September 27, 2015

Can you believe it's almost October?! September flew by! We are pretty adjusted to our classroom routine and schedule at this point. Please take a moment to read below regarding some friendly reminders and what we've been working on in first grade!

Halloween is Approaching! 

We will celebrate at school with a parade and classroom party on October 31st. As you begin planning and preparing costumes at home, please keep a few things in mind. All costumes should be "kid friendly." There should be no masks, no weapons (real or fake), no blood, or scary factor as part of the costume. All costumes must follow the school dress code as well. Please see Mrs. Gluck's Principal Message for more information. Additional information regarding our school celebration will come closer to the date. 

From the PTO

It's Fall Book Fair Time! All classes were able to preview the book fair on Monday and each student made their very own wish list. You may use this as a tool to help decide which books your child is interested in purchasing. You may send money to school with your child (exact cash or check payments only) or you may choose to attend Ivy Hall's Ice Cream Social on Wednesday night from 6:30-8:00 and visit the Book Fair as a family. Check the Virtual Backpack for more information about the Fall Book Fair hours, payment/ordering options, and how to volunteer at this event. 

**Be sure to check the PTO Blog for more information regarding upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

                                     Writing

We have finished our narrative writing unit and began our opinion unit. Students have continued to practice analyzing writing prompts with the TAK model (topic, audience, keywords), and then brainstorming their ideas with the use of a circle map. Students have also been using a t-chart to organize their ideas. We recently were introduced to the "Core 4" topic and closing sentences. These are different types of sentences we can use for an opening and closing statement. Last week we read the story Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems and had to decided if we thought the Pigeon should be allowed to stay up late. Students used information from the text as well as their own thoughts to support their opinions. This week we read a story titled Duck! Rabbit! Students will look closely at the picture and decide if the image they see is a duck or a rabbit and use supporting details to explain why they formed that opinion. 

                                                                              Words Their Way

We are excited to finally begin our differentiated word study groups! Each child received a packet explaining the Words Their Way program and our expectations for word study homework. The last 2 pages of the packet were sorting cards and a sorting mat. This is your child's sort for the week. The black and white copy in the packet is yours to keep at home. You can look at the headers on the sorting mat to determine how your child should sort their cards. Some sorts are pictures, some sorts are words, and some sorts include pictures and words - it just depends on the sort. The blue sheet included in the packet explains the different ways you can sort at home each night. Please sign off on the sheet and return just the blue sheet to school on Monday. Feel free to email me with questions as we get this up and running!

                          Reading

We have wrapped up Unit 1 in our ReadyGen reading curriculum. Together, we've read literary and informational texts over the course of this unit. While reading literary texts we worked on our understanding of story elements. Story elements include characters, setting, important events, the main idea and central message. Students have been working on retelling stories while using these elements in their retell. While reading informational texts we focused on identifying the different text features such as the table of contents, headings, and illustrations as well as identifying the main topic and details to support our understanding. Unit 2 will focus on many of these same skills. We began a shared reading text titled A Fine, Fine, School this week. See if your child can retell it to you at home including important story elements!

                                                                                                Math

Number Bond Model

What is fact fluency? Fact fluency is the idea that certain numbers have a relationship, such as 7, 3, and 10. If we understand that those numbers are related, we can easily solve addition or subtraction problems where those numbers are involved. For example: 7+3=10, 3+7=10, 10-7=3, or 10-3=7. Fact fluency also includes being able to compose and decompose numbers quickly. Composing numbers is when we take two numbers and put them together to get a total. Decomposing numbers is when we start with a number and break it down into two parts. For example, I can take 10 and break it down into 7 & 3,  6 & 4 or 8 & 2. Number bonds are a great model that help us understand fact fluency. 

This past week students were solving addition and subtraction word problems. Students were asked to find key words and act out story problems with cubes or other items to determine if they were adding or subtracting. They were asked to draw a picture and write a number sentence that corresponded. This week we will revisit adding and subtracting using various strategies (fingers, number lines, number bonds, counting on, etc) to build our fact fluency. We will also review the equal sign and our understanding of a balanced equation. Please review your child's math CFA's (Common Formative Assessments) to see your child's progress towards these targets. Our Unit 1 math test will be on Friday this week. We will begin Unit 2 next week which will be a continuation of addition and subtraction math skills. 

Social Studies

We have been discussing what patriotic symbols are and what they stand for. Some symbols we have talked about include the American Flag, Bald Eagle, White House, Washington Monument, Liberty Bell, and Statue of Liberty. We will also be talking about our current president, Barak Obama, and his role in our country.

                                                                                        Science

We are continuing to study plants and animals in science. This week our discussion is focused around the parts of a plant including the roots, stem, leaves, and flowers. We each even planted our own lima bean plant! We are very excited to make observations as they grow over the next few weeks. Next week we will also be getting a special delivery - our class is getting hermit crabs to observe and study! Students have not been informed of our unique class pet yet so it will be a special surprise!

Please check the IH School Calendar for other events that may not be listed.

September 26-28 - PTO Book Fair (during school hours)

September 28 - PTO Book Fair and Ice Cream Social 6:30PM

October 3 - NO SCHOOL - District Holiday 

October 7 - PTO Movie Night (1st & 2nd Grade) 6:30PM

October 10 - NO SCHOOL - Columbus Day

October 11 - NO SCHOOL - District Holiday

October 12 - NO SCHOOL - District Holiday 

October 13 - Math Night for Parents (1st & 2nd Grade) 6:00PM

Library Checkout

Yesterday our class checked out library books! Our class will have library checkout every Tuesday at 9:00. Your child will keep the book they checked out for the week and they should bring it back the following Tuesday to return. If you child fails to bring their book back, they will not be able to check a new book out until our next library checkout. If you have any questions, please let me know. Happy Reading!

September 11, 2016

I hope everyone got out and enjoyed the beautiful weekend! Below you will find updates to what we've been working on the past few weeks in first grade. It is my goal to keep our blog updated every 2 weeks. You may notice some areas contain the same information as we are continuing to build our understanding on these targets. 

Just a reminder, our classroom can get pretty chilly during the day. Your child may want to bring a sweater or leave one in their locker in case they get cold throughout the day.

What is a Mystery Reader? A Mystery Reader is an adult volunteer who would like to surprise our class at school to read a story to us. They can be parents, grandparents, or other special family members. If you would like to volunteer to be a mystery reader, please just send me an email and we will figure out a day/time that works best. Please keep in mind that we would like to have mystery readers all year long so I may suggest a date in the winter or spring. When it is your day to be a mystery reader, the class will know someone is coming in but they won't know who, so please keep it a secret! You will check in at the office and then surprise us in our classroom. We would love to have you come visit us!

                            Writing

We are becoming authors in first grade! We are currently writing narrative stories and understanding the writing process. Students were introduced to a TAK Brainstorm Map (Topic, Audience, and Key Words) to help analyze a writing prompt. Students were then introduced to an I-Chart which is a planning document that helps them organize their thoughts. This organizer includes the characters in their narrative, the setting, problem, events, and a conclusion or reflection of their narrative. This past week our prompt came from the story Time to Sleep. In this story a little boy discovers that people and animals sleep in many different ways and places. Students were asked to write about a time they had a sleepover or when someone else slept at their house. Ask your child what they chose to write about!

Spelling

We have been introduced to what our spelling sorts look like and the different ways we can sort. We learned about a closed sort where we give them the headings and they sort their picture cards. We have practiced a buddy sort and also a timed sort. We will begin differentiate sorts on September 26th and this is when spelling homework will be sent home. 

                        Reading

We have finished our shared reading texts, Stellaluna and Frog and Toad. While reading those stories we discussed important story elements such as characters, setting, problem/solution, and the central message. Students have been working towards the goal of retelling a story using these elements. When retelling, we want students to be able to give the most important events and details in order. They might even include a conclusion they reached or emotions the characters were feeling at certain points in the story. You can practice retelling at home too!

We are continuing to build our reading stamina at school and I'm sure you are at home too! Please remember to record your minutes at home on your reading calendar. The expectation is that you are reading 15-20 minutes a night. I will collect reading calendars at the end of September and your will get a new one for October. As your child is continuing to build their reading stamina, you might start by having your child read 5 minutes on their own, and maybe 10 minutes with a parent or older sibling. When you see that 5 minutes seems easy for them to maintain focus on reading, then increase their time to 7 minutes on their own. You can continue to build stamina by increasing their "on their own" time. Don't forget to check the back of your reading calendar for different ways you and your child can read!

                           Math
First graders will be focusing on addition and subtraction strategies in the coming weeks. We want students to have a range of hands-on and mental strategies they can use to solve addition and subtraction problems. Our goal is that they are fluent with addition and subtraction up to 10. We will begin addition timed tests in November. To get your child ready, practice using flash cards at home!

First graders will also be working on their ability to put numbers together and take them apart quickly. You may hear the terms part-part-whole, or number bonds. These are models that help our children understand the relationships between numbers. We will also be working on multiple ways to make a given number. For example, 2+3 is 5, and 1+4 is another way to make 5. 

First graders are continuing to develop their understanding of the = sign. Sometimes we see number sentences written different ways. The = sign means "the same as" or "balanced" so whichever way a problem is presented a student should be able to determine if it is true or false.

In the coming weeks we will be moving toward solving story problems for addition and subtraction. 


                                                                 Social Studies
We will begin our social studies unit by discussing American symbols. We will look at symbols we see every day as well as important patriotic symbols such as the Bald Eagle and the American Flag. We will also discuss the role of our president and the important jobs he has.


                              Science
We have begun our amazing journey in science focused on plants and animals. We have discussed how plants and animals have similar characteristics but can also be different. Students have been introduced to the terms offspring and adult. We played a matching game where students were given animal cards and the adults had to find their offspring by giving them clues about themselves. We will continue our plant and animal unit in the next few weeks. 

Important Dates

Please check the IH School Calendar for other events that may not be listed.

September 13 - PTO Special Lunch (Culver's)

September 15 - PTO Fundraising - Culver's Night 

September 25 - PTO D96 Dash

September 27 - Early Release 2:00PM

September 26-28 - PTO Book Fair (During School Hours)

September 28 - PTO Book Fair and Ice Cream Social 6:00PM

October 3 - NO SCHOOL