We have been very busy learning our classroom routines and getting to know each other through name games and community-building activities! Each day, we interview our daily line leader as a way to learn more about them (asking about favorite foods, pets, and activities). We have also been reading our favorite books aloud. This week, we will also talk and write about our personal hopes and dreams for the school year.
📚Reading
During Reading Workshop, we will focus on good reading habits. First, readers take a "sneak peek" before beginning a book to think about what the book will be about. Another habit we will review is using phonics to solve tricky words—when readers get stuck, they use the letters to decode by "sliding" through all the sounds. We will continue building our bank of good reading habits next week!
✍🏾 Writing
We will begin Writing Workshop this week. We will learn that writers find story ideas by thinking of a person they know, a place they go, or a thing they do. We can write about anything—big or small—that happens in our lives (like jumping in a puddle, playing with a sibling, or searching for a lost shoe). Students will practice brainstorming, rehearsing, and orally sharing their personal stories with one another.
Together, we will also write shared stories about events that have happened in first grade so far—like seeing a red-tailed hawk take off from the field during our fire drill on Friday! These class stories will serve as anchor texts that we can build upon throughout our first narrative unit.
Later in the week, we will make our very first birthday book! This year, we will create a special birthday book for each person in our class (saving summer birthdays to celebrate together in June).
🔤 Word Study
We will begin our Fundations lessons this week. Fundations is a multisensory, systematic phonics program that provides explicit instruction in decoding, handwriting, and spelling. We will review the key words and picture prompts that help us remember consonant and short vowel sounds, and we will begin practicing correct letter formation for lowercase letters.
🔢 Math
This week, our math work focuses on two big ideas: building a growth mindset and practicing counting. First, we are learning that our brains grow through hard work and by trying challenging problems, focusing on the power of saying, "I can't do it... yet!" When we make mistakes, our brains grow more than when we get everything right.
We will continue exploring a variety of hands-on materials—like pattern blocks, cubes, Geoblocks, and Power Polygons—and discussing their similarities and differences. We will also count and record the number of objects in some mystery boxes, focusing on counting accurately, comparing our data, and sharing our counting strategies. Finally, we will introduce two counting routines that will recur in different forms throughout the year: "Start with, Get to" (practicing forward counting sequences) and "Build It" (identifying and representing numbers up to 20 on ten-frames).
Resource: Click here for more information about Unit 1 and related activities you can do at home: Unit 1 Family Letter
🌍 Social Studies
We will begin our first unit on Communities, guided by the questions: "What is a community?" and "How are communities similar and different?" This week, students will draw a picture of a community they belong to as an introductory activity.
❤️ Social & Emotional Learning
This week, we will learn how to use our classroom "Chill Zone." This is a comfortable spot in our room with calming tools (books, a sparkle jar, feelings mirrors, and mazes). We will talk about how everyone experiences a full spectrum of feelings, and how taking time to care for those feelings helps us rejoin learning with our classmates. Everyone will get a chance to try out using the Chill Zone this week.
Take a "Sneak Peek": Before reading a story at home, pause and look at the cover and illustrations together. Ask your child, "What do you think this book is going to be about?"
Count a Collection: Grab a handful or small pile of everyday household items—like Legos, pretzels, coins, or buttons—and have your child count them. Ask them how they are keeping track to make sure they count accurately.
Write Cards & Letters: Making cards or writing letters to family members and friends is a great way to practice writing at home.