November News #1

  Happy Halloween! It looks like we will have beautiful weather to start off the month of November.. On Friday, we had our "Fall Party" celebration and enjoyed treats and juice boxes. We have started a new class ticket challenge, our goal is to earn 10 class tickets for 15 minutes of free time. We will focus on line basics for this class goal. . Many students also  have earned homework prizes.  I have been impressed with how many have returned their "Making Words" homework. The extra practice will build your child's decoding skills, and it's a great way to practice spelling and reading too.

Reading: Last week, our reading goals were to read and spell words with the short o sound, as well as words with the l blends (bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl), our comprehension skill was to sequence events after reading using these words: first, next, then, and last, and our grammar skill was statements. We learned that a statement starts with a capital letter and ends with a period. This week, our goals will be to read and spell words with the short e sound, as well as the s blends (sc, sk, st, sp, sw, sl, str), our comprehension skill is text and graphic features of a biography, and our grammar skill is singular and plural nouns. We will also learn about antonyms. We have been doing the comprehension activities together, for these can be difficult tasks for 1st graders to write out and it is a challenge to verbally retell them in their own words. We continue to learn new words weekly and we're reading fun stories. We're also enjoying big books in our large group reading lessons. The big books that we have read are then placed in a literacy center for extra practice. A word wall has also been created in our classroom. High-Frequency words practiced during our large group reading lessons are placed on the wall at the end of the week. Word wall words should "click" when we read. The following High-Frequency words were practiced last week: her, she, now, today, our, would- words for this week will be: after, read, draw, was, pictures, write

Math: Last week, we started Module 3 which is titled "Properties of Operations". Our lessons will focus on the following addition strategies: Represent Addition in Any Order (I call this "turnaround facts"), adding 3 numbers, adding 3 numbers to Solve Problems, as well as Equal and Not Equal. As we practice and learn each strategy, we are working on developing fluency of addition facts. We will complete Module 3 later this week. We will then move on to “Subtraction Strategies”. During calendar, we are focusing on odd and even numbers, as well as using the words "more" and "fewer" when working with numbers. For odd and even, the students discovered that even numbers make a pair, and odd numbers have one left over. At home, you may want to work on the facts using flashcards, or by finding a game online. A good site to find math games is abcya.com. This site has numerous games to reinforce skills in 1st grade. I use this for centers, so your child will most likely know some games they can do. You could also encourage your child to do the Xtra Math program. I sent a letter home regarding this program a few weeks ago with login information. If you need a new letter for this program just send me an email, and I will send one home. 

Writing: I mentioned during conferences that writing a complete sentence was our focus to start the year.  We will continue to practice this by writing in our journals and within our daily written work. I hope you enjoyed the first journal they completed. We are now using one of their notebooks to write in. Our focus now is "Opinion Writing" and the difference between fact or opinion. This will be done in our journals, as well as writing pieces we will create. When writing in our journals, we have done a few like this: "I would rather _____ than ________. An example of one we have done is jump in leaves or jump in the snow. 

Science: Our focus has been "Plant and Animal Superpowers". Titles of Mystery Science lessons we have done so far are: "Why do Birds have beaks?", "Why do baby ducks follow their Mother?", "Why are Polar Bears White?", and "Why do Family Members look alike?" We have also combined these lessons with a program called "Little Thinkers" and our focus has been on animal structures and survival, animal behaviors, offspring survival, and camouflage. We will continue to have lessons on this through the end of November and will soon have lessons on plant movement and survival. The kids love our science time. We also had Anjanette from ISU extension come in for a STEM activity last week titled “Rolling Things”. This activity focuses on mass, gravity, momentum, and friction. Anjanette will be coming again in November to continue with the “Rolling Things” activity. 

Star Student: Dylan and Van were most recently featured. Dylan likes to drink sprite and eat ice cream. Her favorite place is Nana and Papa’s camper, and when she grows up, she wants to be a teacher. Van’s favorite drink is Mountain Dew, and he likes to eat pizza rolls. Van’s favorite thing to wear is his crocs, and he wants to be a police officer when he grows up.

October News #2

 Thanks to all who participated in parent-teacher conferences. I hope that I communicated enough information about your child's progress in first grade thus far and you understand how the report card will look. As I communicated, we are now doing trimesters vs. quarters and there will be just 3 report cards, with the first one being sent home around November 22nd. If you ever have a question or concern regarding your child, please send me an email. I would be more than happy to send home extra materials if you feel your child needs extra practice at home on a particular skill.

Reading: We did not have any new reading goals last week with the shorter week. This week, our goals are to read and spell words with the short i sound, as well as words with the r blends (br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, and tr). Our grammar skill is to write sentences with commas in a series, and our comprehension skill is to identify the Main Idea and details after reading a story. A GREAT BIG THANKS for taking the time to listen to your child read each night and for signing their log sheet. Most students return their ziplocs daily. The best way to increase your child's fluency is to "READ, READ, READ". Guided Reading takes place daily. Please return ziploc with book in it daily, even if you do not have time to read it, for we use that book as a reread the next day for their guided reading group. Thanks!! Our "Words to Know" this week are: why, some, of, make, how, animal, the following words have also been added prior to this week: friend, hold, full, many, good, pull, away, every, call, hear, come, and said.

Math: We continue to work on addition strategies. Last week, we worked on the doubles and doubles plus one. Check to see if your child can solve the following doubles facts: 0+0, 1+1, 2+2, 3+3, 4+4, 5+5, 6+6, 7+7, 8+8, and 9+9. Then see if they can apply what they know about the doubles to solve doubles plus one more: 5+6, 4+5, 3+4, and 7+6. We will also continue to practice writing our numbers in sequences. During calendar and math slides, we have been practicing telling time to the hour and half hour. I have been impressed with how well they are doing with this skill. For some, telling time to the half-hour is tricky, especially when looking at the hour hand and deciding which hour to write down. I told them to think of half-past what hour.

Writing: I mentioned during our conference that writing a complete sentence has been our goal during the first quarter. We will continue to practice this by writing in our journals daily. I hope you enjoyed the first journal they completed. I sent these home with their conference folders. We are now using one of our notebooks to write in. Our next writing goal is "Opinion Writing" and the difference between fact or opinion. This will be done in our journals, as well as writing pieces we will create. 

Science: We have had lessons on “How Animals Survive and How they help their offspring Survive”, “Parent and Offspring Traits”, and “Camouflage for Survival”. We have also had a visit from the naturalist from Swan Lake. She presented a lesson on how animals use their senses.

Ticket Challenge: We have met one classroom challenge so far this school year. Our first was "show and tell", we now need 10 class tickets to earn 15 minutes of free time. In order to earn a class ticket, it is important for all students to follow the basics when walking in the hall, lining up at recess, using the locker area, as well as any class activity involving teamwork. The kids also earn individual tickets. They write their name on the back when they earn one and place it in a designated container. On Fridays, I draw 5 names and they can pick a prize. 

Star Student: Jenny and Amelia were most recently featured. Jenny's favorite food is a peach and her favorite subject is math. She wants to learn more about gymnastics and when she grows up, she wants to be a bus driver. Amelia's favorite drink is lemonade and her favorite food is mac and cheese. Her favorite place to visit is Walmart and she wants to be a teacher when she grows up.

The photos below the girls are from the "Homecoming Parade."

October News #1

 We have officially started the season of fall and with that will bring cooler, windy days. Although, we can't complain for we have enjoyed many warm summery days to start the year and this week sounds like we will experience lots of warm days as well. When the temperature does get cooler, please encourage your child to wear a sweatshirt/coat. Our playground doesn't have much of a windbreak, and we are out in the open, so it feels colder than the thermometer says on many fall or winter days.

Reading: We've been busy working hard on short vowel chunks in our "Making Words" and large group reading lessons. We have focused on learning chunks in words, as well as digraphs, endings and blends. Last week, our focus was reading and spelling words with the short u sound. Our story of the week was a "fantasy" vs. informational text. Our grammar skill was adjectives and using color and number words to describe. We also talked a little about synonyms. As for "Making Words" lessons, I am amazed at how well the kids are sounding out new words and creating them with the letters. Last week, we completed the first unit in our first grade reading program. These lessons are a part of our large group reading instruction. Daily lessons/activities are centered around phonemic awareness, phonics, grammar, and comprehension skills. The lessons have provided the students with new strategies to help them become better readers. The spelling lists also coordinate with the weekly skills. Each week, the list contains 6 words that focus on the phonics skill we're working on, as well as 4 high-frequency words. This week, our reading goals are to read and spell words with the short a sound, as well as reading words with double consonants and words that end in ck, our comprehension skill will be to understand characters and to identify the story message. We are also working on using the sequence words of first, next, then, and last to summarize what we read. Our grammar skill is identifying what makes a complete sentence. 

Math: We are working on lessons in Module 1. We will be learning to understand and use a variety of strategies to solve addition problems. In this module, we will also be learning new math vocabulary. Our vocabulary for this module is: add, count on, doubles, equation/addition sentence, is equal to (=), make a ten, plus (+) and sum. We have worked on the following strategies thus far: Counting on 1, 2, or 3, adding 10, and making 10. This week, we will add the strategies of doubles and using known sums to add.  Our daily “Math Warm-ups” focus on identifying shapes, place value, fact practice, writing numbers, problem solving, telling time, and counting money. We are currently working hard on counting on 1, 2, or 3 when we add, as well as adding 10 and 0. 

Wow!!! I have been impressed with how well the 1st graders are doing with writing their letters. Last week, I gave them the alphabet test again to see how much they have improved with identifying and writing their capital and lowercase letters. We officially made it through the alphabet with our handwriting pages. We will continue to work on writing our letters within our written work.

Writing: Our main focus has been to write complete sentences. A weekly task has been to choose 2 of our story words and to write a sentence using that word. We have been working on writing sentences for many weeks now, and we are focusing on making sure we start our sentence with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark, as well as making sure it makes sense. Our key words for punctuation are; telling is a period, asking is a question mark, and words that show strong feeling have an explanation point. We also write in our journals with a given prompt. I will share journals and a writing sample with you at conferences.

Star Student: A new display in our classroom is titled "Star Student". Each week, one student will have the privilege to be featured on that display. At the end of the week, a new student's name will be drawn to determine who will be next. In the past, this has always been a favorite, and the kids anxiously await their turn.

Conferences: Most of you have signed up for a time using the link I sent via email. If you haven't signed up yet, please do so. Conferences will take place on Monday, October 10th and Thursday, October 13th. If you haven't signed up, please do so as soon as possible. If you have difficulty signing up, send me an email and I will help you out.  

This is Homecoming Week and listed below are the dress-up days for Fairview:

Monday: Wear PJ’s

Tuesday: Heroes vs. Villains

Wednesday: Career Day

Thursday: Class Color Day- 1st grade wears green

Friday: Wear Orange and Black