Winter Fun in First Grade

It has been a busy two weeks in first grade with lots of learning and fun.  With February just around the corner, lots of excitement will be occurring in 1st grade.  Keep reading for some important information!  On Thursday, February 1, students will be celebrating the 100th Day of 1st Grade.  Students should come to school ready to have a blast throughout my favorite day of the year.  I've been busy preparing and it is sure to be an exciting day of counting, building, playing, learning and even snacking.  If you haven't already done so, please send your child to school with exactly 100 of a food item.  Items can include candy, crackers, cookies, etc.  We will  be looking at weight and size as we compare the objects.  Students will also participate in the 100th Day of School Snack Bar, where they will pick 10 of 10 separate items to make a 100th Day of School snack.  I'll bring a couple of extra items in case any students are unable to bring an item to share.  Please remember to send the nutritional label as we do have a few allergies in our classroom and I want to ensure that all students are safe.

After the 100th Day, Valentine's Day will be just around the corner.  We will be celebrating friendship in our classroom on Wednesday, February 14 during a small, holiday party.  Students will be making Valentine bags in our class that will be sturdy enough to carry all of their delicious treats and trinkets home.  Please send 20 Valentines to school on or before February 14.  Refer to the class list in your child's GO Book (we have not welcomed any new students this year).  Don't forget Valentines for other special helpers in our school and our classroom.  Miss Mara is our classroom paraprofessional and the students may wish to share a Valentine with her, too!

Students will begin Junior Achievement on February 7.  I have been fortunate enough to have Valley City, Social Studies methods students instruct the program.  Last year was wonderful so we thought we would utilize these students again this year.  It is a great learning opportunity for the 1st graders as well as the future teachers!

A new February calendar and Book Order will come home on Wednesday.  We have a fun presentation and field trip this month, so keep the calendar handy inside your child's GO Book.  I am excited to share that 10 students in our classroom have already earned Reading Medals.  Keep listening to your little readers and recording books.  Remember, if every student in our classroom reads at least 50 books by April 19, we will earn a Pizza Party!  Let's make February a huge month of reading!

Meet Lauren

Lauren was a fine assistant this week in 1st grade.  She proved herself extra helpful with an afternoon substitute teacher one day.  It is always great to have an assistant teacher on duty when I am gone.  Lauren is extra creative.  The students enjoyed seeing how her playground diagram from last year had been improved with extra components.  Her creativity will lend itself nicely in her future career as a scientist!  Here is creative Lauren when we visited the Creative Art Studio.

Hip-Hip Hooray, we celebrated a Birthday this week.  Happy 1/2 Birthday Mallory!

A Peek at our Week

Reading: We have been busy in reading learning about more complex consonant and vowel patterns.  Some of those spelling sorts have been quite tricky for first graders, so don't forget to review the spelling words weekly.  We reviewed digraphs ch, wh, sh, th, and ph with a fun game. 

Writing: I'm excited to say that we have a class full of writers this year.  We have been busy writing opinion paragraphs...that's right, paragraphs!  These first graders really know how to write!  Check out some of their work below!  You will notice little flaps of paper over their paragraphs.  Students learned how to craft introductory sentences this week and added these to their paragraphs.

Math: Students finished learning about graphing and data this week.  They had the opportunity to practice making line, bar, picture and circle graphs during the unit.  Line graphs proved to be the most challenging and we will practice these a bit more in small group math.  We had a lot of fun graphing with Skittles, too!

Science: In science we have been learning about cycles.  We began with the water cycle and even attempted to demonstrate evaporation, condensations and precipitation.  This week we discussed how the seasons follow a similar cycle.

 Upcoming Reminders

February 1: 100th Day of School (Bring 100 food item collection to school)

February 9: Book Order's Due

February 9: 4th and 5th Grade Talent Show

February 15-19: No School

Happy New Year!

Welcome back to school and to 2018.  Can you believe we are at the halfway point in 1st grade?  During the past couple of weeks, students have completed numerous assessments.  You may be wondering, what's the point?  Why is my child taking all of these "tests" at school?  While research could give you some detailed reasons behind assessing students, I'll share with you my top two reasons why they are so beneficial in my classroom.  Number 1: These assessments provide me with a picture of growth for every student in our classroom.  That's right, every student makes growth!  While students learn at different paces,  I am able to celebrate the enormous growth made by all students.  We love dancing and high-fiving to celebrate the growth.  These kiddos are truly readers and mathematicians at this point in the year.  It is SO fun to see them light up when they check out a book at the library that they can reading independently!  Number 2: These assessments provide me with next steps for each student.  While I can teach content and see where the majority of my students need to go in the future, these individual assessments give me specific next steps for each student.  One student might need support with looking through print while reading while another might need to practice their phrasing and fluency.  While the assessments take time, as they are often given 1:1, they are so very powerful and important.  I've almost finished and will wrap up with math this week.  With that being said, be proud!  Your firstie is amazing and I can't wait to see how far they come in the second half of the year.

Assessment and pride rant over....have you started the Reading Medalist challenge with your student?  Guided reading will start back up on Tuesday, so expect to see 1-2 books come home with your student each week.  Remember, these books count towards the reading total.  Students are now able to check out three books from the school library.  We are so thankful for our library staff for helping to support this challenge.  They have an entire table set up with first grade books for our students to check out.  Thanks to Mrs. Cain and Mrs. Kiser. You may turn in forms as soon as they are complete, no need to wait until the end of the week or month. 

I have a few penguins left in the classroom that can be picked up at your convenience.  I sure hope you enjoyed seeing your child's amazing art piece.  While you visit, don't forget to check out our new writing piece that is posted on your child's locker. 

We celebrated our first birthday of the New Year this week.  Happy 8th Birthday, Gracie!

A Peek at Our Week

Reading: We will jump back into small group reading this week.  In whole group reading we will continue learning about subject/verb agreement.  This gives us an opportunity to review both nouns and verbs at the same time.  In phonics we are practicing writing digraphs th, sh, ch, wh and ph.  We'll explore cause and effect relationships while reading Seasons.

Writing: In writer's workshop we are busy learning about opinion writing.  This week we will practice elaboration by adding introductions and conclusions to our already impressive paragraphs.  Check out the planning and writing process below.

Spelling: Students will take their first spelling test on Tuesday this week.  A new list will come home on Wednesday with all students for at home practice, if desired.

Math: In math students are learning about a variety of graphs.  We will practice creating and analyzing picture, circle, bar and line graphs.  In small group math student are practicing their math facts using a website called Zearn.  Visit www.zearn.org to practice at home with your child.  Students can enter their individual username and password and play on a computer or tablet.

Science: In science students are learning about the importance of our Earth.  This week we will conduct an investigation on the water cycle.  We hope to create evaporation, condensation and precipitation. 

Upcoming Reminders

January 15: No School for Students (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

January 26: Donuts for Dads