Another quick reminder about water

Dr. Enas, the school doctor, has asked me to let parents know that the tap water should not be drank in any case. She says it is hazardous.

For this reason, please make sure to send enough water for your student for the whole day so your student will not run out.

Thank you!

Grade 1 and 2 Monthly Value Program

The Grade 1 and 2 classes are starting a monthly program to teach our students an important life skill or personal value that can help them be better students or just better people. The value will be different every month. At the beginning of the month, we will have a lesson on the value and after that, all of the Grade 1 and 2 teachers will be on the look out for students who are showing that value in the classroom, on the playground or around the school. If your student is seen showing that value, they will be given a value card by the teacher. All of the value cards are going into a box. We will have a Value Celebration twice a month where we will talk about the value and draw four cards out of the box. If your child's card is selected from the box, the reward is to have morning snack with Ms. Sanaa! During morning snack they will get a special treat of hot chocolate in the colder months and popcorn in the warmer months.


This month's value is Friendship so we are on the look out for students being great friends or showing qualities that good friends have!

Last week I gave out two value cards to Salma and Hashim. During math, Hashim needed two more counting blocks and he asked Salma nicely, "Can I have two from you?" and Salma gave him two blocks. This was a great example of how friends should share and talk to each other nicely!

The monthly value can also be a great talking point for you with your child at home. Talk to them about what being a friend means to you! Or what does being a good friend look like when you are at home?


Also, if your student is allergic to hot chocolate or popcorn or if you would rather they not have those treats, please send an alternative snack so we can keep in the office if your student should be chosen for the treat. Thank you!

Grade 1b News: October 7 - 11

I will start posting a weekly recap of our learning as per your request. This will be the first one. 

We have had a very busy week in Grade 1b. This week we finally moved away from working on routines and procedures and really starting working on our learning.

Math:  In Math we have continued to work on some KG review work. Some concepts we have studied are: more/fewer, recognizing numbers displayed in different ways, and greater than/less than. We also started working on listing numbers in order from least to greatest. This is a large concept for Grade 1 and something that we will continue working on throughout the year.

Literacy: In literacy, we learned some new sight words: said, look, see, his, her.  We also started our guided reading groups so each student can start working on reading at their own level. Our groups have gone very well! While I am meeting with small groups, the other students are working in literacy based centers. This week the centers I introduced were library reading, buddy reading, read the room, and art.

Social Studies: This week in Social Studies we talked about what a friend is and what it means to be a good friend. We watched a short video about friendship and then had a long discussion about it. Your students came up with lots of great ideas for how friends should act. Some of their ideas were being nice, sharing their toys or things, solving arguments because it's okay if friends fight, but they need to know how to solve the fights, helping someone when they are sad or hurt, and encouraging our friends to make smart choices and follow the rules instead of encouraging our friends to break the rules.

Science: In science we started a unit on the five senses. We watched a video about our senses and how we use them and then had a discussion about them. What can we hear? What sounds loud? What sounds quiet? What can we taste? What tastes sweet? What tastes sour? What can we feel? What feels soft? What feels hard? What feels cold? What feels hot? What can we smell? What can we see?

Art: Art is on Sundays and this week there was no school on Sunday, so we did not have an art lesson this week.

Field Trip Fee

Grade 1 and 2 are going on a field trip to Sitara Theatre on October 18.

Please send in the permission slip and the fee by this Thursday, Oct 11. We will not accept money after this day!

Thank you to those of you who have already sent in the requirements!

Reading Files and Homework

The reading files will be going home today. Inside the reading file will be a book at your student's reading level. It may still include some words that may be new for them, so if you are reading with them, it will be a big help.

The book inside the file is called a "Leveled Book." They are required to read this book each night for homework. Please be very careful with these books. I have told your children that when they are finished reading it, it goes right back in the file. It should not come to school unless it is in the reading file. If any of these books are lost or damaged, it is a 100le fine. GPS has paid a lot of money for these books, so please help us keep them in great condition for years to come.

The reading file needs to include the Leveled Book and the Reading Log. The reading file needs to be sent to school EVERY DAY. If it does not come to school, I can not give them a new book each day. The reading log also needs to be completed each day. I will check them off every day. Please be sure that you have your student complete the question, it has a parent initial that they read, and it is marked off for how they read.

If your student did not bring a book home, it is because I do not have a reading file from you yet. Please send on as soon as possible!

The homework file needs to include the homework only. It should only be sent to school on Thursday. Please be sure it is sent on Thursday. I grade the homework over the weekend, so if you do not send it on Thursday then your student was marked that they were missing their homework.

Homework/Reading Log

The homework for the rest of the week is posted and will be coming home today. I apologize that it did not come home yesterday.

I have included the reading log with the homework. For the first few months, the daily question will be a basic question. If your student has a hard time writing a sentence about it, they can just draw a picture. In a few months, after we have learned some reading strategies, the questions will change to include things like Main Idea and Making Connections.

I intended to send the following note home today, but it was not put into the mailboxes. It will go home tomorrow. But it is here so that you know today if you need.

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Dear Parents,

The reading log is coming home today. Starting next week, I will send home books at your student’s level for them to read at home. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience, but we miscalculated and I will need one more My Clear Bag to use as the reading file. The reading file will go home every day and needs to return back to school every day.  I would like to use Yellow for the reading file, but if you have an extra one at home in a different color, it is fine. You can just send that.

Again, I apologize for this mistake. If you could, please try to have the extra file to me by Monday, October 8. Thanks for your cooperation.

-Miss Miranda

Thank You for Coming to Open House

A big thank you to the parents who came to Open House. If you were not able to make it, I have sent home a copy of the presentation with your student today. If you have any questions, please send a note or if would like to speak more with me about it, you can schedule a meeting with me by calling the office.