Saturday, October 18, 2014

Weekly Update


Hello Families,

We had a short busy week! We also celebrated Annie’s birthday! I’m looking forward to getting back to work with the kids on Monday. I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend.  
 
 
Happy Birthday Annie!
 
 

 

Math

We continued learning about making whole numbers from 2 parts. This led us into our first lesson on number sentences. We learned how to write an addition sentence with an addend, a plus sign, another addend, an equal sign, and finally the sum. It’s important for your child to use these terms correctly when talking about math. A part and an addend is the same, and the sum and the whole is the same. We will mostly use addend and sum, but part and whole will be interchanged occasionally or for students are struggling.

Reading Workshop

We learned three fun new reading strategies: Eagle Eye, Lips the Fish, and Stretchy Snake. Eagle Eye reminds us to use pictures for clues to unknown words. Lips the Fish reminds us to get our lips ready to make the first sound of an unknown word. Stretchy Snake reminds us to stretch out the other sounds of unknown words to help decode. Using all of these strategies together is a powerful way for your child to move forward as an independent reader. Please practice these at home instead of saying, “sound it out.” Most words in our language are not decodable by simply “sounding it out.” We need to teach our children to use a variety of strategies when decoding an unfamiliar word.

Writer’s Workshop

We learned about journals this week. Journals are used for people to record their thoughts and feelings as well as recording life events. We will dabble with writing our own journals next week.

This Week I Really Learned!

Due to the short week we did not write in our T.W.I.R.L. journals. Watch for a new letter on Friday! J

Word Workshop

We reviewed short vowel CVC words and word families. Keep practicing with these words as well as our new 4 letter words with l and r blends.

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!

Practice Packet

Your child’s practice packet will be sent home Monday. It was ready to go on Wednesay, and I forgot to put it in their mailboxes. Please don’t feel as though it needs to be turned in Friday. Next Monday is just fine. Thank you!

 

 

Have a wonderful week!

 

 

 

 

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