Week 34
Cologne Academy is again teaming with Relay For Life to raise funds to help fight cancer. Students who donate $3 will be allowed to wear jeans on Friday, May 20 along with their uniform top. Staff members who would like to participate can bring in $5 for a jeans day. Of course, we are more than happy to accept any other donations above that amount. Most people have been affected by cancer in some way. Relay is hoping to provide the funds to help with medical costs as well as research to help those families that cancer has touched. Cash or checks (payable to ACS) are acceptable
Here’s what our first graders are learning this week: May 2-6
Interactive Read Aloud: Over the next few weeks, we will be learning how to read a text closely. Often just simply referred to as "close reading," this skill teaches children to look carefully at words chosen by an author to convey meaning. This week, we will be reading passages about rain and practicing close reading skills. Throughout our Rain passage this week, we will specifically be looking for the authors "big idea," as well as defining unknown words in the text by using context clues. We will also be answering questions by using text evidence in the reading passage.
Phonics: -or and -ar words
We are in our end of the year unit on learning to spell high frequency words, long vowel team or r-controlled words, and “fun” words from the lists you made at home. Each Friday your child will have a spelling test of 6 words they have been practicing all week through various activities. This week, we will focus on
-or and -ar words.
Writing: We are continuing our “animal research” and “All About” books. Each student will have his/her own unique animal to research, and we will be learning the mechanics of writing non-fiction based on gathered information rather than personal experience. At the end of this unit, we will be making a class PowerPoint presentation to share some fun facts about our amazing animals!
Math: We are learning how to subtract 2-digit numbers (without regrouping) this week. The students will learn the basics of how to subtract horizontally and vertically, and will learn strategies with 10s and 1s in order to solve basic 2-digit subtraction problems. In first grade, we don't learn adding or subtracting with regrouping (sometimes also called "carrying" a ten), but what we do learn is setting the students up to begin regrouping at the beginning of second grade.
IXL: If you would like to use IXL at home, we recommend these sections for practice this week:
· Fractions (Section J)
· Money (Section O)
· Review of Addition and Subtraction (Sections B-F)
Core Knowledge: This week we began our new history unit, Frontier Explores. In this unit students will be learning about how our nation expanded after the American Revolution. Students will be taken on a journey of westward expansion through the Louisiana Purchase and crossing the Appalachian Mountains. Important names we will learn about include Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, and Sacagawea. Students will also learn about the dangers these explores encountered while discovering this new land.
End of the Year Trips:
May 6th MN Zoo
June 1st Hyland Park/Chutes and Ladders
