1st Grade Blog

Newsletter

Please remember students should wear their PE clothes and PE appropriate shoes on PE days. Even if PE is on a Friday (which is normally casual dress day) students still need to wear their PE uniform.

Snacktime Reminder

Students perform better when they have good food in their bodies. Please try to send your student with a simple, healthy snack that they can enjoy in the afternoon.  This extra nutrition can help their brains and bodies do their best in the late afternoon and during after school activities.

Picking good fit books

Students will use this strategy for picking good fit books from our classroom library or “Book Nook”. This will ensure that they are reading a book that will challenge them, but not to the point of frustration.

I PICK:

I look over the book inside and out

Purpose – Students should ask themselves why they are reading a book.

Interest- Students should ask themselves whether they are interested in a topic, author, or theme.

Comprehension – Students should ask themselves if they can understand the meaning of the text.

Know – Students should ask themselves if they know MOST (95%+) of the words.

Helpful Resources

Bloomz  is where I will update parents on what’s going on in the classroom.  It’s a great place to see many photos and videos throughout the year so you can get a look inside our classroom.

Raz-Kids is where students will be reading each night. Students can read a story, listen to a story and answer questions about a story. Ideally students should do all 3 for at least one story a night.

Log in information coming soon.

Sumdog is a fun math game site. Students can practice their math skills while playing games, earning points, and competing against friends.

Log in information coming soon.

GoNoodle’s movement videos and games help to keep us moving inside the classroom. It makes it easy to be active, the kid way – silly, energetic, playful, and fun!

Counting by 1’s

Common core standard: Extend the counting sequence (Count to 120, starting at any number less than 120).

Counting down

We’ve been practicing counting down in preparation for subtraction.

Counting by 2’s

Common core standard: Add and subtract within 20 (e.g., by counting on 2 to add 2).

Adding

Common core standard: Add and subtract within 20.

Place Value

Common Core Standard: Understand place value

Phonics

Phonics are the building blocks for literacy so we like to review with these videos.

Common core standard: Phonological Awareness

Sight word playlist

English Language Learners

These videos are for students that are just beginning to learn English.

Emotions

Classroom Vocabulary

Actions Words 1

Action Words 2

House Vocabulary

“T.E.A.M. FIRST”

Greetings Parents and Caregivers, 

I hope you are as excited as I am about the start of school!  I expect this to be a great year, with lots of adventures, success, hard work, fun, a ton of learning, and memories!

First, let me introduce myself.  My name is Justin Cassel.  This will be my second year teaching at BFS and my seventh year in the classroom.  My passion for teaching is found in young learners as I love their enthusiasm and excitement!  I am joined in Busan by my lovely wife Rebecca, and our 2 year old twins, Hana and Everett.  

Here are a few ideas for a smooth transition and to help prepare your child for the first day of school:

  • Watch the BFS safety video 
  • Speak with your child about his/her hopes and learning goals for this year.  What do they hope 1st grade is like?  What are a few things they would like to learn this year?
  • Try to get your child a good night’s sleep so s/he is well rested!
  • Try to have your child wear a mask at home so s/he is prepared for the start of the school year.  

With Covid, there is a lot of uncertainty.  Please know that I am here to support both you and your child whether we are learning in school or virtually!  I look forward to learning together with you and your child this year! As a team, we can do great things! 

 

Together Everyone Achieves More,

Mr. Cassel 

Friday, Sep.10, 2021

A Look Back …
We started learning this week in Grade 1. We are still working on how to be a good person and listen and be kind and all of the important social skills (and will continue to do so throughout the year) AND we started our academic rigor. During Readers Workshop we learned that readers do something before they even begin reading – take a sneak peek (or guess what the book is going to be about). We also NEED to do something at the end of a book. We can either talk about our sneak peek or RETELL the important parts of a story (What happened in the beginning, middle, and end?). If you read with your child at home, these are 2 things you can do to support what we are learning in the classroom. For Writers Workshop we started writing our Personal Narratives, or a story about me. Thus far we have learned that before you even pick up a pencil, you need to think of an idea. Also, before we even pick up a pencil, we need to take time and plan. Students NEED TO VERBALLY say what happens in a story. If they can’t say it, they can’t write it. It also helps students to get their thoughts in order. To plan, we pretended our hands were a book and used first. For example, first I went to the store. Then we open our hands like a book and say next. Next, I bought bananas. Finally, we close our book hand or handbook and say last. Last, I paid for the bananas. In Social Studies students identified different groups they belong to and we talked about how sometimes we are in the same group and sometimes we are not, and that is okay. For Math, students logged in to X-tra Math and we also got a new worksheet, the bean counter.  We have also finished up our reading and writing initial assessments as well as an informal math assessment.
Coming Up…
Next week we will work on reading long and strong, seeing the brain as a muscle, something we can build. We will also talk about goal setting during reading time. Students and you will be introduced to ‘Sorts’ at some some point next week as well. During Writers Workshop we will again talk about planning as it is such an important component to writing. We will also learn to ADD ON by answering the questions who, what, where, when, why, and how. For Social Studies we will continue to discuss and learn about different groups. In Math, we will start using our Eureka math workbooks.
Enjoy your weekend!
T.E.A.M. First,
Mr. Cassel

Mr. Cassel’s email: jcassel@bfs.or.kr

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