November 27th- December 1st Newsletter

First Grade Newsletter

November 27th-December 1st

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 16th)
• Practice reading words (see green sheet sent home Monday) for Unit 2, Week 1 (first column). 

Fundations: Unit 5, Week 1

**Students will take the Unit 5 Fundations test at the end of this week.**
Students will learn about...

• Two new glued or welded sounds: /am/ and /an/ as in 'ham' and 'pan'. 
• Observe the form of a narrative story (character, setting, and main events) 
• Story: The Big Mess
• Sight words: from, have, do, does
• Trick Word reading test is on Wednesday and spelling test is on Thursday. 

Math in Focus

Chapter 5

Shapes and Patterns

Thinking Skills
- Induction; Analyzing patterns and relationships

Problem Solving Strategies  
- Guess and check

                               Objectives

                                                                                  - Identify, classify, describe, and sort plane and solid shapes.
                                  - Divide shapes into two and four equal parts and describe the parts.
                                  - Describe the whole as the sum of its parts.
                                  - Combine and separate plane and solid shapes.

*                                      

Science

Light and Sound Waves
Last week students discussed how light can pass through some objects, but not others. We discussed the three types of objects: transparent, translucent, and opaque. This week students are experimenting with six different materials. They will be making predictions as to what they think the object is (transparent, translucent or opaque) and then using their flashlight to test the material. After they have tested a material, they will record the outcomes.  

Social Studies

          Jan Brett Author Study 

The Mitten

Animal Riddles: Students will come up with
animal clues and make an interactive writing
piece for others to guess their animal.
Vocabulary: admire, jostle, commotion

Second Steps— This week students will be learning about how people can have different feelings towards the same situation. 

 Specialists

MONDAY: Music; Book Fair Preview Day

TUESDAY: P.E.

WEDNESDAY: Music

THURSDAY: P.E.; Book Fair Purchase Day

FRIDAY: Art; Music

Writing Workshop

Six Traits of Writing~ Ideas

      This week students will continue to brainstorm ways to escape a Thanksgiving dinner and write sequential steps to help a feathery friend out. Students will also be learning about conferencing and I will conference with each student about their writing.

Framing Your Thoughts~ First Barebone Book
The students will be finishing their individual pages of our first class barebone book and by the end of the week, the book will be bound and published! This week the students will be introduced to another part of the Framing Your Thoughts sentence structure. The predicate expander of where allows students to add detail to their barebone sentences. Students will be practicing writing barebone sentences using all of the parts we have learned so far.

This week’s mini-lessons will include… 
Students will also learn about conferencing… 
- What a whole-class conference is 
- How to give compliments to their peers 
- How to make constructive suggestions to improve their peer’s stories

                   Parent Reminders

1. Due to the book fair, we did not have library today.
2. Book Fair is here! Our class will have a
chance to preview the fair today and
their book wish lists have gone home.
We’ll shop for books on Thursday, November 30th. Book Fair catalogs went home last week.
3. Throughout the month of December, we will
be working on an author study of Jan Brett’s
books. Before we break for the upcoming
vacation, we will have a Jan Brett celebration. Our Jan Brett Celebration will be on Wednesday, December 21st . A letter will be going home tomorrow with more information.
4. Trick Word Test- Our trick word reading and spelling test is this week on Wednesday, November 29th and Thursday, November 30th. Please have your child continue to practice spelling and reading the trick words on the study guide I sent home.

Welcome back! 

Miss Biggar

Homework for the Week

 Daily

Reading Words (Phonics/Sight)

Reading Log (with discussion questions)
Number/Letter Formation
Number Sense Math Games

Trick Word Reading and Spelling

This week's homework:
Reading Log (due on Friday)
Number Bond Math Game

November 20th-22nd Newsletter

First Grade Newsletter

November 20-22nd

Literacy

Reading Street: Unit 2 Week 1

Main selection:  A Big Fish for Max

Weekly Question:  What does a family do together?
Amazing Words: chore, household, cooperation, rule, commute, subway, downtown, display
High-Frequency Words: catch, good, no, put, said, want
Phonics Target: digraphs sh, th; /ol/ sound in ball

Comprehension skills:  Sequence
Comprehension strategy: Predict; Set a purpose

Genres:  Animal Fantasy, Literary Nonfiction
Reading Street Parent Connection:

• Unit 2 Family talk letter for concept conversation starters and 6-week overview of the unit. (Sent home November 16th)
• Family Times gives various activities that can be done at home that connect to the concept we're learning this week.

Fundations: Unit 5, Week 1

Students will learn about...

• Two new glued or welded sounds: /am/ and /an/ as in 'ham' and 'pan'. 
• Observe the form of a narrative story (character, setting, and main events) 
• Story: The Big Mess
• Sight words: from, have, do, does

Math in Focus

**Due to students needing more time to practice the concepts at the end of Chapter 4, the test will be on Tuesday, November 22nd**
Chapter 4

Subtraction Facts to 10 

Thinking Skills
- Analyzing parts and a whole

Problem Solving Strategies 
                                     - Guess and check

                               Objectives

                                                                                  - Take away to subtract
                                        - Count on OR back to subtract
                                        - Use number bonds to subtract
                                        - Write and solve subtraction sentences.
                                        - Tell subtraction

*

Science

Light and Sound Waves
Last week we began our lesson on transparent, translucent and opaque. In this lesson, students are discussing how light can pass through some objects, but not others. We are discussing the three types of objects: transparent, translucent, and opaque. The students are learning about each word's meaning and then making predictions as to what materials that have the same characteristics as that word and then experimenting with their flashlights. This week the class will wrap up this activity and summarize their experience of predicting and experimenting.

Social Studies

Thanksgiving Unit
We are continuing to work on developing an understanding of life as a colonist and a Wampanoag Native American. We will be learning about the activities the colonist and Native American children did for fun.
Second Steps—We continued our Empathy Unit last week with identifying feelings. This week we are learning about how a person's feelings can change about the same situation.

 Specialists

MONDAY: Music 

TUESDAY: P.E.

WEDNESDAY: Early Release

THURSDAY: NO SCHOOL

FRIDAY: NO SCHOOL

Writing Workshop

Six Traits of Writing~ Ideas

     This week students will have to brainstorm ways to escape a Thanksgiving dinner and write sequential steps to help a feathery friend out. 

Framing Your Thoughts~ First Barebone Book
The students will be finishing their individual pages of our first class barebone book. To complete the book, we will make a cover and then have the book bound. 

This week’s mini-lessons will include…

• Use uppercase at the beginning & punctuation at the end
• Use spacing between words
• How to write an introduction and closing
• Writers reread their writing to see if it makes sense and stays on topic.

                   Parent Reminders

1. Library day was today. Please make sure you help your
child remember to bring in their
book for next Monday.
2. Early Release for Thanksgiving break on Wednesday, November 23rd at 12 noon.
3. Math—Please continue to work on number formation at home. The students are writing many numbers backwards, which is confusing them when trying to solve their math problems. Thanks for your support!
4. Unit 2 Reading Street Card will be given out on Monday, November 27th to begin practicing Unit 2 words.
6. Book Fair is here! Our class will have a chance to preview the fair on Monday, November 27th at 1 p.m. and will shop for books on Thursday, December 1st. Catalogs will go home this week.
7. Over Thanksgiving break...please continue to have your child read daily. 
8. Trick Word Test…due to the craziness of this week, we will have our trick word reading and spelling test the week of November 27th. Please have your child practice spelling and reading the trick words on the study guide I sent home today.
9. It’s just about hat and glove season…please label everything, if possible. Sometimes the children have a hard time identifying their
own clothes.

10. Unit 1 Reading Street Celebration…Overall the

students did a really good job on this test

last week. They all worked really hard and

gave their best effort. It’s amazing how

much they’ve grown already since the first

day of school! As I tell them in class before

every celebration, there are two reasons we take

these assessments. First it’s to give them a

chance to “show off” everything they’ve

learned so far and feel proud of themselves.

The second reason is so that I can learn

what they don’t know and still need to

practice. 

11. Homework Schedule- At the bottom of the blog, I have changed the format of the homework schedule. Instead of the days of the week by each homework assignment, I have simply listed out all of the homework that is to be turned in at the end of the week under "This week's homework". All of the homework will be given on Monday unless listed otherwise. For example, Dialogue Journals [due on Friday] - Passed out on Wednesday. I do not expect all of the homework to be done on Monday, but I do expect it all to be turned in on Friday or the last day of that week unless you have contacted me otherwise. Please feel free to schedule the homework assignments that best fits your weekly schedule. Thank you for your support!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Miss Biggar

Homework for the Week

 Daily

Reading Words (Phonics/Sight)

Reading Log (with discussion questions)
Number/Letter Formation
Sight Word Spelling & Reading List

This week's homework: 

Reading Log (due on Wednesday)
Math Game Recording Sheet (due on Wednesday)
Pilgrim Comprehension worksheet (due on Wednesday) -Passed out on Tuesday

November 13th-17th Newsletter

First Grade Newsletter

November 13-17th

Literacy

*End of Unit 1 Test will be on Tuesday*
Reading Street: Unit 2 Week 1

Main selection:  A Big Fish for Max

Weekly Question:  What does a family do together?
Amazing Words: chore, household, cooperation, rule, commute, subway, downtown, display
High-Frequency Words: catch, good, no, put, said, want
Phonics Target: digraphs sh, th; /ol/ sound in ball

Comprehension skills:  Sequence
Comprehension strategy: Predict; Set a purpose

Genres:  Animal Fantasy, Literary Nonfiction
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. 

Fundations: Unit 5, Week 1

Students will learn about...

• Two new glued or welded sounds: /am/ and /an/ as in 'ham' and 'pan'. 
• Observe the form of a narrative story (character, setting, and main events) 
• Story: The Big Mess
• Sight words: from, have, do, does

Math in Focus

**Chapter 4 Test on Wednesday**
Chapter 4

Subtraction Facts to 10 

Thinking Skills
- Analyzing parts and a whole

Problem Solving Strategies 
- Guess and check

Objectives

                                                                                  - Take away to subtract
                                        - Count on OR back to subtract
                                        - Use number bonds to subtract
                                        - Write and solve subtraction sentences.
                                        - Tell subtraction

*

Science

Light and Sound Waves
We have kicked off our new science curriculum! Last week we completed our first hands-on activity to learn about the source of light and how it travels in a direction using a pinhole box. Students will be made observations and recorded what they saw in their science notebooks. 

Social Studies

Thanksgiving Unit
We will be working on developing an understanding of life as a colonist and a Wampanoag Native American. We’ll wrap up learning about each of their clothes and move onto learning about what they did for chores.
Second Steps—We began our Empathy Unit with identifying feelings. Last week we learned the similarities and differences of emotional expressions and body language in specific situations. This week we are learning about how a person's feelings can change about the same situation.

 Specialists

MONDAY: Music 

TUESDAY: P.E.

WEDNESDAY: Music

THURSDAY: P.E.; Science Enrichment

FRIDAY: Music & Art

Writing Workshop

Process Writing~ Narrative

     Students have brainstormed and chosen characters, settings, and continue to work on the problem and solution of their narrative stories. This week students will continue to work on their problem and solutions and discuss the sequence of events in a story. 

Timed Write
      This week we will begin our timed writes. Students will be read the sentence starter on their prompt paper and have 1 minute to think & 4 minutes to write the rest of the story. This type of writing is to assess students' ability and speed to transfer their ideas onto paper. 

Framing Your Thoughts~ First Barebone Book
The students have brainstormed subjects (nouns) and predicates (verbs) that have to do with Fall. This week each student will write and illustrate a sentence that will be bound in a book and put in our classroom library.

This week’s mini-lessons will include…

• Use uppercase at the beginning & punctuation at the end
• Sequence of events ('First', 'Next', 'Then', 'Last')
• Use spacing between words
• Writers reread their writing and ideas to see if it makes sense and stays on topic.

                   Parent Reminders

1. Library day was today. Please make sure you help your
child remember to bring in their
book for next Monday.
2. Homework Math Games- This week I will send home the new math game on Tuesday. It has come to my attention that there is some confusion with what needs to be completed and what needs to be turned in. The roll out of homework math games is a two week process. The first week of the cycle you will receive the math "game board". In this first week, you will be reading the instructions of the game and playing the game with your child working on the foundational math skills and concepts the game targets. None of these materials need to be turned back in. They are for your child to keep to continue practicing and solidifying their math skills.  In the second week, your child will come home with a recording sheet for the game you learned how to play the week before. This recording sheet needs to be turned in by the end of the second week. The recording sheet allows me to see how the game is going and your child's understanding of the concepts and skills targeted. I hope this explanation helps and clears up any confusion. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your support! 
3. Number & Letter Formation—Please continue to work on letter and number formation at home. The students are forming many letters and numbers incorrectly. Thank you for your support!
4. Holiday Scholastic Catalog- I have sent home the December Holiday Scholastic catalog today. Please send in or complete all orders by Friday, December 8th. 
5. Trick Word Test…we will have a trick word reading and spelling test next week. I will send home a study guide for you to practice with your child.
6. It’s just about hat and glove season…please label everything, if possible. Sometimes the children have a hard time identifying their
own clothes.
7. Reading Phonics & Sight Word Lists (Unit 1)- Please practice Week 5 & 6 (last two columns only) of your child's Reading Street word lists. I will be collecting the Reading Street Unit 1 sheets on Friday, November 17th to check-in with students for both weeks. Thank you!

I hope you had a nice Veterans' Day! 

Miss Biggar

Homework for the Week

 Daily

Reading Words (Phonics/Sight)

Reading Log (with discussion questions)
Number/Letter Formation

Monday:  Reading Log (due on Friday)
Tuesday: Number Bond Math Game
Wednesday: Dialogue Journal (due on Friday)
Thursday: Veteran's Day Comprehension Story (due on Friday)

November 6-10 Newsletter

First Grade Newsletter

November 6-10th

Literacy

Reading Street: Unit 1 Week 6

Main selection:  Animal Park

Weekly Question:  What can we learn about wild animals by watching them?
Amazing Words: 
High-Frequency Words: home, into, many, them
Phonics Target: Short u: u; Final Consonant Blends

Comprehension skills:  Cause and Effect
Comprehension strategy: Text Structure

Genres:  Literary Nonfiction
Reading Street Parent Connection:

• Unit 1 Family Talk letter for concept conversation starters and 6 week overview of the unit. 
• 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 1, Week 5 & 6 (last two columns only). I will be collecting the Reading Street Unit 1 sheets on Friday, November 17th to check-in with students for both weeks.

Fundations: Unit 4 (Week 2 of 2)

Students will learn about...

• The letter ‘a’ followed by the double ll sounds like /o/ (i.e., fall). 
• Observe the form of a narrative story (character, setting, and main events) 
• Story: The Big Mess
• Sight words: was, one, said
• Unit 4 Fundations Test on Thursday, November 9th

Math in Focus

Chapter 4

Subtraction Facts to 10 

Thinking Skills
- Analyzing parts and a whole

Problem Solving Strategies 
- Guess and check

Objectives

      - Take away to subtract
                                        - Count on OR back to subtract
                                        - Use number bonds to subtract
                                        - Write and solve subtraction sentences.
                                        - Tell subtraction

*

Science

This week we will be starting our first physical science module with lessons on light. Last Friday, the class discussed what we know about 'light' and where is comes from. This week we will be doing our first hands-on activity to learn about the source of light and how it travels in a direction using a pinhole box. Students will be making observations and recording what they see in their science notebooks. 

Social Studies

Thanksgiving Unit
We will be working on developing an understanding of life as a colonist and a Wampanoag Native American. We’ll start by learning about each of their homes.
Second Steps—We began our Empathy Unit last week with identifying feelings. This week Mrs. LaBella will be coming into our class to continue discussing strategies to help us with calming our emotions. 

 Specialists

MONDAY: Music 

TUESDAY: NO SCHOOL!

WEDNESDAY: Music

THURSDAY: Early Release

FRIDAY: NO SCHOOL!

Writing Workshop

Six Traits of Writing~ Ideas

     This week we will continue the steps to writing our very first story. Each student has picked a topic and finished their Five Finger Planners. Students will be focusing on putting their five most important ideas into complete sentences. Once they have written their five sentences, they will focus on putting the sentences into a story format. Our focus when writing complete sentences is that our sentences make sense, have an uppercase at the beginning and punctuation at the end, and have spacing between words.

Framing Your Thoughts ~ Predicate Expander of Where

     This week students will be reviewing the role the connector ('and') plays in a sentence and learning about the predicate expander of where. Students will practice using these parts in a sentence during literacy centers and convention writing time. 

This week’s mini-lessons will include…

• Use uppercase at the beginning & punctuation at the end
• Use spacing between words
• How to write an introduction and closing
• Writers reread their writing to see if it makes sense and stays on topic.

                   Parent Reminders

1. Library day was today. Please make sure you help your
child remember to bring in their
book for next Monday.
2. No school on Tuesday (11/7) and Friday
(11/10).
3. Unit 1 Reading Cards due NEXT
Friday (11/17).
4. Ten Frame Build Math Game— Play the ten frame game Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, please have you child record what his/her answers are when playing. This will allow me to see how your child is progressing with their number sense.
5. Homework—Due to the nature of this crazy week, all homework will be due on Thursday, November 9th. I’ll send all homework home on Monday, November 6th.
6. Just a heads up…photo retakes will be on Wednesday, November 15th.
7. Reading Phonics & Sight Word Lists (Unit 1)- Please practice Week 5 & 6 (last two columns only) of your child's Reading Street word lists. I will be collecting the Reading Street Unit 1 sheets on Friday, November 17th to check-in with students for both weeks. Thank you!
8. November Scholastic Catalog Orders are due this Thursday, November 9th!

Have a wonderful week! 

Miss Biggar

Homework for the Week

 Daily

Reading Words (Phonics/Sight)

Reading Log (with discussion questions)
Number/Letter Formation

Monday:  Reading Log (due on Thursday)
                                       Ten Frame Build Math Game (due on Thursday)
Wednesday: Dialogue Journal (due on Thursday)