This week in First grade...

Nov 17-21

Only 5 more days of our routine before we all get a break!  I know your little people are looking forward to some school-free days!

THE PILGRIM DOLL PROJECT

The Pilgrim Doll project is due on Wednesday, November 19th.  Please feel free to send the dolls back if you are done with it already.  I can't wait to make a little exhibit of our pilgrim dolls in the classroom.  This is such a fun project and the students get to really understand what a "pilgrim" is!

We had a long detailed discussion the other day and found out that many of the friends in our class are pilgrims!  We made a first grade definition of the word pilgrim too!  We said, "A Pilgrim is someone who was born in one country and made a choice to move to another country with their family or alone."

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Monday: This week we will be logging into Raz-Kids for our reading homework!  If you need a reminder for login names and passwords please let me know.  I can send it to you.
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please return signed Tuesday folders on Wednesday morning. No math homework this week.  Please have your child complete a few activities on iXL this week!
Wednesday: Pilgrim Doll project due.
Thanksgiving meal at 11:56 . PTA reflection Award: 6:30-7:30
Thursday:
Friday: Library Day! All library books are due by Friday morning at 8:00. 
Nov 24-28: Thanksgiving Break

 Here is what we will be doing this week:

READING
This week we are diving deeper into different types of fictions.  We will read Realistic Fictions, stories that all the characters are human and the problem and the solution in the story are things that could really happen in real life.  We will also learn about Historical Fictions.  Sometimes authors of fictions are interested in a part of history. The author might choose to make up a story that is set in the time period they are interested in.  But the characters are usually made up and the plot of the story is fiction.


WRITING
We will continue writing about the Thanksgiving Story.  The kids have done a great job recording facts in their own words about the Pilgrims, the Mayflower Ship, the Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving feast. I always have so much fun reading their stories!  It is just amazing how they learn the facts and then they interpret/understand it in their own way! I can't wait for you to see their writings.This week we will put our pages together and make a non-fiction book: All About Thanksgiving.

MATH
This week we will introduce the double strategy in addition.  Knowing doubles will help us to do addition facts quicker.  We will learn doubles from 1-9 and then apply our knowledge in problem solving.  Once we master our doubles, we can use this strategy to do doubles + 1 and doubles +2 really quick.  For example if I know 4+4=8 than I know 4+5 is just one more than 4+4, which means one more than 8. 

SCIENCE
We will continue learning about different forms of energy such as light, heat and sound. This week, we will be "energy detectives' and we will examine everyday objects such as the alarm clock, the holiday lights, the hair dryer, the pencil sharpener and so on and observe and detect different forms of energy associated with each object. We will make observation, discuss the importance of each type of energy and record in our science journals. 

Pilgrim Dolls Examples

This week in First Grade...

Nov 10-14

Our field trip to Zach Scott Theater was fantastic! We had lunch in our classroom before departing on the bus!  We sat together and enjoyed the play that was about 50 minutes long.  If you get a chance the Zach Scott Theater puts on


This week, due to a project (Pilgrim Doll Project) we will be sending home, there will be no reading homework.  While I will read with kiddos everyday during our guided reading group, I will not send the reading homework home.  I want to make sure you and your child have enough time to complete the project by Wednesday, November 19th.  Please see below for details.

THE PILGRIM DOLL PROJECT

As we are approaching Thanks Giving, this week we will read the story of Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen. This beautiful story tells us how recent immigrant Molly leads her third-grade class to discover that it takes all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving. 

This week, in the Tuesday folders, your child will bring a wooden doll with instruction and a few research questions. Your child will interview you and ask you questions about the first pilgrim/ immigrant in your family that came to this country. Please help your child complete the research questions and have them write the answers with pencils in complete sentences in their own handwriting. You may help your child with spelling and sentence structure, but please do not write the answers for them. After that you and your child will dress the pilgrim doll with the traditional clothing of the country that your pilgrim came from. I will send some photos from previous years so you will have an idea.

This project (the research questions and the pilgrim doll) is due By Wednesday, Nov 19th. Each child will get to present their doll on Nov. 20th and 21st. This project by far is one of our most beloved projects in first grade and every year, we, first grade teachers can't wait to see the final product!  Have fun crafting and creating with your child!

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Monday: No reading folders.  But please have your child read daily.
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please return signed Tuesday folders on Wednesday morning. No Math Homework this week!
Tuesday, November 11th: Veteran's Day is observed.
Friday: Library Day! All library books are due by Friday morning at 8:00.

 Here is what we will be doing this week:

READING and WRITING
This week as part of our non-fiction reading and writing,  we will start our research on The First Thanksgiving and spend this week writing facts about Thanksgiving, the Mayflower ship, the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. As we learn facts about thanksgiving, we will record our facts and make a book about Thanksgiving.  We will create an "All About the First Thanksgiving" book to share with our families!

MATH
We will continue counting by tens and ones using dimes and pennies and apply our knowledge in problem solving.  Now we know two digit numbers so well and we know what each digit in a two digit number means and what value each digit has, we will practice making 10 more, or 10 less.  For example, the children will be able to show 57 with manipulatives and pictorial models and then add 10 more, which will be 67 or take off 10, which will be 47.  We will also work on different combinations that make 10, such as 4 and 6, 3 and 7, 2 and 8 and so on.

SCIENCE
This week in science we will learn about different forms of energy such as light, heat and sound.  We will discuss the importance of energy in everyday life and how scientists use energy to invent objects that improve our daily lives. 

Have a great week!  The weather is going to turn cold tomorrow so please send your child with a coat!!

Mrs. Caballero