We have completed our biographies and had a lot of fun learning more about our classmates! Check it out!
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Many of our classes are beginning, or are in the midst of writing their classmates' biographies. We have learned how to interview someone and get details to go with important answers. We also continue to read biographies in class about a wide range of people, and explore timelines. We are getting deeper into biographies, with only a few short weeks left. Many of us have written bio poems (about ourselves, OR about a classmate), and are now preparing to begin interviewing and writing a biography about one of our classmates. Some classes have already begun this process. These are sure to be AMAZING once they are done! We are also reading a ton of biographies about different people like: Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and Sally Ride; the first American woman in space. Many of these books we read have specific activities that go with them, like completing a timeline. Keep up the good work First Graders!!!! We also did various crafts and activities for Mothers Day, which is on Sunday. This week we have been introducing biographies to the children. Biographies are stories about real people who have lived and changed the world we live in today. One way we have introduced this is through bio poems. Stay tuned for more of our work with biographies!
Our Texas unit has come to an end, and we are very pleased with the results! The children made wonderful travel brochures about the different regions, and worked their little hearts out! Take a look at their terrific work below. Our next unit will be in science, so please refer to that page beginning next week to see what we explore in the world of Matter!
After our exciting trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo the first graders are making a brochure about their favorite region in Texas. They are excited to convince others to visit our great state! We have really enjoyed learning and experiencing life in Texas! During this time we are also reading and responding to folktales, legends, and stories about Texas and the Rodeo. Yeehaw!!! Speaking of the rodeo, check out our pictures from our field trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo: When we return from Spring break we will be putting finishing touches on our projects and saying "So long partner!" to our Texas unit.
We are carrying on with our Texas unit, reviewing the symbols and learning about the different regions of Texas. We also had a special guest speaker today! Mrs. Bates's son came to speak to us about bull riding!! He has been bull riding and working with rodeos for many years. We got to hear about the history of rodeos, and see his gear. The kids were very interested and engaged. Thank you Mrs. Bates for inviting your son to come and speak to us!
![]() We are still in the midst of our Texas unit, and we are having a blast! We continue to highlight the various Texas symbols, and several classes have been expressing their artistic side in this subject. Texas Symbols Texas crafts We have also learned some fun Texas games over these last few weeks, like Texas Jeopardy, Texas Bingo, and more! We continue to learn more each day about the great state of Texas! The children are busy reviewing the various symbols, and making fun crafts! Check it out below, and ask your child about the Texas Flag and what it symbolizes! We are also moving into talking about landforms, of which there are many in Texas. Stay tuned for more Texas learning! We also spent a little time on Tuesday discussing President's Day and why we celebrate it. Each class did something a little different. We are rocking and rolling into our Texas Unit! The First Grade team love teaching about our Lone Star State! We have so much fun planting bluebonnets, "visiting" each Texas region, and creating a final project to show our learning. This week, we kicked off our unit by having Mrs. Reguera's mother, Mrs. Harral, come and teach us about the various Texas symbols. She also read a fantastic book Don't Eat the Bluebonnets by Ellen Leventhal. If you would like to purchase this book, click here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dont-eat-the-bluebonnets-ellen-leventhal/1100706700 We are having so much fun in Social Studies! Tuesday, Feb. 2nd was Groundhog Day, a tradition that comes from Germany. We learned that every year in a town in Pennsylvania, Puxatawney Phil comes out of hibernation to see if spring will come early, or if we will have 6 more weeks of winter. If he sees his shadow, that means 6 more weeks of winter, but if he doesn't, that means spring will arrive soon! This year, the results were: SPRING WILL COME EARLY! We will find out if Phil was correct in his prediction.
We are also finishing with our maps skills unit. We will continue to utilize the skills learned while exploring landforms in our Texas PBL Unit. ![]() This week has been all about maps! We discussed more in detail the parts of a map, the difference between a map and globe, where we can see/find maps, and how to read and use a map. Some of the features your child is learning about include: symbols, map key (legend), cardinal direction, and compass rose. Ask your child about these terms to reinforce learning at home. To kick off social studies, we decided to talk with the children about New Years Resolutions. We discussed what the children would like to do within this new year, and the difference between a wish (something that probably won't come true), and a resolution (a goal you set for yourself and try to achieve). The children had a lot of fun coming up with goals and writing them in graphic organizers. Some of our classes also did a craft as well. Check out our pictures below. ![]() This week we finished filling our passports by "visiting" countries like Australia, Japan, and Mexico. These countries and others, celebrate Christmas with many different customs from the ones we are familiar with here in the US, so it was exciting to learn about how we differ in the celebration of this popular holiday. We also made ornaments for our mom's and dad's with our pictures inside. Check it out! Finally, we made beautiful Poinsettia Christmas cards for our parents too! Inside we wrote a letter to our mom's and dad's, along with a photo of us from the North Pole!! Some of us even wrote our letters in our native language!!! We truly love being an international, diverse school! We are soldiering on in our study of various holidays celebrated around the world. Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas continue to be our major focus, and boy are we learning a lot! We also continued working on our passports, visiting many different countries like India, Argentina, and Brazil! polar express day!!!!!!!!!!!!Polar Express Day was a HUGE success!!!! We watched the movie, drank hot chocolate and ate shortbread, and had a wonderful time getting our tickets punched, and checking out our friends' pajamas! Check out all our pictures below! This week we have been learning a lot about Hanukkah and Christmas. The students have begun their holiday journey by reading stories, playing games, hearing music, and also creating their own paper bag passports!!!! The classes are doing different holidays/countries, based on interest. Mrs. Reguera's class began with Christmas in America, while Ms. Jones's class began with Hanukkah. Some of the other countries/holidays that the classes will cover are: Australia, England, India, Mexico, and more! Some classes also did crafts to reinforce social studies learning this week. Ms. Alvarado and Ms. Jones made mosaic Menorahs in honor of Hanukkah. We did a variety of pilgrim and Thanksgiving activities this week, including: making our own Thanksgiving books, reading stories, "going shopping" for our own Thanksgiving dinner, and completing a packet about the pilgrims and their journey to Plymouth Rock. We also did a Thanksgiving switcheroo, which the children always enjoy! For more on that, see our special events page. Take a look below at some of our activities! ![]() November is a busy month in Social Studies! On Wednesday we learned about both Diwali and Veterans Day! Diwali is a festival of lights celebrated in India, meant to bring good luck and happiness. We also learned about Veterans Day, where we honor those who have risked their lives for us to have all the wonderful things we have in the United States. Some of our classes also began to talk about Thanksgiving. Ms. Jones's class read The Giving Tree. They talked about how during Thanksgiving, we are thankful for what we have and we help and give to others who do not have what we do. They drew a picture of something they can do that gives to others and made a Giving Tree on their bulletin board. Great work First Graders, you are learning a lot!
![]() The end of this week marks the end of our study of the Village Community! The children have discussed in detail the important leaders of our school, and what they do. Assessment of this knowledge will be completed this week, or the beginning of next week and then we will be jumping into our first science unit! This week we have continued learning about our Village Community by writing about different helpers we have at our school. We have discussed who the directors are and what they do, and also the jobs of our librarian, counselor, and our teachers and assistants.
Next week we will finish up with our Village community and branch out from there! Stay tuned. This week in Social Studies we extended our studies to the Village School community. The children took a tour of the school. They were able to meet with many different people on the Leadership staff and ask them questions to get to know them better. Some of the people the children may have met are: Mrs. Rosen, our principal, Mrs. Newburn our counselor, and our receptionists Mrs. Anshus and Ms. Sallis, as well as others. This week in social studies we shared and learned about ourselves and our classmates. We are locating all of the places we are from and noticed that we have friends all over the world. We made shields to share in class all about us. We also discussed rules while reading "No,David", and made our own self-portraits.
Welcome to our Social Studies page! We are so excited to begin our year with a unit we call "All About Me", where the children get to show us what they are all about, and learn about their classmates as well. As the first trimester continues, we will dive deeper into the idea of community by exploring our school, and the people who help make it work.
Other units throughout the year include: holidays and celebrations, studying maps and land forms, a PBL unit on our great state of Texas, and goods and services (economics). If you or another family member have information of, or personal experiences with any of these concepts, please feel free to contact your homeroom teacher about a visit to share your knowledge with the class! We are always looking for "local experts". |
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