Literacy:
In Reading Workshop we have finished our first unit, Readers Build Good Habits. The students learned how to decode tricky words with many different strategies. Thank you to all the parents who were able to come to our First Grade Literacy Night. We talked about ways to help your child with reading at home. You can access the power point and video from the night at the First Grade website: http://www.claytonschools.net/Domain/894
Students have been working on stamina or reading long and strong with their books. Your child should be bringing home a book or two almost daily in the reading bag. Having a just right book to read at home helps build fluency and comprehension. Be sure to ask your child to retell the story when they are finished reading. You could ask other comprehension questions after reading such as: where is the setting, what was your favorite part/why or why did the character do that?
Understanding the story and meaning making is the key to reading!
In Spelling have finished learning about and practicing the short vowels a, e, and o. We will study short u and then short i next. Many activities focus on the sound of the letter, how the words look in text and application in their writing. Also, students will start bringing home sight words to learn for a spelling test at the end of October.
In Writing we finished writing true small moment stories. We learned that all stories have a beginning, middle and an ending. We learned to start our stories with: One day, Over the weekend, Last Night, Yesterday, One day, etc. We learned to end our stories with what we think, feel or dialogue. We wrote a lot of details stretching out the story bit by bit. We helped the characters come alive by writing with action and dialogue.
We practiced our literacy skills in learning partner work. Learning to value others ideas, listen to another and share thinking is important for success in school. These partners are used for reading and writing. We do change partners every few weeks so students learn to work with more then just their friends.
MATH:
We finished Chapter 3 Addition up to ten and Chapter 4, Subtraction up to 10. Being able to compose (make) and decompose (take away) numbers up to ten fluently helps students as they work on harder math skills. The goal is to be able to visualize the numbers in their heads and move between addition and subtraction with ease. Many websites are available to help with this skill.
They are:
http://gregtangmath.com/games.html
https://happynumbers.com/classes/335355/students#~pqm3vZTdNRMJjg
https://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=3565
Science:
We watched our meal worms grow from larvas to pupas. Hopefully, many have changed into beetles when the children took them home. We have also witnessed our painted lady butterfly larva change to chrysalis to butterflies in the classroom. Learning about the life cycle of living things is fascinating to the children. Next, we are planting brassica, fast plant, seeds. These plants allow the students to see the complete life cycle in an efficient timeline. We will study about pumpkins and apples to go along with plant life cycle.
Scholastic Book Orders will be coming home. Orders are due: Wednesday, October 14th.
If you order, there are 2 ways to pay:
A) Return order sheet and a check made out to Scholastic.
B) Online order with your credit card.
1. go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
2. use my class activation code: fmr3g
3. shop and pay.
