Week of December 19-23

Dear Parents,                       

The holidays are fast approaching and we are busy here in first grade completing fun activities and centers!  We look forward to seeing many of you on Wednesday, December 21, for craft activities.  We are still looking for volunteers to run activity stations!   If you are still interested please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible. 

Here is a look at the week ahead:

Reading:  We are continuing to work in our reading groups and centers.  Students have been doing an excellent job making thoughtful predictions based on the pictures and the words in the story, talking back to the text, and discussing characters and their actions.  Next week we will continue working on reacting to what we read, discussing characters as well as their actions, and setting. 

Word Work/Handwriting:  Our focus next week will be on word work.  We will continue building and writing high frequency words and recognizing words we know quickly.  We will also practice hearing middle sounds by playing picture match games. 

Writing:  Students have been doing wonderfully during writing.  Students have chosen a piece to revise, edit, and publish.  Next week, we will begin creating How-To Books.  First we will read and discuss How-To Books, create a list of topics to write about, orally share ideas, and create picture maps to begin creating their own How-To Books. 

Math:  Students have been using 100 charts, creating number strips up to 100, and finding missing numbers in number sequences up to 100.  Next week, we will finish up the unit on counting and move into unit four, What Would Your Rather Be?, focusing on analyzing data.  We will begin by sorting buttons and shapes.  Games will be played to sort shapes by their characteristics. 

Science: Thank you all for your help with completing the holiday traditions homework.  Students have enjoyed exploring different holidays and sharing their own traditions.  Next week we will continue to talk about the holidays focusing on Hanukah, Kwanzaa, and Chinese New Year.  Activities, discussions, and videos will be used to enhance student learning of the holidays.  We will finish our unit on holidays by having a movie and special treat on Friday before leaving for break. 

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

~Your first grade teachers: Miss Field and Mrs. McIntire

An Afternoon Filled with Holiday Activities!

Dear Parents,

            As the holidays are fast approaching, we are interested in having a holiday craft and activity afternoon on Wednesday, December 21, from 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.  We would love for you to join us! 

            We are looking for parents to plan and run stations. Interested parents are asked to come prepared with an educational craft or activity that would take a total of 10-15 minutes to complete, and should be based around math, reading, writing, social studies, and science.  Any activities utilizing technology would be great! For example, a math station may be adding and subtracting with candy canes.  Parents could even work together to run connected stations.  A language arts example would be reading a Christmas story like A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe, and then completing a craft such as decorating a paper Christmas tree. 

Please send your child’s teacher an email by Wednesday, December 14, letting her know your idea for a station.  If you would like to come in but can’t think of an idea, your child’s teacher will be more than happy to help you plan an activity. 

We are looking forward to an afternoon of fun to celebrate the holiday season!  We hope many of you will join us!

Your first grade teachers,   Rosanne Field & Catherine McIntire

Holiday Traditions Homework

Name: ______________________________________________

Holiday Traditions

With the holidays around the corner, we want to explore the different holidays and traditions that are celebrated this time of year.  Please write about your own family holiday traditions!  We will be sharing them on Monday.

Thank you!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week of December 12-16

Dear Parents,                       

The holidays are fast approaching and we are busy here in first grade completing fun activities and centers!  Next week will be our last full week of 2011 and we have many new and exciting things to learn!

Here is a look at the week ahead:

Reading:  We are continuing to work in our reading groups and centers.  Students have been doing an excellent job retelling their books, noticing feelings as they read, and making thoughtful predictions based on the pictures and the words in the story.  Next week, we will work more with making predictions and reacting to what we read.  We will also begin discussing the characters in our stories; paying attention to emotions, traits, and connections. 

Word Work/Handwriting:  Next week, we will practice our letter formations on different lined paper in order to practice on a variety of lines.  We will practice forming capitals C, O, Q, and G.   Our focus next week will be primarily on word work.  We will continue looking at spelling patterns such as –at and –an.  We will then dive into some high frequency words, such as and, from, came, and have.  We will practice their spelling and use them in sentences. 

Writing:  Students have been doing wonderfully during writing.  We have learned about the components of a realistic fiction story and have read many examples from great authors.  Next week, students will choose one of their collected pieces to revise, edit, and publish.  We will discuss the importance of revision and how to revise written work.  We will also focus on editing for punctuation and word choice. 

Math:  Students have been working with addition and subtraction story problems and games.  They have been doing a great job using strategies that work for them on an individual basis to solve problems.  Next week, we focus on counting.  We will explore counting to higher numbers, extending sequences, counting to 100, and finding missing numbers as we count in sequence. 

Science: With the holidays coming up, we would like to explore the different holidays that are celebrated around this time of year.  We are asking students to take this weekend and write about some of their own holiday traditions for this time of year.  Writing and sharing our traditions will help kick off our holiday study next week!  Students will be sent home with a worksheet to fill out about their holiday traditions and we ask that they be returned on Monday. 

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

~Your first grade teachers: Miss Field and Mrs. McIntire

Week of December 5-9

Dear Parents,                       

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are ready for December.  In December we have a lot of exciting things to learn and events to attend!  Students have been very busy learning and creating wonderful things and are excited for the month ahead. 

Here is a look at the week ahead:

Reading:  We are continuing to work in our reading groups and centers.  Students have been working very hard on retelling stories with detail and are able to identify characters and setting independently.  Next week, we will look deeper into the author’s purpose and begin to react, notice feelings, paint pictures in our minds for what is happening, and make thoughtful predictions to what may happen.  We will continue to review reading strategies and encourage students to try as many strategies as they can while reading before asking for help. 

Word Work/Handwriting:  Next week, we will continue to practice our letter formation.  We will be working with capitals U, V, W, X, Y, and Z as well review numbers 1-5.  In word work we will begin learning common short vowel word patterns beginning with “a” and “e”.  We will be making words whole group and practicing independently to recognize letter clusters by putting letters together and noticing patterns to help read words. 

Writing:  Students have begun a new unit, realistic fiction, and writing their own realistic fiction stories.  We will continue to talk about what makes a story realistic fiction and will be creating stories that have a clear beginning, middle, and end with clear transitions between each.  We will continue to generate ideas and collect our own realistic fiction pieces.   Picture books will be used as examples to help generate ideas and see clear beginning, middle, and end transitions in familiar text. 

Math:  Students have been doing a wonderful job solving subtraction story problems!  We are beginning to notice words in story problems that tell us whether to subtract or add and are writing equations independently.  Next week, we will be solving both addition and subtraction story problems through whole group discussions and games.  We will use the key words we used to tell us whether to subtract or add to help solve the problems.  We will also continue to discuss strategies and write number equations. 

Science: We will begin our next unit in Science focusing on living things.  We will begin by talking about animals and the characteristics that make them living.   Students will use what they already know about animals, books, and videos to create a list of characteristics. 

Have a great weekend!

~Your first grade teachers: Miss Field and Mrs. McIntire

November 21-22 and November 28-December 2

                                        Week of November 21-22 and November 28 – December 2
Dear Parents,                       

November is already coming to a close!  Students have been very busy at school learning and creating wonderful things!  Please remember that Tuesday, November 22 is a half day and there is no school on Wednesday the 23^rd.

Here is a look at the week ahead and the week we return from Thanksgiving break:

Reading:  We are continuing to work in our reading groups and centers.  Next week, we will practice retelling to the other first grade class as well as review our reading strategies.  We encourage students to try as many strategies as they can while reading before asking for help.  The week we return from break, we will discuss the strategies that we can use to check our comprehension and ensure that we understand what we are reading.  We will revisit setting, characters and retelling while paying close attention to evidence in the text to support and clarify our retells.

Word Work/Handwriting:  Next week, we will practice our letter formation.  We will be working with capitals H, K, and L.  When we return from break, students will be reviewing how to write capitals H, K and L as well as numbers 1-10.  We will also work with the beginning sounds of words and the vowels that are found within different words.

Writing:  Before Thanksgiving, students will be writing pieces about what they are thankful for.  We will be discussing the meaning of Thanksgiving and will give students time to reflect and connect through writing!  When we return from break, students will begin a new unit; Realistic Fiction!  Students will be introduced to this genre and will generate topic-lists and story maps to help begin drafting their own realistic fiction piece.   

Math:  Students have been doing a wonderful job with story problems!  They are enjoying all of the math games during centers and are sharing wonderful solution strategies that work for them!  Next week, we will continue working with addition story problems through whole group discussions and center games.  When we return from break, we will dive into a new section of Unit 3; Subtraction!  Students are eager to share subtraction strategies and are already thinking in terms of subtraction!  We will discuss subtraction story problems and different strategies for using subtraction.

Social Studies: Students have been working very hard on their own map creations!  They are excited to finish them up to share next week!  When we return from break, we will be finishing our unit on maps.  We will discuss how to locate places and objects on a map and how to use vocabulary words like “nearer”, “farther”, “on”, “under”, “next to”, and “in”.

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe holiday break!

~Your first grade teachers: Miss Field and Mrs. McIntire

The Week Ahead- November 14th to November 18th

Dear Parents,                                                      Week of November 14^th-18th

  We had a wonderful time on our field trip and students were thrilled to learn about the living things among their environment.  We also had great discussions about what we were sensing as we were on our nature walk and walking through the apple orchard.  Our Veteran’s Day assembly went very well and every student showed great respect and thanks to our Veterans.

Here is a look at the week ahead:

Reading: We are continuing to work in our reading groups and centers.  We have been practicing reading fluently and communicating appropriately in a reading partnership.  We will be discussing strategies for retelling a story and how to think and share thoughts with a partner.  This week we will focus on retelling settings and characters.   As always, we continue to practice using our strategies to ensure that our reading looks right, sounds right, and makes sense.  

Word Work/Handwriting: This week, we will practice adding “s” to different words to make them plural.  We will also practice changing and adding beginning and ending sounds to make new words.  For handwriting, we will continue to practice letter and number formation; focusing on M and N and numbers 1-4. 

Writing:  Students have cleaned out their writing folders and are ready to start collecting and selecting pieces to work with!  We will discuss the importance of selecting pieces to edit and publish.  We will also discuss how to share our writing and give constructive feedback to others so that we can go back and add details.  Students will review using the word wall as a tool and writing their name, date and title on each piece.   

Math:  We have started our new math unit; Solving Story Problems.  This week, we will be solving problems with multiple solutions and number combinations.  We will also play addition games with numbers and dot cubes.  Students will practice the strategy of “counting on” in order to help solve word problems and find missing quantities.  We will revisit some games to help explore the strategies. 

Social Studies: This week, we will continue exploring and labeling maps.  We will be labeling, identifying locations, and using numbers on a map to show sequence.  Students will also be creating their own maps of the classroom or their bedroom. 

Have a wonderful long weekend! 

~ Your First Grade Teachers: Miss Field and Mrs. McIntire 

First Grade Field Trip to Sharon Audubon Center and Ellsworth Farm in Sharon, CT!

The first grade class will be going on a field trip to Sharon Audubon Center and to Ellsworth Farm!  This trip relates to our science curriculum as it focuses on animals, their habitats and how things grow!

New Date: Wednesday, November 9^th, 2011

Reminders:

·         Bus will be leaving GCS at 9:00 a.m. and will return around 1:30 p.m.

·         If you were scheduled to chaperone, we would love to have you come!  However, if you are unable attend please let us know as soon as possible. 

·         Students will need to bring a bagged lunch and drink.  No items will be able to be heated so please supply a cold lunch! Please put your name on your lunch.  If you choose to do so, you may purchase a bagged lunch from the cafeteria.  The cost is $2.25 and includes drink, sandwich of choice, fruit, etc.  You may also purchase just milk at a cost of 40 cents.  Lunch forms from the cafeteria are available upon request. 

Please email us with any questions: rfield@rsd6.org & cmcintire@rsd6.org

Week of October 31- November 4

Dear Parents,                                                           Week of October 31-November 4

            As we say goodbye to October and welcome November, we are eager to begin a new month of learning in first grade.  November not only begins the holiday season, but brings back social studies and new strategies in writing. 

Below is a look at the week ahead:

Reading:  We are continuing to work in our reading groups and centers.  Each student is doing a great job working independently on their tasks.  We have been practicing reading with fluency and communicating appropriately in a reading partnership.   We will be focusing on noticing punctuation as we are reading.  We will continue to practice using our strategies to ensure that our reading looks right, sounds right, and makes sense.  We will review how to retell a story with details directly from the text and share with a partner. 

Word Work/Handwriting:  Our “Handwriting Without Tears” program is off to a great start!  This week, we will continue to practice letter formation.  We will review the capital letters E, F, D, P, B, and R and then begin letters N and M.  We will continue practicing how to hold a pencil, starting our letters at the top, and placing letters correctly on a line.  In word work, we will begin writing high frequency words and learn how adding –s to words makes them plural.

Writing:  Students have been working so hard during writing time exploring writing materials and topics! They know the routine of writer’s workshop and are able to select and work with writing materials independently.  This week we will discuss how to collect stories in our writing folders, how to choose pieces to share with others, and offer positive feedback to others when they share.  We will also review how to use the word wall as a tool. 

Math:  Over the past few weeks, students have been working very hard describing, creating, and drawing shapes as part of our Geometry unit.  We are now ready to move into our next unit, Solving Story Problems.  This week we will begin by revisiting some games we have played like Start With/Get To, as well as learn new games as we learn to solve addition and subtraction problems.

Social Studies:  Students have enjoyed learning about night and day and were eager to share what they have learned by using the pictures and models.  This week we will jump back into Social Studies and will discuss and explore maps.  We will be labeling, identifying locations, and using numbers on a map to show sequence. 

We hope to see you all Monday at 2:15 for our Harvest Parade to celebrate Halloween!

~ Your First Grade Teachers: Miss. Field and Mrs. McIntire J

Week of October 24-28

Dear Parents,                                                                                    

            It was so nice to see many of you this week for conferences!  There were many wonderful things to share!  We have our field trip this week on Thursday the 27^th. Everyone is excited and ready to go on our nature walk and pick apples!  Below is a look at the week ahead:

Reading:  We are continuing to work in our reading groups and centers.  Each student is doing a great job working independently on their tasks.  We have been practicing reading with fluency and we will continue to practice using our strategies to ensure that our reading looks right, sounds right, and makes sense.  We will also talk about how to read with a partner.  We will discuss how to select books with your partner and how to read books when you are reading with someone else.

Word Work/Handwriting:  Our “Handwriting Without Tears” program is off to a great start!  This week, we will practice letter formation.  We will work specifically with capital letters E, F, D, P, B, and R.  Students have been practicing starting their letters at the top and how to hold their pencil to get the best letter formation.  We will also work on grouping words together that have the same beginning sounds.

Writing:  Students have been working so hard during writing time! They are getting to know the routine of writer’s workshop and are able to select and work with writing materials independently as they need them.  This week we will discuss how to select topics to write about.  We will also focus on oral storytelling and sketching pictures as a way to organize their thoughts prior to writing.  We will discuss ways to go back and add detail to their writing once they have drafted their piece.

Math:  Everyone has been so engaged during our geometry unit!  Students are making great connections about the shapes they find in their own environment!  This week, we will compare and contrast shapes and design quilt patterns and paper quilts using squares and rhombi!

Science:  Students have been introduced to the concept of night and day.  We have briefly discussed the reasons for night and day and have touched upon how the Earth rotates around the sun.  This week, we will investigate Earth rotation a bit more and connect what we learn about night and day with shadows.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

~ Your First Grade Teachers: Miss. Field and Mrs. McIntire J

Week of October 17-21

Dear Parents,                                                                                   

            We had another wonderful week of school!  All students are getting used to classroom routines and are eager to learn.  We began our unit of Shadows  in science and were able to draw some great diagrams of the different shadows as the sun moves throughout the day.  We are eager to share with you what we have learned! 

Below is a look at the week ahead:

Reading:  We are continuing to work in our reading groups and centers.  Each student is beginning to work in centers independently and is able to complete the tasks at hand.  We will continue to work on being flexible and use more than one reading strategy when reading.   We will also move into monitoring as we read - looking through the “challenging” word/s and looking at the pictures and thinking about what makes sense.  We will begin talking about reading fluently, touch upon what being “fluent” means, and model being a fluent reader. 

Word Work/Handwriting:  We will begin the “Handwriting Without Tears” program.  We will be talking about what good writers look like including posture, position of paper when writing, and pencil grip.  By the end of next week we will begin formation of numbers, complete fun formation activities, and sing some songs to help us remember where we start our letters and numbers.

Writing:  Students have been working very hard on personalizing their writing folders and materials as well as understanding and demonstrating what good writers do.  Next week we will create a list of topics to write about; learn how to appropriately choose paper that will help us write, practice writing our names, and review how to write the date. 

Math:  Students have enjoyed the start of our Geometry unit as they have been making designs with pattern blocks, completing pattern block fill-ins, and playing games that reinforce the main characteristics of each shape.  Students will begin learning new ways to use pattern blocks to create more detailed designs, begin making their own shape posters, and begin describing triangles and quadrilaterals.

Science:  We have been working very hard creating diagrams and experimenting with flashlights to see how the sun moves throughout the day and the different shadows that are created.  Next week we will use what we know about the sun and shadows to begin talking about the changes between day and night.  We will briefly talk about the differences between day and night along with the sun’s position.  A video from Discovery Education will be used to help introduce the topic. 

Reminder: Due to conferences next week, we will have half-session days Wednesday, October 19, through Friday, October 21.  We look forward to seeing all of you next week!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

~ Your First Grade Teachers: Miss. Field and Mrs. McIntire J

Week of October 10th- October 14th

Dear Parents,

            We had a lovely first week of October!  Students have been working very hard on their important poems during writing and they are now in the process of typing their pieces on the computer to publish.  Students have also been enjoying experimenting with shadows during science!  Here is a look at the week ahead…..

Reading:  We will continue working in our reading groups.  Students are doing very well with center routines and independent reading!  Thank you very much for reading with your child at home!  We have been hearing lots of great connections to their reading because of it!  We will continue practicing our reading strategies and discuss how we can use more than one strategy while we read.  We will also be talking about different ways to select a book that is interesting to read.  We will discuss our favorite books, favorite authors, and any interests we have that may help the book selection process.

Word Work:  We will be practicing forming our letters to go along with our handwriting.  Students will be able to trace and draw letters to reinforce letter formation.  We will use things like dry erase boards, chalk boards, and other hands-on materials to practice.

Writing:  Students were able to share their “Important Poems” with other students as they finished the written process.  They have worked so hard on editing and revising their poems and they were so proud to share their piece with the other first grade class!  We are continuing to work on typing our poems onto the computer.  This will help students learn to find their way around a keyboard for future projects and it is a great way to publish their work!

Math:  We will continue in our second unit of math; geometry! Students will review the characteristics of different 2-dimensional shapes.  We will also be able to experiment with pattern blocks and practice filling in different regions and pictures with the blocks.  We will continue encouraging students to explain or show their thinking as they problem solve.  Students have done a great job working with solution strategies that work for them as they problem solve!  We encourage drawing pictures, using manipulatives, number sentences, number lines and any other strategies that help them double check their work.

Science:  Students have been very engaged during our Shadows unit!  We will continue experimenting with shadows and making observations and connections.  We will be using flashlights to trace shadows of different objects from around the room.  These flashlights will act as our sun and we will discuss the relationship between shadows and the position of the sun. 

Just a reminder that there is no school on Monday!  Have a wonderful long weekend!

~ First Grade Teachers: Rosanne Field & Catherine McIntire

The Week Ahead: October 3rd- October 7th

Dear Parents,

            We had another wonderful week of school!  Students have been working very hard in all subject areas.  Our photo story projects are near completion and students cannot wait to share them with you.  Here is a little bit about what we will be working on next week…

Reading:  We will continue working in our reading groups.  Students are doing very well with center routines and independent reading!  We will continue to talk about reading strategies like getting your mouth ready, tracking the words with your finger, taking picture walks, and making sure the words you say match what’s written on the page.  We will be focusing on the next reading strategy of “Does it sound right?” and begin using all of the strategies we have learned so far independently.  By mid-week we will be talking about “just right” books and why they are very important for us to read!

Word Work:  We will practice hearing and blending onsets and rhymes, identifying and blending onsets and rhymes, learning letter names through creation of mini-books, and review formation of letters by the end of the week.  Each lesson will include a game or activity to enhance our learning.

Writing:  Students have been working very hard on drafting and editing their “Important” poems.  Each student has their own topic they have written about and we will be continuing to work with those topics to create a final poem.  We will discuss how to add details to writing even if it’s changing or adding one word.  We will also learn how to publish a piece of writing! To complete our poems, we will begin creating a digital way of sharing our poems with you! 

Math:  We will be finishing up unit one and moving into unit two of math.  Story problems will be used to practice strategies and enhance understanding of number relationships and equations.  We encourage students to use strategies that work for them when solving problems.  By mid-week students will be completing the end of unit assessment and we will be moving into unit two which focuses on Geometry! 

Science:  October brings Science into first grade!  We will be finishing up loose ends for Social Studies and moving into our first Science unit of Forces and Motion.  This unit will begin by introducing the sun, why it is important, and how shadows are made.  Students will be creating their own shadows and shadows of objects around them.   We are looking forward to a month of great science fun! 

Hope you all have a great weekend!

~ First Grade Teachers:

                 Rosanne Field & Catherine McIntire