News From First Grade

Upcoming Events:

*November 28 and 29: No School, Thanksgiving Break

*Dec. 11 Early out (2 hrs.)

*Dec. 12 K-1 Music Concert at 7pm at Emmetsburg High School auditorium.  Students need to arrive by 6:30.  (More information to come.)

* Dec. 20 Early Out (1 hr.)

Notes:

*Our testing strategy that we worked on this week was:

      -The correct answer says the most about the picture.

Things to Work on:

*Sequencing (First, Next, Then, Last)

What we have been up to:

Reading:  This week we read some books about Thanksgiving and made some booklets on the first Thanksgiving.  On Tuesday a third grade class came to our room and we read poems about Thanksgiving to them.  They also read some things to us.  Students really enjoyed their reading buddies.

Math: We have started our study on place value.  We talked about two-digit numbers and how many tens and how many ones each number has.  We have talked about grouping things into groups of ten to help us count more efficiently.

Science: We have started our new science unit on motion.  We have discussed ways that things move up and down (slides, steps, ramps).  We have begun to learn about the new vocabulary words: position, motion, and speed.  We will dig deeper into the meaning of these words after break.

Buddy Class

We have started meeting with our third grade buddies.  First graders read books and poems to their third grade buddy.

News From Mrs. Straw

What’s Happening in BUILD:

B (Buddy Games)- Games with hour and half hour

U (Using Manipulatives)- Roll two dice, add the sum and color the matching sum

I (Indpendently Working)-Thanksgiving math packet on shapes, counting, and number writing

L (Learning with Numbers)- Problem solving by adding three numbers

D-(Doing Math)- Scootpad on laptops

Notes:

-Reminder: This was the last week for the spelling contract.  Starting after Thanksgiving break students will have word journey lists that we will practice and be tested.

-Building Math Skills At Home:

          -Talk about the calendar with your child. Look forward to and countdown to special events such as vacations, birthdays, and holidays.  Count the week and days to an event, and determine which day it will fall on.

 What’s Happening in Daily 5:

*Listen to Reading (Bookflix)

*Read to Self (Poem: “Turkey Time”)

*Read to Someone

*Work on Writing (Thanksgiving paper)

*Word Work

        -Smartboard (short u)

-Ipad

-Write words on black paper with

chalk

-Coffee Filters (students wrote

words with markers then sprayed the coffee filter to make a piece of art)

          -Word Family Puzzles

          -Poetry (read familiar poems, coy

poem, illustrate poem, highlight

rhyming words)

 Week in Review:

- This week we finished our animal paragraphs.  Students checked out a nonfiction book from the library and wrote a report on their animal.  Students did a fantastic job writing a topic sentence, details, and a conclusion.

-We worked on writing a silly story about what to eat for Thanksgiving instead of turkey.  

News From First Grade

Upcoming Events:

* Nov. 27 1 hr. early out

*Nov. 28 and 29 No School, Thanksgiving Break

Notes:

*Our testing strategy that we worked on this week was:

      -Listen to the sentence.  Think before you make your choice.

Things to Work on:

*Place Value: Say two digit numbers and have your child tell you how many tens and how many ones.

What we have been up to:

Reading: This week we read the story If You Take a Mouse to School.  We worked on sequencing this story with first, next, then, and finally.  We also talked about how important it is to visualize while you are reading a story to help retell the story later.  This week we worked on cl, fl, and bl blends.

Math: We have finished our unit on adding with unknowns.  Student have become really good at using the counting on strategy.

Science: We have finished our unit on animal classifications and taken our test.  We started talking about the habitat of animals.  We started the week by drawing habitats and making a forest with construction paper.  We also compared a lake habitat to an ocean habitat.  

Spelling Words Week of Nov. 18

1.clip

2.clock

3.flag

4.flip

5.black

6.block

7.fun

8.nut

9.school

10.today

This will be the last spelling test before Thanksgiving break.  After break spelling lists will be varied from each student depending on their word journey lists.  This spelling list will be the last list for a spelling contract.

News From Mrs. Straw

Upcoming Events

-Nov. 27 1 Hour Early Out

-Nov. 28 and 29 No School, Thanksgiving

-Nov. 22 Book orders due

What’s Happening in BUILD:

B (Buddy Games)- Domino Addition

U (Using Manipulatives)- Geometric shapes

I (Indpendently Working)- Egg carton addition.  Students shake two beans in an egg carton and add the two numbers.

L (Learning with Numbers)- Problem solving by comparing numbers.

D-(Doing Math)- Scootpad on laptops

Notes:

-Here are a few ideas to encourage writing at home:

          -Write letters and cards to family

members and friends, and

encourage them to write back!

-Encourage your child to write stories about their favorite things.

-Keep a journal of holiday activities.

-Read comics in the newspaper and let your child create their own.

What’s Happening in Daily 5:

*Listen to Reading (Bookflix)

*Read to Self (Poem: “5 Little Turkeys” and “November”)

*Read to Someone

*Work on Writing (Thanksgiving paper)

*Word Work

        -Smartboard (practiced sh and th)

-Ipad

-Compound words (students put two

words together and wrote the new compound word)

-Coffee Filters (students wrote

words with markers then sprayed the coffee filter to make a piece of art)

          -Word Family Puzzles

          -Paint words with cotton balls

Week in Review:

- This week Mrs. Patton came to our class and talked with us about animal habitats. 

-We have been practicing a reader’s theater on Thanksgiving to present to the third graders.  This is helping us build our fluency skills.  Fluency is known as automaticity, it refers to the person’s ability to read words in a text.  Fluency is also the speed at which a person reads as well as reading with feeling.

First Grade News

Upcoming Events:

*November 27: 1 hr. Early Out

*November 28 and 29: No School, Thanksgiving Break

Notes:

*Our testing strategy that we worked on this week was

      -Remember, the correct answer is the opposite of the underlined part.

      -When you think you hear the correct answer, put your finger next to it.  

-Listen to all the choices.

*Next week will be the last week (Nov. 18) of our spelling contact.  After Thanksgiving break we will start using a program called Word Journeys.  This program will involve your child bringing home a list of words on Monday called refrigerator words.  Students can practice reading and spelling these words at home throughout the week and will be tested on them on Friday in their reading groups.  Word lists will vary across the class depending on what skills your child needs to work on.

Things to Work on:

*Place value (How many groups of tens and how many leftover?)

What we have been up to:

Reading: Our theme this week was about various cultures.  We worked with words with the short /u/ sound.  We also spent the week working on visualizing the story in our head so that we can easily retell the story.

Math: In math we worked on adding and subtracting with unknown partners.

Science: This week we finished learning about animal classifications.  We talked about amphibians, fish, and insects and their characteristics.  We have begun learning what makes up a herbivore and a carnivore.  

Spelling Week of Nov. 11

1. run
2. fun
3. nut
4. cut
5. bug
6. rug
7. thin
8. shop
9. under
10. put

First Grade News

Upcoming Events:

*November 14: 2 hr. Early Out

*November 21: 1 hr. Early Out

*November 22 and 23: No School, Thanksgiving Break

Notes:

*October’s top readers were announced this week.  Top readers in each grade level get a free kids buffet at Pizza Ranch.  Top readers in each class get a Ranch Buck.  Keep on logging reading minutes! The students are doing amazing!

Things to Work on:

*Addition problems with sums that are more than ten.

What we have been up to:

Reading: Our theme this week was about animal homes.  We read about animals in the Everglades and talked about key details in our reading.  This week we had some time to read some Thanksgiving poems.  We will practice and add to these poems up until Thanksgiving week as we will be reading to some third graders before Thanksgiving break.  Having students read things more than once helps build fluency.

Math: In math we did some story problems with three addends.  Students amazed me at how well they did with this.  They are great problem solvers.  This week students were able to explore patterns with calculators.  

Science: We have continued our study about animal classifications.  This week we learned about birds and reptiles.  Students are really enjoying looking at library books on each of these classifications.  Mrs. Patton came to talk to us about these animal classifications.

News From Mrs. Straw

Events:

-Nov. 13 2 Hour Early Out

-Nov. 27 1 Hour Early Out

-Nov. 28 and 29 No School, Thanksgiving

What’s Happening in BUILD:

B (Buddy Games)- Dinosaur tangrams

U (Using Manipulatives)- Answer addition and subtraction number sentences with tiles.

I (Indpendently Working)- Match addition number sentences to correct answer.

L (Learning with Numbers)- Problem solving with adding several numbers.

D-(Doing Math)- Scootpad on laptops

Notes:

-Here is a simple thing you can do at home to help your child in math:

          -Play board games as a family!  Many of them encourage math development.  Yahtzee (basic addition), Connect Four (problem solving), Card Games (basic addition and subtraction and ordering numbers), Monopoly (money), and Battleship (coordinate graphs) are just a few to mention.

What’s Happening in Daily 5:

*Listen to Reading (Bookflix)

*Read to Self (Poem: “Turkey Dinner”)

*Read to Someone

*Work on Writing

*Word Work

        -Smartboard (practiced short e)

-Ipad

-Pipe cleaners (form pipe cleaners

to make words on a mat)

-Type spelling words on Chrome

books

          -Scrabble Jr.

          -Spell words with magnets

Week in Review:

- This week Mrs. Patton came to our class and talked with us about animal classifications.  Students were able to see a snake, salamander, furs, and a turtle shell.