Welcome to first grade
CHECK OUT WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING! ITS PRETTY AWESOME.
The month of September is definitely a challenge for us due to all the testing that needs to take place at the beginning of the year. I am so proud of these little ones for trying their best and staying strong to work through the long tests! By the end of next week, we will have finished all of our testing- yay! These tests include: NWEA math and reading test, which is taken on the computer and tests skills from K-2nd grade, DRA, which is an individual reading test that focuses on fluency and comprehension using a physical book, and the FAST reading test, which focuses more so on phonics skills at the first grade level. Phew- that's a lot, but we're almost there. Wish us luck!
Also, thank you all for making time on Wednesday, the 11th, to get your child to their scheduled testing time. I appreciate your flexibility and to whoever helped you out if help was needed:) In Reading... Our first reading unit is underway! This unit focuses on the comprehension skill: story elements & key details. Last week we introduced what the story elements are (characters, setting, problem and solution). We used various read aloud texts to find these elements together as a whole group. Then, we practiced listening to a read aloud and independently finding these story elements. Moving forward in the unit, we will be introduced to key details and how we determine what was "the most important thing that happened at the beginning, middle and end. This skill helps to build our retelling skills, focusing on and engaging with the story, as well as the beginning steps of summarizing. If there are opportunities where you are reading with your child at home, it would be a great extension to what we have been practicing here at school to ask them to identify who the main character/s are, the setting, problem + solution, and/or asking them to retell the story, starting at the beginning! In Writing... Last week we officially started our first writing unit: Small Moments. This unit will go for about 4 weeks (give or take;)). During this unit, the first grade authors focus on writing a story that we consider a "small moment." For example, a "big moment" would be a story all about what they did over the summer, where a "small moment" would be just a weekend away camping. Being able to hone in on a small moment story sets us up for better success with our goals during this unit. Those goals include: adding more detail to make our stories more exciting and stretching our stories across multiple pages. And, on top of those specific unit goals, our overall goals as first grade writers, is to slow down so that we can write neatly and stretch our sounds out to best spell words we don't know. In Math... Last week we finished Topic A, which was working on put together number stories (adding) to find totals to 6,7,8,9, and 10. and now we are moving onto Topic B! In Topic B, we still continue the work with put together number stories to find totals to ten, but we will be extending our thinking by using number bonds and number expressions to help us see the connection between composing and decomposing numbers. We are also working on using drawings to help us "prove our thinking" and to help us count on accurately to be more successful. The expectation is that our drawings match the story problem and can be understood and are organized. This is a big step for us because it will eventually lead to our math discourse procedures. During the discourse procedures, our class pairs up with partners or in groups and they are expected to explain their thinking and/or work together to share ideas on how to solve the problem at hand. In Inquiry... This month, our inquiry unit is a Social Studies unit and will take us into the first week of October. Our PYP theme is "Who We Are: Good Citizens" with the central idea being "Everything we do affects the world around us." The essential questions we explore this unit are "How do you know if you are a responsible team member?" "How do you know if you are a responsible leader?" "How can individuals make a difference in their community?" and "What qualities do responsible leaders have that create change." To start the unit off, we looked at what communities are, the features of different communities we find in our country and around the world, and then we discussed the types of communities we belong to and how they are different than others. Next, we will be talking about what our roles are in the communities we belong to. Important Dates!... Friday, September 13th: Bulldog Bootcamp (review of school wide expectations) Thursday, September 19th: Bulldog Shuffle (more details to come) Thursday, September 26th: Bus Safety & our End of the Month Celebration (Water balloons- weather permitting) more information about this day will come as we get closer. Friday, September 27th: No school- teacher professional development day
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Our first newsletter of the school year- Welcome! Normally, in our newsletters you will find a description of what we have been doing within each of our units for the past two weeks, as well as future projects or tests within the units. This past week, though, our main focus was practicing routines and going over behavior expectations here in first grade. We like to start off slowly with our units to make sure that our routines and expectations are really ingrained in us in order for the year to go smoothly and successfully!
Kickboard Update! Mrs. Brace and the PBIS school based behavior committee are working to reset usernames and password logins for your child. We should have access to these shortly, so keep an eye out for information coming home about your child's new username and password so you can easily access Kickboard at home. Let me know if you have any questions concerning this! Thanks for your patience! In Reading... Our reading curriculum will start fresh on Monday. Our first focuses on the comprehension skill: This past week we were introduced to the different rotations for our reading block time. These rotations include word family work, where students work with a specific spelling pattern to transfer phonics instruction to writing, read to self, listen to reading, and journal writing. During our reading block time, the first graders are expected to be independently working on a rotations, while I am meeting with small reading groups to work on a specific skill that helps to enhance fluency and comprehension. The books that you will find in your child's book bags, are the books that we work on in our small group setting. They are not required to be read at home for their family reading time HW, but they are a great option for your child to read by him/herself because they are books that we have been practicing that week and will help build upon their fluency. In Math... Our first math unit is already underway! Module 1 focuses on "Sums and Differences to 10." Topic A of Module 1 continues to develop students number sense within 10 by practicing "put together" (addition) situations. The biggest focus in topic A is using a number bond to see parts and a total. We practice being able to find the missing part to make 10- specifically using numbers 6,7,8, and 9. During our math block, there is usually a problem set worksheet that is a set of problems used to practice the skill taught in that lesson. You may notice that your child is coming home with unfinished problem sets- don't worry! Many times we do not have time to complete the whole worksheet so I'll assign a set of problem on the worksheet for the class to do, depending on where I see the class is with the material. As a class, they are not required to finish these worksheets at home as "homework," but if there is time, or hey, maybe your child wants to do some math at home, the leftover problems on this sheet are a great way to reinforce the skills learned that day! In Writing... We have not officially started our writing curriculum yet. We will start this on Monday as well. Our first unit is "Small Moments." In this unit, we start to write stories about ourselves that are "small." Starting off as writers, we tend to get very excited and want to write about everything in our minds at the time;) But, this unit has us brainstorm a story about ourselves, then take that "big" story and bring it down to one small moment that we want to write about. For example: my summer is a "big" story, while that one weekend we went camping in Salida is a "small moment." This helps us practice sequence and description. This past week, we were introduced to writing folders and we practiced where to successfully set ourselves up during our writing time to be independent and successful writers. We also talked about slowing down to be neat and organized. In Inquiry... Our first inquiry unit is a Social Studies Unit: "Who We Are." The theme of this unit is "Good Citizens." This unit is an inquiry into the nature of self- beliefs and values (personal, physical, mental, social, and spiritual health), human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures, and rights and responsibilities- what it means to be human. We like to start the year with this unit because it is the perfect way to make connections to our classroom, school, community, and the world around us. Important Dates! Monday, September 2nd: Labor Day, No School Wednesday, September 4th: Picture Day! Thursday, September 5th: Back to School BBQ at Carter Park, 4:00-6:00. Wednesday, September 11th: testing day- no school for students, please arrive just for your scheduled testing time! These testing times will be sent out this week. |
Hi, families!
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