Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Happy Thanksgiving!
Yesterday we had Miss Ellie, a retired librarian from the Hudsonville Library, visit and tell us stories. Students are up and down, singing, dancing, listening to books, and listening to storytelling. The stories this time were all about turkeys and giving thanks. Miss Ellie joined us at Halloween as well, and will be coming again at Christmas. It is such a treat for all of us!
Friday, November 17, 2017
First Grade News and Hat Day
It was truly a pleasure to meet with you during conferences. I feel so fortunate to have such a great group of parents to partner with this year.
Today we had popcorn day and spirit day. Take a look at some of our great hats!
Coming Up:
Reading: We began a new unit in reading focusing on characters. As your child is reading at home, if it is a book with characters in it, have your child describe what they notice about the character(s) in the book. You can also have them stop midway and predict what the character will do next.
Writing: We are finishing up our narrative or small moment assessment pieces before thanksgiving break. We will move into writing how to stories in December.
Math: We have been busy working our way through story problems. This week we moved from unknown partner story problems into subtraction. We also started solving mixed addition and subtraction problems. Have your child practice writing and solving some story problems on their whiteboard at home!
Our process for teaching this reading is to say the sounds in the first mouthful, sound by sound (putting a dot under each one letter sound and a dash under each 2+ letter sound). Then we blend that first part together. Next, we move on to the next mouthful, saying each of those sounds and blending it together. Finally we go back and thread both mouthfuls together and say the word. This process can be done with any multi-syllable word - see if you can think of words your child has some interest in. Write that word on the left side of the whiteboard. On the right side, split it up by mouthfuls and then have your child go through those sounds with you.
There will not be a newsletter next week with our short week. I would like to take a moment to share my thanks and gratitude to all of you for being such incredible families to work with. I appreciate your partnership and dedication to your child's success! Happy Thanksgiving!
Today we had popcorn day and spirit day. Take a look at some of our great hats!
Coming Up:
- November 22-24: Thanksgiving Break
- Tuesday, November 28 : Christmas Program (please see the pink note in folders today)
- Friday, December 1: Early Release Day
- Thursday, December 21: Christmas Party - 9am
- Friday, December 22: Last Day of School Before Break
- December 23 - January 8: Winter Break
Reading: We began a new unit in reading focusing on characters. As your child is reading at home, if it is a book with characters in it, have your child describe what they notice about the character(s) in the book. You can also have them stop midway and predict what the character will do next.
Writing: We are finishing up our narrative or small moment assessment pieces before thanksgiving break. We will move into writing how to stories in December.
Math: We have been busy working our way through story problems. This week we moved from unknown partner story problems into subtraction. We also started solving mixed addition and subtraction problems. Have your child practice writing and solving some story problems on their whiteboard at home!
Whiteboard Tip: This week's tip is more of a reading skill than a writing skill. But it's also a very important one for the students to be doing. As readers our words can get pretty long and tricky. While saying each sound and blending them together is important, it is only the groundwork for a much more efficient skill. When we read multi-syllable words, we split up the word by "mouthfuls." Mouthfuls are actually syllables, but it's easier for the kiddos to remember. ;) When a large word is broken up into mouthfuls, it's easier for a reader to tackle one part at a time. (see picture below).
Our process for teaching this reading is to say the sounds in the first mouthful, sound by sound (putting a dot under each one letter sound and a dash under each 2+ letter sound). Then we blend that first part together. Next, we move on to the next mouthful, saying each of those sounds and blending it together. Finally we go back and thread both mouthfuls together and say the word. This process can be done with any multi-syllable word - see if you can think of words your child has some interest in. Write that word on the left side of the whiteboard. On the right side, split it up by mouthfuls and then have your child go through those sounds with you.
Here are some examples:
thanksgiving thanks gi ving
turkey tur key
eating ea ting
potato po ta to
There will not be a newsletter next week with our short week. I would like to take a moment to share my thanks and gratitude to all of you for being such incredible families to work with. I appreciate your partnership and dedication to your child's success! Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday, November 10, 2017
First Grade News
It was wonderful to see so many of you at conferences this week. I look forward to seeing the rest of you next week!
Today we combined with Mrs. Signore's class and I taught word work to all 39 students. Wow! It was a packed house, but it was so much fun to switch things up a bit!
Coming Up:
Reading:
This week we worked with partners to practice retelling our fiction stories. We used our five fingers to tell what happened first, next, then, after than, and finally with a partner. If your child is reading a fiction WEB book, ask them to use their fingers to retell the story to you. Next week we will dive into our characters unit.
Writing:
This week we continued our 2nd narrative story. We focused on transition words and adding more details to our pages. We will wrap up these stories next week.
Math:
Story problems have arrived! This is a big jump as students work to learn how to read, process and solve story problems. This week we focused on addition stories and counting on. Next week we will shift into subtraction.
Whiteboard Practice:
This week we were introduced to five different spelling for the /ee/ sound, like in me. We learned the following sounds:
ee, like in sleep
ea, like in clean
ie, like in shield
y, like in funny
e, like in she
Have your child write these five heading across the top of the whiteboard. After your child reads their WEB book, have them go back and hunt through the book for words with the /ee/ sound. When those words are found, have them say as they write the word in the column that matches the /ee/ spelling on their board (example below). Feel free to use library books or any other books at home that your child is reading.
It is incredibly important that your child is saying the sounds and spelling the words correctly. Please correct any errors you see immediately.
Newsletter Survey Results:
Thank you for taking the time to fill out the newsletter survey I sent. Because my newsletters are for you, I wanted to make sure they are what you want. For those interested, I have summarized what was learned from your responses:
1. The majority of you would like to receive newsletter updates once a week, some every other week. Typically in the fall and winter I will send updates once a week. Once we get closer to spring, they may be closer to every other week. I will continue to try to send these on Friday. On occasion we may have a super busy day in our class (instruction is always a priority), or I may have a lot happening with my family at night (like last weekend!), and am not able to get it out sooner.
2. There were some that preferred an email na blog update with an email reminder to check the blog. The advantage here is that all updates are in one place and you are able to go back to check for important dates later. It also is easier to share pictures with you.
ewsletter, though the majority want a blog update with email reminder to check it. I will continue with
3. All respondents would like important dates and pictures included. The majority of you would also like what we are working on, upcoming units and whiteboard tips.
4. The majority of you like to receive reminders midweek when there is something important happening. All but one respondent preferred email over a text message, therefore I will continue with email reminders.
Please know I am open to all feedback on how to best communicate with you. If you have any further ideas or suggestions throughout the year, I welcome your insight. Thanks again for your time!
Today we combined with Mrs. Signore's class and I taught word work to all 39 students. Wow! It was a packed house, but it was so much fun to switch things up a bit!
Coming Up:
- Monday, November 13: Book Fair Shopping Day at 11am
- Tuesday, November 14: Night #2 of P/T Conferences
- Friday, November 17: Final day to donate food for the PE Cares Food Drive (We have had very few donations. Please consider donating. You may drop off Tuesday evening at conferences too.)
- November 22-24: Thanksgiving Break
- Tuesday, November 28 : Christmas Program
- Friday, December 1: Early Release Day
- Thursday, December 21: Christmas Party - 9am
- Friday, December 22: Last Day of School Before Break
- December 23: January 8 - Winter Break
Reading:
This week we worked with partners to practice retelling our fiction stories. We used our five fingers to tell what happened first, next, then, after than, and finally with a partner. If your child is reading a fiction WEB book, ask them to use their fingers to retell the story to you. Next week we will dive into our characters unit.
Writing:
This week we continued our 2nd narrative story. We focused on transition words and adding more details to our pages. We will wrap up these stories next week.
Math:
Story problems have arrived! This is a big jump as students work to learn how to read, process and solve story problems. This week we focused on addition stories and counting on. Next week we will shift into subtraction.
Whiteboard Practice:
This week we were introduced to five different spelling for the /ee/ sound, like in me. We learned the following sounds:
ee, like in sleep
ea, like in clean
ie, like in shield
y, like in funny
e, like in she
Have your child write these five heading across the top of the whiteboard. After your child reads their WEB book, have them go back and hunt through the book for words with the /ee/ sound. When those words are found, have them say as they write the word in the column that matches the /ee/ spelling on their board (example below). Feel free to use library books or any other books at home that your child is reading.
It is incredibly important that your child is saying the sounds and spelling the words correctly. Please correct any errors you see immediately.
Thank you for taking the time to fill out the newsletter survey I sent. Because my newsletters are for you, I wanted to make sure they are what you want. For those interested, I have summarized what was learned from your responses:
1. The majority of you would like to receive newsletter updates once a week, some every other week. Typically in the fall and winter I will send updates once a week. Once we get closer to spring, they may be closer to every other week. I will continue to try to send these on Friday. On occasion we may have a super busy day in our class (instruction is always a priority), or I may have a lot happening with my family at night (like last weekend!), and am not able to get it out sooner.
2. There were some that preferred an email na blog update with an email reminder to check the blog. The advantage here is that all updates are in one place and you are able to go back to check for important dates later. It also is easier to share pictures with you.
ewsletter, though the majority want a blog update with email reminder to check it. I will continue with
3. All respondents would like important dates and pictures included. The majority of you would also like what we are working on, upcoming units and whiteboard tips.
4. The majority of you like to receive reminders midweek when there is something important happening. All but one respondent preferred email over a text message, therefore I will continue with email reminders.
Please know I am open to all feedback on how to best communicate with you. If you have any further ideas or suggestions throughout the year, I welcome your insight. Thanks again for your time!
Sunday, November 5, 2017
First Grade News
I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend. As we get ready for a new week, a few reminders and upcoming dates. I look forward to meeting with all of you either this week or next week!
- Tuesday, November 7: Book Fair Preview - we will take a look at the books and students will make a wish list of items to purchase.
- Wednesday, November 8 and Tuesday, November 14: Parent/Teacher Conferences. If you need a reminder of your time, please let me know ASAP.
- Monday, November 13: Book Fair Shopping - send money on this day if you wish to have your child purchase books.
- Tuesday, November 28: Bauer Holiday Music Program
Report Cards: These will be going home in folders on Monday. Please keep in mind this is a standards based report card. Some items are left blank due to not covering or assessing those standards yet. By the end of the year all items will be marked. Some areas are marked now and will be marked again in later trimesters. These scores may fluctuate. A score of a 1 or 2 is not uncommon, especially in November. The goal is 3 by the end of the year.
Whiteboard Tip: This week's tip is more of a reading skill than a writing skill. But it's also a very important one for the students to be doing. As readers our words can get pretty long and tricky. While saying each sound and blending them together is important, it is only the groundwork for a much more efficient skill. When we read multi-syllable words, we split up the word by "mouthfuls." Mouthfuls are actually syllables, but it's easier for the kiddos to remember. ;) When a large word is broken up into mouthfuls, it's easier for a reader to tackle one part at a time. Our process for teaching this reading is to say the sounds in the first mouthful, sound by sound (putting a dot under each one letter sound and a dash under each 2+ letter sound). Then we blend that first part together. Next, we move on to the next mouthful, saying each of those sounds and blending it together. Finally we go back and thread both mouthfuls together and say the word. This process can be done with any multi-syllable word- see if you can think of words your child has some interest in. Write that word on the left side of the whiteboard. On the right side, split it up by mouthfuls and then have your child go through those sounds with you.
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