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