with Rice. We are now learning several songs for the Daniel Pearl Concert.

The class thought about their hopes and dreams for the year. What do they want to learn, or do this year? We listed our ideas and the students picked one academic goal and one social goal to add to our group list. Once we had our hopes and dreams, then we used them to create a list of classroom rules we need to follow in order to reach our goals.

Our midah for this year is Derekh Eretz, "Be Kind". The class read books that lead to discussions about different ways to be kind, including Chrysanthemum , A Sick Day for Amos McGee , Last Stop on Market Street , I Walk with Vanessa , and The Golden Rule , and then wrote and illustrated examples of how they can be kind.

Writing workshop got off to a great start, with the first graders working on narrative writing, while kindergarten started on writing about things they know a lot about. Since the class enjoyed the Minerva Louise books and talking about chickens so much, we also read nonfiction books about chickens, talked about fiction vs. nonfiction, and then drew pictures of chickens and labeled our drawings and wrote captions for them.

In math, kindergarten is working on identifying and comparing the attributes of two related objects, classifying to make categories and count, numbers to 5 in different configurations, math drawings and expressions, and the concept of zero and working with numbers 1-5. First grade has been working with embedded numbers and decomposition, counting on from embedded numbers, and addition word problems.

In science, first grade is working on the Plant and Animal Superpowers unit, while kindergarten is starting their Plant and Animal Secrets unit. First grade is learning about animal adaptations and their purposes, such as different kinds of beaks for birds and camouflage for both prey and predators. 

In Social Studies the students have been learning about kindness, good citizenship, and rules and responsibility. Kindergarten worked on the concept of time, learning the days of the week and months of the year. First grade learned about Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space, for Hispanic Heritage Month.

K/1 has been having a good time in PE! When it is too hot to go outside, the class stretches, dances, and practices yoga and mindfulness indoors. Outside we are running relay races and creating activity paths for our friends to follow. The students draw symbols on a path on the ground, with the symbols representing the steps, hops, crisscrosses or jumping jacks to take while following the path. In addition to our weekly designated PE time, K/1 takes a lot of movement breaks throughout the day. Our recess also begins earlier to give the children more time to play kickball, basketball, handball and other team games after snack. 

Hebrew: This month we started learning the Hebrew words for colors. We read a story for Rosh Hashanah about an apple looking for honey. First grade is learning the letters and once a week we enjoy watching different Hebrew videos to enhance our listening skills and improve our oral language instruction. We are also incorporating learning Hebrew through movement where we will dance and move with instructions in Hebrew. 

Jewish Studies: K/1 students began the year getting acquainted with Shabbat at school. We have middle school buddies who we sit with at Kabbalat Shabbat and read together after our service and oneg- enjoying the hallah and grape juice. It is nice getting to know our older friends at school. This past week Rabbi Amy from PJTC came and told a story. We have also been  learning about the holiday of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur through stories, making mini round hallot to take home and tasting pomegranates. We did a symbolic tashlikh, drawing a mistake we made over the year, and ripping it up. We also thought about how we can improve this year.

It was great seeing most of you at Back to School Night! I hope to see you again at our Daniel Pearl Concert on October 24, at 11 am.

Sincerely,
Ms. Ricci






Weizmann Day School
1434 North Altadena Drive
Pasadena, California 91107