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Thursday, November 1, 2018

From the Library and Emily Jones

Author and actress Sheetal Sheth will visit with First and Second graders on November 9. She will present her picture book Always Anjali. If you wish to have her sign a personal copy of the book that day, you should purchase it online or from a local bookstore ahead of time and bring it along that day. 
About the book: When Anjali finally gets the bike of her dreams on her birthday, she and her two best friends are excited to get matching license plates with their names on them. But Anjali can't find her name. There's Amy, Betsy, Chris, and many more, but no Anjali. To make matters worse, she gets bullied for her different name, and is so upset she demands to change it. When her parents refuse, she winds up learning to celebrate who she is and carry her name with pride. This is a timeless story about appreciating what makes us special and honoring our differences.

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

End of October Check In!

October has come to an end with a big bang of excitement! What an awesome day we had today at our Halloween festivities. I would like to thank all of the parents who made this day such a successful and fun one! Between the parade and the party, I am sure that the students feel like it was a special day for all!  Down below are a few snapshots to show you what the day looked like!

In this past month, we have been busy at work:

 Our reading/ word work groups are in full swing and are successfully meeting the students needs and stretching their abilities in a safe and skill appropriate way. At home, you all have been consistently reading the assignments so that the students are prepared for their next reading session. For the month of November, we are moving away from signing the Peek at the Week as our reading log to an actual separate sheet that will say November Reading Log on top of it. This log will be in your child’s reading folder and should always be put back in the bag for safe keeping.  From now on, each month the reading logs will have a different format that needs to be followed. For the month of November, your childis to write down who he/she read to that night. But don’t forget....You will still have to initial the Peek at the Week so that I know that you have read the events for the day. 

In writing, we have been writing multiple small moment stories. We are about to make a decision as to what story we would like to edit and publish. By the end of the next week we will proudly be able to show you which story we liked the best. 

Handwriting has been a big emphasis in the last couple of weeks. In kindergarten, the students used a modified form of Handwriting without Tears and now in first grade we are using similar language to show the students how to make their letters. We are finishing up our Upper Case Letters in this next week and then will move towards our lower case letters. The students have been taking their handwriting lessons very seriously and I am beginning to see it transfer into their daily writing. 

In math, we have just finished up our unit on subtraction from 1-10. We will be dabbling in a smaller unit on plane shapes and then diving into a unit on numbers from 1-20. We are hoping that your math game folder is providing your family a good time and your child an opportunity to build automaticity in their math facts. The games are meant to have a positive outcome by providing a fun experience that can be had by all. 

In science, we are continuing our study of rocks. We displayed our personal rock findings this last week and will continue to do experiments with the rocks throughout the month of November. We also have had the rock tumbler in our room for the last 2 weeks where we all put in our favorite rock. We are hoping to turn the rocks into necklaces before too long! 


Please enjoy the pictures below to get a snapshot of what 1stgrade in Room 26 has looked like in the month of October!
















Note from Nan Zosel

Dear Families,

DiwaliDeepavali or Dipavali is the Hindu festival of lights, celebrated every autumn in the northern hemisphere.  (Approximately Nov. 7 this year.) We would like to explore this festival during Lower School Chapel on Nov. 13.  
If this is part of your family's heritage please consider participating.
Families can participate by 
  • Sharing the story of of Diwali
  • Sharing family traditions
  • Sharing photographs of family celebrations
We welcome parent leadership and ideas!  

If your family would like to participate please contact Chaplain Zosel - nan.zosel@breckschool by Mon. Nov. 5.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

November notes from Chaplains



From your Chaplains:

November - A Time to Remember

The Episcopal calendar celebrates All Saints Day on Nov. 1.

It is moment to remember people we have loved, who have died.

Everyone in the Breck community is invited to place a framed picture 
of loved ones on the table at the south end of the Chapel Gallery.


Nov. 1-30. 
Wednesday, October 17, 2018

October Finds!

  We are learning so many things about rocks!

 We know that rocks fall into 3 categories: they are sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous. In the next two months we are going to be exploring more about the rocks and trying to identify the different groups.

Today we went to Hedburg Aggregates in Golden Valley and had the opportunity to look at all 3 types of rocks. The people who work there volunteered their time to take us around their yard and donated some rocks for us to have. Here are some of the pictures to show what we did. I did send some pictures out via SeeSaw, too !
Looking at our rocks through the  microscopes inside the warehouse....

  we cleaned the rocks and then focused our microscopes to see many hidden treasures!

 

 

 

 

 
Outside in the yard of rock choices!
We got to see the different things that Hedburgs does with the rocks. We saw a lot of landscaping choices such as fountains, walls, fire pits, pizza ovens. We learned how they are put together. 

 

 

  We looked for fossils in big slabs of rocks. The Limestone was particularly good for finding them!

As you can see, the world of science has been so exciting to the students. Hopefully your child has been having a good time collecting their 10 rocks for their rock collection.....and having  a fun time coming up with 10 different properties to explain and describe their rocks! The rock collections will be due on Monday, October 22nd.







Sunday, September 30, 2018

Minnehaha Falls

On Friday, the Breck 1st graders went on a field trip with the assistance of many supportive adults! We hiked and played at Minnehaha Falls and had a spectacular time. Please take the time to view these pictures with your child and have them explain what they are doing. (You will see a lot of scientists at work......be sure to ask them what they are observing! )