Weekly News!

February is just full of celebration! Last week it was a student’s birthday and the 100th day of school, this week another student’s birthday, Valentine’s Day, and preparation for President’s Day, and soon we will have a third student’s birthday and the first grade musical! We’ve been working hard on putting on our “party hats” to celebrate and then taking those off and putting our “learning hats” back on when it’s time to transition back to learning, and so far, these first graders have done a great job of doing that!

This week, Jesse was our class photographer, and he enjoyed finding just the right moments that he wanted to capture on film. Here are his favorite photos and captions from the week:


Peter is working on his hat for his citizen writing.


Mick is making words out of the word President.


Joe and Matthew are practicing their fact triangles when we had Explorations.


Reading

This week, our Treasures theme was “Birds”, and we read fiction and non-fiction selections about different types of birds. We focused on making inferences as we read, both in whole group instruction and our small reading groups. The students are becoming expert detectives for meaning- putting together their schema, or what they already know, with the clues the author gives them in the text to make inferences and better understand the selection. Our spelling and word work focused on long /o/ words. During grammar instruction, we learned about when to us “was” (when we are talking about one noun), and when to use “were” (when talking about more than one noun). Next week, our Treasures theme will be “Recycling” and we will focus on drawing conclusions as we read the selections for the week. Our spelling and word work words will all contain the long /u/ sound. Our focus for grammar will be on when to use the word “has” and when to use “have”. This goes right along with our theme for the past few weeks of verbs that change based on whether the noun it is paired with is singular or plural.

Writing/Social Studies

This week in writing, we combined our Social Studies instruction with writing. We learned about what it means to be a good citizen, and the students completed a pre-writing activity in which they brainstormed ways we are good citizens. They then chose three reasons each of them are good citizens and wrote about it. Once they planned their writing, they did a final draft and colored a piece that will be used for a special hallway display. We also began studying Abraham Lincoln and selecting facts that are important about his life. Next week, we will begin taking notes on these facts before following the same routine as we learn about George Washington. In the coming weeks, students will then choose their favorite of these two former presidents to write a report about.

Math

This week in math, we learned how to use the addition/subtraction facts table, and practiced solving problems with this tool. Some students really enjoy this method, and others find it terribly confusing! That’s completely ok! I always tell them that once they find a method that works for them, they can use that method exclusively, or use a combination of methods. We will introduce and practice many ways to solve problems, but when they are solving math problems on their own, they should always choose the method that works best for them! Next, we learned about measuring to the nearest centimeter and practice measuring objects and drawing a line segment. Finally, we wrapped up the week with an Explorations day to practice and review some of the concepts we’ve been working on. The home link for tonight is another set of fact triangles, so those do not need to be returned to school. Just have your child cut them out and add them to their bag of fact triangles from the previous set earlier in the unit. Keep them handy to practice when you have a chance, just like the math flashcards! Don’t forget that each week, a new set of math flashcards will be sent home. Have your child cut them out, write the answer on the back, and keep them in a bag to practice frequently until those addition facts are mastered up to the +9 facts! These should be automatic, or “snappy quick”, and students should be able to give the answer as soon as the card is shown. Keep practicing!!

**If you haven’t turned in your conference time preference sheet yet, please email me with your preference, as all of the teachers are meeting before school on Tuesday morning to schedule our conferences! The time slots you can request are Monday (March 19th) morning, Monday afternoon, Monday evening, or Tuesday (March 20th) morning.**

**Also, we will have a Monday schedule on Wednesday of next week, so don't forget your library books on Wednesday!

Have a fantastic long weekend!

Mrs. Glaser ☺