What's New....

We have been full steam ahead in the classroom...here's what we have been up to...

Writing...
The children have been hard at work on their writing skills. I am eager for you to see their journals as they have made such tremendous progress from where they were at the start of 1st grade! :) We continue to journal daily, and most of us are writing 3 solid response sentences to the journal question. We continue to practice writing skills including capitalization and punctuation. Additionally, we are working on applying spelling patterns to the words we use to create detailed sentences.

Reading...
This is an exciting point in the school year for 1st grade. We are full swing into the anthologies. They children feel like "almost 2nd graders" as they work with these texts. Today we officially begin unit 8 from Open Court, Games. Perfect time of the year for this unit as baseball season is officially under way! :) Games are so important in the life of a child. Not only do they help to develop physical skills, but also enhance and encourage problem-solving skills. There are word games, fantasy play, and social games. In this phenomenal unit the children explore a variety of literature that has games as the central topic. It's "game on" for this unit! :)

Math...
We begin one of my favorite units in the 1st grade math series this week, Everyday Mathematics Unit 8: Mental Arithmetic, Money, & Fractions. In this unit of study we are continuing to review the skill of counting money. Exchanges and making change are skills you can practice at home to challenge your child. Use real money! :) We started formal study of place value in Unit 5, but this unit continues this study. We will be studying up to the 100th place, but if your child is ready for further place value, by all means, work further. Mental arithmetic is such an important life skill, and we continue to visit this topic in this unit. The 1st grade team encourages families to continue practicing the addition facts at home. Additionally, this unit will visit fractions.

Homework...
We will continue to have the 1st grade homework packet for a few more weeks. The children have been doing an outstanding job with these. I am so proud of how they are responsible and keep the packets in a safe place at home. In class, we talk about budgeting your time and working on the packet a little bit each night. Thank you so much for all your help with these! :)

Valentine's Day Party

We will be having our class Valentine's Day party on Friday, February 13th. It is a half day for the children, so the party will run from 9:30am until 10:45am. Clean up is a part of the party. :) It is a superhero theme, but costumes are optional.

I will be sending home a class roster in order to ensure that all students receive a Valentine.

Additionally, the children are being asked to create a mailbox for their Valentines. I leave the creativity up to each student! :) The boxes can be brought in the day of the party, Friday, February 13th.

I cannot express how much I appreciate all of your support!

Winter Conferences...

Today I am sending home a reminder of our February conference time. I used the same times as our Fall conferences. If you are unable to make this time please let me know. The first grade report cards will go home on March 20th. Thanks so much! :)

1st Grade Homework

On Friday, January 9th, we sent home the 1st homework grid packet for the children. These packets will be sent home every Friday and will be due the following Friday. The homework is intended as reinforcement of skills taught at school. If the work seems difficult, it is just indication that a little more practice is required. If it is too easy, the practice will always help to maintain skills. The children are to choose 3 of the 4 activities to complete with handwriting always required. For challenge the children may do all 4 activites.

Please note the packet is also useful in practicing responsibility. Each student will only be given 1 packet and replacements will not be available. We suggest you help your child find a safe place to keep the packet until it is completed and returned to school.

Please go over each homework grid packet with your child and sign the cover page before returning.

Thanks so much! :)

What you been up to?

LANGUAGE ARTS...This week we began our new unit in Open Court called Our Neighborhood at Work. In this unit the kiddos will be exposed to a variety of occupations that they will find interesting and want to learn more about. This unit will help students see the connections between reading, learning, and writing. The first story we read was called Guess Who? This story had the children actively involved in reading the selection as it was a guessing game element to the non-fiction piece. In phonics this week we reviewed the short vowel sounds, the letter k, the ng pattern, qu pattern, and the letter y. In language arts we also worked on our glyph for the month of December, a gingerbread cookie! :)

MATH...This week in math we began unit 4. In this unit the children will be working with linear measurement and review/extend their work with thermometers and clocks. We began our measurement study with nonstandard units, including the digit and hand span. We will also use rulers and tape measures to practice measuring classroom objects and themselves.

Smile! :)

October 7th is picture day...so remember to come to school ready to smile! :)

a big THANK YOU...

to all who ordered from the Scholastic Book Order. Every book purchased earns our classroom points that we can use towards books for our classroom library. So thank you! :) The books you ordered should be arriving by the end of this week or early next week. I will be sending home an order form for October very soon.