This week in First grade...

Thank you to everyone that helped their child bring coins to school to contribute to our Coins for Classroom drive.  We collected over $1,600 to help teachers and students affected by Hurricane Harvey!  That is awesome!

Reminders: 

Monday (9/25):  Daily folders come home.  Remember to send them back every day!

Tuesday (9/26): Tuesday folders will come home. Please unload and return on Wednesday.

Wednesday (9/27): Library check-out

Thursday (9/28):

Friday (9/29):  Have a fun, safe weekend!

This week in Writing Workshop...

We will begin learning how to write a small moment story.  A small moment story is a tiny part of an experience that is written in detail.  We will discuss how writers narrow their topic down to make our stories more interesting.  We will continue to think about how we can organize our stories so that it makes sense to the reader by using a beginning, middle and end.  Students will begin using capitalization at the beginning of a sentence and when using the pronoun 'I'.  Students will also begin to recognize when they should use end punctuation.  In science and social studies, we will record facts and observations in our various notebooks.

This week in Math...

We will begin learning how to solve addition problems using the count on strategy.  The count on strategy involves counting on 1, 2, or 3 from a given number.  We will use different tools to help us count on, such as a number track, various counters, and dimes and pennies.  We will apply the count on strategy in problem solving situations.  In this unit, we will also use the commutative property.  For example, if 3+4=7, then 4+3=7 as well.

You can help your child at home by having them practice counting on and counting backward from a given number.  Practice skip counting by 2's.  Let your child use household objects to build numbers up to 20.  A very important part of math in 1st Grade is learning to justify how a problem is solved.  Ask them to explain how they got to their answer and how they know it is correct.

This week in Reading Workshop...

We will begin thinking about different elements of fiction.  We will think about what makes a story fiction.  We will discuss the plot, setting and characters in a fiction story.  The students will learn how to retell a story, and learn that making connections to themselves, other texts, and events in the world around them can help them to understand the story better.  We will continue to respond orally during partner reading, and will continue to build stamina during independent reading time.  We will be meeting in small groups to discuss various reading strategies to increase accuracy, comprehension and fluency.

You can help your child at home by having them read to you or to themselves for 10-15 minutes per night and by reading to them.  This can be a very rewarding part of yours and your child's day.  Ask them to recall events from the story and to talk about the characters' feelings and actions.  Work on the 1st Grade sight word list.  You can find this list in the daily folder.  

This week in Social Studies...

 We will be learning about our great state of Texas!  We will read legends and other fiction books to help us learn about the different state symbols, such as the Bluebonnet, state flag, state pledge, Mockingbird and the Alamo.  This is one of my favorite units, as I get to apply my strong Texas accent when reading!  So much fun!

This week in Science...

We will continue to learn about Changes from Heat. We will focus on the question, What happens to different materials when they are heated?  We will observe ice as heat is applied, and then we will record our observations in our science notebook.  The students will continue to think like a scientist by asking questions, making predictions, and conducting age appropriate experiments in the classroom.  

Technology…

This past Thursday, we had our first turn with the laptops!  We will use the laptops to access Google Classroom and do fun activities! We learned how to find activities on the student page of the Caraway Website this time!

This week’s Life Skill is Common Sense! We will think about how we can use good judgement throughout each day.  We will discuss different scenarios and talk about how we would apply common sense when making choices.  Our Tribe Circle will focus on how we have used common sense throughout the week!

That's all for now! Have a great week!

Dates to Remember:

Oct 4th- International Bike and Walk to school Day

Oct 9th- No school for students -Parent Teacher conferences

Oct 10th- No school for students

Oct 19th- International Night

Oct 20th- Skate Night @ 6 pm

Oct 23-27^th- Red Ribbon Week

Nov 20-24^th- Thanksgiving Holiday

Dec 21^st- Last day of classes

Dec 22-Jan 8^th- Winter break

Jan 9^th- Students return to School

This week in First grade...

September 18-22

Wow! Can you believe last week was our first "full" week of school! It was busy so I'm sure your children were exhausted!  Now that we are fully involved in learning remember your children are working hard at school everyday! According to WebMD children 6-7 years old need between 10-11 hours of sleep.  So, if they are waking up at 6:30am bedtime needs to be around 7:30pm. This will help your child be refreshed and ready to learn each day!

Reminders:
Monday (9/18):
Tuesday (9/19): Tuesday folders will come home please sign (date and initial on the inside cover), unload and return them on Wednesday.
Wednesday (9/20): Library Lesson- children do not have to return books this week.
Thursday (9/21): Riata Round Up @ 5:30pm
Friday (9/22):

Looking forward:
October 4th- International Bike and Walk to school Day
October 9th- No school for students -Parent Teacher conferences
October 10th- No school for students
October 19th- International Night
October 20th- Skate Night

This week in Writing Workshop...
We will begin learning about the writing process.  The process involves planning a story, sketching our ideas, writing words to match.  We already know that a writer's work is never done.  When we think we are done we can go back to reread our story as we add to the words and add to the pictures.  We will begin the discussion on publishing our pieces as well.  It's going to be an exciting week for our young writers.

This week in Math...
We will continue with Problem Solving.  We will learn the routines we use as problem solvers so we can become more independent and use the strategies we learn to solve problems.

We will include practice with comparing and ordering numbers this week as well.  We will wrap up our week with data collection and learning about Picture and Bar Graphs.

This week in Word Work...
We have been learning word work procedures for the last two weeks.  We learned how to ninja cut a word sort, how to sort it into groups that are the same, how to sort in a different way and how to glue the sort into our notebook.  This week we will practice our routine more independently with a beginning sound sort.  This week I will begin the Words their Way assessment with the students in small groups.  This data will help me learn more about how your child phonetically spells words.

This week in Reading Workshop...
We will begin thinking about what readers do as they read.  We will practice getting our minds ready for reading, taking a walk through the pictures and activating our prior knowledge.  All of these strategies will help our young readers comprehend the stories they read and form a deeper love of reading!
I'm still looking for a few more parents to come in a read on a weekly basis.  This routine is the same as in Kindergarden.  If the times I listed on the sign up don't work for you I am more than happy to work out a new time! It would be wonderful to get 4 parents involved in reading with the kids weekly!

Here's the sign-up!

This week in Social Studies...
We will continue our PBL project, Coins for Classrooms.  This is when we will get into the "meat" of the project.  We will discuss the reasons why we help others and how we can help.  We will research and learn about hurricanes, coins and helping others.  We will continue to collect coins in the mornings.  If your child can help please sign them up! If they come to the classroom in the morning I can get them situated at our collection point.

Here's the link to Coins for Classrooms

This week in Science...
We will begin unit 3 in Science this week.  We will learn about Changes from Heat. We will focus on the question, What happens to different materials when they are heated?  We will observe what happens to crayons when they are heated.  We will also observe what happens to drink mix (kool-aid) when we remove heat by putting them in the freezer.  This will be an edible experiment.  Please let me know if you would prefer that your child not eat the homemade Popsicle.

Technology...
On Friday we had our first day with the iPads!  For the past two years I've had a class set of iPads in my classroom to ingrate technology into our learning everyday.  This year will be different for me but exciting for your children.  We will do many fun projects and learning activities with the iPads when we have them.  We started Friday with an App called My Story.  It's a great app that allows the children to write a story, illustrate it, record themselves reading it then share it with others.  We will be using this app during writing to create original pieces!

This weeks Life Skill is Caring! We will think about how we care for others through mutual respect and active listening! Our Appreciation Circle will focus on how we have cared for others this week!

Growth Mindset:
We will continue our thinking on how to help our brains grow healthy and strong! This week we will explore The Mysterious World of Neurons! We will dive into the anatomy of our brains!
Last week we watched Episode 3 of Class Dojo Growth Mindset.  Here's the link to Katie Discovers the Incredible Power of YET!

That's all for now! Have a great week!

This week in First grade...

September 11-15

This will be our 4th week of First grade! I can hardly believe it!  We've been working so hard on following our 4 agreements and learning to be a cooperative group of students!

First grade will begin our first Project Based Learning activity! We want to help the people effected by Hurricane Harvey! We are going to hold a Coin Drive!  We will need your help! Please find a time to sign up with your child to collect coins.  Our collections will take place before school!

Please see the sign up below!

Coin Collection Sign up

Reminders:
Sunday, September 10th 3pm-5pm Sunday Funday- PTA fundraiser and social

Monday 9/11:
Tuesday 9/12: Tuesday folders will come home.  Please unload them and return on Wednesday.
Wednesday 9/13:
Thursday 9/14: Library Check-out.  Please remind your child to bring their library books.  We will check out every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month unless it's a holiday.
Friday 9/15:

This week in Reading Workshop...
We will learn all about Partner Reading (Read to Someone)! We will practice the right way to partner read.  We will talk about how partners plan when they read together.  We will discuss how partners learn to talk to each other about the books they are reading.  We will think about how partners have to cooperate and find ways to solve their problems when they read together.
This week we will be reading all about Symbols in our Community.  We will learn about symbols such as the American Flag, Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty.  We will discuss why these symbols are important to our country and their meanings.

This week in Writing Workshop...
We are building our stamina as writers! This week we will focus on writing in complete sentences so our stories make sense.  We will also discuss strategies to help us spell words we may not know how to spell.  We will think about how writers stretch out sounds and do their best to spell words that are hard! We will even discuss what to do when writer's have "hard to draw ideas".  Writing is hard work so we have to take small steps!

This week in Science...
We will continue to look at objects like scientists do! We will observe objects and describe their properties with our 5 senses.  We will discuss with our groups the properties that are the same and different.

This week in Math...
We've been building our number sense and exploring teen numbers.  Now we are going to order numbers from greatest to least and least to greatest.  We are also going to compare numbers using words like "less than" and "greater than".  We will add symbols in a later unit.  We will learn how to solve problems like mathematicians in First grade!

The Life Skill of the week is...
Integrity: To act according to a sense of what's right and wrong.

We will also continue our learning with Growth Mindset.  We've been watching short videos to give us examples of the ways our brain grows! "Watch it Wednesday" has been a hit and a great way to discuss having a growth mindset!

Here are the clips we've seen so far!

Have a great week!

This week in First grade...

September 5- 8

We had a great second week of First grade! We began learning all about our routines such as Read to Self, Word Work and Work on Writing (Writer's Workshop). All of this hard work made us feel so tired! We are happy that we had a three day weekend to recuperate!

Reminders:

Monday (9/4): No School- Labor Day
Tuesday (9/5): School begins at 7:40am!
                        Tuesday folders will come home! Please unload and return on Wednesday.
Wednesday (9/6):
Thursday (9/7): Parent Orientation Night
                          6:00pm-6:30pm K-2 orientation in classrooms
                          6:30pm-7:00pm PTA meeting- all invited Please sign up for a PTA membership!
                                                                                                                                     Only $7.50!
                          7:00pm-7:30pm 3-5 Orientation
Friday (9/8):


This week in Reading Workshop...
We will continue to build our stamina as readers as we read independently in our classroom.  As teachers we are completing beginning of the year assessments to share with you at conference time.  We will discuss Reading Conferences and how they work.  We will create expectations for this time and how we can be respectful of our classmates as they meet and discuss their reading with a teacher.  We will integrate our social studies skills during our Language art time.  This week we will focus on Citizens in our Community.  We will read and learn about our leaders such as our Principal, Mayor, Governor and President. We will discuss their jobs and how they are important to our community.

This week in Writing Workshop...
We will continue to build our writing stamina as we write stories about our experiences and continue to practice our writing routines.  We will learn that all writers think about their stories, sketch a picture then write words to match.  We will also practice stretching the sounds in words as we write them in our stories.

This week in Science...
We will begin our first unit study of Investigating our Materials. We will remember how scientists record their thoughts and observations.  We will complete an experiment and record our finding in our science notebooks just like real scientists! We will also observe objects and discuss their physical properties.

This week in Math...
We will continue building number sense.  We will begin to count objects and group them in ways that make sense to us.  We will count with patterns to help us count things quickly.  We will think about how numbers are made (10 beans is 10 or 12 beans is 10+2) as we make sense of place value.  We will practice counting real life objects and grouping them.  We will also begin solving math problems and remind ourselves about how we show our thinking on paper!

Our Life Skill of the week is EFFORT.  We will discuss how we use effort everyday!

Have a great 4 day week!