Spring Update

Reading:
First graders have also become experts at identifying cause and effect in fiction text. They are naturals at this comprehension skill! We also have been working on alphabetizing words. You may ask your child to put things in alphabetical order at home. We talked about how to alphabetize when the first letters of two words are the same; they amazed me at how quickly they mastered this concept. We have also spent a lot of time reading and exploring non-fiction text. We have learned what headings, captions, glossarys, and table of contents are. We have also learned how they can help a reader comprehend the text more! Most recently, we learned what a fact and an opinion is. We also learned some clue words that can sometimes help us identify if a statement is a fact or opinion. The kids were able to realize that, “My dog does great tricks” is an opinion, and that the word “great” is what makes it an opinion. They have truly grown so much as readers these past couple months!

Writing: 
Students are continuing to write Realistic Fiction stories. They are creating characters, generating a problem that the characters get into, and then finding a way to get their characters out of trouble. They are making these books into series, where they are creating multiple stories about the same character. They have also been writing about their families. Be on the lookout-you will be receiving a very special Family Book in the next few weeks!  

Math: 
This month the first graders are continuing to develop their understanding of numbers to 120. They are estimating, counting, comparing, adding and subtracting two-digit quantities using different models. We are using the story of Hansel and Gretel to demonstrate numbers on a number line. Encourage your children to practice making 10s and 5s in creative ways. 

Inquiry: 
We are starting a new unit on Plants and Animals. Students planted ryegrass and alfalfa seeds. We will observe the plants grow and make observations in our Science Journals. 

Conference Update

We have gotten lots of requests for additional Spring Conferences. 

We are opening up additional time slots. If you have not signed up for a conference yet, a new sign up is posted. Please click on the link for more details.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e4baca829a5fa7-spring

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

iRead Update

Thank you for your ongoing support with iRead!


Please turn in iRead forms by tomorrow (Wednesday, February 7).

Spring Conferences

Thank you to the parents who signed up online for Parent Teacher Conferences. This year Spring parent/teacher conferences are taking place on March 28th 4-8 pm and March 29th 8 am-12:00 pm. Report cards will be mailed home prior to conferences. We are looking forward to our time together in March.

We understand that these conference slots have already been filled. If you did not sign up for a conference and would like to meet with the first grade team, please email us so we can set up additional time slots. Conferences are 15 minutes. 

Thanks!

New Year Update

Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful and relaxing holiday season with your friends and family. We are so excited to be back at school!

Now that we have returned to school for the long winter months ahead, we want to make sure we remind you of a few things your child should have at school.

The children go outside for recess every day in the winter unless it is extremely cold. Your child should have snowpants and boots for recess, as well as hats and gloves.

It is a good idea to leave an extra pair of pants and socks in your child's locker for the winter as they often come in from recess with wet socks or pants and need to change them.

In addition, they will need to have gym shoes for gym every day. This is a good time to either practice tying shoes or send your child to school with shoes that do not need to be tied. They are changing from boots to shoes upon arriving at school, and again after lunch/recess, and they need to be able to do this independently. With your help with these things, the winter weeks ahead should go more smoothly.

We are excited to introduce an individualized communication log! Once a month, you will be receiving a google doc with an update of your children's academic and learning progress. We will still continue to be updating our blog, Seesaw, and Twitter.

December News

We really enjoyed meeting with you at conferences! It was a great time to collaborate!

Reading:
We have been so busy continuing to become strong readers! We have started to explore non-fiction texts, including identifying text features, and comparing and contrasting fiction and non-fiction texts. We have also continued to work on identifying problem/solution and setting in fiction texts. Continue to ask your child comprehension questions when you are reading at home; ask them who the main characters are, where and when the story takes place, and what the problem/solution is. Thank you for your ongoing support with reading logs and sight word lists!

Writing:
We have begun a new unit-Informative Writing. Students are writing Teaching Stories about topics they are experts on. It is unbelievable the topics they are generating and the details they are coming up with. We are also discussing non fiction text features (ex: labeling pictures, adding captions, zooming in on images). Students are developing Table of Contents for their books and adding chapters.
They are also continuing their weekly Word Sorts. Students are busy learning spelling patterns as they sort their words and do activities to reinforce these phonic skills.

Math:
We have just completed our unit in developing number recognition, addition, and subtraction strategies with dice and dominoes. We learned lots of fun games to practice addition and subtraction. Please continue practicing counting by 5s and 10s at home.
Our next unit will support mastery of number facts and strategies for single digit addition and subtraction. We will also work on place value in the 1s and 10s. In January, we will begin having homework 1-2 times per week.

Inquiry: We have completed our unit on Weather and Wind. We have been focusing on different Winter Holidays that are celebrated around the world.

Now that the weather is changing, please make sure your child is dressed for the weather. Don't forget hats, gloves, snowpants and boots when necessary. Make sure your child has an appropriate change of clothes in his/her locker in case they need to change.

Fall Update

Reading:
In reading, we have been continuing our guided reading rotations. We have been focusing on who is the main character and identifying character traits in both our Read Alouds and leveled reading books. Currently, our students are focusing on answering key details in a text to build comprehension skills. Thank you for helping your child remember to turn in their reading logs every Monday. Please make sure you are reading at least 70 minutes a week. Differentiated sight word lists have been sent home. Please make sure you are spending time at home to review the sight words. Sight word lists that are signed will be checked every Monday. Lastly, we have started Friday Fluency! Our goal is to try to independently read a passage under 60 seconds. Starting this Friday, you can check Seesaw to see how your child is doing with their Friday Fluency passage!

Writing:
Students are still busy working on Narrative Writing (Small Moments). They are now learning how to edit, revise, and publish their work. Students are using checklists to help them reflect on their writing. They are also working on their writing goals as they are conferring with me. Soon, students will have the opportunity to share their published Small Moment as we celebrate the end of this unit. Our next unit of writing study will be Informative Writing. We are also busy practicing differentiated word lists that reinforce different spelling patterns. Every day, the first graders have a different activity to help practice their words (example: sorting their words by sounds, using SeeSaw to record the sort, magnetic letters on the iPad, gluing the sort, etc.).

Math:
The last few weeks, we have started our brand new math curriculum, Bridges! Students have been exploring different math manipulatives, like dominoes, pop cubes, polydrons, and geoboards during our math centers. We continue building our knowledge of numbers using our homemade number racks. We have found ways to quick count using fives and tens, show numbers on a ten frame, and take data using spinners. This week, we were number rack detectives, showing different parts of a whole number and writing addition and subtraction sentences. By next week, we will begin our next unit where we will develop addition and subtraction strategies using dice and dominos. Practice counting at home, especially counting on from a number that is not one, counting by fives and tens, and identifying patterns.

Inquiry:
We have started learning about weather. The students are recording the daily weather, and also looking to see the time of sunrise and sunset. We have identified different types of clouds and all classes will be going on a cloud walk this week. We also learned about measuring temperature on a thermometer.

Reminder:
Please make sure your conference forms are turned in by Friday, October 20th. We will let you know your confirmed conference time. We look forward to collaborating with you!