JUST THE FACTS...
It has been a pleasure getting to know the students these past few weeks. We are working hard at learning our routines, the organization of the classroom, and how to work with others. First graders are learning to work independently and to identify tools that will help them become successful learners.
We will be partnering with Mrs. Bauman's fifth graders as "Learning Buddies" this year. This will be an "almost weekly" time for the students to pair up with an older student for reading and other activities in an informal setting.
Thank you to those of you who returned the math number cards that some of you took home on Curriculum Night to cut. I am still missing about 4 sets. If you have them at home--cut or uncut--, please send them back to school.
Worshops begin on Monday, September 21st. Mrs. Jane Sheth, our reading specialist, will be working with us for small group instruction and support activities in Language Arts. Parent volunteers will help oversee other activities with both a Math and Language Arts focus.
I am collecting old socks for classroom use. They are especially helpful as erasers for our dry erase boards.
Please help your child to remember to put his/her name on all homework--the Homework House and Homelinks. We are also working very hard at remembering to not use capital letters in the middle of our names or other words.
Worshops begin on Monday, September 21st. Mrs. Jane Sheth, our reading specialist, will be working with us for small group instruction and support activities in Language Arts. Parent volunteers will help oversee other activities with both a Math and Language Arts focus.
I am collecting old socks for classroom use. They are especially helpful as erasers for our dry erase boards.
Please help your child to remember to put his/her name on all homework--the Homework House and Homelinks. We are also working very hard at remembering to not use capital letters in the middle of our names or other words.
Our first Open Court Reading unit is "Let's Read". The students are learning the routines of phonics lessons, phonemic awareness, and are introduced to the comprehension strategies of Visualizing and Asking Questions.
We've been learning about the elements of poetry: rhyme, rhythm, and repetition.
Many students have been returning their Green Light Reading stories and have done a great job reading to me. As you read with your child take time to make sure they understand vocabulary. Rereading several times helps with fluency.
In Writing, we are learning about choosing and identifying a topic, and creating topic sentences. Our lessons focus on generation of ideas, organization, word choice, fluency, voice and conventions. Students will take turns sharing what they wrote, and the group learns how to be a respectful audience.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Our Social Studies curriculum in first grade focuses on School and Family. We have started our first unit, "People Everywhere". This unit covers how people learn together in various groups--home, school, and community. Vocabulary that has been discussed includes: culture, tradition, leader, citizenship, and community.
SCIENCE
The school district has adopted a new science program this year. We will be studying "Weather" this first trimester. In this unit, students will be expanding their awareness of weather, its features, and its effects on their daily lives. First graders will be collecting, organizing, and interpreting data. They will also be introduced to simple weather instruments.
MATH
Our first unit in Everyday Math begins with establishing routines and learning about the tools available to us. We are using tallying to record data, and have using the number line to count up and back. We have used dice to explore probability, and the number cards to play "Top It". Skip counting and identifying odd and even numbers are part of our daily work.
Last week we began our work with estimation. Each week the students will estimate the number of objects in a jar. We will determine the class range and discuss whether or not our estimations were reasonable or not.
Your child should have completed three Homelinks this week and as stated earlier, these should be completed and returned the next day. The first graders are learning about time as related to a calendar which also allows us to practice our number writing. Time and Money tutoring began last week with our parent volunteers. Appreciation is great for help with these important life skills.
If you have not yet been able to send in coins, each student needs 20 pennies, 5 dimes, 6 nickels, and 4 quarters.
CELEBRATIONS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Maia Hess
September 14th
Cyrille Puyat
September 23rd
Maia Hess
September 14th
Cyrille Puyat
September 23rd
