Friday News for Week of Jan 23-26

Happy Friday!

We are first week into 3rd quarter and it felt like spring outside today!  We are having a fantastic time in 1st grade!

This week:

Our Reading strategy for the week was Problem and Solution. We read several fantastic books and thought about the Problem and the Solutions that happen in a story. I hope these students grow up to be good problem solvers and think through the best solutions to their problems!

In Math, we are continuing through place value. This is a confusing concept for 1st graders to learn because there’s a TENS place and a ONES place. Students get confused to what those words means when we are talking about numbers such as 23 and 56. BUT, we are making progress and the students are trying their best to figure it out. Once they master place value, they will be cruising onto higher level math for the rest of their lives!

We played some math games to help us practice!

In Bible we are starting to learn about the crazy Cycle of the Judges. After the Israelites are living in Canaan and Joshua died, they begin a cycle of forgetting about God, enemies coming and attacking them, remembering God, and then God sends a judge to save them. The first judge we learned about was Othniel. After him, we learned about Gideon. We learned how Gideon tested God several times to make sure that God was sending him. God helped Gideon defeat the Midianites with only 300 men!

In Writing we looked at different words we could say instead of easy words like “good,” “nice,” “fun,” “bad,” or “sad.” We thought of a lot of fantastic words we could use instead!

On Monday, Luca's parents came to help celebrate his birthday and made balloon art for all of us! It was so fun!

TODAY: 2nd Quarter Report Cards were sent home! (They were supposed to be sent home yesterday… sorry about that!) Inside you will find some great things!

1. Your child’s report card with 2nd quarter comment
2. STAR graph and AR book record - The place I highlighted says GE this stands for Grade Equivalent. If it says 1.5 that means first grade, fifth month. That would be about the perfect place for a first grader right now. We will take another STAR test in a few weeks. The AR book record is the library books they have been checking out and the score of their quiz. I highlighted the ones that your child did not pass.
3. Math worksheets: Tests, Review sheets, mid chapter checks, fluency papers etc
4. Reading and writing samples

Please keep everything inside the blue envelope! Please sign where is says “2nd Quarter” on the front and return the envelope back to school.

Next Week:

Spelling Words:  be   me   we   see   seed  feel    meat    meet   weak     week     come       other

Bible Memory Verse:   “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.”.” Psalm 18:1-2

Upcoming Events:

2/10 Family Reading Night - Today a form was sent home! If you’d like to participate and come to the Family Reading Night, illustrate your family favorite book and bring it on 2/10 for a fun night of crafts, snacks, and reading and receive a free book!

2/14: Valentine's Day

2/20: Presidents’ Day - No School
2/21: Progress Reports
3/13: OCSI Holiday - No School

3/20: Elementary Student-Led Conferences

3/24: 3rd Quarter Ends

3/27: 4th Quarter Begins

3/29-31: Achievement Testing (grades 1-8)

3/31: Report Cards Issued

4/3-7: SPRING BREAK - No School

Thursday News for the Week of Jan 17-19

Hello everyone! Happy Thursday!

We had a crazy week for Spirit Week! Here’s some pictures from the three crazy days:

Crazy Hats

Crazy Hair

Pajama Day!

Character Parade!

This week:

Reviewed Tuning into Interesting Words

Started Chapter 5 of math: Place Value

Finished the story of Joshua and the Israelites in Canaan

Wrote about the character we wore for Character Day

Learned about Martin Luther King Jr

Wrote stories using dialoge

NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!!!!

Next Week:

Spelling Words: by my ride bike like time nine dive find kind them would

Bible Memory Verse:   “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.” Psalm 18:1-2

Valentine Grams:

The students received Valentines Grams form this week. This is a fundraiser for one of the HS classes. For Valentine's Day, I would encourage the students to share Valentine cards or goodies with their classmates in the class. You are welcome to make homemade cards or goodies or purchase from somewhere else. Another option would be to order from the Christmas Grams. Please write on the form clearly who it is from and who it is for. You can also use this form to get gift for your child’s friends in other classes or for siblings. Please do not feel like you have to order from the Valentine Gram. It is just another option.

Again, for Valentine's Day I would love for us to exchange small cards or goodies, nothing big, to everyone in the class. If you would like a class list, please let me know.

Upcoming Events:

1/20: Teacher Work Day - No School for Students
1/23: 3rd Quarter Begins
1/26: 1st Semester Report Cards Issued

2/14: Valentine's Day2/20: Presidents’ Day - No School
2/21: Progress Reports
3/13: OCSI Holiday - No School

3/20: Elementary Student-Led Conferences

3/24: 3rd Quarter Ends

3/27: 4th Quarter Begins

3/29-31: Achievement Testing (grades 1-8)

3/31: Report Cards Issued

4/3-7: SPRING BREAK - No School

3 things

Hi everyone!

3 things for this Tuesday:

1. I didn't get a chance to make a copy for the math homework today on the Homework Checklist: Math: Subtraction Code - so the student's don't need to do that one tonight!

2. Today I sent home the new Scholastic Book Orders! If you'd like to order go to http://world-schools.scholastic.co.uk/okinawa-christian-school-intl to browse the latest books and order online.
If you'd like to order from the form, you can send in the order form and US dollars to me and I can take care of the order. Please place your order by January 27th, 2017.

3. I changed all the student's passwords for Kids A-Z. I send home their new passwords last Friday. If you need it again, please let me know. Continue to encourage your child to read a lot!
https://www.kidsa-z.com/main/Login - Teacher login: sturner15

(Bonus: Don't forget tomorrow is crazy hair and hat day and Thursday is Character Day!!!!!)

Thanks!

Friday News for the Week of Jan 9-13

Happy Friday!

Wow, it’s gotten really cold out, but we are warm and learning a lot in our classroom of 1.1!

This Week:

Monday was Kite Day! Lots of wind for this day and lots of kites went up high!

Reading: We focused on “Tune into Interesting Words.” We read several books and “tuned” our ear to listen to see if a word is interesting; maybe it’s fun to say, maybe it looks fun, or maybe we don’t know the meaning. After we found interesting words, we wrote them on our Word Wall. I asked the students 2 questions: “Why are these words important? and What should we do with these words now that we have collected them?” The students had great answers like “We should use the words in our writing!” Yes! I hope these students will broaden their vocabulary and use all sorts of interesting words as they grow up!

Math: We finished up Chapter 4 with a Math test today. The students learned all different kinds of subtraction strategies. Some were very confusing, but overall the students did well staying focused and doing their best work. Chapter 5 is about Place Value!

Bible: In our story through the Old Testament, the Israelites had to wait 40 years before they could go into Canaan because they disobeyed God. Now the 40 years are over, Moses has died, and Joshua is the new leader. He gives a speech to the Israelites as they enter the Promised Land and tells them to “Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9. They would face many obstacles but they need to put their trust in God because He is with them! Their first obstacle was the Jordan River. Once again, the Israelites walked through on dry ground and God stopped the river flow. Next obstacle was the city of Jericho. The Lord told Joshua to march around the city for 7 days with trumpets. On the 7th day, they marched around 7 times and gave a big shout. Right then, the walls of the city started to fall

For Fun Friday, we watched the VeggieTales version called “Josh and the Big Wall.”

Social Studies: This week we learned the cardinal directions such as “North, South, East, and West.”

Next Week:

Monday, Jan 16th - No School!

Friday, Jan 20th - No School!

Jan 17-19 - OCSI School Spirit Week!!

Elementary students: Are you ready to dress up crazy for Spirit Week?

Here’s the themes for the week:

Tuesday, Jan 17 - Pajama Day! - Wear pajamas to school! (Make sure it’s still in dress code!)

Wednesday, Jan 18 - Crazy Hair and Hat Day - Wear your hair crazy or wear a crazy hat!

Thursday, Jan 19 -

Kindergarten-2nd grade - Character Day - dress up as a book character

Do you know which book character you are going to be yet? Make sure you have a book and a simple costume to go with it. Parents are welcome to come from 9:00-10:00 to watch us parade around the school.

January 19th - Character Day:

This is a regular day of school for the students. Students need to come to school dressed up as a book character. Costumes don't have to be over the top extravagant. Some ideas could be Clifford, Pete the Cat, Curious George etc. Please also make sure your child bring the book with them to school that day (If they need to, they can check it out from the library beforehand). At 9:15 the students will parade around the school. Parents are welcome to come from 9:00-10:00 to watch the students parade around the school and return to their classroom for some activities. Also, feel free to send a change of clothes with your child if their costume will get in the way with the rest of the school day.

No Spelling Words: Review the long a and long o words

Bible Memory Verse:”But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

Upcoming Events:

• 1/16: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - No School *
• 1/19: 2nd Quarter Ends
• 1/20: Teacher Work Day - No School for Students*  
• 1/23: 3rd Quarter Begins
• 1/26: 1st Semester Report Cards Issued
• 2/20: Presidents’ Day - No School *
• 2/21: Progress Reports
• 3/13: OCSI Holiday - No School *

Computer Lab Games

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

Game 7

Game 8

Game 9

Friday News for the Week of January 4-6th

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

I hope your New Year was filled with wonderful times spent with family and friends. I’m looking forward to the full year of 2017!

I spent my Christmas Break in Florida with my family. It was the first time in 3 years that my whole family could spend some time together. Here’s a picture we took at the beach on our last night together!

The students returned back to school ready to learn! This week we reviewed some procedures, make some new year resolutions, and learned a really difficult math lesson!

Reading: While I was in the States, I bought some more Pete the Cat books! I read them to the students this week and we all enjoyed them.

Writing: We wrote about our Christmas Break as well as we made new year resolutions. The students wanted to work hard on things like, “Help my mom and dad at home” and “Get 100% on all my spelling tests.” I was proud of the students and their goals!

Math: We did a class graph to see how many students traveled during Christmas Break and how many students stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve.

This week we did an extremely hard math lesson for 1st graders, but they stayed focus and worked REALLY hard! I was so proud of them! It’s a good strategy to know, and I know they will learn about it more and more as they get older.

Bible: After finishing the Christmas Story, we jumped back into the story of Moses. We reviewed up to the story of Moses and learned about the 12 spies that went into Canaan. Only 2 came back to say that they can go into the land, and the other 10 said that it would be too scary. The people listened to the 10 and so God did not let them go into Canaan, the Promised Land, because they didn’t trust him. Wow!

Pictures from Fun Friday today:

My best friend who lives in Hungary came to visit me in Okinawa! She stopped by the classroom today to help out. I enjoyed sharing 1st grade at OCSI with her!

Next Week:

January 9th - Kite Day:

This is a regular day of school for the students. From 10:00-10:45, the 1st and 2nd graders will go outside on the soccer field to fly kites. Parents are invited to come to help your child fly kites. Please bring or send a kite with you child on January 9th. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

Bible Memory Verse: “Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Spelling Words: go   no   so  boat  coat  rode  home  hope  old  told  give  said

Upcoming Events:

Jan 17-19 - OCSI School Spirit Week!!

Elementary students: Are you ready to dress up crazy for Spirit Week?

Here’s the themes for the week:

 Tuesday, Jan 17 - Pajama Day! - Wear pajamas to school! (Make sure it’s still in dress code!)

 Wednesday, Jan 18 - Crazy Hair and Hat Day - Wear your hair crazy or wear a crazy hat!

Thursday, Jan 19 -

Kindergarten-2nd grade - Character Day - dress up as a book character

January 19th - Character Day:

This is a regular day of school for the students. Students need to come to school dressed up as a book character. Costumes don't have to be over the top extravagant. Some ideas could be Clifford, Pete the Cat, Curious George etc. Please also make sure your child bring the book with them to school that day (If they need to, they can check it out from the library beforehand). At 9:15 the students will parade around the school. Parents are welcome to come from 9:00-10:00 to watch the students parade around the school and return to their classroom for some activities. Also, feel free to send a change of clothes with your child if their costume will get in the way with the rest of the school day.

• 1/16: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - No School *
• 1/19: 2nd Quarter Ends
• 1/20: Teacher Work Day - No School for Students*  
• 1/23: 3rd Quarter Begins
• 1/26: 1st Semester Report Cards Issued
• 2/20: Presidents’ Day - No School *
• 2/21: Progress Reports
• 3/13: OCSI Holiday - No School *