Week 23!

My, how times does fly!  We had a wonderful time celebrating 100 days of first grade learning! We enjoyed a healthy 100 day snack (carrots and cucumbers to make the number 100), read 100 Day Worries, sorted our own 100 things into groups of 10 and viewed the 100 items our classmates brought in. We look forward to embracing the 80 days that are left in pursuit of truth, beauty and goodness!

We are looking forward to field day next week and many other learning opportunities! 

Announcements

*Field Day: This year, your child’s team is Sparta, and our team color is red. Hats and sunglasses may be worn.  Sunscreen must be applied at home.  Please see pg. 52 in the family handbook for more detailed information. There will be no school lunch offered on Athletic Field Day.  Please send your child to school with a lunch.

In order to have Athletic Field Day run smoothly, we need your help!  Coach Gethings & Coach Warren need volunteers setting up and running the event.  Please sign up athttp://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0d4aaeae2fa0ff2-athletic to help with the events.  1A needs a few more class volunteers as well some snacks to be donated.  Please sign up here to volunteer for our class at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090f4ea5a72da7f58-1aathletic.

*A Bargain for Frances: Please have your child bring in their copy of A Bargain for Frances by Russell Hoban by Monday, February 5^th.  Books can be purchased from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble if needed. 

*Great Hearts Day;A Day for Friendship: Wednesday, February 14th is Great Hearts Day! We have reserved this special day to focus on the virtue of friendship and celebrate the traits that make a great-hearted student. Teachers are planning interactive and fun activities centered around these topics, and time will be set aside for students to create hand-made Great Hearts Day cards for their classmates.  Archway Arete strives to cultivate a rich, academic environment rooted in the classical tradition. This many times requires popular culture to be left at the door. On that note, students will not be permitted to bring store-bought valentines, candy, or gifts to school. Thank you for partnering with us.

Academics

Literature:  We will finish our last fairy tale, The Frog Prince, on Monday.  We will review and compare all the fairy tales we have read as well as take a fairy tale assessment on Wednesday. 

*Please have your child bring in their copy of A Bargain for Frances  by Russell Hoban by Monday, February 5^th.  Books can be purchased from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble if needed. 

Poem:  I Know all the Sounds that the Animals Make (recitation on Thursday)      Idiom: Don’t let the cat out of the bag.

Writing:  Students will be able to understand the basic conventions of a proper sentence and rewrite a model sentence.  We will read and write about sections of  "Winnie-The-Pooh" by A.A. Milne and "The Light Princess" by George Macdonald. 

Grammar:  This week we will finish up our unit on action, being, and linking verbs. Students have learned that action verbs tell what we do, being verbs show what we are, and linking verbs can connect two words in a sentence together, such as a subject and a describing word. We will take a unit assessment on Wednesday. 

Spalding:  Due to athletic field day this week, we will only have 19 words this week. We will take our spelling test on Thursday. 

Math: This week we will continue to learn how to count and work with bigger numbers up to 40. We will count within 40 by making ten first. We will also practice comparing and ordering numbers up to 40. 

History: We will learn about the importance of Machu Picchu as we finish our unit on early civilizations.  We will review and take an assessment on Wednesday.  A review sheet will be sent home on Monday to help students prepare.

Science:  We are moving onto the Circulatory System this week! Students will learn the proper way to take their pulse as well as the different nutrients that flow through our circulatory system. We will see