Monday, March 31, 2014

This week in First grade...

March 31-April 4, 2014

Math:  This week we will begin our unit on Measuring Length.  This will be a two week unit of study.  Students will use non-standard measuring tools for continuous linear measurement - illustrating length using same size units laid end to end with no gaps or overlaps. The student will directly compare the length of two or more objects and use nonstandard units that have the attribute of length to estimate and measure length. Students will experience tasks in which they explore the relationships between the size of a unit and the number of units needed to measure the length of an object. The student will represent math concepts with concrete materials in problem solving connected to everyday experiences.

Reading and Writing Workshop:  This week in Reading and Writing, we will be reading many different types of poetry and identifying and analyzing acrostic poetry, color poetry, and descriptive poetry.  We will be learning that poets use different strategies and writing styles when they craft their art. We will practice writing acrostic poems, color poems, and using our five senses to write descriptive poetry.
Word Study: 
Coming home in the orange folders today!

Science:  This week in science we will be learning about living and non-living things. We will sort and classify living and non-living things based upon whether or not they have basic needs and produce offspring. We will then extend our knowledge further and study different species of animals.  This week we will learn about the fantastic fish! We will learn about the external characteristics (body parts) of fish and how these external characteristics determine how fish move, what they eat and the ecosystem that they live in. 

Habit #3 Put First Things First:  I spend my time on things that are most important.  I set priorities.  I work first then play.

Reminders:
*Please remember to send a healthy snack every day.  Snack time is @ 9:30am.
*Make sure your child wears tennis shoes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
*Library day is Tuesday.
*Please remember to send back your child’s orange folder bag every day.


Dates to remember:
April 1:  STAAR Testing-NO VISITORS
April 2:  STAAR Testing-NO VISITORS
             Spirit Night
April 4:  Austin Reptile Show
April 10:  Chicks will begin to Hatch!
April 18:  No School- Good Friday
April 22-23:  STAAR Testing-NO VISITORS
May 1:  Field Trip to ZACH Theater
             Talent Show (K-3)
May 2:  Field Day
            Talent Show (4-5)
May 5-9:  Teacher Appreciation Week
May 7:  Early Release Day
May 9:  Career Day
May 12-16:  Book Fair
May 26:  No School-Memorial Day
May 29:  End of the Year Party

May 30:  Last day of school!
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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

This week in First grade...

March 24-28, 2014

Math:  This week in Math we will focus on strategies for learning Doubles Plus One facts (8+9) and Doubles Plus Two facts (8+10).  Using these strategies to solve math facts allows for quick recall.  Students find relationships with these math facts and future learning such as in third grade when they are learning multiplication facts.  We do not time test math facts but do want students to learn strategies so they can quickly recall the facts in problem solving situations.

Reading and Writing Workshop:  This week we will be combining our reading and writing workshop.  Our reading workshop will flow into writing workshop.  We are continuing with our unit on poetry and we will be learning how to find inspiration in our hearts to write poetry.  What really matters to you?  We will start the week off with creating a heart map with different ideas to help us with ideas for writing poetry.  We will explore different feeling/emotion words in reading workshop and follow it up with writing a feelings/emotion poem.  Next we will explore with imagery.  In reading workshop we will listen to poetry with imagery and draw what we think the object is without naming it.  In writing workshop, we will create our own imagery poetry.  The last set of poetry we will explore this week will be poetry using our 5 senses in sensory/free verse.  In reading workshop we will read different examples, focusing on the parts with the 5 senses.  In writing workshop, we will write our own sensory poem.  Last week we learned about the elements in poetry and this week we get to begin writing our own poetry!  This is a fun and exciting time for the children!

Word Study: 
Came home on Monday in the orange folder.
Social Studies:  This week, we will continue to talk about the things we need vs. the things we want.  We will learn about work, income, and budgets.  When you go to the grocery store, talk with your child about what you need to buy and your budget. 

Habit #2:  Begin with the End in Mind.  I set goals for myself and plan ahead.  I look for ways to be a good citizen.

Reminders:
*Please remember to send a healthy snack every day.  Snack time is @ 9:30am.
*Make sure your child wears tennis shoes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
*Library day is Friday.
*Please remember to send back your child’s orange folder every day.

Dates to remember:
March 21:  Shamrock and Roll
April 1:  STAAR Testing-NO VISITORS
April 2:  STAAR Testing-NO VISITORS
             Spirit Night
April 4:  Austin Reptile Show
April 10:  Chicks will begin to Hatch!
April 18:  No School- Good Friday
April 22-23:  STAAR Testing-NO VISITORS
May 1:  Field Trip to ZACH Theater
             Talent Show (K-3)
May 2:  Field Day
            Talent Show (4-5)
May 5-9:  Teacher Appreciation Week
May 7:  Early Release Day
May 9:  Career Day
May 12-16:  Book Fair
May 26:  No School-Memorial Day
May 29:  End of the Year Party

May 30:  Last day of school!
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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

This week in First grade...

March 17-21, 2014

Math:  This week, we will begin learning Doubles.  There are 2 main things the students need to know about doubles.  The first is that the sum can be split into 2 equal groups, and the second is that the sum of a double is always an equal number.  We will find doubles in every day life, we will make doubles with manipulatives and illustrations, and we will even write our own doubles math stories. 

Reading Workshop:  This week for Reading Workshop we will dive into our poetry unit.  This unit will provide opportunities for students to enjoy, study, read, and write poetry. This unit will last for three weeks and this week we will focus on what we know about poetry, noticing poetry in what we read, rereading poetry to create images and deepen our understanding, and learning where we find poetry in our world.

Word Study:  This week we will be learning about nouns, adjectives, and verbs.  At the end of the week, we will make a rainbow showing what we have learned.  You are welcome to come to our classroom to see it in the hallway. 

Writing Workshop:  Now that we've completed a fun week of Dr. Seuss in our classrooms, we will continue our quest to learn more about understanding and writing poetry by delving into the words that have been penned by other poets. We will learn lots about letters with alliteration and practice feeling rhythm and rhyme.

Social Studies:  We will be switching back to Social Studies this week.  We will be learning about goods and services.  We will learn what each of them mean and then identify different goods and services in our homes, at school, and in our community.  We will also learn about wants and needs.  Yes, there are many things that we want, but the things that we need to keep us healthy and alive have to come first. 

Habit #1:  Be Proactive.  I am responsible.  I am in charge of my actions.  I choose my actions, attitude, and mood. 

Reminders:
*Please remember to send a healthy snack every day.  Snack time is @ 9:30am.
*Make sure your child wears tennis shoes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
*Library day is Friday.
*Please remember to send back your child’s orange folder every day.

Dates to remember:
March 10-14:  Spring Break
March 19:  Early Release Day
     Family Skate Night
March 24:  Turkey Trot Make-up
April 2:  Spirit Night
April 4: Austin Reptile Show for 1st grade
April 18: Student and Staff Holiday
April 22-25: STAAR testing for 3-5 (closed campus)
May 1: 1st grade Field Trip to Zach Scott Theater
May 1:  Talent Show (K-3)
May 2:  Field Day
              Talent Show (4-5)
May 5-9:  Teacher Appreciation Week
May 7:  Early Release Day
May 9:  Career Day
May 12-16:  Book Fair
Memorial Day: Student and Staff Holiday
May 29:  End of the Year Party

May 30:  Last day of school!
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Monday, March 3, 2014

This week in First grade...

March 3-7, 2014

This week we are celebrating Dr. Seuss as part of Read Across America!!  On Friday we will have a Reading Celebration.  Please allow your child to bring Dr. Seuss books (labeled with their name) to read during our celebration!  It's a fun time to show off their collection from home!  




Math:  This week in Math we will be learning strategies using Count on 2 subtraction.  We are linking our thinking with addition to subtraction.  We will practice our strategies during stations and problem solving situations.  We will identify fact families (3+2=5, 2+3=5, 5-3=2, 5-2=3) and related facts (3+2=5, 5-3=2).  The objective is to quickly recall facts by visualizing and using a strategy when we solve problems.

Reading Workshop:  This week in Reading Workshop we will be celebrating Read Across America with Dr. Seuss books!.  Our focus this week is: author study!  We will start the week off exploring the biography of this famous author.  Each day we will read a new book and do an activity with the literature.  Wednesday we will read Wacky Wednesday and wear wacky socks to school.  We will kick off our shoes and spend our reading time reading different Dr. Seuss books with our partners!  If you have any Dr. Seuss books, please bring them to school for this fun reading time. Please put your child's name on the book so we can make sure it gets returned to you.  If you don't want to write on the book, please use the blue painters tape and write your child's name on the tape.  It will remove easily and not harm the book. :)  This author study will lead itself into our poetry unit that will follow after spring break.

Word Study:
In orange folders today!

Writing Workshop:   During our Read Across America celebration, we will be using the works of Dr. Seuss to explore the rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration of his writings. We will be stretching our thinking to write our own alternative story endings, respond to The Cat in the Hat, create our own alliteration, and compare and contrast some of his work. 
Science:  This week we will finish up our unit on objects in the sky.  We will observe the sun during the morning, noon and afternoon and notice that how the position of the sun seems to change in the sky. We will learn about the moon and the stars and how the moon appears to change in the night sky.  This week we will be the super scientists who make careful observations and record their observations in their journal.

Habit #1:  Be Proactive.  I am responsible.  I am in charge of my actions.  I choose my actions, attitude, and mood. 

Reminders:
*Please remember to send a healthy snack every day.  Snack time is @ 9:30am.
*Make sure your child wears tennis shoes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
*Library day is Friday.
*Please remember to send back your child’s orange folder every day.

Dates to remember:
March 3-4:  Turkey Trot
March 10-14:  Spring Break
March 19:  Early Release Day
     Family Skate Night
March 24:  Turkey Trot Make-up
April 2:  Spirit Night
April 18: Bad Weather Make-up day #2
May 1:  Talent Show (K-3)
May 2:  Field Day
            Talent Show (4-5)
May 5-9:  Teacher Appreciation Week
May 7:  Early Release Day
May 9:  Career Day
May 12-16:  Book Fair
May 29:  End of the Year Party
May 30:  Last day of school!

June 2: Bad Weather Make-up Day #3
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