Valentine's Day!

I love everything about February! Lots of pink, red, purple, hearts, candy, and a learning atmosphere filled with LOVE! This month we wrote about something we are in love with. Many students chose video games, friends, toys, etc! Students requirements were to pick one thing they love and write why they love it. They needed a beginning, middle, and ending to their writing. The middle of their love paper needed to include three details why they are in love with it. These turned out so fun!

Our Valentine's Day art was one of my favorites! Students did a step by step drawing of a head. For our hair, we went outside and used water colors. We used a technique of air to blow our hair wildly in the air. Then the next day students added hearts to their hair. These turned out so cute and are displayed in our hallway.

On Thursday, we celebrated our Valentine's Day with passing out our sweet valentines to our classmates and we enjoyed a yummy treat from Mrs. Muller. It's my signature strawberry ice cream float with licorice straws. I even made the kiddos heart shaped crayons from all our old classroom crayons. This is always a kiddo favorite. Thank you everyone for all the sweet valentines!

Learning about our insects!

 Each week students take their meal worm pets out to play. We observe their behaviors and changes in structures. It has been exciting to watch them change through the different stages of their life cycle. First and second grade especially likes to take them out and hold them.

So far, we've seen our meal worms shed their skin multiple times and a few have changed into a pupa. We are awaiting the final stage, the beetle! We cannot wait to see this transformation!

February Newsletter

February

"Love"
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves, 
LOVE NEVER FAILS.
1 Corinthians 13:4 3

Dear 1^st and 2^nd Grade families,

We have entered the month of LOVE. This month we will continue to strengthen our love of our friends, school, community, and love for God.

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

Reading:
Coming soon!

Writing: 

• Non-fiction writing in our science journals this month
• Second grade will write a book report
• 1/2 will write about President Lincoln and Washington 
• Daily grammar - spelling, upper case letters at the beginning of sentences, end punctuation, possessive nouns (singular and plural), plural words, and, contractions.

Math: First and second grade will both be finishing module five of our math curriculum. First grade will be tested on addition/subtraction and geometric attributes of shapes. Second grade will be assessed on place value (understanding four digit numbers, comparing numbers, and ordering numbers) and identifying polygons and quadrilaterals. 

Our next units will focus on: 

• First Grade: In this module students will analyze and describe repeating, growing, and shrinking patterns using a variety of attributes. Students will use what they already know about place value to represent two digit numbers. We will also work on our counting skills (forward, backward, and skip counting).
• Second Grade: In this module students will continue to build the relationship between addition and subtraction. They will extend the make a ten strategy to add two digit numbers. We will also introduce measurement of centimeters and meters.

Science: We are still working on our insects unit. This unit will be taught over the course of 8 weeks. Students have already been introduced to meal worms and wax worms. We have had some fun progress with our meal worms. About 1/3 of our class already has the third stage of a beetle, a pupa. It was very exciting for everyone to see this stage of life for the beetle. They were amazed when they found the skin shed of the meal worm and a new form of its life cycle. I am hoping a few start changing into a beetle next week. We will continue to learn about more insects as the unit goes on and introduce new class pets to everyone.

Social Studies:
This month we will focus on Presidents and Black History Month.

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Religion:
First grade is currently learning about the Holy Spirit. This month our class is also in charge of the mass readings. The last month that we were in charge of mass readings, I had first grade do the majority of the readings. This month, I am having second grade do the majority of the readings. We had our first week of readings already and all the readers did a fantastic job. I am looking forward to giving each student in second grade a chance to do a reading. I am so proud of their confidence to get up in front of our parish and read to everyone. Keep up the good work, second grade!



Second grade religion is taught by Mr. Jay. Please check with Mr. Jay to see what amazing things second grade is learning about.

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

Catholic Schools Week

What a wonderful week! We celebrated Catholic Schools Week with many fun events and activities. We began the week with celebrating our school by having students speak on behalf of Visitation Catholic STEM Academy at their local parish.

On Monday, students participated in a scavenger hunt around the school. As a class, they had to read clues to find a special part of a snack hidden in the school. Once we visited all the locations of the hidden snacks, students had a healthy fun snack. We took our snacks to the lunch room and played games together as a school.

On Tuesday, students had the opportunity to dress up as a famous person who embodies STEM and knowledge of service. We had some awesome dressed up students. They shared with their classes who they were dressed as and how they represent STEM and knowledge of service.

On Wednesday, we had special friends lunch day. This is always one of my favorite days because parents, grandparents, and special friends come to our school to share a special meal together. The students always love spending their lunch time with their families and they love when they join them on the playground.

On Thursday, we had cultural day. This was brought back from last year by popular demand. Visitation has so much diversity and it is neat for the students to be able to share their culture with others. Students from my class brought in a few of their favorite snacks and dishes from their culture to share with the rest of the class. We had so many amazing snacks and they ended up lasting us for days.

On Friday, we had an all school mass and honored the students for all their hard work at the end of the day with a "Minute to Win It" game. It was supposed to be staff vs. students but this year we let the kids play all the games. It was very tempting for me....I wanted to play the games so bad! The students had so much fun playing these games and the older students were very supportive to the little ones on helping them play the games.

During the week, we had an ongoing project as a school for our parents. They are the reason we go to Visitation and we wanted to thank them during Catholic Schools Week for all that they do to support our Catholic education. We made personalized letters to our parents. We thanked them for sending us to Visitation Catholic STEM Academy and shared some things we love about our school and education. As a fun art project, the whole school made decorative plates for our parents. We decorated the plates with sharpies and let them bake in the oven for 30 minutes to set the marker on them. They will make a lovely display of our Catholic faith in our homes. Thank you parents for all you do for your children!

What a great week!

Look who we found in our hallways....good thing too!

First and second grade learned how to write a friendly letter. Second grade already had some experience with this from last year but we reviewed the important parts of a letter and wrote a letter to a special friend. Students all took home an envelope and brought it back stamped and addressed to their special friend. Some students forgot stamps and we were able to go down to the office with .50 cents and buy stamps from Mrs. Margie Mykland. Thank you Mrs.  Mykland for sharing your stamps with us! When all our letters were finished we waited for the mailman to visit us. I asked Mrs. Mykland to catch him while he was on his route and send him up to us. She ran down the street after him and brought him back to our classroom...again thank you Mrs. Mykland. He was so generous and full of smiles for the students. We all lined up with our letters and each student handed him their letter. We are looking forward to our special friends writing us back. Parents, please encourage your family members to write your child back and mail it to the school. We used the schools address as a return address. I cannot wait to see some letters arrive to school for first and second grade.

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