"Peek at the Weeks" October 3-7 & 10-14

We have had a busy past two weeks together!  First graders are really settling into the routine of first grade.

Writer's Workshop

Much of the work we do in first grade focuses on the writing process.  We want children to develop their craft, plan and organize stories, and experiment with different ideas throughout their writing. Editing and revising is taught to be an ongoing part of the writing process, not just something authors do at the end.

As we wrapped up our second small moment bend on 'bringing our stories to life' we spent a few days focusing on revising by pulling out several finished pieces.  We spent time rereading these stories and working closly with our writing partners.  We checked for captial letters, punctuaion, word wall words, and spelling.  

We enjoyed sharing our final piece with our partner!

Last week we began studying the work of George McClements.  He wrote our beloved story "Night of the Veggie Monster".  George took an 'ordinary' story of having to eat peas for dinner and made it really interesting (and really funny!).  We took some time to notice the different things he included to make his writing so facinating. 

It wasn't hard to identify the different featuress he used in his writing.  We gathered back and discussed our findings.  Then, we decided we wanted to try these things out too!  We tried adding these features to our writing:

-using exact details

-POP out words

-dot, dot, dot

- speech bubbles

First graders are excited to share these stories with you at conferences!

Reader's Workshop

We continued learning the good habits first grader readers build.  We learned that strong readers:

-reread to smooth out their voice

-scoop up words in phrases (rather than pointing word by word)

-reread to SEE more in their books

We also learned that sometimes as we try and build good habits we might pick up some bad habits.  We talked about how sometimes readers mumble over hard words, or ask for help before trying to solve first.  We want to become independent readers, so we have to push ourselves to stay focused and use the strategies we have learned to tackle tricky words!

Last week we started learning more strategies for tackling tricky words.  One of the most 'common' strategies parents and kids attempt first is "Sound it out".  We talked, however, that this strategy won't work very well in first grade!!  Most of our words are longer and don't follow 'normal' letter sound patterns.  We HAVE to try out other strategies!  This week we learned that strong readers:

-use the picture

-take a sneak peek to think about not only how the story will go, but also what words might be in the story

-look at ALL parts of the word

-use MEANING to figure out tricky words (does it make sense?)

Please encouage your young readers to try out some of these strategies at home :)

We also added listening to reading to our Reader's Workshop block.

Math Workshop

We continued our focus on number partners.  We focused on partners of 6-10. We explored switching the partners, breaking a total into 2 partners, and using 10 frames to identify partners of 10.

On Friday we took our first math test!  I am going to hold on to these and give them to you at conferences.  

Word Work

We kicked off October by enjoying our new poem and sipping on some warm soup :)

We added 10 new words to our word wall:

do

he

see

at

up

and 

it

we

so 

in

We had fun practicing these words in different ways!

Next week will will add 5 more words for a total of 25.  I will be doing checks throughout the week and sharing at conferences the words your child has mastered reading and writing :)

I am looking forward to meeting with many of you this Thursday and the rest next week during conferences.  

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

"Peek at the Week" September 26-30

We kicked off our week with a FUN field trip to the Retzer Nature Center.  We couldn't have lucked out with a better day to enjoy a fall nature walk.  We looked for seeds, leaves, and nuts on our walk.

Here is a peek at the rest of our week!

Writer's Workshop

This week we learned how writers bring their stories to life.  We learned that authors bring their characters 'to life' by making them move and talk.  We all agreed it is MUCH more interesting to read stories that have characters DOING SOMETHING, not just staying 'flat'.  We worked hard to try to make our characters come to life in our own stories.

 We also learned it is helpful for authors to 'act out' their stories to their writing partner.  This helps us make sure we are including all the little details and feelings our characters may have.

Reader's Workshop

This week we kicked off Building Good Reading Habits.  We are learning that 1st grade readers have BIG jobs to do!  We are learning strategies to help us reading longer, harder books!  This week we learned:

Readers get their minds warmed up by taking a 'sneak peek.'

Readers do SOMETHING at the end of a book.

Readers get stronger by reading MORE and MORE.

Readers keep track of their reading.

We each made a special reading mat to keep in our book bins.  This helps us plan out our reading and helps us set goals.  Each day we have to make our reading plan by stacking our books in the order we want to read them.  Some of us like to start read to self with easier books to 'warm up' while others like to start with hard books because we have more stamina at the beginning. 

We also spent time reading with our reading partners this week!  Partners work together to read and talk about books!

Math Workshop

We started our lessons from Math Expressions. This week we learned how to visualize and represent numbers 1-10 and learned about number partners!

We practiced identifying the 5-group in the numbers 5-10. We can name these numbers as '5 and some more'. For example, the number 7 is '5 and 2 more'. 

We also practiced identifying number partners by making math mountains. We will use math mountains to help us add and subtract throughout the year!

Word Work

We added 5 new words to our word wall:

like, my, me, go, on

We also had some new kings and queens1

Important Dates

10/5 - Early Release 

10/5 - Picture Day (1-4 grade)

10/12 - No School

10/20, 10/26, 10,27 Conferences

"Peek at the Week" September 19-23

We had another great week in first grade!  Here is what we did!

Writer's Workshop

We wrapped up our first bend in small moment writing!  We spent time revising one piece.  We used RED pens to REVISE.  First graders looked to fix up capital letters, punctuation, and spelling. Revising is a lot of work!  

We shared our revised story in a 'story museum'.  We enjoyed reading each other's small moment stories!

Reader's Workshop

We reviewed Reading Superpowers many of us learned as K5 friends!  It is important for readers to use their powers when reading just right books!

We practiced using the Super Power of Snap Words (word wall words) to help us read our books.  We noticed that many snap words are even hidden inside longer words.  Below you will see a story with a lot of words, but look how many are snap words!  Our power of snap words helps us read most of the words on the page!

Next we looked at the power of blends.  We reviewed our blend chart and worked hard to notice blends as we read.

We also learned quickly that super readers often use many powers at once!  Below we used the power of blends AND the power of snap words.  Look how many words we figured out!

 Finally, we learned that super readers read through the WHOLE word and notice endings.  We found the word 'look' on many pages, but sometimes it had an -ing ending, and other times it had an -s ending.  Noticing endings helps us make better sense of the story!

We are now ready to start bringing home 'just right' books to read each night!  Please look for book briefcases to come home tomorrow!  There will be a reading log inside your child's book briefcase that is his/her responsibility to fill out :)  First graders are encouraged to reread books over and over again.  You may see a book come home more than once, and that is OK!  Your child will book shop once a week to exchange books.  

Math Workshop

This week we reviewed number writing/formation using our Handwriting Without Tears language.  We also had fun playing math centers we have learned this year.  I was able to give all children our beginning of the year math assessment which will help drive my small group instruction.  

We will begin lessons from Math Expressions on Tuesday (9/27).  The math 'homework' packet will also come home this day.  Please remember these pages are OPTIONAL and do not need to be returned to school.  Please don't complete more than 3 a week.

Word Work

We met some more kings and queens this week!

We also completed our social contract.  We made a list of 'rules' and expectations we agree to follow in our classroom.  

What a great and busy week!

If you have not returned your conference form please send it ASAP!  Preferred time slots are filling up fast!