Week of January 9 - 13

Dear Parents,              

We had a great first week back!  Students shared great things they did over the vacation and worked hard to get back into routines. 

Here is a look at what we are working on next week:

Reading: We are continuing to work in our reading groups and centers.  We will be reviewing how to select a book that is ‘just right’, reading strategies, and how to participate in a book talk. We will review how to read with a partner and practice reading strategies and book talks as a group. 

Word Work/Handwriting: Our focus next week will be on word work.  Students will practice making words using consonant clusters, review uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as identifying and distinguishing consonant and vowel sounds.  Games, like lotto, and activities, like letter sorts and making words with magnetic letters, will be used to reinforce what we learn.

Writing: Students have been learning what a ‘How To’ book is and how to create their own.  We will continue to “collect” ‘How To’ pieces in our writing folders.   Students will continue to draw the steps and then translate each step into words.  We will practice picturing each step in our minds to help us draw and write with details.  Picture books and creation of class books will be used to guide student’s development toward their own pieces.  Students will begin to think about their audience for each piece and how they can make their steps clear for their audience.  By the end of the week, we will look at our collection of pieces and choose one to revise, edit, and then publish!

Math: Next week, we will continue sorting and classifying based on attributes and start conducting surveys and analyzing data.  Surveys will be completed as a group in class and students will be creating their own surveys.  We will learn how to collect, represent, and analyze data by answering questions about what they found.  By the end of the week, we will compare our ages by using connecting cubes as a tool to represent our ages and then figure out how many students are each age. 

Science: Students really enjoyed learning about living things and their characteristics.  We were able to talk about habitats and what each living thing needs to survive.  Next week, we will look closely at fish.  We will study their structure, habitats, and observe them in action.  Students will learn the parts of a fish and what they need to survive.  By the end of the week, students will be labeling a diagram of a fish and highlighting what they learned. 

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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

Week of January 3 - 6

Dear Parents,                       

We had a great day back!  We hope you all had a wonderful holiday break!  Students were so excited to share all the great things they did over the vacation!  Everyone is doing a beautiful job getting back into our classroom routines, as well!

Here is a look at what we are working on this week:

Reading:  We are continuing to work in our reading groups and centers.  We will be reviewing how to think about our senses as we read.  We will also review characters, settings and character actions.  We will begin discussing how to create mental pictures using the words and the pictures on the pages.  Students will make inferences based on the words and pictures to think about what is happening “between the picture scenes”. 

Word Work/Handwriting:  During this time, students will be continue to work on handwriting and sight words.  We will also be practicing how to change and manipulate words to create new words.  Students will change beginning and ending sounds to make different words.  Students will also be playing a letter matching game at the end of the week. This game will focus on matching uppercase letters to their lowercase letters.  We are encouraging students to use lower case letters as they write unless it’s the beginning of a sentence or a special name or holiday. 

Writing:  Students have been learning about “How To” books.  We are in the “collecting” phase of our workshop and students have been generating many great ideas for their books.  This week, students will take their ideas and form them into steps via pictures and words.  An example is; “how to make a snowman”.  Students will think of the steps necessary to build a snowman, draw the steps, and translate them into words.  We are focusing on being very specific so that their audience can get a clear idea of the steps that need to be taken.

Math:  Before the break, we were discussing ways to sort and organize objects.  This week, we will review ways to sort objects based on their attributes.  We will be sorting buttons and playing “guess my rule” with objects and with people!  Towards the end of the week, we will begin investigating, recording and analyzing data through quick surveys and classroom discussions. 

Science: This week in science, we will pick up where we left off with our discussions about living things.  We will revisit our KWL charts (what we know, what we would like to know, and what we have learned) and we will begin investigating the different habitats of living things.

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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

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!

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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