How do you say "I love you"

Aloha friends and family!
I can't believe that we only have one more week of school before our Christmas break! Even though the semester is beginning to wind down we have still been very busy!

Our November book of the month was a book titled "My Brother Charlie". It is a heart warming story of a girl named Callie and her twin brother Charlie. There are things about them that are the same, but there are many ways that they are different, one being that Charlie has autism.


Recognize the author? Yep! This book was written by Holly Robinson Peete and her daughter Ryan. (Anybody else watch "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper" back in the day?) This book is inspired by their real life story.

One of the key details in this story is that Charlie has a hard time saying "I love you." But that doesn't mean he can't express it! When Charlie locks his fingers with Callie, she knows that it is his way of saying "I love you". Each of the kids wrote about a special way that they say "I love you". Here is some of our best works!

Speaking of writing...

This week the class became self-directed learners by choosing their own writing goal. The kids first helped make a list of what they thought were important elements for first grade writing. The next day I presented them with this special chart:

Each student had to decide which element they wanted to make their goal... which one did they want to focus on and become really great at it. Then they got to write their name on a star post-it and choose their goal. Once their goal is mastered they get to then choose a new goal. The kids have already begun to take more pride in their work!

As a wrap up to our unit on Arctic animals the kids got to see how affective blubber is to an arctic animal's survival! We had a bowl filled with ice water to model the Arctic temperatures. The kids then stuck their hands in the water. (Brrr!) One hand went straight in to the water, the other hand was protected by a bag filled with vegetable oil. The kids were able to feel a great difference in the temperature. While one hand was extremely cold, the other hand felt warmer. 

Lastly, we updated our spelling station! It's called "Tic-Tac-Toe Spelling". The kids have to write the spelling words in three different ways - and those three ways have to be all in a row (just like tic-tac-toe!)

Here is some samples from their work this week:

Thank you to everyone who turned in their book orders this week. I placed the orders on Friday after school and (cross your fingers!) they will hopefully arrive before the break! If not they should be here when school starts up again in January.

Reminders:
*The PTO Christmas festival is this Thursday at school! It is going to be a blast!
*The off-campus evacuation drill is this Friday. Please have your child wear tennis shoes as we will be walking down to Cornerstone Church and back that morning.

Also, we are "cashing in" on our Million Miles Award Pizza Party this week! On Friday we will be celebrating our class Christmas party with pizza from the PTO! (So no need to bring a home lunch that day!)

Hope you all have a fun and festive weekend!
Mrs. Kawai

Maps, Math and Movies!

Aloha Everyone!

If you recall from last week we learned about how Polar Bears survive the harsh climate of the Arctic. This week we made fun polar bear masks. They turned out super cute!

This week we began talking about maps. In first grade we learn how to draw different kinds of maps and even learn about the compass rose to show north, south, east, and west.

To get us started each of the kids drew a map of their bedrooms.

One of our vocabulary words this week was "route" - the way to get somewhere. All the kids drew a map that shows their route to school. Their maps included a compass rose and anything that they see  on the way to school. The kids did a really great job! 

In spelling this week we learned about the "wh" sound - like in whale. All the kids had to create a "wh" chain with at least 8 words. One word for every link in the chain. They had so much fun making these!

We have also stated learning about base ten. All the kids have their own counting chart on their desk. We play a game with it where I call out a number for us to start on. I then give directions like "add ten", "minus ten", "add one", "minus one". The kids have to move their finger down, up, right, or left to match. We keep going, sometimes getting faster and faster, until I say stop. Then the kids have to say where they landed. Anyone who is on the same number as me is a winner! This game helps kids get familiar with a hundreds chart and how to use it to quickly add and subtract. 

This week was also another "Thinker Thursday". The prompt this week was to write about the best Christmas movie!

These kids are getting really good at their opinion writing!

We certainly did and learned a lot this week!

If you haven't already and you would like to book orders are due Friday, December 12th. You can return them to school or order online. And don't forget to see if you are eligible to use the coupon for a free book worth up to $5!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Kawai