First Grade News

We survived the heat! I want to thank the many parents that offered items to help us cool down this week. I was touched by your kindness and generosity. Hopefully your children shared that they had a chance to enjoy some frozen raspberries and blueberries. I couldn't believe how many students asked for 2nd and 3rd helpings (and 4th and 5th!). Some tried these fruits for the first time. They were surely a hit, and they hit the spot after a hot recess!

What we have been up to:

• Reading: This week we have learned how to pick out just right books for us. We hunted through our books for words with the /th/ sounds in them and recorded them in our reader's notebooks. We also learned how to make a movie in our minds while reading. We started a new chapter book, as you may have heard: James and the Giant Peach.
• Writing: We have begun a new story as a class. We brainstormed topic ideas and decided on are the Walk-a-thon. We have written our lead, as well as what happened first. We go very slowly to learn the process, how to write on the lines on our paper, and proper letter formation. Next week we will continue with writing the middle. 
• Math: We began unit two and spent this week exploring solving addition stories. We worked with partners to solve. 

Data Notebooks: These will be coming home on Tuesday. As I mentioned at the parent meeting, these will just be visiting for one night and coming back to school on Wednesday. Please DO NOT remove any items from the binder. This binder has all assessment data for the year. If you have any questions about the contents, please let me know. 

Halloween Party: Our party will be on October 31 at 9:00am. We tried an early party last year, and it was such a positive experience all the way around. Students get to come to school in their costumes, and there is no suspense building all day long. Katelyn Gates is our head room parent. Please send in your $3 donation for the parties soon. Thanks!

Whiteboard Practice:

I have loved the pictures and videos I received this week of your children using the whiteboards. Keep them coming. I love seeing them in action!

This week we have done two different sorts on our white boards. The first one has the same spelling but a different sound: /th/ (as in this) and /th/ (as in three). The second one had the same sound but a different spelling: /w/ and /wh/ was the second. Pick one of these pairs of sounds. Have your child write them on top of their board. Then while they are reading a book, they can record any works they come across with those spelling patterns in their story. Be careful - a word like /who/ is tricky because it /wh/ sounds like /h/ in this word. It would not go in the /wh/ column on the board. Don't forget to remind your child to "say as you write"!

First Grade News

Summer is back! I have to give credit to your kiddos for hanging in there this week. When it is 90+ degrees outside, and there is no a/c, it can be pretty darn miserable. They hung in there and still worked hard throughout! Indoor recess today really helped keep our body temperatures down. Looks like we will start next week out this way as well. Keep sending in water bottles, pulling long hair up, and shorts are ideal!

Walk-a-thon: We had so much fun at our Walk-a-thon! Thank you to the many parents that helped out today, as well as all that raised money for our school.

Literacy Night: Thank you to all of you that attended our First Grade Literacy Night. It was a packed house, and you all were so well engaged and dedicated to your children's learning. I have loved hearing from students this week as they are using their whiteboards at home. If you have any pictures you want to share of your child writing, please do!
I am sharing the video links as well in case anyone wants to reference them later.
Video Number One: Click here
Video Number Two: Click here

What we have been up to:

• Reading: This week we learned the rest of the things good readers do (reading behaviors. Please encourage these items while your child is reading their WEB books (or any books!) at home. 
• Readers slide their reading finger.
• Readers lay their books flat on the table. 
• Readers Use their helping hand to hold the book in place. 
• Readers track the words with their finger and eyes. 
• Writing: I finished up the story I have been modeling with them. Next week we will all write the same story together at the same time. We go very slow to write every word and letter correctly! It is important to learn the process slowly to build their independence as writers.
• Math: We finished unit 1 this week, and we will begin our new unit, Addition and Subtraction Strategies, next week. 
• Social Studies: We concluded our citizenship unit. We will be focusing heavily on literacy this next month. We will hit another social studies unit in November/December. 
• Word Work: We have learned and practiced reading and writing the two most common sounds for /th/ and the sounds in the word this (this one tickles your toungue), and the sound in three. Next week we will search for words with this sound in our books and record them. 

Whiteboard Practice Idea:

I have heard a lot of excitement from students who have been using their whiteboards for writing at home. Thank you for encouraging this! Remember, email me if you have any questions about any words. I typically will reply quickly, often with a quick video to explain it to you. I love the questions I have already gotten!

Here something you can have your child try at home using their whiteboard. 

• Have them first tell you how many sounds (not letters) are in his/her name. They can use their fingers to tell you.  Then have them write their name, saying their sounds as they write. Have them place a dot under one letter spellings for sounds, and a dash under 2-4 letter spellings. Ask them if their prediction matched the actual number after it was written. Repeat for other family member's names. See photo for how this would look. Have fun!

Growth Mindset

We will be working on forming a growth mindset this year in 1st grade. We have discussed, and will continue to discuss that we welcome mistakes. Mistakes are how our brains grow. We don't want to be perfect or our brains won't grow as much! This is a helpful chart to understand what a growth mindset is.

1st Grade News

What an awesome week in 1st grade! Not everyone with us for these pictures today, but most were. So much fun!

Here is what we have been up to lately:

1. Reading: This week we practiced sliding our reading finger under our words the entire time we read. You may have noticed a dot on your child's reading finger this week! We will continue to learn and practice reading behaviors next week.

2. Writing: I was able to model for students how to plan a story across pages, how to write a lead, and how to draw an "ish" picture. Ask your child to what an "ish" picture is. Next week I will continue to model producing a small moment story.

3. Math: We have been busy finding number partners for 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and finally 10! These patterns in numbers are the foundation of our year ahead in math. Tell your child a number between 5-10 and have them tell you partners for that number. (For example, if you say 8, your child may say 6 and 2.)

4. Social Studies: We have been learning what makes a good citizen. On Thursday, we worked as teams to make posters to represent how we would handle a bully.

5. School Families: Each early release day we will be meeting with our school families. These groups are mixed prek-5th grade. Ask your child to tell you about their school family. It was fun to see older student helping younger students, and to see students having an opportunity to get outside of our first grade world for a few minutes!

Coming up:

1. First Grade Literacy Night: We are excited to see you on Tuesday evening at 7:00pm. We are excited to have a guest speaker, Nora Chabazi here that evening. Nora is the founder of EBLI (Evidence Based Literacy Instruction), our approach to literacy. She happens to be in town for a training, and we are thrilled that she is willing to join us! For those still needing to RSVP, Please click here as soon as possible.

2. Walk-a-thon: Is next Friday, September 22. We will be walking at 10am. Please send in your donation envelopes anytime!

3. Picture Day: This will take place on Wednesday, September 20.

4. Volunteers: We are still in need of many volunteers, especially for reading help and data notebooks. Please head to the sign up if you are able to help out!
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c44aaad23a2f94-classroom

First Grade News

Week two has come and gone and we are settling into our routines of 1st grade! 

This week we:

• Learned our last two rules. Ask your child to recite the rules and show you the hand motions we use. Our rules are: 
1. Follow Directions Quickly
2. Raise Your Had for Permission to Speak
3. Raise Your Hand for Permission to Leave Your Seat
4. Make Smart Choices
5. Listen When Your Teacher is Talking
• Started word work using whiteboard. 
• Began math unit 1, exploring number partners of 10. 
• Began reading workshop and learned and practiced routines and procedures for our reading time. 
• Learned what a personal narrative or small moment story is and observed a plan being made for a small moment. 
• Began our first social studies unit on citizenship. So far we have learned that good citizens know and follow rules, respect authority, and are fair. 
• Had our first library day today. Fridays will be our library day. Be sure to put library books in a safe space and return them each Friday. 

Coming Up: 

• First Grade Literacy Night: Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 19! Come to Bauer 7-8pm for a night focused on literacy in First Grade. Please make every effort to attend. If only one parent can attend, it is ideal to have the parent that is more likely to work with their child in reading and writing attend. This night was offered to first grade parents last year, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Students and parents definitely benefited from the information learned. This is an adult only event. We will have childcare available as needed. Please let me know if this is a service you would like to take advantage of. 

Please click here to RSVP by Wednesday, September 13 if you have not yet! 

As always, let me know if you have any questions!

• Book Orders: A reminder that Book Orders are due by Monday, September 11. I have received some already. I love seeing parents taking advantage of some great $1 book selections! Head here to order: https://orders.scholastic.com/LGVW7
• Early Release Day: We have our first Early Release Day next Friday. If your child will be ordering a school sack lunch to bring home, please let me know before school starts on Friday. Also, if your child will be getting home in a different way, please let me know ahead of time. Also, please have your child wear his/her Bauer Be Awesome shirt that day. Thank you!
• Walk-a-thon: Packets went home this week. This is an awesome fundraiser for our school. We will walk on Friday, September 22. We will be walking at 10am. 
• Maize and Blue Day: Friday, September 29, please have your child wear their Hudsonville gear, or maize and blue!
• Picture Day: Picture information sheets are going home in folders today. Picture day is September 20th. Feel free to return forms anytime. 

Back to School

Our first week was a success! Bring on week #2! 

Our First Week of First Grade!

What an amazing first week of school we have had! It is such an exciting time of year for students (and teachers!).

Here are a few things we did this week:

• We got to know each other. We used Play Dough to make a sculpture that described something from our summer. Then we took turns sharing these with the class. It was a lot of fun seeing students show their creative side, as well as what memories stood out the most to them. 
• We learned two rules #1: Follow directions quickly and #2: Raise your hand for permission to speak. We have practiced reciting these rules, what they look like (and don't look like!), and next week we will learn some additional rules. Ask your child to tell you about these rules and ask what the hand signals are after I say the rule numbers. 
• We learned what a time capsule is, and using our Pringels cans, made time capsules. We measured how tall we are, traced and cut out our hands and feet, wrote about some of our favorite things, drew pictures of ourselves, and took a photo of ourselves. These will be tucked away until the last week of school!
• We learned that it is okay to make mistakes! We learned that when we make mistakes, our brains grow. No one is perfect, and sometimes making mistakes can make life more interesting!
• We completed a writing pre-assessment in which we wrote about a summer memory. 
• We started our first chapter book - The Chocolate Touch. I love starting our year this way. Ask your child to tell you about John Midas and what it is that he loves. 

Coming Up: 

• Tuesday, September 5: Return Ziploc bag with 10 items (see purple folders)
• Friday, September 15: Early Release Day (Wear Bauer Awesome Shirts!)
• Friday, September 22: Walk-a-thon

A Few Other Things: 

• Newsletters: Look for newsletters most weekends. Sometimes they come on Fridays, sometimes Sunday evening. It just depends on what is happening in our classroom and with my family. Typically these come once a week in the fall, as we move toward spring, sometimes every other week. These will be posted on the blog. If you have not subscribed yet, please do. And if you have subscribed, you should have gotten a confirmation email. If you didn't, check your spam folder. 
• Pictures on the Blog: I like to include pictures on our blog for you to see what your child is up to here in 1st grade. If I cannot include pictures of your child, please email me to let me know. 
• Thank you: A big thank you to all of you that donated classroom supplies. I understand how expensive these items are. It really helps as we go throughout our year. Thank you! We could still use some boxes of honey graham crackers (used for students that forget their snacks) if anyone else would like to donate some. 
• Book orders: These can be placed online at https://orders.scholastic.com/LGVW7 by September 11. This is a great opportunity to add to your collection at very reasonable prices!
• Water Bottles: If your child chooses to bring a water bottle, please make sure it is not a twist off cap. Thank you! 
• Volunteers: We love volunteers in first grade. There will be many opportunities throughout the year to volunteer, including class parties and our field trip, but there will also be opportunities in our classroom. We will be looking for weekly volunteers to help students practice reading fluency phrases, volunteers during math workshop, a volunteer to help stuff data binders, and a parent to help run copies, laminate, etc. I will be sending home an email in the coming weeks to gather names of those that may be interested and the times help is needed. 

As always, please be in touch with any questions, thoughts, or concerns you have at any time. I hope you all enjoy your holiday weekend!