Week of February 13-17

Dear Parents,              

We had a very busy week this week and the students have, yet again, done a wonderful job!  We had our Unit 5 math assessment, our second writing prompt, and we have started new units in writing and math!  Next week, we will be celebrating the 100^th day of school on Monday and Valentine’s Day on Tuesday.  There will be fun center activities during those days.  Notices with more information about both celebrations will be sent home with students.

Here is a look at the week ahead:

Reading: We have been learning what inferring means and how we can use inferring when we are reading to gain a better understanding of our stories. We will continue to explore inferring while reviewing games, pictures, and big books.  We will read poetry and short stories to infer themes and morals.  Students will also investigate how they can infer about the characters in a story.  We will look at character traits and their actions.  We will also practice predicting the events to come before and during reading.

Word Work/Handwriting: Next week, we will continue our vowel discussions.  Students have explored long and short “a”, “e”, and “i” vowel words.  Next week, students will explore and sort words with long and short “o” and “u” vowel words.  Students will also be taking another look at some common word families like –an, -ake, -ate, -ay, -and, and –at.  In handwriting, students will practice forming lowercase letters.  We will start with lower case “o” and “c”.  Students who need a little extra reinforcement with uppercase letters will be able to work with the teacher in a small group or one-to-one setting.

Writing: Students are very excited to start our new writing unit; “Authors as Mentors”!  Students are very familiar with the three authors and have read many of their books.  We have explored Lois Elhert and her craft of writing and illustrating.  Students enjoy her large font and collage-type illustrations!  Students will be exploring the writing styles of Cynthia Rylant and Arnold Lobel, as well, and we will be comparing and contrasting all three authors.  Students will have a chance to write and illustrate like each author before choosing an author as a mentor for their publishing pieces. 

Math: We kicked off Unit 6 with great success!  Next week, students will be investigating the number 10 with different games and connections.  Students will be working with groups of 10 during our math centers on Monday to celebrate our 100^th day of school!  Students will be able to make connections between 10 and 100 while sorting and grouping 100 objects.  Students will also explore the number 10 through tens-frames, quick images, “Tens Go-Fish”, and story problems.

Science: Students loved our reptile discussions!  We are able to identify and describe reptiles while also noting the differences between reptiles and amphibians!  Students are making some great connections week to week as we explore all the animal groups!  Next week, we will learn about birds!  We will be looking at videos and reading books about birds.  Students will learn the characteristics of birds, where they live, how they move, what they eat, and their adaptations to help them survive. 

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!                                                         

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