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