Week 1

Dear Parents,

We had a wonderful first week of learning and growing together in first grade! This is a special group of children who have come to school ready and eager to learn each day. I can tell it is going to be a great year!

"Team Peake" spent the week getting to know one another and learning about how we can work together as a community. We began by setting up a list of Essential Agreements to follow for the rest of the year. I was very impressed by the decisions the children came up with for our class. Here is the list of the Agreements that your child has agreed to follow throughout the year:

1. Be Respectful.

2. Be Helpful.

3. Be Safe.
4. Be Thankful.

5. Be Patient.

Please make sure to discuss these agreements with your child as well as how following them will contribute to them having a successful year in first grade!

Important Announcements and Reminders:

• This past week we discussed the concept of a community as a place where we live, work and play. We discovered that there are many communities in which we are a part of, including our homes. We will be working on a writing assignment entitled "My Hard Working Family" where your child will reflect upon his or her job at home as well as the jobs that each member holds. A letter went home in your child's Wednesday Folder asking for a family picture. Please make sure to send a picture of your child with his or her family by August 15th. 
• First grade will be having Orientation on August 18th beginning at 6:30 PM. Please plan to be present for this important evening. Mrs. Winters will be delivering important information about the upcoming school year and how you can help your child have a successful year!
• Please make sure that you are sending in a nutritional snack with your child each day. Snack time is every afternoon at 1:15. 
• Please visit the "Wish List" tab if you are interested in donating items to our classroom. Thank you to those who have donated items from this list already! 

Thank you for your continued support! 

All the best, 

Mrs. Peake 

PE Days

Please note that your child will have PE on Tuesdays and Fridays this year and will need to wear/bring appropriate shoes in order to participate!

Back to School!

Dear Future Parents and Students, 

Can you believe it is almost that time again? My absolute favorite day of the school year, Celebration of Learning, is almost here (August 1st from 5-7)! I cannot wait to meet you as we begin an exciting new year of learning and growing together in first grade! Please feel free to explore this website for useful information about the school year. Our classroom blog will be the BEST way to stay connected to what your child is learning and experiencing at school, as it will be updated regularly. Please Bookmark this site so that you and your child may easily access it from home.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer with your child and I look forward to seeing you soon!

All the best,

Jean Peake 

May 5-9

Hello Everyone!

Next week will be jam packed with exciting and enriching activities for your child as we travel to the beautiful country of BRAZIL for International Travelers Week! A huge thank you to our very own, Robyn Vassar, for her major efforts in organizing IT Week for both campuses! Also, thank you to those of you who have volunteered your time and will be joining us this week!

Please make sure to ask your child about his or her experiences in Brazil each day! 

Also, please remember that our Mother's Day Tea is scheduled for this upcoming Friday morning, March 9th at 10:30 and will last until 11:30. We are looking forward to celebrating you and hope that you are able to join us!

April 21-25

Hello Everyone!

I hope this latest blog post finds you well and that you are enjoying this fabulous Sunday weather as much as I am. We have a very exciting week ahead of us in first grade as we will be finishing our Heroes Unit! Thursday, April 24th will be our culminating activity: our Heroes Parade and paragraph presentation. I look forward to seeing our children show their creativity and the connections that they have made throughout this meaningful unit of inquiry. Please make sure that your child comes to school prepared to read his or her paragraph by allowing them to practice for you. 

Also, this upcoming Wednesday, April 23rd, beginning at 8:10 sharp, our class is scheduled to take a section of the Computer Adaptive Test  to show their progress in Reading. Please make sure your child  is well rested, eats a healthy breakfast, and arrives to school no later than 7:50 so that they will perform to the best of their ability. 

Here's a look into the curriculum this week:

Spelling:

/oi/ and /oy/

oi- boil, coin, point  oy: boy, toy, oyster

red words: give, most, very

Grammar:

Reviewing Proper Nouns

Writing:

Children will choose an American Hero that they respect the most and provide evidence to support their thinking.

Social Studies:

Introducing American Heroes: Theodore Roosevelt and George Washington Carver. Reflecting upon our unity of inquiry and answering student questions.

Math:

Continuing our study of fractions and counting coins. Reviewing for Unit 8 Post Assessment.

Important Announcements and Reminders:

• Hero Parade is April 24th beginning at 8:10.
• CAAS testing is April 23rd beginning at 8:10. 
• Please email me with the Mother's Day Tea date that works for you. An email was sent last Friday with two choices.

Thank you for your amazing support!

Mrs. Peake

April 14-18

Hello Everyone!
   I hope that you have all had an enjoyable and relaxing Spring Break! I still cannot believe we are this far into the school year and that we only have a few more precious weeks together in first grade. It has been a tremendous honor teaching your child and I look forward to helping your child reach his or her goals in the weeks ahead. We still have a lot to learn! As small groups have come to an end, I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who volunteered their time to be with us. Your dedication to our class has been outstanding and I truly canot thank you enough. I want to especially thank our amazing room mom, Ashley Welcher, for her tireless efforts in rallying volunteers on a weekly basis. We could not have done it without you! These next weeks will be important as we will be learning new content as well as reviewing a years worth of information. Please make sure your child comes to school ready to learn. As always, I will do my best to ensure that our classroom is as engaging as possible for your young learner.

Here's a look into what your child will be learning this week:

Spelling:

 /au/ and /aw/

ex: au: August, haul, Auburn   aw: paw, crawl, hawk

Red Words: no, years, live

Grammar: 

Identifying the subject of a sentence.

Reading: 

Analyzing how illustrations add to the meaning of texts. 

Comparing and Contrasting Fiction and Non-Fiction texts.

Writing: 

Students will write a personal narrative about a time when they have been a hero or have acted in a heroic way.

Math: 

Introducing the concept of equal parts and fractions.

Social Studies:
Reviewing American Heroes: Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Introducing the explorations and discoveries that were made by Lewis and Clark, and Sacagawea.

At this present time, I do not have any Important Updates or Reminders :)

Thank you for your support!

Mrs. Peake

March 31st-April 3

Hello Everyone!
    Last week was another productive and fun-filled week in first grade! This week will also be an exciting time as we will introduce our new Unit of Inquiry titled "Heroes". We will be studying the cultural influences of some of our American Heroes such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark and many more.

Here's a look into other parts of the curriculum this week:

Reading:

Compare and Contrasting two separate texts.

Spelling: 

/oo/ as in boot and /oo/ as in foot.

ex: look, took, pool, tool, stool

Red Words: only little work

Grammar:

Identifying Synonyms and Antonyms.

Social Studies:

Introducing the American Heroes Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and inquiring into how they have impacted our culture through their discoveries.

Math:

Identifying the value of coins and making exchanges.

Important Updates and Reminders:

CONGRATULATIONS to our newest Star Student, Max Williams! Max is curious about the world around him and loves learning new things! We are proud of our new Star Student and look forward to learning more about what makes him so special this week. Way to go, Max!