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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