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! 

A glimpse of our Friday Morning Dance Party...

This week in First grade...

Sept. 5-9

We had a great second week of school! The children are getting accustomed to procedures and expectations as we review them each day. Thank you for being on time in the morning and for sending the Daily Folders and the Tuesday folders promptly. I appreciate all your help and support. As a friendly reminder, please continue sending a healthy snack each day.

I enjoyed the children's presentation about "Special Me" bag.  We had so much fun learning about one another, our favorite sports, toys, families, friends and pets!  Each one of us special in a different way.  We closed our presentations with this thought: We are so much alike, but we have differences too.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

Parent Information Night is on Thursday, September 8th at 6:30(location: our classroom, 307) followed by PTA meeting at 7:00. Please refer to Kathy Caraway website for more details. This is a Parents Only Event. I would appreciate your effort in making sure that at least one parent for each child would attend this meeting. I will cover lots of important information regarding your child's year in first grade. 

This Week:
Monday: Labor Day- No school
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please sign and return the folders the next day.

Thursday: Sept. 8th: Parent Information Night 6:30-7:00 pm in our classroom.  (Room 306)
Friday, Sept. 9: Grandparents Day Luncheon 

 Here is what we will be doing next week:

READING
We have started learning 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 will discuss how to choose a "good-fit" or "just right book".  These are the books that have only a few unknown words on each page. We can read them with fluency and ease. As we teach comprehension skills, it is 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 learn how to choose books from our classroom library and our Leveled Library. We will talk about the importance of respecting everyone's reading time and using kind reminders when we are being disturbed.

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 interrupt 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 toward their own personal writing goals.


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).  We will practice showing the numbers 0-20 as numerals, words, tally marks, groups of tens and left over ones (using ten frames), or different dots arrangements.  We will compare the teen numbers and apply our knowledge in problem solving activities. 


HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING AT HOME?
Provide some counters such as beans, pasta pieces, pennies, buttons or anything similar for your child and have them count the items.  Your child will probably start counting by ones first.  Some children may count by 2's.  After that have your child record the number on a paper.  Let's say, your child counted 14 beans.  Ask your child, how many groups of 10 can you make with these beans? How many left overs do you have? let your child see that there is one group of 10 and 4 left over.  Ask: Is 14 greater than 13 or less? Show how you can take off one bean and now there are 13 beans.  So 13 is less then 14.  Practice with different numbers and counters and make this as fun as possible.

SCIENCE

This week in Science we will explore and discuss what scientists do. The students will be introduced to science journals and we will discuss the importance of using our senses to observe and record 
our scientific observations in our science journals. We will learn about science safety, and some tools in science that could help us to extend and protect our senses such as hand lenses, stethoscope, goggles, ear plugs, mask, and gloves.

I hope you had a fabulous long weekend with your family! The Caballeros celebrated our oldest daughter's 9th birthday! We ate at her favorite restaurant, went to a movie and had an ice cream date with her cousin!