January Newsletter

January

"When life sends a blizzard,
build a snowman."

Dear 1^st and 2^nd Grade families,

We just had our first week back after winter break and it was so great to see all the smiling faces of students.  I hope everyone enjoyed their break as they celebrated the birth of our Lord Jesus.

Below is the different topics we will be covering for the month of December! 

Reading:
Coming soon!

Writing: Both first and second grade will be writing friendly letters this month. We will be sending them to our special friends with hopes that they write us back. Next week I will be asking for parents to send in an address and a stamp for the letters. We are so excited to mail these out. Last year we wrote Mr. and Mrs. Pedrini (my parents) and Mrs. Pedrini wrote a letter back to every student. Then they made a surprise visit to meet everyone in person. This was a favorite memory of many of my students and they still talk about it today. We will also be working on non-fiction writing in our science journals this month.

Math: First and second grade will both be learning about geometric shapes this month. First grade will continue to work with addition and subtraction and second grade will continue to work with telling time.

Science: I strongly DISLIKE bugs but our next science unit is one of my favorites! We will be studying the life cycle of insects. Students will learn about the life cycle of different insects first hand. Students will each get their own insect pets to care for. We will be writing in our daily science journals to keep track of important information on our bugs, incorporating math, social studies, literacy, and religion too. The students' excitement over this unit always makes it my favorite despite my fear of insects.

Social Studies:
Our next unit is about where people live. Students will learn how to find where they live on a map. We will learn about land and water, people and places, how people use resources, and about weather around the world. This is my favorite unit because we get to design a model showing land forms. 

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Religion:
First grade is currently learning about the gift of the Eucharist. Students learned about the Last Supper and how Jesus gave us the gift of the Eucharist. We are working on planning a visit to the church to see how the Holy meal is prepared for mass, see the tabernacle, and learn about the special statues in the church. 

Second grade religion is taught by Mr. Jay.

That is all the news I have for today. Continue to check out the blog posts for any updates about things happening in First and Second Grade!

Mrs. Muller

December Newsletter

December

"The magic of Christmas is not in the presents, but in His presence."

Dear 1^st and 2^nd Grade families,

It is the month where we remember God's wonderful gift to us, His son Jesus. We celebrate the birth of baby Jesus and remember how much God loves all of us.

This month we are doing our sock drive to keep everyone's feet warm. So far, first and second grade is in the lead. Keep bringing in those new pairs of socks to help others this season.

Please remember to send your child with a coat daily. If students do not have a winter coat, the Knights of Columbus is donating new coats to families in need. Ask the office for details and a flyer went home a few weeks ago with information. Students are able to wear winter hats, scarves and gloves to help keep them warm while at recess.

I'd also like to remind you to look over your child's homework with them before it is turned in at the end of each week. I will not correct each question. I look over each packet to ensure that it is completed. It is important that children recognize any mistakes before it is turned in because it gives them a chance to understand immediately what mistakes they've made and gives them opportunity to fix it. Please don't forget to turn in monthly homework calendar. It's due at the end of each month. The month of December is due when we get back from Winter break, January 4th.

Below is the different topics we will be covering for the month of December! 

Reading:
Coming soon!

Writing: Both first and second grade will be writing a fairy tale this month. Our topic is of course related to this season...SANTA CLAUS. Students will be writing about Santa getting stuck in a chimney. Their focus is to write with a beginning, middle, and end. I am looking for first grade students to add 2-3 details. My expectation for second grade is to write 3-5 details and to expand on them. We will continue to work on grammar, punctuation, and writing completing sentences on our daily writing.

Math: First and second grade are both learning about subtraction. First grade is learning about strategies to subtract single digit numbers while second grade is learning to subtract two digit numbers. Students are learning about missing addends and ways to problem solve.

Science: we are continuing our Project Lead the Way unit on form and function. Students have been introduced to the concepts of form and function and how each informs design. Students have learned about the form and function of plants. We are familiar with the role of pollination, the development of seeds and plants, and how animals disperse seeds. Students are looking forward to the end of the unit where they will design, build, and test a device that mimics one of the ways animals either disperse seeds or pollinate plants. This end project should be a fun way to connect all the new things they've learned about plants and form and function!

Social Studies:
Our next unit is about where people live. Students will learn how to find where they live on a map. We will learn about land and water, people and places, how people use resources, and about weather around the world. This is my favorite unit because we get to design a model showing land forms. 

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Religion:
First grade is currently learning about Advent. We are learning about ways to prepare for Jesus' birthday, Angel Gabriel telling Mary the good news, Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, and how the Advent candles help us prepare for the Lord.

Second grade is taught by Mr. Jay.

We have also been preparing for our Advent Program. We will be singing, Away in a Manger. The class chose their favorite instrumental and have been working hard to show off their amazing singing skills and to help us prepare for Christmas.

BIG NEWS:
Students at school have been very excited to find out what Baby Muller is. Every day students are coming to me at lunch asking me if it's a boy or girl. They have been suggesting the cutest names and I continue to remind them that they cannot suggest their own names :) We are ready to announce that baby Muller is......

A BOY!!!!!!!!!

Have a Merry December!
Mrs. Muller

Merry Christmas
Love,
Mr. and Mrs. Muller

We don't only get measured at the doctors office!

We are learning about measurement! First and second grade began their measurement unit by using non standard measurement. We measured classroom items using paperclips, unfix cubes, blocks, and base ten blocks. Students continued to ask when they would get to use their rulers and we officially started using them. We learned about standard measurement and why it is important that we have a standard measurement. We compared non standard measurements and students described how using non standard is not always accurate because the measurement tools are not always the same size. We used the standard measurement of inches to measure each student in our classrooms height. Each student got to measure another classmate. We wrote all our measurements on the white board and compared our heights to each other. This unit will continue throughout the year. Students have already begun using inches and feet to measure objects.

Veteran's Day

Thank you to all the Veteran's who have served our country and those who continue to serve our country! We appreciate all you do for us!

First and second grade discussed characteristics of Veteran's and about how they serve our country to keep citizens safe. Then we illustrated a poster of a Veteran and the characteristics we thought best represented them.

Technology Class #2!

We had a so much fun learning about circuits with Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg during our first session. When it was time for our second class, the students were thrilled. They continued to ask Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg if they would all get to touch the materials. This time they sure did!

First and second grade was split into groups of 4-5 students to build circuits to make light bulbs turn on, music play, and spin an object. They had to connect the circuits the correct way by following directions to the plan. When each group completed their circuit they would turn it on. Some worked the first time and some groups realized they made a mistake somewhere in their design. They went back to see if they could find their mistake and rebuild it. I was amazed at how quickly the students caught on to building the circuits and their ability to problem solve. Mr.and Mrs. Kellogg were amazed too. They said our class completed the most projects of the day and couldn't believe how quickly they developed an understanding.

We are very thrilled to have this partnership with Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg. It is neat for the students to see what a real electronic engineer does and to see what Mrs. Kellogg does during her daily profession.

Halloween Party!

Mrs. Jay read us a fun Halloween story!

Every year my class has a big Halloween party. We each bring a ziploc of a yummy snack to share. We have parent volunteers who brew us our yummy snack filled with everyone's special ingredient. Even the parents loved eating the snack. It is a mixture of sweet, salty, and healthy. While the snack is being brewed, our loved ones read us fun Halloween/Fall stories. We always enjoy listening to our parents, grandparents, and cousins reading our class stories. Thank you to everyone who came to our celebration. It was a blast!

Enjoying our yummy Halloween snack!

We're adding a new pumpkin to our patch!

On October 30th, first and second grade received some exciting news. The students came back from recess and had a special card on their desk. They were thrilled to have something special on their desk waiting for them. I let the kids read the cards to themselves and then we read them together. The card said, "We're adding a new pumpkin to our classroom patch!" On the inside it said, "Mrs. Muller is going to be a Mummy! April 2016." One student shouted out, "I knew it!"  They were all very excited. Many understood that I have a little baby in my tummy and a few thought I was going to be a mummy for Halloween. It was very cute.

For our Halloween assembly, each class had to decorate a pumpkin for a contest. We decorated our pumpkin by making it a baby. We added all our names and drawings of ourselves around the pumpkin to show that we are adding a new pumpkin to our classroom. It was a great way to share the news with the rest of the school.

The inside said, "Mrs. Muller is going to be a MUMMY!"

There surprise cards for when they arrived after recess.