Friday, October 4, 2013

Friday Update


Hello Families,

We successfully made it through the first month of school, and have officially welcomed fall and October! We are busy learning a lot every day. I hope all of our new reading and math skills are evident at home! J

Math

Our focus is ADDING. This is a challenging concept for some. We talk about adding in terms of two parts. We have studied the ways to make 6, 7, 8, and 9 from two parts. This week we really dug into the academic vocabulary of adding. Please use these terms at home when talking to your child about math: Sum (answer to an addition problem), Addends (the two numbers that make the sum), plus sign, equals sign, and number sentence. (2 + 5 = 7)
We had a little fun with a song about addends and sums.






Soon we will be staring timed basic fact tests to sums of 12. You are welcome to start with adding 0 and 1 at home if you wish! J
 
Reading Workshop

We are reading like crazy during reading workshop. This week we practiced reading with a partner. Ask your child what E.EK.K. stands for and how a book should be held when reading with a buddy. We also review concepts of print. Our new learning was checking for understanding with a reading partner. We used sentence frames, “I noticed________________.” And “I heard ________________.” Please encourage your child to use complete setneces like these at home and explain why.

Good Fit Books

***Look for the following characteristics when helping your child find a "just right" book: It is read not too fast, but not too slow. He/she knows all or most of the words. The topic is age appropriate.***

Word Workshop

We are reviewing short vowel (CVC) words. First graders should be able to decode any regular CVC word. Even for First Graders that are reading, phonics review is very important. The little books are great practice for fluency. The students can choose to leave them at school in their books boxes or take them home for practice.

Our new sight words are: small, will, bull, and duck. Please practice with the flashcards that were sent home daily. Knowing these words in 3-5 seconds is so important in their reading development.  

Writing
Writer's Workshop
We began Writer's Workshop this week. We learned that we are all authors and we should write about things that matter to us. Here we are working hard as authors.






This Week I Really Learned!

Today your child will be bringing home his/her T.W.I.R.L. book for the fourth time. This week we brainstormed what we learned in a T.W.I.R.L. web. Each student was requried to write one sentence that started with I, We, or Miss Grimes, and then finish the sentence with an idea from the chart. Thank you for taking time to write to your child. We were able to enjoy some of the letters during snack break this week. They loved hearing your written words.

Message from the Custodial Staff:

With the weather beginning to change in the next couple of days, dipping to a high of 52* by Sunday, I urge all of you to dress for the weather.  This may mean layers as the temperature in the buildings will not be that of the outdoor air.

As in years past, the boilers are not functioning at this time as we are making necessary repairs and code requirements so they remain in safe operating condition.

Keep an eye on the weather and temperatures and please dress accordingly.

Have a fabulous and relaxing weekend!

No comments:

Post a Comment