Thank you

Thank you all for an amazing year in first grade.  You are an incredible group of families and we have so enjoyed our time together.  We love our students and we are going to miss them so much!

We wish you a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing everyone again in the fall.

End of Year Party

Our End of the Year Party is next Tuesday, June 24th at 8:45 am. We look forward to celebrating!

EVCS Picnic - Tomorrow!

Hope to see you all tomorrow for our school picnic! If you have any questions, please let us know.

For all you out there feeling the end of school year craziness!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jen-hatmaker/worst-end-of-school-year-mom-ever_b_3378480.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

Family Share - Date Change

Join us for our family share featuring our Community Activism work on Thursday, June 12th at 8:45 am. We hope to see you all there!

Important Dates - UPDATED

Monday, June 2nd: Trip to MFTA

Tuesday, June 3rd: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:30

Wednesday, June 4th: Trip to NY Botanical Gardens

Thursday, June 5th: No School for Students

Monday, June 9th: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:30

Thursday, June 12th: Family Share at 8:45 am

Friday, June 20th: School Picnic at Tompkins Square Park

Monday, June 23rd: Fifth Grade Graduation

Tuesday, June 24th: First Grade End of Year Celebration

Thursday, June 26th: Last Day of School

Math Fluency Practice

Town Meeting

Join us for town meeting first thing this Monday morning (May 12th).  Our very own Lucien will be performing skits around respect for all with his Friday club!

Social Studies Unit - Community Activism

Last week, we launched our new social studies unit, "Community Activism." In this unit, the first graders will consider questions such as, "What is an activist?" "How can we peacefully and creatively solve conflicts in our community?" and "How does activism relate to community building?"

We started our unit by referring to community activists we've already studied, like Martin Luther King Jr, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.  We also started learning about Wangari and the janitors from Los Angeles who went on a strike a few years ago. We will also study Alia Muhammad Baker, Rosa Parks, Gandhi and even more! Ask your child to tell you what they've learned so far.

This week, the first graders listed problems they see in our community - problems they would like to try and fix. Issues we listed included: pollution, smoking, racism, respect for all, free to be you and me, and more. The first graders shared personal stories and had a lot of questions! Next week, we will select an issue to address as a class and create an action plan.  More to come on that soon.

Meanwhile, in writing workshop, we are writing opinion books - books that state our opinion about something and give supporting reasons. For the last two weeks, we wrote opinion books on favorite places, food, activities, pets, etc.  Next week, each first grader will start an opinion book about an issue that's close to her/his heart.

When we visit MFTA, we will even engage in an art project tied to community activism.

At our family share on Monday June 9th, we will celebrate the culmination of this project, from our opinion books, art work and activist work!

Important Dates Coming Up In June

Tuesday, June 3rd: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:30
Thursday, June 5th: No School for Students
Friday, June 6th: School Picnic at Tompkins Square Park
Monday, June 9th: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:30 and Family Share first thing in the AM
Monday, June 23rd: Fifth Grade Graduation
Tuesday, June 24th: First Grade End of Year Celebration
Thursday, June 26th: Last Day of School

Upcoming Class Trips

Monday, June 2nd - Museum for the Arts
Wednesday, June 4th - NY Botanical Gardens (Bronx)

Let us know if you'd like to chaperone! Permission slips to come at the end of May.

Next Family Share - Art of Persuasion

Save the date for our next family share on Monday, June 9th first thing in the morning. The first graders will share their opinion books and community activist project!

Math Fluency Practice

Spelling Practice

Below you will find some sentences for spelling practice.  Dictate the sentence to your child and have her/him write it.  Then, go through the sentence together and correct any mistakes (including punctuation).

I got a chill from that bad draft.
Peg swept the rug with the brush.
Did you have any shrimp?
He slept in the tent.
She has many red plans.
I will print on the pad.
Jack felt his leg twist.
Russ slept on the cot.
The blimp did not go fast at all.
Ben twists off many lids.
They can rest and get some drinks.
Should I get stamps now?
You can chop the stump down.
The tot crept to her dad.
How did the skunks smell?
The skunk stinks!
I sat down on the clump of grass.
How many pranks did they do?
She printed our tests.
Frank is swinging on our swing.
He drifted out on the pond.
I am thinking about my class.

Upcoming Date Changes

We had to change the dates of our MFTA field trip and next family share. We will have the new dates sometime this week.  Thanks for your patience and sorry for any inconvenience!

Trip to MFTA

On Tuesday, May 13th, the first grade classes will go on a field trip to Materials for the Arts.

Materials for the Arts collects unneeded items from businesses and individuals, and make these donations available for free to its recipients: nonprofit organizations with arts programming, government agencies, and public schools.

A permission slip will go home soon. Let us know if you would like to tag along :)


Click here to go to MFTA's website

Dance Share

Dear First Grade families,
The last few weeks, your child has participated in five 45 min sessions of a FREE dance residency generously offered by Movement Research which is a well known organization located in the East Village that supports contemporary dance. This is their website if you are interested in seeing what they do: http://www.movementresearch.org/

Bessie, the Movement Research teaching artist, and I would like to invite you to visit the EVCS dance studio for an informal showing of the movement ideas our young dancers have been working on.The sharing is scheduled on Thursday, April 24th at 11:00 am. We hope you can join us.

Best,
Ana Nery Fragoso, East Village Community School
Dance Specialist

Farmers Market Share

Permission Slips

Thanks to those of you who already sent in permission slips for Friday's trip to the Union Square Farmers Market. Please get the slips to us by Wednesday! Thanks.

Practice spelling at home!

Here are some sentences from our current word study unit.  This unit, we are studying syllables and vowel teams.  Dictate these sentences to your child and have them write independently. Go through the sentence together and correct any mistakes. Remind your child about punctuation and uppercase letters!

The kids dug in the soft sand.

Did the ball swish in the net?

Gram did say, "I will get lunch."

Jill will get the doll in her crib.

Do not dump that stuff on my bed!

Tom sets up drums for the band.

Did she bump her leg?

You can put on this mask.