"Peek at the Week" September 23-27

We had another busy week in first grade!  Here is a peek into our week!

Writer's Workshop

We are continuing to write personal narratives during writer's workshop.  This week we focused on:

Writers can use alphabet charts to help them write sounds they hear in words.

Writers organize their writing.  

We added a sticker to each side of our writing folders.  The green side holds pieces we are still working on.  The red side holds pieces we are finished writing.

Writers can stretch their stories across many pages!

We took a look at a story called Paperboy by Dav Pilkey. 

 

This story shows how Dav Pilkey told his story about a paperboy across several pages.  He used his pictures and words to tell his story. 

We were then introduced to booklets!  We practiced telling our stories and planning them across the pages. 

These drawers house our writing paper.  We are learning to plan our stories and choose the paper we need to write!

 We also began to share our writing with a partner this week!

Next week we will be wrapping up our 'Launching' unit.  Each child will be choosing one piece to publish.  I will save these pieces until the end of the year, however, be on the look out for the rest of your child's stories to come home later in the week.  They will be very eager to share their work with you!

Reader's Workshop

We did an amazing job continuing to build our reading stamina this week!  By the end of the week we built 21 minutes of stamina!  

Here are the areas we focused on this week:

Readers make predictions when they read.  They read to find out if their prediction was correct, or if they changed their mind and made a new prediction.

We used little hand signals as we read to confirm or revise our predictions.  You may see your child making a check mark next to his/her mind if the predictions was correct.  You may also see your child rotating his/her fist next to his/her mind to show that the prediction needed to be changed or revised.  It was fun to see look out during independent reading this week and see the children practicing these signals!

Readers have books they love.

We began talking about books we love this week.  We have been talking during morning meeting about books we enjoy reading.  I shared one of my favorite books with the class.

I asked all children to bring their favorite book to school for Monday!  We will be sharing these throughout the week!

All readers have books that fit them just right.  We call these just right books.

We began learning about choosing our own books this week.  To illustrate how each of us have different books that fit us, I told the children that picking shoes is a lot like picking a book.  

 We know that each shoe serves a purpose.  Mrs. Hogue wears  tennis shoes for running, high heels for weddings, and flip flops for the beach.  Just like with books, we need to have a purpose for reading.  (Some purposes included learning new things, we are interested in a topic, or enjoyment)

 Next, Mrs. Hogue put on a big pair of her husband's shoes.  She tried walking around the classroom, but kept tripping because the shoes were too big!  This would be like picking a book that doesn't 'fit' you!  You shouldn't read books during Read-to-Self time that are too hard  or too easy!


Finally , we partnered up and tried on each other's shoes!  We realized very quickly that our friend's shoe doesn't always fit!  This demonstrated that everyone has a different sized foot- just like everyone has a different "Just Right" book level!  We talked about how each child needs to read "Just Right" books in order to become a better reader.  Wearing the wrong 'shoe' doesn't help!

 Children were then encouraged to share a book from their book bins they felt was a good fit book for them.

 Many children chose 'just right' books they could read, they enjoyed, or they understood the story.  

Finally, children began picking out their own just right books.  Research has shown that it is important for children to be independently reading books at their reading level in order to grow as a reader.  To help with this, each child has a book mark with a sticker to help them find just right books!

Word Work

This week we started adding our first grade words to our word wall.  We learned 10 new words. 

day

eat

for

with

went

one

are

play

not

this

We practiced these words in poems, in our morning message, and during shared reading.  I encourage you to practice these words with your child at home!

Math 

This week was all about number partners!  We explored number partners of 6,7,8, and 9.

We learned that number partners can be switched! It doesn't matter the order...the total will remain the same.  Below are students modeling 1 + 6.

Now, they are modeling 6 +1.  The total number of children remained the same!

We found number partners by using our stair steps.  Below, a friend is showing how he found the number partners 2 and 6 for 8. 

We learned a fun game called find the number.  Kids loved being a 'detective' to determine how many counters were hiding in the envelope!  This is a great (and easy) activity to do at home! 

 

Some children also found 'break away partners' for 9.  They found three numbers that could be added together to make 9.

Thank you so much for helping your child complete and return homework!  We will be wrapping up unit 1 this week and taking our first math assessment.  I will share these with you at conferences!

Science

We continued our study on weather this week.  We learned that scientists use their senses to observe the weather around them.  We went outside and used our sense of sight, smell, touch, and hearing to observe the weather. (We discussed how we do NOT use our sense of taste in Science.)

Don't forget....Wednesday is picture day!  Be sure to send in your picture form and money on or before Wednesday.  Please let me know if you need another form!

Have a great rest of the weekend :)

Love,

Mrs. Hogue 

"Peek at the Week" September 16-20 and Orientation Information

We had another great week in 1st grade!  Although we are still working hard on routines and structure, we are starting to feel settled in to the school year!  

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend orientation!  I hope you found it helpful and gave you an idea on what to expect for your child this year.  For those of you unable to attend, please look for some important information highlighted at the end of this post.   

Here is a peek into our week :)

Writer's Workshop

We are continuing to build our writing stamina!  We are writing for about 15 minutes each day.  This week we focused on the following concepts:

Authors use pictures and words to tell stories. 

We read a book by Kevin Henkes called Kitten's First Moon.  This book is a great example of how the author uses both pictures and words to tell his story. 

Writers can write the sounds they hear in tricky words. 

Helping to stretch sounds in Mrs. Hogue's story.  We said the words, stretched them, and wrote them in our hands.

  Writers say the word they want to write, stretch the sounds, and write the word. 

We helped say, stretch, and write the word waited in Mrs. Hogue's story.

We helped say, stretch, and write the word minute  in Mrs. Hogue's story. 

 Reader's Workshop

This week we learned how readers get their minds ready to read.  

Readers look at the cover of their books.  They read the title and think about what might happen.

We practiced getting our minds ready to read by looking at this cover!  It sure did stir up some interesting thinking and ideas.  We were very eager to read this book after all our thinking!

 Readers take a 'sneak peek.' (also known as a picture walk)  They look at the pictures and think about how the story might go.  Readers save the last few pages for a surprise!

Taking a picture walk with our partner.

Readers imagine how the story will go as they read.  They think about the characters and how they feel. 

 

 We practiced imaging the story with these two books!
 

 On Friday we practiced getting our minds ready to read by putting together all 3 strategies!  It was so amazing to see these readers applying these skills independently!  It also helped us stay focused on our reading and build our stamina.  We are up to 16 minutes!!!!  

Word Work

This week we reviewed the 27 K5 word wall words.  We added all of these words to our word wall. ( I will be sure to take a picture for next week's blog!)

I was very impressed with how well everyone remembered these words! 

Math

We officially began the Math Expressions program this week!  We will be focusing on number partners and adding/subtracting strategies over the next few weeks.  

Students were introduced to Stair Steps this week.  These are strips that have one square that represents each number 1-10.  When put in order, they look like stair steps :)

We also practiced putting our numbers 1-10 in order.  We practiced with both numbers and dots. 

We began learning about 5 groups.  A 5 group is a set of 5.  We use 5 groups to help represent number 6-10.  For example:

6 is 5 and 1 more

7 is 5 and 2 more

8 is 5 and 3 more

Another way we learned about 5 groups was through a fun poem/rhyme.  Ask your child to show you this:

Toward the end of the week we began learning about number partners.  Number partners are 2 numbers that work together to make another number.  For example:

2 and 3 are number partners for 5

1 and 3 are number partners for 4.

Number partners for 5.

We also learned about Math Mountains.  This is a way for children to visualize breaking apart a number to see the partners inside.

Finally, we began looking at adding and subtracting patterns.  We noticed what happens to numbers when 0, 1, and 2 are added to them. 

We also helped Puzzled Penguin solve his problem!  We help Puzzled Penguin by teaching him our strategies!

Please be sure to look for the family letters that will be sent home on Monday.  These will go over all of the lessons and homework for the week :)

I hope you all had a great fall weekeend :)

Love, 

Mrs. Hogue

Parent Orientation Information

We went over the first grade curriculum and what you can expect for your child this year in literacy, math, and science.  If you ever have any specific questions please feel free to ask!

Our district, along with most in the state, have adopted the Common Core State Standards.  I suggest taking a look at these standards to gain a full understanding of what your child will be learning this year.  Please visit:

 http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards

Here, you can choose Math or English Language Arts and look at the standards for 1st grade. 

Classroom Information  

Snacks- We have snack in the afternoons.  Please try to send a healthy snack with your child.  Fruit, crackers, and veggies are great snacks for first graders!  I do not keep any extra snacks on hand.

Birthdays-  we will celebrate birthday in first grade in little ways throughout our day!  Birthday treats are not expected, but if you would like to send one please be sure to send enough for 20 students.  Please be sure the treats are peanut free!  Also, please be sure to send in any silverware or napkins!

(As stated in the student handbook, birthday invitations are not to be handed out at school.)

Homework- 1st graders will typically have about 30 minutes of homework a night which includes 20 minutes of reading.  Your child should have started bringing home a math homework sheet which should be completed and checked by an adult each night.  

Beginning in mid-October your child will also begin bringing home a book briefcase.  The book that will be in the briefcase will be a book from your child's Just Right book bin.  This is a book that should be at your child's independent reading level.  Your child will have read this book several times throughout the week, so the book should not be difficult or challenging for your child.  This is a way for your child to continue building fluency and celebrate his/her reading.  I will include more information about this procedure when the book briefcase is sent home for the first time.

Library Books- Our library day is on Friday.  Please send library books to school that day.  

I am here to answer and questions or concerns that you may have!  I am looking forward to a great year!  Thank you for all you do to help your child be successful :)