What a Week!

Greetings, 1st grade families!

I hope you are enjoying this fabulous Labor Day weekend!

Have you heard news of our 1st week? We had a GREAT time! I am blessed to have such a wonderful group of students. Thank you for sharing your children with me!

In reading we learned to read a book three different ways (read the pictures, read the words, and retell a familiar story). We worked on building our stamina for reading independently. Our goal is to build our stamina to 30 minutes of sustained, silent reading. We practiced a reading comprehension strategy called “Check for Understanding” to help us remember who and what we are reading about.

Next week we will practice “Checking for Understanding” while reading with a partner. We will begin reading with our Book Buddies from Ms. Eller’s 3rd grade class on Wednesday. During Book Buddy reading we will practice our reading fluency as well as other reading strategies.

In writing we wrote stories about things we like. We worked on building our writing community by listening to and sharing stories. We noticed many commonalities with our friends. Two of our friends enjoy playing volleyball with their dads. Two other students like playing at the pool. It is so fun to learn about each other through our stories!

In math we are working to solve word problems, staying flexible with our thinking, while attempting to avoid common misconceptions. When students see two numbers in a word problem we don’t want them to automatically add them together. We want them to understand the problem first, so together we have worked to analyze the meaning of word problems before working to solve them with our own independent strategies. Your children are amazing! So far they have used strategies such as drawing a picture and making a model to solve problems. Two students created t-charts to organize their data. Student volunteers shared their work and taught the class new strategies for solving problems!

For the next several weeks we will work to internalize number combinations to 10 and, as the year progresses, to 20. Next week we will write numerals to 120, practice counting by groups, and use equations to represent our work.

In social studies we are learning about what it means to be a good citizen. We have reviewed what it means to S.O.A.R. (Show self-control. Offer peer support. Actively listen and learn. Respect people and property.)

We will begin a unit in science soon called Force and Motion. As an introduction to the unit we have been reading about magnets and magnetic force. We did a few informal experiments through which we discovered that a magnet’s magnetic force can travel through some materials, such as paper, to another magnetic material, such as a metal refrigerator door. Ask your child if a magnet’s magnetic force will travel through a paperclip. Ask them what else they can tell you about magnets. (Possible answers: Magnets have two poles, and North Pole and a South Pole. Earth is a magnet. Our planet also has a North Pole and a South Pole. Some metals are magnetic, Etc.)

Have a fun weekend! I look forward to seeing your children on Tuesday!

Welcome back!

It was a great week! I am so excited for the year to come. Thank you to everyone who came to Back to School Night and to all of the parents who stopped in during the week to say, "Hello!" I look forward to getting to know you and your family throughout the year.

This week we practiced our routines and procedures. The kids are doing great with our Morning Routine of getting set for the day, choosing new books for their book boxes, and reading. They are already building stamina for an increased volume of reading. We learned that reading time is precious and we need to make sure we have time each day to practice. We learned that the more you read, the more you know! Just like preparing for a marathon, it is important to increase our reading at a steady pace in order to grow stronger and stay the course. Thank you for your support at home making sure your child has a quiet place to read each night (either with or without you).

In writing we have begun brainstorming topics, planning, and drafting stories. Some students are writing about their lives and some are creating stories from their imaginations. Both types of stories are great for sharing, and we have enjoyed hearing several stories already. Your kids are creative and detailed!

In math we are practicing counting, comparing, and composing numbers. We collected data about our eye color and converted it into a class pictograph. We practiced making a bar graph, and compared the information. We learned a new math game called "Tall Towers" and another math activity named "Number Splash." We also spent some time exploring the manipulatives.

In social studies we have been discussing the importance of rules and laws. We shared some of the rules that we have at home to keep our home safe and rules that we have at school.

We will continue working on all of the above concepts and begin our reading assessments this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!