It is hard to believe that this is the last post of 2024!  Like most people, Mrs. Underwood, Ms. Morse and I find ourselves wondering how another year has passed so quickly. And, like some people, we find ourselves taking time to reflect upon the paths that we traveled on this trip "once around the sun".  There are many things that we are thankful for in 2024, including our families, our friends, and our health. We are hugely thankful for the opportunity to teach your children at Woodstock Elementary School. Each day we learn as much from them as they learn from us, and it is this type of connection with our students that makes first grade such a fulfilling place to spend our days. We appreciate all you do to support your children in their learning and readiness for whatever the day brings, and we honor the trust that you place in us to guide their development as learners and as people.  This post sends our best wishes for a happy, safe, and peaceful new year.

PBIS Pompom Classroom Celebration: Holiday Craft

Snowy Days Have Arrived!

Thank you for sending your student to school everyday with the snowclothes they need to be safe, dry and comfortable on the playground and in the classroom. It is a lot of gear to manage and first graders are doing a great job! Please also remember to help them pack inside shoes every day OR send an extra pair to leave in their cubby. 

WIN Cycle 2: What I Need

The second school-wide WIN (What I Need) cycle begins next week. WIN is an all-school intervention, extra practice, or enrichment block that meets for 30 minutes four times per week.  During this cycle, students will work in small and large groups to receive data-driven instruction in content and skill areas that will most benefit them as learners. This includes participating in foundational early literacy groups with Ms. Bahlenhorst or Mrs. Hubbell, reading fluency and grade level reading fluency and comprehension groups with Mrs. MacMaster, Mrs. Underwood, and Ms. Morse, a foundational early math group with Ms. Sleeper, or a social emotional learning group with Mrs. Klocek.

Math: Adding and Subtracting Within 20

First graders recently began a new math unit focused on adding and subtracting within 20. Learning goals include applying the properties of operations and using the relationship between and subtraction as a strategy for solving problems. As a foundational understanding of place value and our base 10 number system, students are exploring unitizing, the idea that 10 ones as a unit is called "a ten". They will grow their knowledge of teen numbers as 10 + some number of ones and use this knowledge to add and subtract. First graders will continue solving story problems throughout the unit and learn two new problem types--Add To, Start Unknown ( ____ + 3 = 13) and Take From, Change Unknown (13 - ____ = 10). 

Fourth Grade Readers!

 Fourth grade members of the Wildcat Club have been visiting our homeroom on Wednesdays to read to first graders during lunch. We all look forward to this special time with older students!

Literacy: The Sun, Moon, and Stars and Suffix -s

In Literacy we have shifted our focus from tools to learning about the sun, moon and stars. We have begun to examine literary texts about celestial objects. First Graders are exploring the question, “Why do writers write about the sun, moon and stars?". Our work began this week by focusing on noticings and wonderings about the sun and moon with close viewings of photographs and time-lapse videos. We then began to do a "close read" of two different texts and respond to reading through writing. 

During word study students have been introduced to the concept of base word and suffix. They have learned that when suffix -s is added to a word it sometimes says /z/ like in the word bugs.  First graders have been taught about using a suffix to make a word plural or to use in an action word.  Heart words for this unit include: were, are, who, what, when, where, there, here.

Second Step: Accidents Happen

Our Second Step social and emotional learning program lesson focused on accidents this week.  Building on previous empathy lessons regarding identifying and caring about one another's feelings and how feelings change in different situations, activities and discussions used positive and negative if-then scenarios and role playing to define an accident as something that happens to cause an unintended problem and to practice appropriate responses when an accident happens.  Students took turns modeling language for solving the problem when they are the cause of an accident (such as spilling milk on a friend's lunch or throwing a ball that bounces and splashes someone with muddy water): "I'm sorry.  It was an accident.  Are you okay?" or if they are impacted by the result of an accident: "Thank you for apologizing".