This week in First Grade...

March 26th- March 30th

Word Work:
Green Group: Sort #21 (p,l &pl) leaf, plant, pie, plot, last, your, our, my, what, because

Blue Group: Sort #27 (-at, -ot & -it word families) mat, slot, pot, knit, splat, rat, lit, rot, spit, sat, that

Red Group: Sort #23( short i, long i vs. short o, long o) fist, cold, scold, gold, told, wild, soft, post, friend, wind, blind, ghost, mind

READING and WRITING
This week, we will learn about media literacy. We will define media as sending messages or communicating to others in a much larger group and identify different forms of media literature such as magazines, newspapers, radio programs, television and internet. We will explore the techniques used in each, such as images, graphics, sound and movement. We will learn the difference between news and commercials. A newspaper can teach people about what is happening and advertise things as well. Students should be able to identify the difference between real programs on TV or radio and the commercials.


HATCHING CHICKS
The countdown begins...Our chicks are here! So far, we have learned the parts of the incubator and discussed the expectations for behavior while we are hatching chicks. We will periodically record information about hatching chicks in our Science Notebooks. We will learn about and record the life cycle of chicken and its body parts. We are expecting 12 chicks around April 11th!

MATH
This week, we will be continuing our unit on fractions. We are learning all about equal parts, and how to divide objects into 2 equal parts, 3 equal parts and 4 equal parts. We are also learning how to separate objects into equal sets. We will use the information learned from last week to apply it to word problem solving this week in math.

SCIENCE
This week, we will be learning about different objects in the sky, such as clouds, the sun and moon and constellations.

**Reminder about our At Home Research Project** DUE Monday, APRIL 2nd!!!
Dear Parents,

It is time for our first grade, Spring Research Project, which will be done entirely at home. Your child is familiar with the research process, as we just completed our animal research in class before spring break. This project is designed to coincide with our current study in science, and is due on Monday, April 2nd. Your child will present to the rest of the class on Tuesday, April 3rd and Wednesday, April 4th.

Research Format:
*Topic
* 4 Headings (What you would like to learn about your topic)
* Glossary (important words)
* List of Resources used for research.

Topic:
This week, your child will pick a nonfiction book from the library that will be related to weather, climate, seasons, or natural objects in the sky (clouds, moon, sun, and stars). If your child’s book is about the Solar System, please feel free to pick one topic to focus on (example: instead of researching the Solar System, you might just research Jupiter). You may use additional resources to research your topic at home.

Headings:
Once you have your topic, you should think about 4 things you would like to learn while researching your topic. The 4 things you would like to learn should be your headings.

Glossary: Please include a glossary containing important words. Depending on what your actual project is, you might want to just do this on a note card.

Resources:
Your child is welcome to use books from the school library, public library, internet resource (Kathy Caraway Website has approved research links such as Pebble Go, etc.), newspaper articles, magazines... etc. Please remember to include a list of Sources used. This might be done on a note card as well. When citing a source, please include all information. (Example: title of book AND author’s name, title of article AND name of magazine, and when citing an internet resource, please include the website address).

Project:
The actual project your child will create is also very “open-ended,” and can be as creative as you want. Some examples of projects are: mobiles, dioramas, posters, diagrams, poems, drawings, models, songs, objects made out of clay, etc…. We will be displaying these in the first grade hallway to “show off” your hard work!

This project will increase higher-level thinking for your child by researching and then communicating what was learned in a creative way. Please have your child practice presenting his/her project to your family. Thank you for your support. We are looking forward to seeing the creativity and listening to your child as they teach the other children what was learned through this research.

Thank you,
First Grade Teachers


DATES AND REMINDERS
March 27th – Report Cards go home
March 27th – 28th – STAAR testing **Closed Campus, Parents will not be allowed in the building during the school day**
April 2nd – Research Paper Due

STAAR testing will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 27th, and March 28th. As much as I love for you to be here, parents are asked to not visit the school during these tests, as we are trying to maintain a quiet, calm testing environment.

Thank you!