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
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| Number Bond Model |
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
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
