This week in First grade...

Sept. 28- Oct. 2

What a week! I'm so grateful to Mr. Sparks for keeping our classroom rolling so the students could learn! I was so happy to see their sweet faces this morning instead of the boxes in my house!  The Caballeros are officially moved in and have about 7 boxes left in the house!  Now we can get back to school and concentrate on learning!  The boys and girls worked really hard last week even with our little hiccup with the technology in our classroom! We have individual pictures tomorrow!!  I placed a sticker on each child as a reminder.  If you plan on purchasing the pictures please do so by tomorrow (Tuesday).

Homework this week: We are learning about Count on Strategies.  Find an example of how you used a count on strategies at home.  An example might be when you are making dinner.  You start with 2 tablespoons of water and add 1 more (2+1=3).  You can take a picture, make a video or write it on paper! We will share our strategies on Friday during math!

IMPORTANT REMINDER

Monday: Tuesday: Individual student photos
Tuesday folders come home. Please return signed Tuesday folders every Wednesday morning.

Please make sure you check your child’s Daily Folder each night and initial the day to show me you saw the information.
Wednesday: Counselor Lesson with Mrs. Reyes

Thursday:

Friday:

Monday,October 12: Student Holiday

GROWTH MINDSET
This week in growth mindset, we are going to practice how to give each other constructive criticism.  What is the best thing to say to each other in order to improve each other's work? We will learn how to start with something positive, saying something nice about each other's work. Next, we'll say something that can be improved and then end our talk with something positive again.  " I really like how your picture and your words match in this story, you could add more words to make your story more interesting, you are such a great story teller!" 


This week:

 READING

This week we will work on a comprehension strategy; making predictions.  Reading is thinking.  As we start to read a story, we will look at the picture on the front cover, read the title and try to guess what the story is about based on the title and the picture.  When we read stories, we stop from time to time and predict what might happen next.  Sometimes our predictions are correct and sometimes they are not.  We will learn how to use all the clues in the story and things being said so far, to make the best prediction possible.

WRITING

We will continue writing stories about our lives.  This week we will learn how we can "zoom in" and write about a small moment in time with details.  Our job from here on is to discover those small moments in our lives.  A small moment happens over a few short seconds or minutes.  For example, it could be about a moment that I was riding my bike and I fell into a mud puddle and hurt my knee, or about a time that we were in the car, coming back home and we had to stop the car in the middle of the street, because a deer was standing there and wouldn't move.  We will learn how we can expand our small moment with details and write it over a few lines.  We will also use our fingers and tell our small moments across our hand so we can record the beginning, the middle and the end of our small moments.

MATH

We have been practicing how to use the number line/number track to find specific numbers and find out one more or one less.  This week, we will take that knowledge and apply it in addition. The strategies that we work on are "Count On Addition Strategies for Basic Facts". It is essential that all students are able to successfully calculate both mentally and with paper and pencil their basic facts. Count On strategies include Count On 1 (+1 facts), Count on 2 (+2 facts) and Count on 0 (+0 facts).  This week we will focus on Count On 0, count on 1 and turn around strategy.  If 12+1=13 then 1+12 is also 13.  We will apply this Count On strategies in problem solving.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We will continue learning about our state's symbols: The flag, Texas motto, Texas song, and the Alamo.

SCIENCE
In science we will continue learning about properties of objects.  We will also make some observations and see what happens when objects are heated or cooled. 

This week in First grade...

September 21-25

As I'm updating the blog this evening I realized that I did not send or post an update last week!  I'm so sorry for not updating everyone! I hope some of your questions were answered at Open House last Monday night.  I know many of you were unable to come so I'm going to post the Prezi here for your viewing pleasure!

This week we will be a fun week for the Cowpokes!  They will have a substitute Tuesday through Friday this week.  The Caballeros are closing on our new home and moving in.  I'm just an email away so please don't hesitate to send your questions.  Mr. Sparks will be teaching the students this week.  They had the opportunity to see him last Friday during PE when he was subbing for Coach Cavazos!

IMPORTANT REMINDER
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please return signed Tuesday folders every Wednesday morning.

Please make sure you check your child’s Daily Folder each night and initial the day to show me you saw the information.

*We will have Library this Tuesday.  Please return all Library books by Tuesday at 8:00am.Wednesday: Early Release Day- Dismissal is at 12:45


GROWTH MINDSET

We will continue to instill the attitude of "perseverance, embracing challenges, and giving our best effort", in our daily activities.  When something is a little more challenging, the children naturally say, "I can't do this".  We want the children to change their thinking and mindset: "I can't do this YET, but I will try and give my best effort, until I can".  Please help your child to change their mindset.  Use the same language at home when they feel defeated by modeling it yourself.

 Here is what we will be doing next week:

READING
This week we will learn about fiction and elements of fiction.  We will learn about 

the setting; the place and time where the story takes place, the main characters; the important people or animals that do or say important things in the stories, and the plot which is a series of important events in the stories.  We will learn that just like the stories we write, fictions have also a beginning, middle and ending.  We will also discuss the author's purpose in writing fiction.

WRITING

We will continue working on our stories.  The children have done a great job illustrating and writing about some real events in their lives.  This week, they will practice planning their stories across their hand using the first finger to tell the beginning and the next finger to tell the next event.  This will allow children tell their stories with a beginning, middle, and ending.  We will continue to work on reading our stories to make sure they make sense and check for capitals, periods, and sight words.

MATH

This week in math we will review some of the concepts that we learned earlier this year in order to make sure the children have a strong foundation before moving on to count on addition.  We will work on reciting numbers forward and backward from 1-20, skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's and tell or record instantly the number of dots or other pictures that are in various structured arrangements.  We will practice counting on strategies.  Counting on will allow us to count and recognize numbers faster.  It also allows us to do addition faster. For example, we will start from 5 and count 2 more and we know that's seven, instead of counting from 1 and going up to 7.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We will continue learning about our state and national patriotic symbols.  Last week we learned about the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, and the United States Flag.  This week we will learn about our state's flag, Texas motto, and the Alamo.

SCIENCE
In science we will continue learning about properties of objects.  We will also make some observations and see what happens when objects are heated or cooled.

This week in First grade...

Sept. 8-11

Our students had some really awesome learning happen last week!  I'm excited to see what this week will hold!  They will have some awesome things to show off at Open House on September 14th.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Sept 14th: Parent Information Night is on Monday, September 14th at 6:30 (location: our classroom, 306) followed by PTA meeting at 7:00. Please refer to the Kathy Caraway website for more details.

Please return signed Tuesday folders every Wednesday morning.

Please make sure you check your child’s Daily Folder each night and initial it.

Sept 23: Early Release

Sept 22-25: Mrs. Caballero will be out and Mr. Sparks will be my sub.

READING

We have started to learn about the procedures of reading workshop.   Reading brings joy to our lives and in order to become strong readers we need to practice every day. Whether we are using the classroom library or the school library, we have discussed how to choose a "good-fit" or "just right book".  These are the books that have only a few unknown words in each page and we can read with fluency and ease. As we teach comprehension and thinking skills, it is also important that we can understand the book we are reading. 
This week we will continue to read independently for a little longer each day. We will also learn how to protect our classroom library by using the books carefully and responsibly. We will talk about the importance of respecting everyone's reading time and using kind reminders when we are being disturbed.  On Friday please have your child bring a stuffed animal to school!  The student's job will be to teach their stuffed animal all about Reading workshop and our first grade procedures! 


HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S READING AT HOME?
Please make sure your child has access to a variety of "just right books" at all times. Public libraries offer a great selection of leveled readers as well as easy-to-read chapter books.
Make the reading time a special time where you and your child can sit together comfortably.  Pick a time in the day that you know your child is not too tired to read. Maybe your child likes to read after school, or before bedtime.  You know when it is the best time.  Sit beside your child, turn off the TV and have your child read to you.  If your child is stuck on a word, read the word to your child quickly so she/he won't lose the flow.  It is also important that you read to your child every night.  Children need to hear the fluent reading with expression from a parent.  Do a picture walk together before reading.  As you read, stop periodically and see if your child has understood the story so far.  Read together, laugh together and make this special time, as joyful as possible!

WRITING

In writing, we will learn about two skills: One is the importance of illustrations in our stories and how to make our illustrations match our words. We will look at many different picture books and discuss how illustrations can enhance a story. The other skill is to say the words slowly (stretch the words), listening for the sounds, and writing down all the corresponding letters. Your child will have independent writing time where he/she will be conferencing with me and working on what has been taught so far.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING AT HOME?

Provide a writing journal at home.  Your child can decorate the front cover however she or he likes to.  Have your child think of a memory, a place that they have been before, a time they could remember, an activity that they did.  Something true that they have experienced.  It could be just a short ride in the car to HEB, when you both saw a deer on the street!
Have your child draw a picture of that memory first, and then add words to write about it.  When writing, remind your child to start the sentences with capital letters, put one finger space between the words, and end their sentences with a period or exclamation mark. Show excitement, encourage and celebrate every attempt! Share their writing with family members and friends! Let them see that they are real writers!

MATH
We will work on grouping items such as cubes and beans in groups of 10. With any given number, we will discuss how many groups of 10 we can make and how many items are leftover (meaning they are less than ten and can't be grouped as 10). While working with groups of tens and ones (the leftovers), we will discuss the placement of digits in numbers and how each digit has a different value based on its place in a number. We will compare the teen numbers and apply our knowledge in problem solving activities.

Homework for this week: Use sidewalk chalk and make a hopscotch using numbers from 1-10.  Together practice tossing an object on to a number, hopping to that number, pick up the object and hop back! Don't forget to count while you hop.  Take turns doing this activity. Take a picture of yourself and your family playing hopscotch and post it in the comments section of the blog. 

Our "homework" this year is going to be more "out of the box".  Homework will focus on an academic skill while incorporating collaboration with family members and physical activity!  I read an article this morning about young children and a decline in "play".  While our little people are no longer pre-schoolers they are still young and need many different experiences to become  well rounded adults! 

SCIENCE

This week in Science we explored and discussed what scientists do. The students were introduced to science journals and we discussed the importance of recording scientific observations. We learned about science safety, how to ask questions about science, make predictions, record observations and data about investigations, and explain our thinking about what we have learned.  
Next week, we will learn how we use our five senses to explore the world around us. We will also learn about some tools in science that could help us to extend and protect our senses such as hand lenses, goggles, stethoscope, ear plugs, mask, and gloves.

SOCIAL STUDIES
In social studies we will learn about the leaders and authority figures in our community of school, city, state and country.  We will learn about the important jobs of our principal, mayor, governor and president.

Have a great week!