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."