Weekly News!

I cannot believe another week of first grade has flown by and we are almost to October! These first graders have been working hard and are starting to take more and more responsibility in the classroom, which is fantastic to see! Here are more details about what we have been up to, and what’s coming up next week:

Reading:
Our theme in Treasures this week was, “Ready, Set, Move!”. Our reading strategies focus was on analyzing story structure and identifying sequence of events. The word pattern for our spelling words and making words lessons consisted of short /a/ words. We began our Guided Reading groups this week and we came through with flying colors! The students were focused during their independent work time, and I was able to meet with small groups to work on reading strategies and comprehension at each child’s level. The students also did an excellent job of remembering to read and discuss their books at home and return them the following day, so thank you for your support with this! As an added bonus, we created a digital class book at the end of our Treasures week this week about movement. We read the book, “From Head to Toe” by Eric Carle at the beginning of the week, about various animals and the ways they can move. The book follows a pattern, and we used the same pattern in our book showing off various ways that our students can move! Our students used our class camera to record one another demonstrating their movement. I know the children are excited to share it with you. I will post a link to the video on our blog when it is up! Next week our Treasures theme will be “Growing Up”, with our reading strategies focusing on text structure and identifying sequence of events. Our word pattern for spelling and making words will be short /i/ words.



Writing:
Our first grade authors have been working hard to publish their autobiographies this week! They copied each of their four rough draft pages in their nicest, neatest handwriting and added color to their illustrations. We published one page each day, and today we created a cover and an “About the Author” page. Next week, we will have a special sharing session with the other first graders in Mrs. Coyle and Miss Bandur’s classes so that we have the opportunity to share our autobiographies with others. We have been working diligently on our handwriting, and finished the letter Vv today. Next week, we will finish our handwriting book with the letters Ww, Xx, Yy, and Zz. We will begin our October handwriting book as well, where we will put all of these correct letter formations into practice with a fun Halloween themed story.



Math:
This week, we learned about complements of 10 (number pairs that add up to 10), unit labels for numbers, analog clocks, and telling time to the hour. Yesterday, your child brought home a clock with an hour and minute hand that you can keep handy for time practice and home links throughout the year. Encourage your child to start looking at an analog clock and telling the time to the hour independently! Next week, we will begin the week with Explorations, followed by pennies, nickels, and spending some time reviewing time and counting pennies and nickels in combination.

Social Studies:
This week in Map Skills, we explored directions on a map, identified the continents, learned about the countries within our continent, and the states within our country. We also introduced landforms as we wrapped up our Map Skills unit. Next week, we will finish up with a flip book illustrating our continent, country, state, and city before moving on to a short focus on Christopher Columbus in preparation for Columbus day the following Monday.

Have a fantastic fall weekend!

☺ Mrs. Glaser

¬Upcoming Events:
Monday, 10/3: School Picture Day
Wednesday, 10/5: Walk to School Day
Friday, 10/7: School Improvement Day- No School
Monday, 10/10: Columbus Day- No School

Royal Reader!

Today brought our very first surprise Royal Reader of the year! It was...drumroll, please...

Dr. Jares!! Check out his fancy Dryden Dolphin footwear :) Dr. Jares came in to read, "A Fine, Fine, School", which the students LOVED. The suspense grew as the principal in the story decided that the students and teachers were learning SO much at their fine, fine, school, that they should go to school on weekends... and holidays... and the summer! I think these first graders were a little nervous about any ideas their own principal may be getting from this book. Thank you for coming in to read to us today, Dr. Jares!!

Weekly News!

Blog post 9/23/11

So many firsts this week in first grade! We had our first math test, our first spelling test, our first week of the full Daily 5 routine, our first week of Treasures instruction, and our first week of our Map Skills unit. Here’s the rundown of the week’s activities, and what to expect for next week:

Reading:
We began our Treasures unit, with our week one theme: “We Are Special”. Our reading strategies focus included analyzing story structure and identifying characters and setting in a story. The word pattern for our spelling words and making words lessons consisted of short /a/ words. We practiced our Daily 5 activities all week and did a fantastic job! You will notice in the photograph above how we are moving magnets on our own to help us track which Daily 5 activities we have completed, and which we still need to work on. I am confident that the students will do well with these activities independently next week when we start our Guided Reading groups! Speaking of Guided Reading groups, your child will be bringing home a book to practice each time I meet with their group. This book will be a familiar read for them, as we will be reading it and discussing it during the reading group time. When they read at home, my hope for them is to be practicing their fluency and expression, as well as their comprehension strategies. Next week our Treasures theme will be “Ready, Set, Move!”, with our reading strategies focusing on analyzing story structure and identifying sequence of events. Our word pattern for spelling and making words will again be short /a/ words.

Writing:
Our first grade authors have been continuing to work hard on our autobiographies this week, and next week we will begin publishing! The students shared their writing today with a peer and enjoyed hearing one another’s ideas and “favorites”. We have been working diligently on our handwriting, and finished the letter Qq today. Next week, we will move on to Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv.

Math:
This week, we learned about number stories, then took our very first math test on Tuesday. The students worked very hard on this test, and they should be so proud of their efforts! Anyone who scored an 80% or under received a review packet to work on at home. They can work on this a little at a time and return it when it’s finished. Keep practicing those counting skills- counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s until it is automatic. Following our test, we practiced counting up and back on a number grid and talked about “numbers all around”, working with phone numbers. Next week, we will work on complements of 10 (number pairs that add up to 10), unit labels for numbers, analog clocks, and telling time to the hour.

Social Studies:
We began our Map Skills unit this week with a comparison between maps and globes. Next, we discussed the colors on a map, with blue representing water, and green (or sometimes other colors) representing land. Map symbols and keys followed, along with a discussion of the cardinal directions. In order to remember the order of the directions, we learned to recite the saying, “Never Eat Soggy Waffles” to stand for North, East, South, West. We also used the iPads to explore with Google Earth today, which was very exciting for the children! Google Earth was a neat way to bring our Map Skills unit to life. The students were able to start with our continent and zoom all the way down to Dryden, stopping to zoom in on our country, state, and city along the way. We also explored famous landmarks using the street view on Google Maps, visiting places like the Eiffel Tower, Disney World, Wrigley Field, and the Great Wall of China. This would also be a great way to “fly” to faraway relatives’ or friends’ houses or cities! Next week, we will explore directions on a map, identify the continents, learn about the countries within our continent, and the states within our country.

Today I sent home a packet of extra number writing practice to work on at home. If students want to do this a page at a time, that is completely fine! It is not something that needs to be returned right away. Thank you, as always, for all of your support at home! It truly does make a difference in your child’s classroom experience!!

Have a super weekend!

☺ Mrs. Glaser

¬Upcoming Events:
Monday, 10/3: School Picture Day
Wednesday, 10/5: Walk to School Day
Friday, 10/7: School Improvement Day- No School
Monday, 10/10: Columbus Day- No School

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!

We are looking forward to celebrating with you today :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JILL!

We are excited to celebrate your special day with you today :)

Progressive Party Raffle Item

For the upcoming PTA Progressive Party, each class created an item to be raffled off. With your donations (thank you, thank you, thank you to those who contributed!), our class painted a bookcase using each child's handprint. We were then able to purchase 10 books to go along with the bookcase. The students had a ball making this, and are so proud of their work! Here are a few photos of our masterpiece:

Weekly News!

We have had a super week in first grade! During reading instruction, we learned about the procedures and expectations for each of the Daily 5. Students will be independently working on these five tasks while I am meeting with Guided Reading groups throughout the entire year, so it is so important to start off the year strong when learning these routines! So far, we have been doing a fabulous job, and I can’t wait to see them in action once the Guided Reading groups start! The Daily 5 consists of Reading to Self, Reading to Someone, Working on Writing, Listening to Reading, and Word Work. Each day this week, we introduced a new component of Daily 5. We began with Reading to Self on Monday. We learned that we can read the pictures, read the words, or retell the story when reading to self, and that it’s great to read a book more than once. On Tuesday, we practiced Working on Writing. This is different from our Writing Workshop in that it is more of a journal type writing, and this writing is kept in our binders and will be sent home periodically throughout the year. On Wednesday, we practiced Listening to Reading, where we will be listening to books on the computer. We learned that it’s important to listen to good reading, because it helps us to become more fluent and expressive readers. Thursday brought the introduction to word work, which will take many forms throughout the year. This is also where our spelling practice at school will tie in for the week, so we practiced two different types of word work. We did a Rainbow Words page, which will be one of our spelling practice options, and we used the iPads to explore various word work apps that we may work on during Word Work time. Today was our final component of Daily 5, Read to Someone. We learned about sitting “Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee” with our partners, and about different types of reading to someone. We practiced taking turns reading sentences, reading pages, or reading books. We also practiced retelling the story once we reached the end of a book. Next week we will put all of these independent options together as we practice the Daily 5 independently!

Our first grade authors were very busy during our Writing Workshop time this week as well. We finished the rough drafts of our autobiographies, and this means that next week we will be sharing our writing with partners, revising, and starting the publishing process. These autobiographies are unique in that they are writing about all of the authors’ favorites, such as favorite pet or animal, favorite toy or game, favorite thing to do, and favorite place to go. We have also been steadily working on our handwriting, so if you are interested in an additional handwriting practice packet for your child to work on at home, please let me know and I will send one home with them!

In math this week, we began the week by learning about the calendar. Next, we had a game session, where we practiced a few games that have been introduced thus far, including Top-It, Monster Squeeze, Penny Dice, and Bunny Hop. The following day brought our first math Explorations of the year, where we explored with math materials like our pattern blocks, geoboards, base ten blocks, and tool kits (using our number cards for Top-It). Finally, we learned about temperature and thermometers. Next week, we will work with number stories, take our first unit test, then introduce number grids, and numbers all around.
In Social Studies instruction, we wrapped up our Community Helpers unit and will move on to Map Skills starting next week. We also spent some time today discussing and learning about the Constitution in honor of Constitution Day.

¬Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, 9/21: JILL’S BIRTHDAY!
Friday, 9/23: JOE’S BIRTHDAY!
Monday, 10/3: School Picture Day
Wednesday, 10/5: Walk to School Day

Have a magnificent weekend!!

☺ Mrs. Glaser

Weekly News!

It was another busy week in first grade! This week, we began introducing routines for Daily 5 time. Daily 5 will be something that we do each day for roughly an hour. The students have 5 tasks, Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Listen to Reading, and Word Work that they will be completing independently as I work with small Guided Reading groups. It is so important that we set these routines in stone so that they are able to be truly independent and use this time wisely each day! We began by talking about what good readers do, finding “good fit” books, learning the “I PICK” method of choosing books, learning the 3 ways to read a book, and practicing our reading stamina. The students are very excited about learning these routines, and cannot wait to put them into practice. They are doing a fantastic job so far- I cannot wait to see them in action when we start Daily 5! Next week, we will introduce one of each of the five choices each day and practice the routines for that choice. We will then be ready to officially start Daily 5 time the following week!

During Writing Workshop, we have been working hard on our autobiographies. We started by writing about our favorite pet or animal, and then went back to add more details and detail sentences. Next we will write about our favorite toy or game, followed by our favorite things to do. We have continued to practice correct letter formation during handwriting instruction. The handwriting packets the students are working on will stay at school until they are complete, but if you are interested in a separate handwriting packet to use at home for extra practice, please let me know and I can send one of those home with your child!

In math this week, we learned the game, Top-It, which will appear in many difference capacities throughout the year! The students had fun practicing both with their cards in class one day, and in the computer lab to practice with the online version as well. They should now be a little familiar with logging in and finding the Top-It game, so feel free to try this at home! It is great practice! Next we worked on making tallies and using tallies to gather data.

Our Community Helpers social studies unit began this week, with an introduction based on our school helpers, followed by crossing guards, doctors, and firefighters. Next week, we will continue with garbage collectors, librarians, nurses, and police officers. In honor of Patriot Day, we created a class book today based on the book, America Is… by Louse Borden. The students wrote their own ideas about what America Is, and did beautiful illustrations as well!

We are also eagerly working on our class raffle item project for the PTA Progressive Party. When our bookshelf is complete, I will make sure to post pictures so you can see their cute contribution! It really is turning out so nicely, and the children have had a blast working on it. Thank you so much for your support of this project, I know the PTA will be very excited to see the students’ work!

Upcoming Events:
Monday, 9/12: Spirit Wear orders due; Book Orders due
Tuesday, 9/13: Music for Youth demonstration concert 1:30 pm
Friday, 9/16: Constitution Day
Wednesday, 9/21: JILL’S BIRTHDAY!
Friday, 9/23: JOE’S BIRTHDAY!

Have an excellent weekend!!

☺ Mrs. Glaser

Weekly News!

It was so nice seeing you all at Curriculum Night last night! If you were unable to make it, I sent home a folder of information and a printout of my presentation slides, so if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me! I also forgot to put the reading bookmarks in the folders when I was stuffing them, so I am sending home a blue reading bookmark with reading prompts listed on it. These are a nice tool to use when reading with your child at home to discuss the book they are reading, or the book that you are reading to them.

This week, we began our September calendar folders. The students have enjoyed tracking the weather and graphing the temperatures. In math instruction, we learned how to play the game “Monster Squeeze” to practice counting up and counting back on the number line. We practiced playing this game on the iPads today as well, so the students should be Monster Squeeze aficionados! We explored our tool kits and learned about the various math tools we will be using this year. We learned another number line game called “Bunny Hop”, and practiced writing the numbers 1 and 2 in our nicest, neatest handwriting. At this point, the students are doing a nice job learning the math routines, and are starting to fall into the routine of finding their tool kit and packing it up and returning it to their hooks when they are finished with them.

As we have not started our formalized reading program just yet, I continued to assess the students’ reading levels this week. I am so impressed with each and every one of them! All of the students displayed promising reading behaviors, and they were so focused when reading to me. I will begin to group them for their small group reading assignments. These assignments will change throughout the year. Students may be with some of the same students, and some new each time we switch our reading groups. Meeting with the students in small groups allows me to really target skills and strategies that are most helpful to the individual students, and helps us to continue to improve their reading skills as well as their comprehension and thinking skills.

During our writing workshop this week, we introduced and practiced our writing workshop routines. (Are you noticing a trend yet? Routines, routines, routines! Setting the groundwork for routines at the beginning of the year is so helpful when we actually start all of our curricular subjects, as we can really hit the ground running once those routines are in place!) We learned that we are all authors, and that as authors in our writing workshop, we will “Think, Draw, Label, and Write” each time we begin a new writing piece. Students practiced this twice, one day writing about their family, and one day writing about what they are looking forward to most in first grade. Finally, we went back to add to both of these pieces. We added to the picture, added a label for that picture, and then added to the words (one or two more sentences about the newest part of the picture). Our handwriting instruction and practice has also taken off! Please remind students when practicing at home to start from the top line (or dashed middle line, depending on the letter) and move towards the bottom line when writing letters, rather than from the bottom and moving up.

Next week, we will begin to practice selecting books that are appropriate for ourselves as readers. This will tie into our independent reading time when we begin our Daily 5 routine the following week. We will begin writing our autobiographies during writing workshop time. In math, we will learn the game, “Top It”, which is an important game to learn as it is reintroduced several times throughout our year, with a different twist each time. So we will thoroughly cover the “Top It” basics! We will also work with tallies, graphing tallies, and equal outcomes. Our social studies unit will begin as we focus on Community Helpers.

Upcoming Events:
Monday, 9/5: Labor Day, No school
Monday, 9/12: Spirit Wear orders due
Tuesday, 9/13: Music for Youth demonstration concert 1:30 pm
Friday, 9/16: Constitution Day

Have a terrific Labor Day weekend!!

☺ Mrs. Glaser