December News #2

 We've been busy in our classroom and we have been working hard. We have just 4 school days before the holiday break and we will continue to stay focused and have some fun too. There will be no new reading skills during this short week.

Math: Last week, we tested over Module 4, which was "Addition and Subtraction" Relationships. We call this "Fact Families. We spent 2 weeks on this module, and used the triangle model as a strategy to help us solve the missing addend/total. We also practice this strategy daily as a part of our "math-warm-ups/slides". I was impressed with how well the kids picked up on this strategy, and how well they used the triangle to help them solve the missing part. Last week, we also started Module 8, which focuses on "Data". Within this module, we will be learning to represent data in the form of tally charts, picture graphs, and bar graphs. Over the holiday break, you may want to encourage your child to do Xtra Math to keep on top of fact fluency, and encourage them to write their numbers to 120. 

Reading: Our reading goals last week were to read and spell words with the long a sound ending in silent e, our comprehension skill was drawing conclusions, and using the illustrations to give us more information about what is happening in the story, and our grammar skill was verbs ending in ed. The kids learned that when a verb ends in ed, the action happened in the past. Within our guided reading groups, the students are introduced to a new book almost daily. I have been pleased with their responsibility of reading at home each night, and returning it the next day. The reread section of our daily lessons move smoothly when the kids have read their books. If you ever feel that the book sent home is too difficult, please put a note in their ziploc. The books sent home are ones we have read/practiced and they should be successful reading it. Encourage your child to take the time to read over the holidays. We also focused on the comprehension strategy of "Main Idea and details" last week, using some fun Christmas passages.

Writing: Our lessons have focused on opinion pieces. When writing in our journals, we have done several I would rather _____ than ______.  An example of one we have done is using; go sledding, or go swimming. We have also worked on stating an opinion about a given topic and using the word because to give 1 or 2 reasons why we chose that. After the “Holiday Break” we will use our spelling words to write complete sentences, as well as writing a sequence for "How-tos".

Science: Last week, we had a lesson on "The Solar System". They really enjoyed putting the planets in order and learning interesting facts about each one. Our mystery science lesson this week is titled, "Sun, Shadows, and Daily Patterns". Anjanette from ISU Extension will visit our classroom this week for our 2nd exploration of "Rolling Things".

Holiday Party: Notes were sent home last week with those who signed up to bring items for our party, which will take place on Wednesday. I have a gift for them, and they have worked on a gift for their family. They will bring home their gift for you on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. The gifts are almost done and we will wrap them as well. They are so excited about their gifts. Wednesday morning will also be a special day, for we will be going to the movie theater to watch "The Polar Express". Your child brought home a note on Friday of last week about this exciting event. The Carroll High School Foundation is funding this trip to the theater, and each student will also receive a kid's pack to enjoy while watching the movie.

Winter Gear: It has been a mild winter thus far with very little snow, but when the time comes, in order to play in the snow, they must wear snowpants, boots, coat, hat, and gloves. If they do not have all of these items, they will stay on the blacktop to play. I also recommend that they bring their “Winter Gear” in a separate bag, which works really well transporting their extra clothes to and from school for it is really difficult to stuff all those items in their book bag, and wet clothes may also ruin folders and papers inside. Please label all their clothing items as well.  I do monitor the locker area after each recess and try to make sure that everything is hung on locker door and put inside. 

Star Student: Crue and Ryder were most recently featured. Crue likes to drink root beer and eat steak. His favorite movie is "Home Alone" and he takes lessons in swimming. When Crue grows up, he wants to be a football player. Ryder likes to drink chocolate milk and eat chicken and rice. Ryder collects football cards and takes lessons in Tae Kwon Do. When Ryder grows up, he wants to be in the Air Force.

The next newsletter will come home after the holidays, therefore, have a "Wonderful" holiday break and I will your child in 2023!!!

December News #1

 We continue to keep busy in our first grade classroom. The first week following the Thanksgiving holiday went by very quickly. In January, we will be administering the winter FAST assessment (segmenting, blending, sight words, and oral reading fluency), and I am looking forward to seeing the growth all the students have made. One goal we have been especially working hard on is reading fluency. The goal in January will be to read 41 words per minute. I have implemented many opportunities at school to increase their fluency, and encourage you to listen to your child read the books sent home almost daily, as well as encouraging them to read extra books too. Within our guided reading groups, we work daily on the FAST sight words, as well as decoding strategies. During our "Journeys" reading time we also work daily on sight words, segmenting, fluency, decoding strategies, and grammar. Within the classroom , we are also working hard on being respectful and responsible. I am very proud of how well the kids are staying focused daily to complete independent work- it is great to see them being so responsible. We are also working on being respectful in line and listening the first time.

Reading: Our reading goals last week were to read and spell words with ch and tch, our grammar skill was understanding what a command is and how to use our voice when saying a command with either a period or an explanation point, and our comprehension skill was sequencing the events in a story. Our reading goals this week will be to read and spell words with sh, wh, and ph, our grammar skill will be to identify the subject and verb in a sentence, and our comprehension skill will be cause and effect. We will also learn about contractions with is and not, as well as adding ing, ed, and s to words. Now that we have become more fluent readers, we will focus on reading with expression, and pausing when we come to punctuation. It is important that the kids understand that speed reading is not being fluent. Good readers read like they are talking, and when reading out loud their audience needs to understand what they are reading.

Math: We have been working hard on Module 4, which focuses on addition and subtraction relationships. We are working especially hard on fact families. Check to see if your child can write the 4 facts for the following fact family (10, 6, 4). We also used the strategy of using addition to check subtraction. This week, we will continue to work on Module 4 lessons and fact families. For daily seatwork, we wii also review/practice addition, subtraction, telling time, and equality. During our "Math Warm-ups" time, the students seem to be catching on quickly to telling time to the hour and half hour, as well as identifying the number of tens and ones in a 2-digit number.

Writing: We continue to focus on "Opinion Writing" and this will be our focus until the end of January. Our main focus when writing in our journals has been to state an opinion and then to give a reason why. We have been using the word "because" between our opinion and reason.

Science: We completed our lessons on "Plant and Animal Superpowers" and will move on to "Spinning Sky". This week, we will have a lesson on the solar system. We will complete a project putting the planets in order after listening to a couple of informational books about space. Space is always a unit the kids get excited about and they enjoy listening and learning about it. We will also do a Mystery Science lesson titled "Could a statue shadow move?" coming up soon.

Star Student: Colten and Lizzy were most recently featured. Colten likes to drink pop and eat homemade pizza. He collects antlers and wants to learn more about birds. When Colten grows up, he wants to be a farmer. Lizzy likes to drink sprite with OJ, and eat pizza. She takes cooking lessons and also wants to learn more about birds. When Lizzy grows up, she wants to be a vet.

With the Christmas holiday quickly approaching brings a lot of "excitement and anticipation" for 6 and 7 year olds. I enjoy being around their enthusiasm this time of the year, and it can be difficult to keep their young minds focused. Therefore, please help me out by praising their nice printing and the papers they have been successful with.