Heart-to-Heart: Making Compassionate Decisions! ❤️

This week in our Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) circle, we will continue diving into one of the most important skills a young leader can have: Making Compassionate Decisions. As our kiddos grow, they are learning that their choices don't just affect themselves—they ripple out to the people around them. We’re focusing on how to use our "heart power" to think about others' feelings before we act or speak.

What We’re Exploring in Class:

The "Pause and Think" Method: Learning to stop and ask, "Is this choice kind?" before reacting.
Walking in Someone Else’s Shoes: Using empathy to understand how a friend might feel in different situations.
Problem-Solving with Kindness: Finding "win-win" solutions during playtime and group work.
The Power of Inclusion: Identifying ways to make sure everyone feels welcome and heard.

Strengthening the Connection at Home:

You are your kiddo’s first and most important teacher! Here are a few simple ways to bring our SEL lessons into your daily routine:

Reflect on Characters: While reading bedtime stories, ask, "Was that a compassionate choice? How do you think the other character felt?"
Model Out Loud: Share your own process! Try saying, "I was frustrated when I dropped that plate, but I decided to take a breath and stay calm so I didn't scare anyone."
The "Kindness Catch": When you see your kiddo make a thoughtful decision—like sharing a snack or waiting their turn—point it out specifically! "I noticed you chose to let your brother go first. That was a very compassionate decision."

We are so excited to see these kind hearts in action! Thank you for partnering with us to build a such a caring classroom community.

OPTIONAL Read Aloud Learning Links

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson

Focus: The ripple effect of our actions and the missed opportunities to be kind.
Watch on YouTube

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

Focus: How one small act of compassion can help someone feel seen and included.
Watch on YouTube

Try a Little Kindness by Henry Cole

Focus: A fun, lighthearted look at different ways to show compassion every day.
Watch on YouTube

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña

Focus: Developing empathy and finding beauty and compassion in our community.
Watch on YouTube

What Does It Mean to Be Kind? by Rana DiOrio

Focus: Defining compassion through concrete examples for young children.
Watch on YouTube

UFLI Phonics Focus

Lesson 81: The /er/ Sound (ir, ur, er)

This lesson introduces students to the three most common ways to spell the /er/ sound as in bird, surf, and fern.

The Concept: Even though the vowels are different (i, u, and e), when followed by an r, they all make the exact same sound.
The Goal: kiddos learn to recognize these patterns in isolation and start blending them into words like dirt, burn, and term.

Lesson 82: Spelling /er/ (Focus on -er)

This lesson narrows the focus to the most frequent spelling of the sound: er.

The Concept: kiddos practice identifying where the /er/ sound usually lives in a word (often at the end, like in her or letter).
The Goal: Developing "orthographic mapping"—helping the brain remember which spelling belongs to which word through repeated exposure and dictation.

How to Help at Home:

Since /er/, /ir/, and /ur/ sound identical, choosing the right one is often about visual memory. Here are a few ways to reinforce these skills without it feeling like extra "homework":

The "Vowel Team" Sort: Write a list of words (e.g., girl, curb, herb, twirl, hurt, perch) on index cards. Have your kiddo sort them into three columns: the "ir" column, the "ur" column, and the "er" column. This helps them notice the visual patterns.
Sentence Dictation: Give them a silly sentence to write, such as: "The bird with curls ate a fern." This forces them to switch between the three different spellings in one go.
Spot the Bossy R: While reading bedtime stories, have a "scavenger hunt." Ask, "Can you find a word on this page where the R is bossing a vowel around?"
Magnetic Letters: Build a word like burn. Then, ask them to swap the vowels to make born (to see the difference) or change the consonants to make turn.

Pro-Tip: If your kiddo isn't sure which spelling to use, let them try all three: berd, burd, bird. Often, their "visual brain" will recognize the correct one once they see it on paper!

Wonders Unit 6 Week 5

Big Idea: Together we can help! How does teamwork help us?

Essential Question: Why do we celebrate holidays?

Informational Text

Gives facts and examples about a topic
Uses text structures to organize information
May include text features such as photos and captions

Reading Strategy

Rearead

Read the text again to gain understanding or ge more information

Reading Skill

Author’s Purpose

Persuade: to convince readers of something
Inform: to give information
Entertain: To tell a story that readers enjoy

Captions

Explains what a picture is about

Main Story

Time for Kids- Happy Birthday U.S.A

Genre: Nonfiction

Paired Read

Time for Kids- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Genre: Nonfiction

Vocabulary

design
display
pride
purpose
represent
nation
unite

OPTIONAL NEW Learning Links

Bossy Song

Blending Bossy R Words

Bossy R Instruction

R Controlled Practice

Bossy R Pirate

Sounds of Bossy R Pairs

OPTIONAL REVIEW Learning Links

What’s Your Opinion?

This week, our first-grade authors continue to find their voices with our LAST WEEK of Opinion Writing, where students learn to share their preferences and—most importantly—provide strong reasons "why."

To help us organize our great ideas, we will be using the Write from the Beginning structure. This framework provides students with a clear "roadmap" for their writing, moving them from a brainstorm to a finished piece.

🌟 What is an Opinion?

We are learning that an opinion is how you feel, think, or believe about something. Whether it’s the best superpower, the tastiest school lunch, or why recess is important, our writers are learning to back up their claims with "because..."

🗺️ Our Writing Roadmap: The Flee Map

To organize our thoughts, we use a special tool called a Flee Map. This is a combination of a Tree Map (for classifying ideas) and a Flow Map (for showing the order of the writing).

Think of it as a skeleton for their essay! Here is how it breaks down for your first grader:

The Top Line (The Opening): This is where students write their clear opinion statement (e.g., "In my opinion, dogs are the best pets.").
The Main Branches (Reasons): Students create 2 or 3 branches. Each branch holds a big reason that supports their opinion.
The Bullets (Details): Under each reason, students add "evidence" or a personal story to explain that reason further.
The Closing: A final line at the bottom to wrap it all up and remind the reader of their big idea.

Why we love it: The Flee Map takes the "scary" out of a blank piece of paper. Instead of wondering what to write next, students just follow their map from top to bottom!

🏠 Home Connection

You can support this at home by asking "Opinion Questions" at the dinner table:

"What is the best fruit, and what are two reasons why?"
"Would you rather live in the mountains or the beach? Why?"

Encourage them to use the word because to link their opinion to a reason!

POW up to this point! We ARE Writers!

This will be the writing process for the next three weeks. The day one is where I model all aspects of it and the kiddos help me out! Throughout the week we will gradually release and take writing responsibility! Day two is when the kiddos will be given the tree map and tap out and write the sentences on their own. Day three the kiddos will be given the circle map and a partial tree map shown to the side here with only the connecting words. They will complete the tree map and then tap out and write their sentences.

The trick to their sentences is making sure they alternate between the topic and the pronoun. Additionally they will need to make sure they have the word and in each sentence to connect the details.

Topic 15 Equal Shares of Circles and Rectangles

Topic 15 Home Letter

Vocabulary

Equal Parts: Understanding that for a shape to be divided into fractions, every piece must be the exact same size.
Halves: Partitioning circles and rectangles into two equal shares and using the words halves, half of, and two equal shares.
Fourths (Quarters): Partitioning shapes into four equal shares and using terms like fourths, quarters, quarter of, and four equal shares.
The "Whole": Recognizing that a whole shape is made up of all its equal shares (e.g., two halves make one whole).

How you can support at home!

Fractions are best learned through tactile, "real-world" experiences. Since the focus is on visual and physical partitioning, you can try these activities:

1. The "Fair Share" Kitchen Challenge

Use food that comes in standard shapes. Ask your kiddo to help you cut a rectangular sandwich into halves or a round pizza into fourths.

The Test: Ask, "Is this a fair share?" If one piece is bigger than the other, discuss why it wouldn't be considered a mathematical half.

2. Paper Folding

Give your kiddo several paper rectangles (like post-it notes) and circles.

Challenge them to fold a rectangle into two equal shares in more than one way (e.g., vertically vs. diagonally).
Discuss how, even though the shapes look different, they are both still "half" of the same paper.

3. Vocabulary Hunt

Use the specific Envision vocabulary during daily routines. Instead of saying "Give me some of your apple," say, "Can I have one-fourth of your apple?" Helping them connect the word to the physical quantity is key to "orthographic mapping" of math concepts.

4. "Is it Equal?" Game

Draw several shapes on a whiteboard or paper. Divide some into perfectly equal parts and others into unequal parts (e.g., a circle with a line near the very top). Have your child circle only the ones that show equal shares.

OPTIONAL NEW Learning Links/Games

Mini Math Movie Fractions Video

Basic Fraction Lesson Video

Fractions for Kids Video

Fractions Practice

Fractions Visual Video

OPTIONAL REVIEW Learning Links/Games

Various Money Games to Choose from HERE
Time to the Hour
Digital and Analog Clock Match
Time to the Half Hour
Measurement Vocabular Use
Measure and Compare Lengths Video
Measuring Mini Math Video
Tens and ones backward counting
Tens and Ones Match
Ten Frame and Tens and Ones Matching
Tens and Ones ID game
Count By Tens Game: An interactive lesson on counting by tens.
Skip Counting By Tens Game: A Wordwall resource for skip counting practice.
Multiple Counting By Tens Games: A collection of various community-created counting games.
Tens and Ones Match Game
Tens and Ones Matchup
Tens and Ones Matching to 20
Tens and Ones Matching to 50
Count By Tens Game
Skip Counting By Tens Game
Multiple Counting By Tens Games
Addition and Subtraction Within 10 Quiz Game

☀️🌛💫Exploring the Sky Above Us!☀️🌛💫

This week in Science, our first graders are looking up! We are starting an exciting new unit on Patterns in the Day and Night Sky. Your little scientists will be observing the world around them to discover how the sky changes and why some things—like the sun and moon—seem to move in predictable ways.

Learning Targets

The Sun’s Journey: We will observe how the sun appears to rise in one part of the sky and set in another, and how this pattern creates our daytime.
Moon Phases: Students will learn that the moon doesn't actually change its shape, but it looks different to us over the course of a month.
Star Patterns: We will talk about how stars are always there, even when the bright sun makes them hard to see during the day.
Day vs. Night: We’ll compare what we see during the day (clouds, sun, birds) versus what we see at night (moon, stars, planets).

How You Can Help at Home:

You don't need a telescope to be a scientist! You can support your child's learning with these simple activities:

Shadow Hunters: On a sunny day, look at your shadows in the morning and again in the afternoon. Ask your child, "Why did our shadow move or change size?"
Moon Journal: Take a peek out the window before bedtime. Draw a quick picture of the moon's shape together and see if it looks different in a few days.
Sunrise/Sunset Talk: If you are awake during sunrise or sunset, notice the colors of the sky and where the sun is sitting on the horizon.

We are looking forward to a "stellar" unit! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Specials This Week

👟 We have P.E. all week with Dr. B 👟

🚌Bus Schedule This Week🚌

Bus 231 running

Bus 232 is NOT running

Bus 233 is running

Bus 235 is running

Bus 240 is NOT running

May 4: Spanish After School
May 4: Yogis for Life After School
May 5: Lego Club After School
May 6: KidStage After School
May 7: Coding After School
May 7: Art Enrichment (Hastings after school)
May 11: FIELD DAY! Afternoon 🙂Details soon!
May 11: Spanish After School
May 11: Yogis for Life After School
May 12: Lego Club After School
May 14: Coding After School
May 14: Art Enrichment (Hastings after school)
May 15: Ms. Booton out of the classroom
May 18: Spanish After School
May 18: Yogis for Life After School
May 19: Lego Club After School
May 21: Coding After School
May 21: Art Enrichment (Hastings after school)
May 22: End of Year Party in the Grassy Knoll by the Bus Loop! 11:45 ALL are WELCOME!
May 25: Spanish After School
May 25: Yogis for Life After School
May 26: Lego Club After School
May 28: Coding After School
May 28: Art Enrichment (Hastings after school)