Fall News
Greetings 1G Families!
It's hard to believe that November is upon us. It has been a busy, productive, and fun past couple of months. In September and October we have been establishing routines and expectations such as lining up and walking in the hallway, completing weekend journal entries, and packing up at the end of the day (just to name a few). We've also been working on becoming independent, responsible, and respectful learner and friends. We have also spent some time learning about each other as we build our classroom community. During Morning Meeting we have shared our favorite animals, fall activities, sports, as well as what we did over the weekend to develop connections with one another.
Classroom Community
In Morning Meeting, we have been working on greeting one another in a respectful, friendly way. Some greetings that we have done this fall, include a Photo Name Card, Different Handshake Variations (pinky shake, fist bump jellyfish), Greeting-a-Round, and a Pumpkin Name Card. We have also learned new songs and movement activities such as Tooty-Ta, Robot Rap, The Button Factory, Boom Chicka Boom, Go Bananas!, and Ram Sam Sam.
Literacy
In the first month of school, students were introduced to the routines of our literacy block: Read to Self, Read to Someone (using our poetry binder), Listen to Reading (listening center and/or RAZ-Kids), Work on Writing (weekend journals and reading responses), Word Work (sound sorts, build-a-word with magnet tiles, and sight word activities). In addition, students have learned that readers use strategies to develop their reading comprehension, accuracy, fluency and vocabulary. Students have been working hard on learning various decoding strategies. We have been practicing using the following strategies when trying to decode unknown words when we are reading:
- Use the picture (Eagle Eye)
- Look at the first letter of the word (Lips the Fish)
- Tap the word out
- Look for a word in the word (e.g. in-into; end-friend)
- Skip the word and think about what makes sense (Skippy Frog)
- Try a different sound if the first one doesn't work (Flip the Dolphin)
We will continue to practice these decoding strategies as well as add new ones to our repertoire throughout the year.
We continue to read stories aloud and discuss them. We spent time reading stories written and illustrated by Eric Carle. We share our favorite parts of the stories and practice giving reasons for our choices. We will learn about the differences between fiction and non-fiction. We have also begun Guided Reading. During this time, students work in small groups with a teacher using a text at their instructional level.
Math
In September, the class learned important math routines that will continue throughout the school year and explored math materials such as pattern blocks, power polygons, geoblocks, and connecting cubes. We start each Math with an activity where mathematical ideas are introduced and investigated. Students then spend a majority of their time in Math Workshop, where students choose from a set of activities and work individually, in pairs, or in small groups. Many sessions include a Discussion, during which students share strategies and conclusions. It also gives students an opportunity to articulate their own ideas, listen to others' strategies, and compare solutions. We recently completed Unit 1: Building Numbers and Solving Story Problems. This unit is an introduction to mathematical ideas such as counting and comparting quantities, and addition and subtraction. Students were asked to share their reasoning and solutions. It is important that children solve math problems accurately in ways that make sense to them. At home, you can encourage your child to explain his or her math thinking to you.
Students worked on the following goals:
We recently began Unit 2: Comparing and Combining Shapes. 1st Graders have enjoyed observing, describing, and building with 2-D shapes. During Math Workshop, 1st Graders used Pattern Blocks to fill in designs and then write how many different shapes they used. They also created their own designs using a specific number of pattern blocks.
Writing
In writing, we have started working on writing Small Moment stories. A Small Moment story is a story that zooms in on one tiny moment. For example, a student would write about going on a ride at Disney World, rather than the whole trip to Disney. Or writing about building a sandcastle at the beach, rather than everything they did at the beach (swimming, eating ice cream, playing in the sand). We use the analogy of a watermelon and a seed. The watermelon is a story with a big topic such as a birthday party. The seed is the small moment such as blowing out the candles on the cake and making a wish.
Fundations (Phonics)
We recently completed Unit 3. In Unit 3, we learned about digraphs. A digraph is when two letters come together to make one sound, such as, wh, ch, sh, th, ck. We learned that the digraph wh is only used at the beginning of words and that the digraph ck is only used at the end of words. We practiced building and tapping words that contained digraphs (i.e. chat, chop, shot, thin, whip, such, wish, deck). Please use the following list of words to practice reading and spelling words with Digraphs Unit 3 Digraph Words
In Unit 4, students have learned about bonus letters (letters that double following a short vowel sound). The students have learned that words with short vowels that end in f, l, s, and sometimes z get a bonus letter (i.e. bell, miss, puff). We also learned some common exceptions to the rule like the words bus and yes. Students have also learned the glued sounds all. Glued sounds are letters that keep their individual sound but are glued together. To tap a glued sound, use two or three fingers “glued” together to represent the number of sounds working together. For example, the word fall has four letters but because it contains the glued sound all, it would require just two taps: /f/ + /all/. Please use the following list of words to practice reading and spelling words with Bonus Letters: Unit 4 Bonus Letters
Your student should be practicing the trick words from Units 4, 3, and 2 as part of their Word Work.
Science
In Science, we learned about what a habitat is and built our own rotting log habitat. We learned that a habitat is a place where an animal or plant naturally lives. A habitat provides water, food, shelter, and safety for its organism. We read A Log's Life and learned all about how animals, insects, and plants all use a rotting log. After reading A Log's Life, we learned about the different insects and bugs that will be living in our Rotting Log Habitat. Then came the fun part! We built our Rotting Log habitat together using the ELMO to project some of the critters. In our Rotting Log Habitat, we have millipedes, bess beetles, crickets, pill bugs, and tenebrio beetles along with pieces of rotting log, moss, and soil. We will continue to make scienctific observations of our rotting log inhabitants! Ask your child about one of the critters in the Rotting Log Habitat. Check out our Rotting Log Habitat
Other News
Raz-Kids
By now, your child has logged onto Raz-Kids and has practiced reading and listening to stories at their independent level. We have talked, as a class, about how some of the books on their level may be books they are familiar with and that re-reading is something good readers do to promote stronger fluency and comprehension. I will be checking periodically to make sure that your child's Raz-Kids level is appropriate to their independent reading level. If you are having any difficulties logging on, please feel free to email me and I will try to help or point you in the right direction for help.
1G's Monsters
1st Graders worked very hard planning, writing, and constructing their Monsters! It was so awesome to see the variety and creativity each child put into their Monster. Check out 1G's Monsters!
Veteran's Day
Monday, November 12th No School
November Scholastic Book Orders Due
Tuesday, November 13th
Picture Re-Take
Wednesday, November 14th
Thanksgiving Break
Wednesday, November 21st 12:00 Dismissal
Thursday, November 22nd No School (Gobble! Gobble!)
Friday, November 23rd No School