Week of October 18th-October 22nd

 

First Grade Newsletter

October 18th-October 22nd

Literacy

Reading Street: Unit 1 Week 2

Main Selection: The Big Blue Ox

Weekly Question:  How do animals help people?
Amazing Words: past, present, produce transportation, danger, serve, snuggle, enormous, powerful
High-Frequency Words: blue, help, little, from, use, get
Phonics Target: Short 'o', plural -s, consonant 's' /z/

Comprehension skills:  Character and Setting
Comprehension Strategy: Visualize

Genres:  Animal Fantasy
Reading Street Parent Connection: 

• Unit 1 Family Talk letter for concept conversation starters and 6 week overview of the unit. (Sent home Oct. 4th) 
• 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 3 (third column only). Practice the words in column 1 and 2 that have a dot/star/dash next to them. These are the words your child struggled to read. 

PHONICS

Spelling 

• Skill(s): 
• Tapping out sounds in words with CVC patterns (Consonant, Vowel, Consonant; such as 'cat') 
• Trick Words: a, is, his
• Review trick words and practice using in writing: the, of, and

**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 2

Addition and Subtraction within 10

Pre-requisite skills and number sense

Objectives

-  Count from 0 to 10 objects 

-  Read and write 0 to 10 in numbers and words

     -  Compare two sets of objects by using one-to-one correspondence 

      -  Identify the set that has more, fewer, or the same number of object

                                 - Identify the number that is greater than or less than another number

-                                                -  Make number patterns

Science

Space Unit
Patterns in the Sky
     Last week students learned that the Earth rotates on an axis. They also learned that when we face the Sun, it is day time, and when we are facing away from the Sun, it is night time.  This week students will begin to learn about the Moon. 

Social Studies

This week we will continue to engage in friendship-building, cooperative exercises, always emphasizing the importance of friendship, unity, and cooperation. We will continue to talk about the power of our choices using the book What Should Danny Do?. 

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 "What do pets need?".

In Second Steps, students will continue to learn the 4 Skills for Learning. This week, we will practice using self-talk throughout the day. Students will also learn how to be assertive when learning. I encourage the students to use the skills that they have learned about throughout their day and find the strategy that works best for them. 

Specialists

MONDAY: Art

TUESDAY: Music

WEDNESDAY: P.E.

THURSDAY: Art

FRIDAY: Music

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.

Genre Writing-Narrative

     This week they will continue to write and I will conference with each student to help him/her continue their story.

Grammar-Sentence Structure (Verbs)

     This week students will brainstorm about nouns (subjects) and verbs (predicates) that have to do with Halloween. Once the class comes up with a list of nouns and verbs, students will practice writing sentences using these parts of a sentence focusing on uppercases to begin a sentence, appropriate punctuation, spacing, and on-topic sentences.

                  
Parent Reminders

1.  There is an early release on Thursday, October 21 at noontime.

2.    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.

3.    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.

4.    Scholastic Catalogs: The October catalogs will be sent home this week. October orders are due on Friday, October 22nd at 12 noontime. (I have not received our September orders yet due to delays in shipping. I will send those books home as soon as they come in.)

5. Fall Parent Conferences (10/21)- I will be sending conference time reminders tomorrow to everyone who has a time slot on Thursday. With the reminder, I will include a link to a survey for each family to fill out. This survey includes families sharing questions, aspects of learning, and concerns/interests/questions about your child. My hope is to use this information to be able to guide our time and make it as meaningful for you. If you have not signed up for a conference time, please email or message me on Bloomz with a time that works best for you. Thank you!

6. Math Homework- For math homework this week, please rewatch the "Cluster Cards 1,2,3" video that was posted last Thursday. Once your child has watched the video, s/he needs to record all of the combinations for each card on the page.

 

I look forward to meeting with you all! 

Have a spectacular week!

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, and rewatch the Cluster Card 1,2,3 math video that is posted on Bloomz. Fill out the cluster card sheet after watching the video. 

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. Please practice the marked first column words and all of the words on the second column 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. I will take it out on Friday.)