Week of November 22- November 24

 

First Grade Newsletter

November 22nd-November 24th

Literacy

Reading Street: Unit 2 Week 2 

Main selection:  The Farmer in the Hat

Weekly Question:  How is a school a community?

Amazing Words: group, respect, share, aquarium, borrow, lines, rehearsal, soothe

High-Frequency Words: be, could, horse, of, old, paper

Phonics Target: Long a: a_e; Consonants c /s/; g /j/

Comprehension skills: Cause and Effect

Comprehension strategy: Monitor and Clarify

Genres:  Realistic Fiction

Reading Street Parent Connection:

• Unit 2 Family talk letter for concept conversation starters and 6-week overview of the unit. (Sent home November 15th)
• Family Times gives various activities that can be done at home that connect to the concept we're learning this week. 
• Practice reading phonics and sight words for Unit 2, Week 2 (second column). Please practice any of the words that have been marked in Column 1. I will sent home Reading Street Unit 2 sheets on Monday, November 15th.

PHONICS

Spelling 

• Skill(s): Bonus letters at the end of a word: ff, ll, ss (and sometimes zz) [For example: puff, less, tell]
• Review: Use digraphs (sh, wh, th, ch, and -ck); Tapping out sounds in words with CVC patterns (Consonant, Vowel, Consonant; such as 'cat') 
• Trick Words: was, one, said
• Review trick words and practice using in writing: the, of, and, a, is, his, as, has, in, into, we, he, she, be, me, or, for, you, your, I, they

**Trick words are irregularly spelled words that each child is expected to be able to spell in their writing.**

Lively Letters (Sounds)

• Review stories and sounds for each letter pair: No new pairs
• Last week’s letter pairs: p/b, t/d, k/g, f/v, qu, m/n, s/z, j/ch, r/l, x/y/c, w/h,  a/o, u/i, e, ng, wh


Handwriting Without Tears
• Review all letter formations
• Alphabetical order 

Math in Focus

Chapter 3

Shapes and Patterns

Pre-requisite skills and number sense

Objectives

-  Recognize flat and solid shapes

-Identify sides and corners in flat shapes

-  Sort shapes in different ways

-Divide shapes into equal parts

     -  Move solid shapes in different ways

      -  Use flat shapes to make pictures

     - Use solid shapes to make models

     - Recognize repeating patterns involving flat shapes and solid shapes

-    - Identify flat and solid shapes around you

Science

Space Unit
Patterns in the Sky
     This week students will wrap up our space unit with a science project. Students will be grouped together to create a poster about one of the objects in the sky.

Social Studies

Our social studies learning this week is embedded in our reading program. We will be focusing on families and community through our readings.  This week the children will work to answer the question "How is a school a community?".

This week students will begin to learn about Pilgrims and Native Americans. We will begin to discuss the characteristics of Native Americans (clothes, houses, children, etc.)

In Second Steps, students will continue to learn about empathy. Last week students learned about how to watch other students' bodies and facial expressions to identify how the other person is feeling. This week students will learn about how to ask others about their feelings and listen.

Specialists

MONDAY: Art

TUESDAY: Music

WEDNESDAY: P.E.

THURSDAY: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

FRIDAY: NO SCHOOL!

Writing Workshop

This week students continue the morning work assignment that requires students to about one activity that they did over the weekend, including who was there, where the event took place, and how did the child feel about this event (favorite/worst part, sad, excited, etc.)The purpose of this exercise is for students to practice putting their ideas on paper through words and illustrations.

Tom the Turkey Narrative Writing

     Students will continue to write their Tom the Turkey stories. Students will be focused on writing their final draft of their stories and drawing illustrations to go with their story.

                  
Parent Reminders

1.  Before School Help is on Tuesday morning at 8AM.

     2. Early release on Wednesday, November 24th at noontime.

     3. No school on Thursday, November 25 and Friday, November 26th.

 4. Please be sure your child returns their green school-to-home folder and their homework folder to school everyday.  Also, please check your child's school-to-home folder each day for important handouts. I will write about specific handouts that you should be looking for throughout the week in this section of the newsletter. Students should also have their red homework folders in their backpacks every day.

5.    Children should bring in a small healthy snack (separate from their lunch) to have in class at 9:50 a.m. Please make sure that it is nut-free and has no glass products.

6.  Math Homework- For math homework this week, please rewatch "Cluster Card 6" and "Cluster Card 7" videos that will be posted on Bloomz and fill out the corresponding worksheet.

7. Monday Library Time- Our class has library time on Mondays at 2PM. Please make sure your child has their book in their backpack on Monday morning to return in the afternoon. If a student does not return their book on Monday, s/he will have to wait to take another book out the following week.

8. Virtual Tour on Wednesday- To conclude our unit on Pilgrims and Native Americans, I will be showing students the virtual tour of Pilgrim Plantation where they will be able to see a simulation of all of the information they have been learning about Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native Americans acted out in real life.

  

Dear First Grade Families, Thank you for partnering with me as your child's mentor and selflessly supporting your child & our class in a variety of ways. I am so grateful to have such amazing students and families. From the bottom of my heart, I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Have a great week! Happy Thanksgiving!

Mrs. Ash

Homework

Your child will bring home their red homework folder on Monday. Inside the folder is a reading log, math activity with materials, and individual login information for all of our online platforms. This week students should be reading for 10 minutes, write a letter in their journal, rewatch 'Cluster Card 6' & 'Cluster Card 7' on Bloomz, and fill out the corresponding worksheet.

Your child also will bring home their Dialogue Journal (penpal journal). Please read my letter and have your child respond to it in 1 penpal letter. If I did not write your child a letter, your child can write to me about anything s/he wants. Once your child has finished his/her letter, return it to school. If I did not receive your child's journal last week, please have your child write a letter to me this week and I will check both letters once the journal is turned in. 

Behind the reading log, there is our word lists for the next 6 weeks on orange paper. Please practice the words in Column 2.2 on the sheet every day this week. I will check in with each child at the end of the week. The homework folder should always be brought to school in your child's backpack, but only returned on Fridays. (Keep completed work in the homework folder.)