September News #2

 We've been busy in our first grade classroom and I would like to share with you some of the exciting things that have been happening.

Reading: We're learning new words weekly and reading "fun" stories. We have also enjoyed some big books in our large group reading lessons. A word wall has also been created in our classroom. High-Frequency words practiced during our large group reading lessons have been placed on the word wall. Thanks also for following up with the "Making Words" lessons at home. The kids have done a "great" job of returning their homework. Once 10 homework lessons have been returned, they will earn a treat/prize. The habit of returning homework promotes responsibility. The extra practice will also build your child's decoding skills, and it's a "great" way to practice spelling and reading too. Do encourage your child to try and write a word in each box if possible. If parents want to help, that's great too, for learning new words is always beneficial and the process of working together promotes success! The cut-up letters do not need to be returned-just the page with the words in boxes. This is week 4 of spelling and lessons from Journeys. Our spelling lists have focused on 6 words that match our phonics skill of the week and 4 sight words. Last week, our reading goals were to read and spell words with the short o sound, our grammar skill was action words/verbs, and our comprehension skill was to sequence important events in a story using first, next, then, and last. This week, our reading goals are to read and spell words with the short e sound, our comprehension skill is text and graphic features, as well as author's choice, and our grammar skill will focus on describing words/adjectives. Check to see if your child can read the following "Words to Know": do, find, funny, sing, no, they, all, me, does, my, here, and who.

Math: Last week, we completed our lessons on 3-D shapes. The following 3-D shapes are ones your child should be able to identify: sphere, pyramid, cone, cylinder, cube, and rectangular prism. Last week, we also started lessons for Module 16, which is titled "Faction Foundations". The learning goals for this module are to identify equal and unequal shares, and to partition shapes into halves and fourths. We will also be starting Module 1 soon, which is titled "Addition Strategies". We have been working on a few addition strategies, such as; adding 0, counting on 1 and 2, and adding 10. Soon, I will introduce Xtra Math, which is a program on their chromebooks and another "great" way to work on fact fluency. Once we start the program, I will send home login information for this program if you want to try it out at home too. The kids have the opportunity to earn certificates when mastering the goals of certain levels.

Writing: Our goal has been to write complete sentences. We continue to write in our journals almost daily. My key words are: Does it start right, end right, make sense, and have good spaces? And, WOW! I have been impressed with how well the 1st graders are doing with writing their letters using lined paper. It's great to see such nice papers and I especially like how hard they are trying to do their best! Good Job First Graders!

Making Good Choices: My goal is for each student to be responsible for their own actions. All classroom rules, as well as rules for the playground, the lunchroom, restroom, locker area, and hallway have been discussed. Listed are the basic rules we all need to remember: Be Kind to Everyone, Follow Directions, Keep Your Hands and Feet to Yourself, and Raise Your Hand if you have a question or response. I do give reminders if these rules are not followed. If several reminders are given, they may have to to stay in for part of a recess to talk about it. If the same behavior keeps happening, a behavior note will be written by the child and sent home to be signed by a parent. If taking away recess and writing a note isn't solving the problem, a phone call or an email will be sent. Let's work together to promote responsibility for their actions. We've been working really hard on following directions, being good listeners, and avoiding extra talking. These are three very important work habits to be a successful student. We are also working on a class challenge of earning 10 tickets for "Show and Tell". Our challenge is focusing on "good line basics".

It's hard to believe that we are halfway through September. We are certainly enjoying the warm and sunny days. The first day of fall officially starts this week. With the changing weather brings the "Do I have to wear my coat?" question. Our recess policy for wearing no coats out to recess is 60 degrees or above. Please send a sweatshirt/coat with your child each day when the change begins. We have already experienced a few cool mornings. You may want to encourage them to keep a sweatshirt/jacket in their bookbag. 

Please make sure your child returns their green take-home folder and reading ziploc daily. Thanks!

Here are spelling words for this week (with no school on Monday, you may want to start practicing. Their list will be brought home on Tuesday)

yet, web, pen, wet, leg, hen, was, did, we, my