Weekly Update

Hello Families,

Next week is already MEA break. Time is going quickly. We take advantage of the short week with some word work review and some reading strategy lessons.

 

We have also learned about the communities we are part of. We are working on a simple project that should help them understand the concept of large and small communities that we are part of.

 

Math

We have started a unit on addition. New important words are: part, whole, addends, sum, inside, and outside. Today we learned how to make 6 and 7 from 2 parts. (2 and 4 make 6 etc.)

 

Reading Workshop

We are working on finding the main idea and supporting details in non-fiction text. This is tricky for most of the children. We will keep practicing next week. J

 

Writer’s Workshop

We are done launching our writer’s workshop and are ready to start our first unit next week. We will learn what journals are and how to write them.

 

This Week I Really Learned!

We ran short on writing time today, so your child’s letter may not be complete. It is absolutely okay to finish it at home if you’d like. We LOVE hearing the letters that are written to us! Each Friday students that have a letter written to them has the option of having it read out loud during snack. It’s a fun surprise for some to see who wrote to them. J

 

Word Workshop

Your child is now reading and spelling 4 letter words with r blends. Many of the children are having trouble hearing and saying the l blend in words like flag, blot, and sled. Practice segmenting these words by asking your child to say each sound then say the words in 2 parts, and then say the whole word. Example: crab    /c/  /r/  /a/  /b/      /cr/  /ab/   flag.  If they can do this they should be able to spell the word correctly as well.

 

Grammar/Mechanics

We know that capitalizing I is a non-negotiable in first grade. Please make sure your child always capitalizes I when it’s all by itself. We also need to capitalize the first letter of our first and last name. We now that a comma comes after a greeting and the closing in a letter. Look for the commas when reading your child’s T.W.I.R.L. letter each week.

 

Water Bottles

Please remember that water bottles may only contain water. If you would like your child to drink something other than water at snack, please send a small amount (no more than 6 ounces) of a beverage that does not contain sugar. I’ve asked the students to bring their water bottles to school empty and fill them with water in the morning. I’m hoping this will eliminate the bathroom “emergencies” we’ve been having lately. Thank you very much for your help with this! J

 

Bathroom

We are working on staying in class unless we really need to use the bathroom. Children need to use the bathroom each morning before coming to the classroom and after recess. We also take a bathroom break in the afternoon, and they may leave the class once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Right now they can go whenever they need to, but soon they will need to go during non-instruction times.

 

Birthdays

We celebrate birthdays during our snack time from 9:20 – 9:35. Please let me know the day before by email, voice mail, or a note if you’re planning on sending a birthday treat. Our 15 minute snack time includes passing out the treat and eating it, so the simpler the better. Please limit birthday treats to food only. Many children already have milk or juice and others have water bottles. Thank you!

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend!