This week in First grade...

Aug 31-Sept. 4

Welcome to our weekly update on the Blog!  My overall goal for the blog is to have the students write it each week!  Hopefully we can start that in a few weeks!  For now we are learning procedures and expectations! I was so impressed with how quickly they caught on to our morning routine!  This week will be 5 whole days so they will be super tired by Friday!  

Thanks for sending the "Me Bags" in.  The students enjoyed learning about each other and I enjoyed learning something new about each of them!

This year we are going to include " Growth Mindset" lessons in our daily activities.  We want the children to understand and believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. This mindset, creates a love of learning that is essential for great achievements.  Last week we learned that there are things we can do very well and things that we may not be able to do YET, but we know with motivation and hard work, we will be able to accomplish anything.  We are learning to change our words in order to change our mindset.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
Monday, Sept. 14th: Parent Information Night 6:30 pm in our classroom.  (Room 306)
Hope to see you all then!
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home.  Please sign and return the folders the next day.
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: P.E. days.  Please have your child wear tennis shoes.

This week:

READING

We will learn how to read independently to ourselves for a few minutes at a time. Each day we read for a little longer period to build up our stamina. We will learn that strong readers read every day. A picture is worth a thousand words and we can read the pictures as well and retell the story through pictures.  We will talk about our favorite reading memory, when reading felt so good to us.  The children will practice using the classroom library correctly and responsibly.

WRITING

We will begin our first lesson: Introducing the writing tools (papers, pencils, markers and crayons, tape, glue, scissors), and resources such as the alphabet charts, first grade words,  and the prints around the classroom. . I will first model how to brainstorm, sketch, and write about my story, something that I know and care about. The children will then begin writing a true story about themselves, something that they have experienced and has happened to them. On Friday we will try out an app called Educreations for write a story on our iPad.  

Word Work: 

We will think about finding patterns in words so we can spell more words! We will remember that letters are written in upper case and lower case.  We will also review a few of our kindergarten sight words as we engage in Word Wall Wednesday. 
MATH:

This week in math we will explore numbers.  Numbers represent different and specific quantities.  We will think about things that we can count and different ways that we can find the answer to the question, "How many?"At this age some children count individually and some can count by 5 or 10's.  If asked to show 6, some children count one by one and some can show 6 in one move. Our goal this week and forward is to push children to use the benchmarks of 5 and 10 to determine the total amount vs. counting one by one.  We will work on recognizing instantly the quantity of structured arrangements.  I am especially excited to get engaged with our interactive white board.  It is up and running and will be great for our math lessons this week!

SOCIAL STUDIES:

This week we will be discussing rules, and laws at school, home and in our community. What is the difference between a rule and a law? Why do we need rules and laws? We will discuss the characteristics of good citizenship at school.  We will also identify the leaders/authority figures at school, home, and in our community. We are going to use an app called Quiver this week after we illustrate what a good citizen  might look like in a community. We will draw on a paper called "The Dot" then we will use the app to make our picture come alive (4D)!  I think this will be a huge hit! Students will get a chance to "tell a story" with their picture while they use their iPads.

SCIENCE:

In science we will learn about who a "scientist" is and why do we need to learn about science? Science helps us understand the world around us.  Scientists ask questions, make observations, record data, and communicate their thoughts.  We will learn how to follow safety procedures during investigations in order to keep people safe and healthy.

Thank you for sharing your little people with me!

Welcome to First Grade!

Please fill out the following form for your child!

The Last week in First grade!

June 1-5

Wow!  This year has flown by! Thank you for sharing your children with me this year.  We've done a ton of learning and living together in this classroom!  We learned to be patient with each other and listen to everyone!  

REMINDERS

Monday: First grade award assembly 8-9
Tuesday: Tuesday folders will come home- Please keep it at home!
Thursday: End of the year Party- Parents are welcome! 10:30-12:30 Lunch afterward!
Friday: Last day of school.  Report cards will be sent home.


THIS SUMMER
Research has proved that students almost forget seventy percent of what they have learned over the summer.  We worked hard this year and it would be the best if the children continue to practice during the summer in order to have a good start to second grade. Here are some suggestions for reading, writing and math.

SUMMER READING

Public Library

Visit the public library regularly over the summer to check out  books that your child are interested in. Please make this as a regular schedule at least once a week so that your child will always have plenty of good books to read.

MakinVIA 

You can access this website through our school website.
http://www.mackinvia.com

Caraway Elementary
User ID: Letter "s" and the 6 digit student Id number
Password: Via

RAZ Kids
You can access this through our class blog. 
username was sent home a few months ago.  If you don't remember it, please let me know. In Razkids, each book comes with a set of reading comprehension quizzes.  Please be sure your child take those quizzes before moving to the next book. 


Bookflix, Tumble books, Pebble Go
Please check your child's daily folder for login information for these resources. Your child can access all these resources during the summer and read a variety of fiction and non-fiction books.

SUMMER WRITING

This week the children will bring a summer journal home.  Please encourage your child to write for 10-15 minutes each day. They could write small moments (personal narratives), poetry, non-fiction/true facts, stories, or just about all the fun and adventures they have during the summer. When writing, please go over the writing conventions such as starting sentences with capital letters, putting correct punctuation at the end, and leaving spaces between the words.  The 100 first grade sight words must be spelled correctly and a copy is attached to the summer journal.  You can also find a copy in the daily folder. 

MATH
To review and sharpen some of the math skills we learned this year, I would recommend a math activity book called "180 days in math", for first grade or second grade if your child is more advanced. This book can be purchased at Barnes and Noble or on line. Please refer to your child's math journal for ideas regarding math word problems.  The math journals will be sent home on Monday.

IXL math: Please have your child continue working on IXL math over the summer. You will need to access the site through school website. The login information were sent home at the beginning of the year.  I also send their laminated computer lab cards home on Friday.  Please let me know if you have trouble logging in.


 In addition, please set aside time for playing board games, going to the park, swimming, bike riding, helping with chores around the house, and some fun play date times.  Enjoy your time as a family! I can't wait to see everyone next year in the halls!