This week in First Grade...

December 12-15

We have made it halfway through First grade! Time sure does fly! We have so many fun things planned this week! I can't wait for the kiddos to come home and tell you all about it!

Monday (12/12): Menu Homework only this week!
Tuesday (12/13): Tuesday Folders will go home.  Please unload them and return them Wednesday.
Wednesday (12/14): First grade Celebrates Reading Day
Thursday (12/8): Winter Party 1:15pm-2:15pm
Friday (12/9): No School! See you on January 3rd!

Looking Ahead: 

Friday, January 6th: Fairy Tale Parade

This week in Reading Workshop...

We will begin reading Fables.  We will discuss the differences and similarities between Fairytales, Folktales and Fables.  We will learn that Fables usually are short, have animals as characters and have a moral.  We will read different Fables this week.

               First grade Fairy Tale Parade

First Grade will be having a Fairy Tale Parade on Friday, January 6th  at 8:30am to celebrate the end of our Fairy Tale Unit.  Please have your child come to school dressed as their favorite fairy tale character.  Your child may wear their costume over their clothes.  Please do not go out and buy a costume for your child.  You and your child can make a homemade mask and/or costume with items you have at home.  This should be fun….not stressful!

Also, if you can, please have your child’s snack reflect what he/she dressed up as.  For example, if your child is dressed as Snow White, send apple slices for her.  If he is dressed as the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, maybe send cookies with him. 

The parade will start at 8:30am and we will walk all around the school.  We would love for you to come and cheer us on!  

This week in Writer's Workshop...

We are going to wrap up our unit on Imaginary Stories.  The boys and girls have been hard at work writing stories.  We are working on revising our stories by adding describing words.  We are also editing our stories by making sure we have a capital letter at the beginning of our sentences and a period at the end. 

This week in Math...

We will explore graphing! We have some fun activities planned! We will collect data on some gingerbread men then graph our results.  We will also survey our friends on their favorite winter activity and make a graph to represent those results also! 

This week in Social Studies...

We will continue our study of cultures and celebrations around the world.  Last week we learned about Hanukkah, Christmas and Diwali.  This week we will travel the world and learn about their celebrations.  We will create a mini book to write about our learning of these traditions.

*If your family celebrates a special holiday that is not noted above please email me.  We want to learn all about the celebrations of the students in our class.

A note for Parent Helpers...

On Wednesday and Thursday the students will be rotating classrooms.  We will be in our own classroom until 8:30am.  You are still welcome to come but please feel free to take some extra time for yourself this week! 

This week in First grade...

December 5-9

We had a great time on our Field Trip last week! Make sure you check our Bloomz site to see a few pictures I posted.  My students were divided into six groups! We learned a lot about animals and had fun too!

Welcome to our new student Esha! We are happy to have you here at Caraway!

Reminders:
**Caraway Book Fair: Open Tuesday-Friday!**
Monday (12/5): Homework Folder (Book and a Menu) will come home.
Tuesday (12/6): We will go to the Book Fair today.  Children will be allowed to purchase.
                           Tuesday Folders will go home.  Please unload them and return them Wednesday.
Wednesday (12/7): Deadline to turn in the Science Fair Form
Thursday (12/8): International Festival 6pm-8pm
Friday (12/9): Return Homework Folder

Looking ahead...
12/15: Winter Party
12/16: Student Holiday

This week in Reading Workshop...
We had a lovely week reading Fairy Tales last week.  We learned the Elements of a Fairy Tale and we looked for them as we read different stories together.  This week we are excited to move on to Folktales.  We will discover the differences between Folktales and Fairytales. Fun Fact: Did you know that Fairytales are a type of Folktale? We will learn that Folktales have characters that are animals which act like humans, they teach a lesson or a moral and they do not have magic.

This week in Writer's Workshop...
We will wrap up our work on writing imaginative stories.  Most of the students have written a story with characters like themselves and a friend.  Then they added an element from our Fairy Tale list.  As writers we know that it's easiest to write about things we know.  It sure is fun to see how they put a little twist in their stories!

This week in Science and Social Studies...
We will wrap up our unit on Rocks and Soils this week.  Then we will move on to our Social Studies unit on Celebrations in our Community.  We will read and learn all about the different celebrations the boys and girls enjoy during the year.  I will be asking the students to give me more information about what holidays are special to them, then we will "travel" around the world to "visit" different countries and learn about their culture and traditions! This is a really fun unit for the students!

This week in Math...
We will continue our unit on Addition and Subtraction.  We will practice strategies to help us understand the basic idea of subtraction (Whole minus a part equals a part).  We will be problem solvers and work on solving word problems that have a part missing.  We will continue to relate subtraction to addition and use addition to help us solve subtraction problems.

**Science Fair**

I would like to encourage each student in my class to participate in the Science Fair.  I will have a Lunch Bunch with the students who participate so we can talk about their project! This is a fun incentive for kids!

There is an awesome resource that the kids can use to help them find a project that lays it out in a way that the kids can do them with little to no involvement from the parents. sciencebuddies.org

Things that are different this year with the science fair…

-Judging will occur during the school day - so kids do not have to hang out in shear boredom to be interviewed (if they choose to be have their project judged) 

-Scores will be tallied and kids will find out at Science Night who the winners are in an awards presentation. 

-Parents and Students will have the opportunity to see all the projects during Science Night

-If we have enough participation we would like to have the classes review portions of the projects and then award a KIDS choice winner (this is separate from the regular judging). 

The Deadline to turn in the Science Fair Form is Wednesday, December 7th.

This week in First grade...

November 28- December 2

Welcome back everyone! I was so happy to see the smiling faces of 20 little people this morning! We began journal writing this morning and I got to read all about the things each child did over the break! We have 14 school days until the next break! We have so many things to pack in to these days!

Reminders:
Monday (11/28): Homework is RAZ Kids reading this week!
Tuesday (11/29): Tuesday folders come home.  Please unload and return them on Wednesday.
Wednesday (11/30): Skate Night 6pm-8pm
Thursday (12/1): Field Trip to the Austin Nature Center
                            Family Art Night
Friday (12/2):

Looking Ahead:
December 5-9: Caraway Book Fair
12/8 International Fair
12/15 Winter Party Day
12/16 No school for Students

First Grade Field Trip

Where: Austin Nature Center

When: Thursday, December 1, 2016

Time: 10:30am-2:00pm

Please send a completely disposable lunch. We will be eating lunch as the Nature Center!

The students need to wear a Caraway Shirt.  They can also wear a blue or green shirt.

**If you would like to join us as a volunteer please let me know as soon as possible!**

This week in Reading Workshop...
We are beginning our unit on Fairy Tales! We will discuss the elements of a fairy tale such as they begin with "Once upon a time..." and end with "Happily Ever After!" We will discuss the characters, setting, problem/solution. This is such a fun unit! Our unit with culminate in our annual Fairy Tale Parade on Friday, January 6th.  More information will come home soon!

This week in Writer's Workshop...
We will explore how writers write about imaginary things too.  This morning we talked to a partner about the characters we might put in a story and where our story will take place.  We will continue develop our story ideas as we beginning our writing this week.

This week in Math...
We are exploring the relationship between addition and subtraction. We will begin learning how subtraction problems work and finding patterns to help us solve. We will solve word problems and add strategies to our problem solving tool box.  We will also share the strategies we use when solving problems so we can learn from each other.

This week in Science...
We are discovering and observing rocks and soils! We will discuss the properties of rocks, what rocks are used for and where we see rocks in the world around us.  We will learn about the different types of soils and what they are used for.

Have a great week!

This week in First grade

November 14-18

As we enter the holiday season I just want to tell you all how thankful I am for your support. These children are surrounded by loving and caring teachers both at school and at home. I thank you for supporting your children both as learners and citizens of our community. I am lucky to have such a sweet groups of students with such thoughtful parents.

Reminders
Monday: Spirit Assembly 7:45am (moved from last week)
Tuesday: Library Lesson day. No need to return books.
               Tuesday folders will come home. Please unload them and return them on Wednesday.
Wednesday: Thnaksgiving lunch in the cafeteria
Thursday:
Friday: Turkey Trot 10:30am-11:20am

This week in Reading and writing workshop...
We will be thinking like readers as we explore Thanksgving books to learn more about the First Thanksgiving. Then we will take what we know and have learned and make our own books about the First Thanksgiving.

This week in Social Studies...
We will be learning about inventors and how their ideas changed our community. We will explore Alexander Graham Bell, Garrett Morgan and Ben Franklin. These individuals used an open mindset to try new things and take risks. They succeeded after many tries and now we can thank them for the inventions they created.

This week in Math...
We will continue our work with place value. We will compose and decompose numbers up to 120. We will compare numbers in isolation, with concrete objects and in problem solving situations.

Have a great week!

This week in First grade...

November 7-11

I hope everyone had a fantastic week! I'm so excited to be back and ready for all kinds of new adventures! We only have two weeks together until Thanksgiving Break!

Reminders:

Monday: Spirit Assembly in the Cafeteria at 7:45am.
               Mock Election in the Library
Tuesday: Caraway is a Polling location for the Election.
               Tuesday folders will come home.  Please unload and return on Wednesday.
               Library Checkout- Please remind your child to turn in their books by 8am.
Wednesday:
Thursday: Coffee and Conversation with Mrs. Bailey 7:45am
Friday: Last Caraway Academy this session
             Picture Re-takes and Holiday pictures

Looking ahead...
Tuesday, November 14: Heritage Doll Project is Due
Wednesday November 16: Thanksgiving Lunch in the Cafeteria
Friday, November 17: Turkey Trot 10:35am

This week in Reading and Writing Workshop...
We will be learning more about nonfiction text.  We will be focusing on the Main Idea of nonfiction texts as we read and learn about Pumpkins.  We will also learn about the Pumpkin Life Cycle as we write facts about pumpkins that we learn while reading.  In Writing Workshop we will continue our interactive writing and create a class book about Pumpkins.  We will think about what we already know and write facts.  As we go through the week we will organize the facts and create our very own nonfiction book!

This week in Science...
We will be learning about forces with Magnets! We will predict how the magnets will work then we will explore different types of Magnets.  We will record our observations in our science notebooks as we learn about magnets.

This week in Math...
We will begin stretching our knowledge about Place Value this week.  We will practice with patterns on hundreds charts and magnetic tens frames so we can understand that the TENS place has groups of ten and the ONES place has single units.  Practice with the basic idea of place value by having your child count small objects out in groups of ten.  Then have then count how many groups are there and tell you the number they created. We will end the week with using Tens sticks and ones cubes as we compose and decompose numbers.

Have a great week!

This week in First grade...

October 24-28

Kathy Caraway Elementary is celebrating Red Ribbon Week

Monday: We are Red-y for Red Ribbon Week! (Come decked in RED!)

Tuesday: We have the POWER make Good Choices!!! (Wear Super Hero Shirts) 

Wednesday: Hats off for being Healthy!(Wear hats to school)

Thursday: It’s Crazy to do Drug!(Wear crazy socks)

Friday: Wake up healthy and strong! (wear pajamas to school)

We enjoyed Academies again last week! Hopefully you were able to order a Caraway Academy t-shirt to help support future Academies! Next up is Harvest Fest.  On November 5th Caraway PTA will host their annual Harvest Fest.  It's a great time for all! I hope to see you there. 

Next week, October 31-November 4 Mrs. Lieurance will be subbing for me.  The students are familiar with her.  Mrs. I will be there as well.  I will not be checking email regularly so if there is a change in your child's afternoon routine please write a note in their communication folder.  Mrs. I will check them every day.  

You can also send an email to Mrs. I (karen_icossipentarhos@roundrockisd.org)  if you need to.   As always feel free to call the office 464-5500 and they will get a message down to Mrs. Lieurance. 

Reminders

Monday: Reading Homework Bags will come home

Tuesday: Library Books are Due by 8am.

               Tuesday folders will come home. lease unload, review work and return        

                          Wednesday. 

Wednesday: Early Release at 12:00pm.  Skate Night

Thursday: 

Friday: Reading Homework Bags are Due

              Caraway Academy 7:45am-8:30am

I'm including information for the following week as well!

Monday (10/31): Reading Homework- RAZ Kids* more info below

Tuesday (11/1): No Library 

                          Tuesday Folders will come home.  Please unload, review work and return        

                          Wednesday.

Wednesday (11/2): 

Thursday (11/3):

Friday (11/4): Caraway Academy 7:45am-8:30am

Saturday (11/5): Harvest Festival 

This week in Reading Workshop...

We will begin learning about Expository Texts.  We will explore the differences between Fiction and Nonfiction texts.  Then we will examine nonfiction text features such as photographs as pictures, diagrams, headings and table of contents.  We will begin reading nonfiction texts in our small groups.  We will discuss nonfiction texts and the purpose for reading them, to learn. This week we will focus our learning on Bats.

Next week (10/31-11/4)...

We will continue our exploration of nonfiction texts and move on to other features such as the index, bold words and the glossary.  Nonfiction books help us learn new things.  We will also learn that you read nonfiction texts differently than fiction.  Nonfiction texts can be read a section at a time while fiction texts generally are read cover to cover.

This week in Writing Workshop...

We will wrap up our unit on Small Moments.  We have been hard at work thinking of ideas, writing stories, making them fancy then publishing them! Author's Chair on Friday we extra special because we had quite a few of our "published authors" share their stories.  This week we will begin thinking about writing comments on things we know a lot about.  We will generate a list of things we know about then choose one to write more about.  We will also focus some of our time on writing what we know about Bats before we read to find out more. 

Next week (10/31-11/4)...

We will continue writing about things we know a lot about.  This week we will focus our thinking and writing on Spiders.  We will write things we know about spiders so we can make a nonfiction book.  

**This week (10/31-11/4) for reading homework the students will log in to their RAZ Kids reading accounts and read from the leveled section of the website.  There is a RAZ Kids app.  The students use it at school also.  Their login information is taped to the inside cover of their communication log.  Please have your child read 3-5 stories and answer the questions to go with it.  They can listen to the stories after they have read aloud. 

This week in Math...

We will continue thinking about measurement as we move into telling time.  Students will be able to tell time to the hour by identifying the short hand as the hour hand and the long hand as the minute hand on an analog clock.  We will relate digital clocks to analog clocks and tell time with both.  

Next week (10/31-11/4)...

We will begin a new unit on Place Value.  We will identify numbers with two digits, tens and ones.  We will compose numbers with tens sticks and cubes as we form the ideas that each digit has a value.  We will practice with manipulatives with numbers up to 50.  We will apply what we learn about place value to problem solving strategies.

This week in Social Studies...

This is the last week for our Coins for Coats Drive.  It has been amazing to see the children hard at work counting the coins as they are collected.  We've raised over $200.00 so far!  One of our focuses is Selfless Giving.  We discuss how giving to others makes us feel like we've made a difference in our community.  We wrote letters last week to see if our parents can help us find some more coins at home!  

We will also learn about our community symbols as we study the US Symbols.  We will discuss their meaning and why symbols like the Liberty Bell are important to our nation's history.  We will also study our state's symbols such as the Texas Flag and the Alamo.  We will learn about our state's history and why we should be proud to be Texans.

Next week (10/31-11/4)...

We will begin a unit in Science on Forms of Energy. We will discuss what energy is and where it comes from.  We will make observations about energy inside our school building and outside.  We are excited to record our scientific knowledge in our Science Notebooks!

Have a great week! 

This week in First grade...

October 17-21

Our second week at Academies was fantastic! The students came back ready to share all of the new things they learned!


Reminders:
Monday: Reading Homework Bags will come home. Due Friday.  Optional Homework Menu will be in there as well.
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home.  Please unload and return Wednesday.
*Library Lesson- no check out.
Wednesday: Wear orange for Kindness- Unite against Bullying
Thursday:
Friday: Return reading bags.

A note from Mrs. Bailey...

Red Ribbon Week Poster Contest

Red Ribbon Week is celebrated across the United States each October. The goal is to reach millions of children with the vital message that a healthy mind requires healthy body and we pledge to stay healthy and stay away from all the destructive, harmful things that could hurt our bodies and our mind.This year’s Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated October 23-31.

We want to hear your message. All Caraway students are invited to help keep our school drug free by participating in our poster contest. This year’s Red Ribbon Week theme is Y.O.L.O (you only live once). Create a positive message on an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper that includes this year’s theme. There will be 12-16 students/grade level chosen to receive a special prize for participating in this year’s contest.

All entries are due October 21, 2016 by 8:00 a.m.. Please turn in your entry to the front office. Students will be notified the following week. We’ can’t wait to receive your entry!

Kathy Caraway Elementary

Student Essay/Poetry Contest

October 2016-Be Kind

The National Bullying Prevention Month campaign was founded in 2006 by PACER's National Center for Bullying Prevention. The campaign is held during the month of October and unites communities nationwide to educate and raise awareness of bullying prevention. Its mission is to transform a society that accepts bullying into a society that recognizes that bullying must – and can – be addressed through education and support.

The Caraway theme for the month of October is “Be Kind.” We are inviting all students to participate in an anti-bullying essay/poetry contest. The theme is “Be Kind.” Students are invited to submit an original poem with a message about being kind to others.

There will be 12-16 students/grade level chosen to receive a special prize for participating in this year’s contest.

All entries are due Friday, October 21st at 8:00 a.m.. Please turn in your entry to the front office. Students will be notified the following week. We’ can’t wait to receive your entry!

This week in Reading Workshop...

This week we will be focusing on how good readers retell a story! They can retell a story and add details from the beginning, middle and end in order.  They can add time words to retell.  They can also retell their story to a partner.

This week in Writer's Workshop...

We will continue writing about Small Moments.  We will learned that authors take a tiny piece of time and stretch it out by adding details and describing words.  Authors also remember that they are practicing good writing skills such as sketching an idea quickly then moving on to add the words.  

This week in Math...

We will begin our unit on Nonstandard Measurement.  We will be using pieces of string, paper clips and cubes to measure things around our room.  We will be able to describe object by their measurement. 

This week in Social Studies...

We will continue our Coins for Coats PBL project.  We will learn about wants versus needs as we examine the needs of others in our community.  We will also integrate the study of money and counting coins as we collect coins from the students!  Our drive begins Monday and will last until the 28th.  We can't wait to see what an impact our students will have on our community! Let the giving begin!

This week in First grade...

October 11-14

     Our first Sprit Assembly was last Monday.  We practiced singing our school song that was written by Mr. Touchet.  We sang Happy Birthday to all of our friends who have October birthdays.  Then we reviewed our 3 Owl Agreements. Be Safe. Be Respectful. Be Responsible.  We will have assemblies at the beginning of each month.
     Last Friday we went to our very first Caraway Academy.    The boys and girls came back to our classroom ready to share all that they learned at their Academy! We will have Academies for the next 5 weeks on Friday mornings.  I hope your child came home and told you all about it!

Reminders:
Monday: No School for Students.  Conference Day
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home.  Please sign them and return them on Wednesday.
               *We have Library this week. Please help your child remember to return their books.
Wednesday: 
Thursday: Science Night at 6:00pm
Friday: Caraway Academy 7:45am-8:30am

This week in Reading Workshop...
We will begin working in our small groups for reading.  In our classroom we call them Book Clubs.  This week I will discuss interests with the students and begin collecting materials for us to read together.  Your child will begin bringing one book home for reading Homework this week.  I will send a note with specific details about the expectations for Reading Homework.  The Reading Homework Bag will come home on the first day of the week and return to school on Friday. 

This week in Writer's Workshop...
We will begin to think about experiences we've had that take place within a small time frame.  A birthday party, taking the dog for a walk or going to the park are a few "Small Moments" that we will be writing about this week.  We will continue to use the writing process (sketch a picture, write words to match, make our story fancy) as we narrow our topics down and describe our experiences with detailed words. 

This week in Math...
We will be wrapping up our unit on Addition Strategies.  It is important that first graders begin to practice their math facts and solve them quickly without counting on their fingers.  We will continue to practice addition strategies and basic problem solving throughout the year.  As always, the objective for learning strategies is to become a more confident problem solver!

This week in Social Studies...
We will begin our Coins for Coats Project.  For this Project Based Learning (PBL) opportunity we are partnering with with Mrs. Letendre and the Student Council to raise money for a district wide philanthropy project.  More information will be coming soon!

Have a great week! 

This week in First grade...

October 3-7

      Wow! It's already October! On Monday we will have our first Spirit Assembly.  It will begin promptly at 7:40am (for K-2).  We will drop our backpacks off in the room and head down to the cafeteria.  This is going to be a great time for our school community as we share good news and celebrate our accomplishments!
     On Friday we will begin Caraway Academy.  This will also begin promptly at 7:40am.  We will drop our backpacks off and head to the classrooms where our academies are located.  There will be a note that will come home in the Tuesday folder for more information about Caraway Academy! We are all very excited to share our passions with students and help them develop their passions!
    This is going to be an amazing week at Caraway Elementary!

Reminders: 
Monday: K-2 Spirit Assembly 7:40am-8:00am
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home.  Please sign them and return them on Wednesday.
               *We do not have Library this week.
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday: Caraway Academy 7:40am-8:30am

*If you have not signed up for a conference please do so as the slots are filling up.  Email me if you have any questions.

This week in Writing Workshop...
     We will be reminded about all we have learned as writers so far this year.  We will review the steps of the writing process as we lead up to our Celebration on Friday.  Writers begin a story by sketching an idea, matching their words to their picture, then rereading our story to make sure it makes sense.  We also know that a writer's work is never done.  When we finish a story we can add to our picture, add to our words to make them fancy (revising and editing).  We will celebrate by sharing our stories at our very first Author's Chair Celebration!

This week in Reading Workshop...
    We will be thinking about how good readers make connections.  When we read a book we can think about how readers make a connection to something they know (text to self), something they've read (text to text) and/or something they've experienced (text to world).  "That reminds me of..."

This week in Social Studies...
    We will be exploring how the leaders in our community are good citizens.  We will discuss responsibilities of our community leaders from our school to our country.  We will also begin exploring our national symbols.  We will learn about the American Flag, what it represents and why it is so special to us.

This week in Math...
    We will continue our unit on addition.  We have learned to count on (5..6,7,8) when we add. We will learn that basic facts have things in common.  For example 5+4 = 9 so, when you turn it around 4+5 = 9 you know two facts just by thinking about what the problem has in common.  We call these facts Turnaround Facts.  Research shows that students who learn strategies to acquire basic fact knowledge will become better problem solvers! At home you can use concrete objects to add together such as beans or pieces of fruit or vegetables! "I see on your plate you have 5 peas and 3 carrots.  How many veggies do you have!" Try it at dinner some time this week.

Growth Mindset:
    We've been talking about our Fantastic Elastic Brains! We know that if we make a mistake it can help our brains grow! This week we will learn a little more about how our brains grow when we read The Fantastic Elastic Brain.

Have a great week!

This week in First grade...

Sept. 26- 30

IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Monday: 
Tuesday: Picture day! 

               Library Day- All library books are due at 8:00 AM
               Tuesday folders come home. Please return signed Tuesday folders on Wednesday.
Wednesday: Early Release Day.  Dismissal is at 12:00 PM.

Thursday: 
Friday: Optional Homework is due


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? How can we be kind yet help one another grow? We will learn how to start with something positive. Next, we'll say something that can be improved and then end our discussion 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 strategies that help us become a stronger reader. We will think about our reading "tool box" and how we already know things to do that will help us understand what we are reading!  We will think about using our fingers to track the words we are reading on a page.  We will remember that readers read pages from left to right.  We will practice sounding out words that may challenge us and using the pictures to give us clues!

WRITING

This week in Writer's Workshop we will begin the next stage of the writing process! We will begin to think about how writers make their stories "fancy".  We will add words to our story by rereading and adding details we may have forgotten.  We will call this revising.  Then we will add details to our pictures so our reader can see our whole story.  At the end of the week we will reflect on the stories we revised and begin talking about how writer's celebrate their stories.

MATH

We have using a number line/number track to find specific numbers and find one more or one less than a number.  This week, we will take that knowledge and apply it to addition. The strategies that we work on are called "Count On Addition Strategies for Basic Facts". It is essential that all students are able to successfully calculate basic facts mentally and with paper/pencil. Count On strategies include Count on 0 (+0 facts Count), On 1 (+1 facts), Count on 2 (+2 facts).  This week we will focus on Count On 0, define 0 on the number line, and make count-on 0 equations.  We will use the count on 0 strategy to 20.  We will learn that we can use this strategy to add numbers and add coins as well.

SCIENCES

This week we will be continuing our discussion on physical changes to matter.  We learned this past week, that adding heat and removing heat cause materials to change. We will be doing more experiments this week to observe those changes first hand!

Thank you to everyone who came in for our first week of volunteering! The students loved reading to you in the hallway and sharing their stories with you! We look forward to another great week! 

This week in First grade...

Sept. 19-23

We are rockin' and rollin' in first grade! One thing I wanted to highlight this week is the positive behavior recognition system in our classroom.  Brag Tags highlight all of the wonderful things individual students are doing in our classroom.  Every child has a key chain on their backpack. A few are choosing to keep their brag tags in another safe spot.  When the students are following our classroom and school expectations as well as setting a wonderful example for others, I celebrate their accomplishments by awarding them a brag tag! I hope your child has come home and talked about their brag tags!  
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Monday: This week we will start Reading Assessments

Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please sign the folders and return the next day.

               No library check out this week- You may still keep the books for one more week.
Wednesday: 

Thursday: 
Friday: Optional Homework Due

GROWTH MINDSET
We will continue to instill the character traits of "perseverance, embracing challenges, and giving our best effort", in our daily activities.  When something is a little more challenging, the children naturally say, " This is too hard, I can't do this".  We want the children to change their thinking and mindset: "I can't do this YET, but I will keep trying and give my best effort, until I can".  

 Here is what we will be doing this week:


READING

This week in reading we will learn how strong readers get their minds ready before they start reading a book. Strong readers look at the title and the front cover of the book before reading it to predict what the book or story might be about.  Readers also take a book walk/picture walk to get an idea of the story. They will activate their prior knowledge by making a connection between things that they already know or have read and the new information in the book.  All these will help readers to have a better understanding of the book they are reading.

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 think of additional ways to get ideas.  We will think about our writing lives.  We will also reflect on our writing and think about ways we will become stronger writers. We are working toward learning the writing process.  We will plan, draft, revise and publish in the weeks to come.  

MATH
This week we will work on counting patterns. Counting by 2's starting from 1 (1, 3, 5, ...), or 2( 2, 4, 6, ...)to 20, as well as to 100.  We will use different tools such as a number track, a  number line, or a hundred chart to look at any given number and find out one more/one less  (more or less to 100). We will use 5 as a bench mark to count and add on.  For example if we see 5 dots and 4 dots on a domino, we know automatically the total is 9, since we use 5 as a benchmark and we count up from 5: 5-6-7-8-9. We will work on math problem solving that involves addition using counting by 2's strategies.

SOCIAL STUDIES
September 17 is Constitution Day.  We will review and discuss the importance of rules in our homes, schools, and communities and define the constitution as a set of rules for our country and states. We will travel back in time to learn why the Founding Fathers of the Unites States wrote the Constitution.

This week in First grade...

Sept. 12-16

Wow! Last week we reached 100% staff participation in PTA memberships! That's why we will all be wearing jeans for the month of September.  Join us in supporting our amazing PTA by joining! Here's the link to complete your membership online. 

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Monday: 

Tuesday: Mrs. Caballero will be at a workshop.  Mrs. Lieurance will be teaching my class.
Tuesday folders come home. Please sign the folders and return the next day.

*We have Library this week.  Please help your child remember to return their books. 
Wednesday: 

Thursday: 

Friday: 

GROWTH MINDSET
We have been working on how to stay positive and never say, "I can't", but rather, "I can't, YET".  This week we will think about what can happen when we keep trying.  Perseverance is an important character trait.  We will learn about a Penguin who was bound and determined to fly and a little boy named Austin who kept trying until he succeeded.  There are many individuals in history that we will learn about as well!

 Here is what we will be doing this week:

READING

This week in reading we will practice “read to someone”.  Read to someone will help us to become a stronger reader, practice our fluency and enjoy reading.  We will learn how to sit closely to our reading partner, so our elbows and knees touch. This close proximity will allow us to read with a quiet voice so only our reading partner can hear us.  It would also allow both of us to see the words and the pictures. We will learn how reading partners take turns choosing a book to read and how we can take turns reading a paragraph or page of the book.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING AT HOME?
The Spicewood Springs public library has a variety of "I read, you read" books, where there is a harder paragraph for the parent to read and an easier one for the child to read. But you can practice partner reading with almost any book.  Choose one your child is interested in and take turns reading!

WRITING

This week in 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.  We will learn how to write in complete sentences.  A complete sentence is a complete thought that tells who or what the sentence is about and what happened. It starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark.  We will also learn how to use our word wall list to spell the first grade sight words correctly.  Some other skills that we will be working on this week include saying the words slowly in order to hear the beginning, the middle and the ending sounds in each word as well as trying hard to spell words.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING AT HOME?
Please encourage your child to form the letters correctly. When writing the letters of alphabet, we always start from the top to the bottom.  Some children have the habit of forming the letters from the bottom to the top and this will affect their handwriting as well as speed in writing.  When writing their names, please encourage your child to practice writing his/her names neatly starting with a capital letter and then lowercase letters for the rest.  I will send handwriting paper home at conference time.  

MATH
This week we will continue working on teen numbers, comparing teen numbers and ordering them from the least quantity to the most quantity.  We will work with dimes and pennies since dimes represent a group of 10 pennies and could represent a ten frame or a ten stick and pennies represent ones. We will compose and decompose numbers up to 20 as so many tens and so many ones.  We will apply our knowledge of teen numbers and comparison in math word problem solving.  

SCIENCE
In science we will learn about the properties of objects.  We will learn that we can use our five senses such as sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste to observe and explore objects around us.  Properties are characteristics of objects.  These characteristics include color, texture, size, mass and shape. We will use some science tools such as hand lenses/magnifying glass to observe the properties of objects closely.

This week could be a little wet so keep your eye on the weather!