I hope you had a nice, relaxing Memorial Day weekend!  We are finished with our Reading Street and Envision Math curriculum for the year.  We will spend this week reviewing some science concepts and working on sight words and writing.  Please remember to send in your child's Flat Stanley project if you haven't already done so.  Our 1st Grade talent show will be held on Wednesday, June 6th and is just for students.  If your child would like to participate please sign and return the permission form by Thursday, May 31st.  We will have our final Show and Tell this week on Friday.  The theme is "a favorite 1st grade memory."  Looking ahead to next week:  Field Day is on Tuesday, June 5th at 12:30.  The faculty/5th grade kickball game is on Wednesday the 6th, along with our talent show.  Thursday the 7th is our last day of school!  We will have an early dismissal that day at 12:20 and Mrs. Chang will be here to visit and say good bye to the students! Thank you for your support and for sharing your children with us this year.  They have made so much progress and we hope they had an enjoyable year in first grade!  If you have any questions before the end of the year don't hesitate to call or email me!  Thank you!

Weekly Study Skills - 5.6

This is our last week of Reading Street and homework, along with our final spelling test!  In math we will be doing a mini unit on coins, along with reviewing some previously taught concepts.  Please remember all homework books are due on Friday.  Today your child will receive a "step up to 2nd grade" math packet.  These pages from our math program will help to prepare your child for second grade, and I highly suggest having your child complete them during the summer. If you have not already done so, please send your Flat Stanley project to school as soon as possible.  And make sure to ask your child about our butterflies!  We will have no school next Monday in honor of Memorial Day.  

Weekly Study Skills - 5.5

Thank you for coming to our Author's Tea!  We were happy to have your support and hope you enjoyed it! This week in math we will do a short unit on fractions. We will discuss making equal parts, along with identifying halves and fourths.  Our end of year reading and math Dibels testing will be on Thursday.  Please make sure your student is not absent that day, and that they have had plenty of sleep and a good breakfast!  All library books are due back by Thursday.  

Weekly Study Skills - 5.4

This week we will continue our Geometry unit in math, and we will finish the unit with a test on Friday.  We will also be having our final Junior Achievement lesson this week.  Many thanks to Emily Anderegg for volunteering her time and helping the students learn some important concepts.  We are excited for our Author's Tea on Friday May 11th!  We hope you see you in our classroom for our short program, which starts at 12:30.  Keep an eye out in your email for a link to a Sign Up Genius if you would like to contribute items for this fun event. Also please be aware that the PTA is hosting a "Buy 1, Get 1 Free" book fair on Thursday and Friday in the gym.  This is a great opportunity to stock up on some summer reading books!  Hopefully most of you have received back your "Flat Stanley" doll.  There's no set due date for these projects.  Simply send them to school as soon as they are ready and the students will be able to show them as time allows.  

Weekly Study Skills - 5.3

The May/June newsletter will be coming home this week, with the dates of several upcoming events.  Please make sure to look for it in your child's backpack! We are starting our new math topic on Geometry. Students will be studying attributes of 2D shapes and taking a peek at 3D shapes.  It's about time to start sending back your Flat Stanley projects! Please contact me if you have any questions.  I hope your flat first grader had some fun adventures!  

Weekly Study Skills - 5.2

This week we are getting back to Reading Street, and we will be having our regular spelling pre-test on Monday and test on Friday.  We will continue to work on telling time to the hour and half our in math, junior achievement in social studies, and opinion writing. Looking ahead, we will be having our First Grade "Author's Tea" on Friday, May 11 at 12:30.  More information to come!

We will not have any spelling words this week!  We will be spending extra time focusing on writing.  We are working on opinion writing to prepare for an upcoming district writing assessment.  The students have also been researching an animal to write an informational report.  This week we will finish our math unit on measurement and take a district math assessment.  Then we will be moving on to telling time to the hour and half hour.  Don't forget our field trip on Wednesday!  Thanks to the parents who have volunteered as chaperones.  I will contact you Monday after school with more information.  As a fun science activity we have been observing a live stream of a bald eagle's next in Washington, D.C.  The address is www.dceaglecam.org.  The students are really enjoying this!  I encourage you to pull up the website at home if you have a chance. As a final note, Jillian Evie Chang was born on April 10.  Both mom and baby are doing well.  Congratulations to Mrs. Chang!

Weekly Study Skills - 5.1

Welcome back to school!  I hope you had a nice, restful break.  Thank you for your patience as I get back to real life after my long trip.  I apologize if you saw the old update on here!   (Sometimes it auto-updates from last year so I hope that didn't cause any confusion.)  Mrs. Chang ended up being a week overdue and should be induced today!  Which means I will be taking over the class full time.  Please contact me at cynthia.wahlquist@canyonsdistrict.org if you have any questions! The weekly skills for reading street are listed below.  We will be starting opinion writing, and yesterday we began our math unit on measurement.  The homework packet went home yesterday if you would like the extra practice for your child.  We are excited to be doing Jr. Achievement once a week for the next month as part of our social studies curriculum.  Many thanks to Emily Anderegg for taking the time to teach these fun lessons. We also have our Thanksgiving Point field trip next week on the 18th.  Please return your permission slip ASAP if you haven't already done that.  Students who do not return a slip will not be allowed to attend.  Thanks to everyone who volunteered to chaperone!  I will be in touch once we have our final numbers. And finally, we will have show and tell this Friday.  The theme is an animal or pet (no live animals please - a drawing, picture, stuffed animal, etc.).

Weekly Study Skills - 4.6

Welcome back!  We hope you all enjoyed a nice, restful break with your children.  We are excited to get back to work - we have some fun things coming up!  This week in math we are beginning Topic 12 on measurement.  We did not send homework over spring break, so look for this week's homework to be coming home on Monday the 10th.  The spelling test will be on Friday as usual.  Mrs. Wahlquist will be working for Mrs. Chang on Monday the 10th.  We will have Mrs. Wright as a substitute on Tuesday the 11th and Friday the 14th.  The students are in good hands with her!  As always please call or email us if you have any questions.  Have a good week!

Flat Stanley Project

We will be reading the picture book Flat Stanley in class. Stanley is a young boy who accidentally gets squished "as flat as a pancake" when his bulletin board falls on him during the night. Being flat has its pros and cons, as Stanley soon learns. One of the advantages is that he gets to experience many new and exciting adventures. For instance... being sent to California in an envelop to visit his cousins.

Students in our class are making their own "flat person" in their own likeness on Friday. The objective of this project is to learn about different cultures, geography and famous landmarks through their adventures. Please take the time to read the letter contained in the manila envelope that was sent home. Cut off the bottom portion of the note to keep track of the deadline, and send the top section to a friend or family member living outside of Sandy, Utah. If you would like to help your child write a personalized letter, even better! The manila envelope is provided for your benefit. The cost of postage should only be around $1-2 (for a domestic large 2 oz. envelope; international rates may be higher). Once they return from their trip(s), students will bring their flat person to school along with a poster or booklet your child or their hosts create and we will plot their travels on a world map.

The Flat Stanley Project is a pen pal activity that integrates art, social studies, math and literacy in a fun and meaningful way!

Here are some examples of Flat Mrs. Chang's Adventures in previous years:

Visiting the White House in D.C

Hiking the beautiful mountains of Switzerland

Relaxing on the beach in Dominican Republic

Sight-seeing and shopping at Time Square in New York City

Standing in front of the CNN Center in Atlanta

Hanging out at the gift shop in Disneyland!  

She saw a real giraffe while on safari in South Africa!

Here are some examples of posters and books created by students in the past:

Weekly Study Skills - 4.5

Weekly Study Skills - 4.4

This week we will be exploring a story about ranch hands, cattle and round ups. In math we will finish Topic 10 - adding groups of ten using various strategies.  On Friday we will do a fun St. Patrick's Day-themed math activity.  Tomorrow - March 12 - is spring picture day.  These pictures are optional.  You may order online or with the form your child brought home.  For the school read-a-thon we have been sorted into Slytherin House!  Please encourage your child to read as much as possible every day.  You can also count the minutes when you are reading to your child.  

Weekly Study Skills - 4.3

This week we are celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss!  Our students will rotate to each first grade classroom to hear a story and do an art project to go along with it.  We are fortunate to have Ballet West visiting our school on Wednesday. Watch for your child's report card to come home in their red folder on Thursday! Please contact us if you have any questions about it. On Friday we have an assembly to start the school-wide read-a-thon.  The PTA has some fun things planned this year.  Also don't forget show and tell on Friday - the theme is something green.  In math this week we will continue talking about strategies to add groups of ten.

Weekly Study Skills - 4.2

We have a busy week ahead of us!  On Monday we have some special visitors from a dental office to teach our first graders all about proper dental health!  On Wednesday morning please join us at 7:30 for "Goodies and Grown Ups."  Enjoy a light breakfast with your child then take a look in the book fair.  Each student will be receiving a $5 certificate from the PTA to spend at the book fair.  We look forward to meeting with each of you at conferences, which will be held on Wednesday and Thursday.  We have early dismissal on Thursday at 1:15pm.  There will be no school on Friday, which means the spelling test will be on Thursday.  In Math we are beginning Topic 10: Use Models and Strategies to Add Tens and Ones. We will be studying soil again in science, to prepare the students for a district-wide informative writing project; and we have enjoyed reading stories to celebrate Black History Month.  Ask your child to tell you about Ruby Bridges and Harriet Tubman!

Weekly Study Skills - 4.1

We hope you are enjoying a nice long weekend!  This week we will not have a spelling test.  We will spend the week focusing on informative writing and reviewing the skills from last week's story, "Mama's Birthday Present."  We will have a new list of spelling words for next week.  In math this week we will be comparing numbers on a number line, and using the <,  >, and = symbols.  In science we will be talking about soil and dental health.  Looking ahead to next week, remember we have parent teacher conferences on the 28th and 1st.  The 1st is an early out day for students, with no school on the 2nd.  We look forward to meeting with you!  Next week the PTA will also be kicking off our schoolwide read-a-thon, which is always a fun activity. Enjoy the day off today and make sure to ask your child what he/she learned about Washington and Lincoln!

    

Weekly Update

Remember our class Valentine party tomorrow afternoon! Thanks to our parent volunteers for putting together this fun party.  If your child is bringing valentines please have them write only their name - do not individually address each valentine. This makes them much easier to pass out!  There are 22 students in our class.  Friday the 16th is a teacher workday - no school for students.  Also remember Monday the 19th is a day off in honor of President's Day.  Enjoy the long weekend!  If you have not signed up yet for a parent-teacher conference, please visit the school website to find the link for the online scheduler.  We look forward to visiting with all of you on February 28th or March 1st.  

Weekly Study Skills - Unit 3.6

Monday is our 100th day of school!  We will be doing some fun rotations to the other first grade classes to celebrate the day.  In math we will be taking a district-wide cumulative test on Friday.  We also have the Netsmartz assembly this week, to help the students learn some important internet safety tips. We are moving onto a new story and new spelling pattern this week.  Continue to review R-controlled vowels (ar, er, ir, or, ur) with your child since it is often very tricky to distinguish between these similar sounding patterns. Where Are My Animal Friends is a fun story that will introduce our students to Reader's Theater. This is a fun format in which students take turns reading from a "script." A couple of great books that parents can read with their children at home include the You Read To Me I'll Read To You series and Joyful Noise (for our more advanced readers). Check them out at your library or local bookstore! We are also excited to begin passing out our "Super Student Bucks" on Monday.  The students will be able to collect bucks for following directions and making good choices in class.  On Fridays they will be able to use their bucks to purchase fun rewards.  This will be strictly for positive reinforcement and will replace the clip chart.  Students will be given 2 opportunities to follow a teacher directive before a consequence is given.  The consequence will be minutes missed from recess, brain brain boosters, or other activities.  Please contact us if you have any questions about this new system.

Weekly Study Skills - Unit 3.5

Congratulations to our first graders!  They have been working hard and they did well on the benchmark testing last week.  We will go over these scores with you next month at Parent Teacher conferences.  In math this week we will continue to study place value (tens and ones). On Tuesday we are having a fun math enrichment activity with our school Educational Technology specialist!  On Friday we have show and tell (a job or responsibility you have at home) and we will do some fun activities for Groundhog Day.  Next week we will be celebrating our 100th day of school! Looking ahead to Valentine's Day - we will be having a class party, and students may pass out valentines to classmates if they would like.  We have 22 students in our class.

Weekly Study Skills - Unit 3.4

We hope you enjoyed a nice long weekend!  This week we will be starting Topic 8 in math, where we will focus on understanding place value.  Our winter benchmark testing will be on Thursday the 25th.  There may be changes to the reading intervention groups after the testing is completed.  Please send your child with all the necessary snow gear for recess!

Weekly Study Skills - Unit 3.3

We have a short week ahead of us!  There will be no school on Monday the 15th and Friday the 19th.  We hope you enjoy the days off.  Make sure to ask your child what he/she has learned about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Because of the short week the spelling test will be on Thursday.  We are finishing math topic 7 this week.  In science we will talk about ways that animal babies resemble their parents. As always please contact us if you have any questions or concerns!

Weekly Study Skills - Unit 3.2

This week in language arts we will continue the theme of changes.  In math we are still working on Topic 7 - extending the counting sequence.  We have been looking at patterns as we count by tens and ones.  This week we will also continue to learn about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during social studies.  The math computation portion of the winter benchmark testing will be given in class this week.  (The other tests will be given by district proctors on the 25th.  ) We are looking forward to Penguin Day this Friday!  We will be doing some fun activities during the day.  Students are encouraged to wear penguin colors (black, white, orange) if they would like.  Remember there will be no school on Monday, January 15 and Friday, January 19.