December 17th-December 21st Newsletter

First Grade Newsletter

December 17th-21st

Literacy

This week we will be reviewing concepts and skills from previous weeks of Reading Street.

Reading Street: Unit 2 Week 4 

Main selection:  The Big Circle

Weekly Question:  How do animal communities work together to survive?

Amazing Words: enemy, extinct, boisterous, protect, crater, holler, swamp, bluff

High-Frequency Words: down, inside, now, there, together

Phonics Target: Long o: o_e; Contractions (can't)

Comprehension skills: Sequencing

Comprehension strategy: Inferring

Genres:  Fiction

Written Expression: Predicate Expander "Where" (Snowmen melt in the front yard.)

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 for Unit 2, Week 4 (fourth column) as well as from Weeks 1-3. 

Fundations: Unit 6, Week 1

Students will learn about...

• Base word and suffix with the suffix -s
• Pluralization
• Narrative fiction vs. informational books 
• Reading with accuracy
• Sight Words: are, were
• Reading Selection: Jack's Bags

Math in Focus

Chapter 7

Numbers to 20
Prerequisite Skills: Count & compare to 10 , Make patterns (counting on/back)

Thinking Skills
- Analyzing patterns & relationships

Problem Solving Strategies  
                                     - Look for patterns

                               Objectives

                                                                                  - Count on from 10-20
                                  - Read and write 11-20 in numbers and words.
                                  - Use a place value chart to show numbers to 20.
                                  - Show objects up to 20 as tens and ones.

*                                      

Science

Light and Sound Waves
Last week students carried out two different experiments using mirrors, a flashlight and target in order to test the law of reflection. This week students will learn about concave and convex curves as well as how light's reflection changes with each curve.  Students will be wrapping up our lesson on the law of reflection by using paint and their hand prints. 
 Gingerbread Ingredient Smell Test: Students will be challenged to explore their sense of smell as they investigate the question, "Do all things have odor?" They will also determine whether the ingredients are solids or liquids. 

Social Studies

Jan Brett Author Study 

   Through the story Annie and the Wild
Animals, children will learn about animals that
hibernate /migrate during the winter. They will
create a bird feeder for those animals that
stay and adapt to the change of the season.

Second Steps—We are continuing our
Empathy Unit by discussing ____________.

 Specialists

MONDAY: Music 

TUESDAY: P.E.

WEDNESDAY: Music

THURSDAY: Sing-a-Long; Jan Brett Celebration

FRIDAY: Polar Express; Early Release

Writing Workshop

Six Traits of Writing~ Ideas

Jan Brett Mittens     
This week the students will be putting their final touches on their animal riddles that will be a part of our Jan Brett celebration and hang out in the hallway for other students and visitors to enjoy. They turned out fantastic! 

Tom the Turkey
     This week students will be conferencing with me about their stories and writing their final drafts that include illustrations. 

Gingerbread Story Endings
     Last week students listened to  the stories, The Gingerbread Baby and The Gingerbread Man. At the end of the week, the students needed to choose which story they wanted to write an alternative ending for. Once the student chose the story, they began to brainstorm their ideas for their endings. This week students will write and illustrate the endings to their story. 

                   Parent Reminders

1. Our class went to the library today. Students will be allowed to take library books home for the holidays. If you have received a slip for an overdue book, please return it as soon as possible. 
2. Early Release Friday, December 21st.
3. Jan Brett Celebration-Thank you for supporting our class by donating supplies and/or taking the time to come volunteer in the classroom! We are very excited for Thursday!
4. Pajama Party- On Friday, December 21st, there will be a pajama party for our class to celebrate our hard work over the past four months. Your child should have a clean pair of pajamas on and are allowed to bring their slippers to wear around school. Please do not bring in any valuable stuffed animals or blankets from home. Each student should have another pair of shoes to wear for outside.
5.   Winter break practice packets- Reading is essential in first grade and it is imperative your child continues to read throughout the break as well as practice letter and number formation. On Thursday, December 20th, I will be sending a practice packet home for your child to use during winter break that includes decodable readers, a number formation guide, and letter formation guides. 
6. Holiday Break Reading Challenge- On Thursday (12/20), I will be sending home a reading log for students to complete over break. The logs will be due on our first day back, Wednesday, January 2nd. The reading log is a challenge to add some excitement for the students. 
7. Homework- All homework will be sent home on Monday for this week. Please complete the activities in the packet that was sent home today, Monday December 17th and return on Friday, December 22nd at the latest.

Have a fantastic week! Happy Holidays!

Miss Biggar

Homework for the Week

 Daily

Reading Words (Phonics/Sight)

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

This week's homework: 

Reading Log (due on Friday)
 Number Bond Math Game  (due on Friday) [Sent home on Monday]
Dialogue Journal Letter (due on Friday) [Sent home on Monday
Holiday Tree Comprehension Sheet (due on Friday) [Sent home on Monday]

December 10th- December 14th Newsletter

First Grade Newsletter

December 10th-14th

Literacy

Reading Street: Unit 2 Week 3 

Main selection:  Who Works Here!

Weekly Question:  Who works to make our community a nice place? 

Amazing Words: citizen, community, law, leader, branch, headquarters, earn, patrol

High-Frequency Words: people, live, work, who, out

Phonics Target: Long i: i_e; Digraphs- wh, ch, tch, ph

Comprehension skills: Author's purpose

Comprehension strategy: Important ideas

Genres:  Expository Text

Written Expression: Predicate Expander "Where" (The sunflower blooms under the blazing sun.)

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 white sheet sent home Wednesday) for Unit 2, Week 3 (third column). 

Fundations: Unit 6, Week 1

Students will learn about...

• Base word and suffix with the suffix -s
• Pluralization
• Narrative fiction vs. informational books 
• Reading with accuracy
• Sight Words: are, were
• Reading Selection: Jack's Bags

Math in Focus

Chapter 7

Numbers to 20
Prerequisite Skills: Count & compare to 10 , Make patterns (counting on/back)

Thinking Skills
- Analyzing patterns & relationships

Problem Solving Strategies  
                                     - Look for patterns

                               Objectives

                                                                                  - Count on from 10-20
                                  - Read and write 11-20 in numbers and words.
                                  - Use a place value chart to show numbers to 20.
                                  - Show objects up to 20 as tens and ones.

*                                      

Science

Light and Sound Waves
Last week students learned about the law of reflection by watching a demonstration using a ball. Students recorded what they saw with a scientific drawing and a small explanation in their science journals. This week students will carry out two different experiments using mirrors, a flashlight and target in order to test the law of reflection. 

Social Studies

Jan Brett Author Study 
Gingerbread Baby
   This week students will be read Gingerbread Baby, The Gingerbread Man, and The Gingerbread Girl. The students will have state which character they liked best and explain why they liked that character. 

Second Steps—This week we are continuing our
Empathy Unit by learning about how our feelings can chan

 Specialists

MONDAY: Music; Library

TUESDAY: P.E.

WEDNESDAY: Music

THURSDAY: P.E.

FRIDAY: Art; Music

Writing Workshop

     

Jan Brett Author Study~ Mitten Riddle

     This week students will be writing their animal riddle clues and draw a realistic picture of their animal. 

Six Traits of Writing~ Ideas

      This week students will conference with me about their Tom the Turkey stories and begin writing their final drafts. 

Framing Your Thoughts~ Predicate Expander of Where
This week students will begin to write their winter- and holiday-themed  sentences uses a step-by-step organizer that slowly builds to their sentences beginning with the subject and ending with a predicate expander of where. We will continue to slowly work on the next couple of weeks leading up to winter break and finalize our sentences before winter break.

This week’s mini-lessons will include… 
- What an individual conference is and includes
- Using complete thoughts
- Punctuation
- Uppercase at the beginning of a sentence and lowercase at the end

   

                   Parent Reminders

1. Our class went to the library today. Please remind your child to bring back their library book by next Monday, December 17th. 
2. Please make sure to pack a snack and water for your child each day. 
3. Jan Brett Celebration-  Katharine Worth will be contacting families to donate supplies for our celebration. One item the whole grade will need are 64 mitten shaped sugar cookies. If you are willing to help or make these cookies, please contact me directly. If you have signed up to donate supplies for our celebration, please send in your supplies any time between today and Tuesday, December 18th. The supplies are due on Tuesday, December 18th at the latest. Thank you for your support!
4. Pajama Party- On Friday, December 21st, there will be a pajama party for our class to celebrate our hard work over the past four months. Your child should have a clean pair of pajamas on and are allowed to bring their slippers to wear around school. Please do not bring in any valuable stuffed animals or blankets from home. Each student should have another pair of shoes to wear for outside.  

Have a wonderful week! 

Miss Biggar

Homework for the Week

 Daily

Reading Words (Phonics/Sight)

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

This week's homework:

  Reading Log (due on Friday)
 Number Bond Sentences Math Game  [Sent home on Tuesday]
 Dialogue Journal #8 (due on Friday) [Sent home on Wednesday]
 Kwanzaa Comprehension Sheet (due on Friday) [Sent home on Monday]

December 3rd- December 7th Newsletter

First Grade Newsletter

December 3rd-7th

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 2 (second column). 

Fundations: Unit 5, Week 1

**Students will take the Unit 5 Fundations test at beginning of next 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

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 Wave Unit 
Last week students demonstrated the law of reflection through an activity using a ball, flat surface (wall) and a bin. They learned that light 'bounces back' or reflects off of surfaces at an angle. This week the students will review what they already know about how light travels and learn about the law of reflection through a series of experiments.

Social Studies

          Jan Brett Author Study 

The Hat
How is The Hat similar and different from
the story The Mitten? 
Vocabulary: ridiculous,
startled, magnificent

Second Steps—Mrs. LaBella will be coming into the class to share different ways that we can help others. 

 Specialists

MONDAY: Music 

TUESDAY: Early Release

WEDNESDAY: Music; School Assembly

THURSDAY: P.E.

FRIDAY: Art; Music

Writing Workshop

Jan Brett Author Study~ Mitten Riddle

     This week I will be conferencing with the students about their animal riddle clues. Students will move onto their final draft of their animal riddle and complete the riddle with a picture of the animal they chose. 

Six Traits of Writing~ Ideas

      This week students will conference with me about their Tom the Turkey stories and begin writing their final drafts. 

Framing Your Thoughts~ Predicate Expander of Where
This week students will begin to brainstorm winter- and holiday-themed subjects, predicates, and predicate expanders of where to begin creating our second barebone sentence book. 

This week’s mini-lessons will include… 
- What an individual conference is and includes
- Using complete thoughts
- Punctuation
- Uppercase at the beginning of a sentence and lowercase at the end

                   Parent Reminders

1. Our class went to the library today. Please remind your child to bring back their library book by next Monday, December 10th. 
2. Early Release Tuesday, December 4th at noon!
3. Scholastic Book Club catalogs will be going home
tomorrow (Tuesday, December 4th). I know we just had the book fair and I
do not want anyone to feel pressure to order
more books. I had some parent requests for the
December catalogs and thought I would just send
them to everyone. If you want any “surprise” or gift
books for your child, please let me know and I
can contact you when the books are in.) Orders
are due by Monday (Dec 10th), so the books can
be delivered before the holiday break.
(Online code—P9JVK).
4. DIBELs Winter benchmark testing will be
done with Ms. Nedde this week.
5. It’s just about hat and glove season…please label everything, if possible. Sometimes the children have a hard time identifying their
own clothes.
6. Jan Brett Celebration- 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 went home last week. We still are in need of a couple parent volunteers. We would love to have you come and help out! If you are unable to volunteer, Katharine Worth, our room parent, will be contacting parents at the beginning of next week looking for people to donate supplies that we will need for the celebration.   

Have a fantastic week! 

Miss Biggar

Homework for the Week

 Daily

Reading Words (Phonics/Sight)

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

This week's homework:
Reading Log (due on Friday) [Passed out on Monday]
Ten Frame Sentences! Recording Sheet [Passed out on Tuesday] [Turn in on Friday]
Dialogue Journal #7 (due on Friday) [Passed out on Wednesday]
Hanukkah Comprehension Activity (due on Friday) [Passed out on Wednesday]