Thank you for visiting the site today! I hope everyone has a wonderful break next week. We will need to come back ready to work up until the last days of school! Our fourth nine weeks is challenging, but I love it because it is really a time when all the skills and concepts we have been working on all year long come together and we see what wonderful progress we've made this year. Today, all of first grade helped dedicate a beautiful spot next to our playground to the memory of Joshie Johnson. The children had many questions, as you can imagine. I'm sure your precious children may have some questions for you today and in the coming weeks about this. Check out below to find out what we have been doing in the classroom this week...
Phonics/Grammar: This week, we learned the two long vowel sounds of the letter y when it comes at the end of a word. We created a word web for each rule, we worked on our whiteboards to practice spelling these words, and we played a partner game to expand our vocabulary site word using these words.
Writing: We began learning about our new genre of writing; responding to literature. We learned that we must start with the title, main character, and main idea of the story. We must then give a summary of the story using transition words and focusing on telling only the most important parts of the book. We close with either a connection we have to the story or our opinion about the story, both which must be supported by specific details from the story. We wrote several papers together, we corrected some papers that were missing important components, and then we learned how to take our writing to the "exceeds expectations" level by targeting a specific audience when writing! I hope you can find time to read over your child's writing. I'm amazed at how children of this age learn and grow in only a matter of months!
Reading: We worked on independently reading for understanding this week. Many children struggle with how to monitor their own reading and how to know if they are understanding as they are reading, so I modeled some strategies that they can use. Most of the children have taken an AR test on their chapter book this week, which is a good indicator as to whether or not they are using these strategies. We also began our new chapter book, Dolphin Song. This story is the sequel to The White Giraffe and the children are loving hearing more about Martine's adventures at her grandmother's game reserve in Africa. Ask your child to tell you all about it!
Math: This week, we focused on combining strategies that we've learned all year long to answer math word problems. We worked on using pictures and words to explain how we solved problems involving double digit addition and subtraction, fractions, and number sense. We also learned a new game of strategy called "Make a Ten Pyramid". It's a great game that you can play with your child if you have a deck of cards. Get your child to teach you how to play to see how they are coming along with their math facts and number sense!
Science: We learned how different living things grow this week. We read a nonfiction story about the growth of a butterfly and the growth of a ladybug. We created a life cycle circle on paper plates illustrating the growth of the butterfly and we created a flip book illustrating the life of a ladybug.
Class News and Announcements...
Congratulations to Cristina for being chosen as this week's Teacher's Helper! Way to go!
Congratulations to Vivian, Paul, Aubrey, and Keaton for winning the M&M math challenge! Way to show that motivation outside of school!
Thank you to Frank for donating a cool chapter book to our class library!
If you haven't done so, please return the enrollment forms back to school ASAP. Your child will not be placed in a class for next year until those forms are returned.
I would LOVE for you to join us on our zoo field trip! All chaperones will have to provide their own transportation, but in years past, the moms and dads have carpooled and followed the buses. If you volunteer to chaperone, you will be given a small group of children and will be allowed to explore the zoo on your own. More details will follow soon!
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