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