November 26th-November 30th Newsletter

First Grade Newsletter

November 26th-November 30th

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. 
• Practice reading phonics and sight words for Unit 2, Week 1 (first column only). I will be sending home Reading Street Unit 2 sheets on Monday, November 26th.

Fundations: Unit 4 (Week 2 of 2)

Students will learn about...

• Bonus letter spelling rule: ff, ll, ss, and sometimes zz
• Glued sound: all
• Observe the form of a narrative story (character, setting, and main events) 
• Punctuation: exclamation point and quotation marks
• Story: The Big Mess
• Sight words: said, one, was
• **Unit 4 Test on Friday, November 30th**

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 finished testing the last three materials and recording the outcomes. This week students will learn about the law of reflection. We will begin the week brainstorming the information we already know about reflections and then physically demonstrate the law of reflection using wall, a ball and bucket to show that when light hits a reflective surface it bounces back. Students will record and reflect on the activity demonstrating the law of reflection. 

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
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 clothes the Native American children wore and 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; 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 write their stories about how Tom the Turkey escapes Thanksgiving dinner. Each student will develop their own story using details such as different characters, whether or not if Tom escapes or gets caught, and how he is either captured or escapes. I am excited to read each student's story!

Framing Your Thoughts ~ Predicate Expander of Where
     This week students will be practicing using the predicate expander of where (The snow drifts across the field.) by constructing their own from pictures, fall and winter-themed activities, and unscrambling sentences given to them during literacy centers and writing time. 

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 yesterday (11/26) and
their book wish lists have gone home.
We’ll shop for books on Thursday, November 29th at 2:35 p.m.. 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 Thursday, December 20th . A letter will be going home today with more information.
4. Math Flashcards (Addition to 10)- I will be sending home the first three rules (+0,+1,+2) of our addition to 10 math fact flashcards. Cut out the cards and keep them to practice at 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
Math Fact Flashcards (Addition to 10)

Trick Word Reading and Spelling

This week's homework:
Reading Log (due on Friday) [Passed out on Monday]
Ten Frame Sentences! Game Sheet [Passed out on Tuesday]
Dialogue Journal #6 (due on Friday) [Passed out on Wednesday]