Mrs. Klan's First Grade

Hello Families!
I will take as much of this gorgeous “fall” weather as I can get! Here are our plans for the week:

Spelling

1. thin
2. think
3. thank
4. that
5. them
6. this
7. he
8. make
9. two
10. play

Reading: This week, we will begin a two week unit on informational reading. This means that we will spend our mornings looking at, reading, and gaining information from nonfiction texts. Nonfiction books are those that tell us facts or provide information on a particular topic. We will ask and answer questions, identify the main topic, and learn how to define new vocabulary words in informational texts. I encourage you to look at nonfiction books, articles or online sources that provide information on a particular topic.

Writing: We will begin our unit on Opinion Writing this week. We will learn how to state our opinion about a particular topic, provide reasons for having our opinion, and then provide a sense of closure. Here is an example of what a typical first grade opinion piece should look like at this time of the year:

Apples are the best snack ever! My first reason is that they are sweet and crunchy at the same time. Another reason why apples make the greatest snack is that there are many different kinds to choose from. My final reason is that apples are
very healthy, yet they are delicious. When I’m hungry, I reach for an apple. Yum!

Science: We are continuing to learn about air and weather. We will discover wind speed and direction by conducting an investigation with bubbles.

Friday: Boo Bash- Please join us for our Boo Bash. We also have our PBIS reward celebration which will include a pumpkin patch and petting farm right here at Miller. Children who have remained on “Green” for most of the month of OCtober (less than 5 card flips). Please continue to talk with your child about our Miller expectations. Some children need many reminders to stay quiet during lessons, keep their hands to themselves, and to remain on task during Daily 5 and Math workshop.

Have a Great Weekend!

Thursday’s homework is a page from the Unit 2 pretest. They must use different strategies (pictures, number lines) to solve subtraction word problems. Also, they need to match the contractions with the two words that they represent.

click here for subtraction video

contraction video

Here is the Unit 2 pre-test for math. Please use it as a study guide for our upcoming test next week.

Grade+1+PRE+Test+Unit+2 (1)

Please see homework tab for homework.

Today we learned how to skip count by twos on the number line, number grid, and by adding two to each number. Tonight’s homework asks students to complete a worksheet with missing numbers by counting by twos.
They must also circle the compound words.

click here for skip counting by twos

compound words

Happy Sunday! I am hoping that the rain stops soon! Here are our plans for the week:

Spelling
Words
1. far
2. park
3. farm
4. car
5. are
6. star
7. come
8. blue
9. here
10. help

Reading: This week, we are continuing to read narrative stories and identify the characters, setting, and major events. While you are are reading with your child at home, you can ask them to identify these story elements. We are still looking at words and phrases that authors use to appeal to our senses in stories. I am very impressed with many of my students because they are advancing very quickly in reading levels. It is very evident that many of them are reading at home, which is so important because it gives them the opportunity to practice all of the strategies that they learn at school. Keep up the awesome work!

Math: We are learning that skip counting my twos is simply adding two to each number. Also, we are learning how to use drawings, counters, and number lines to add and subtract within word problems. Please use the flashcards in their math bags to help them learn simple addition and subtraction math facts.

Science: This week we are continuing to learn about air and weather. We report the weather conditions every day in our science journals and we made thermometers to represent the temperature. We will look at the position of the sun in the sky and discuss its affect on the temperature of the air. We will also use bubbles to observe the direction of the wind.

Social Studies: We will take an online test about rules and responsibilities at home and at school.

Writing: We are writing personal narratives about a time we went to the zoo. Students should be able to write a topic sentence, three events in order (beginning, middle and end) and a closing sentence.

As always, please never hesitate to ask me questions or address concerns. Thank you for your continued support!

Sorry, there weren’t any verbs on last night’s homework. They must circle the verbs on tonight’s assignment. We have had to talk about behavior and expectations a lot lately. Please help reinforce the following expectations at home with your child. This will help our days run smoother and we will definitely be more productive.

1. Hands to ourselves- We do not touch, kick, hit, or shove other children. Also, our hands should stay in our own lap at gathering place.
2. Put your voice away while teachers are teaching
3. Only say kind and positive things.
4. Be safe- Always walk in the classroom and hallway.
5. Indoor voices- Keeping our volume low will allow us to hear one another and learn.
6. Always try our best.

Thank you so much for your support!

Tonight’s homework is a worksheet with story problems. We are working on drawing to solve the story problem and then writing an equation to match. We are still talking and learning about verbs, so please have your child circle the verbs in the sentences on their homework page.

verb video

click here for word problem video

There is a PTA meeting on Thursday and then we welcome parents to walk through our school and observe classrooms. Please join us!

Friday: Half day – Dismissal at 11:45
Have a great day!!

Tonight’s homework is a worksheet on story problems. Additionally, they must circle the verbs in the sentence. A verb is a word that shows action such as : jump, ride, walk, run, fly.

verb video

click here for story problem video

Hello Families,

One worksheet of tonight’s homework is actually a follow-up from a lesson that I retaught today. You can do this at any point with your child and he/she does not need to turn it in. Many students had a difficult time with reading bar graphs on our math test last week, so I am sending the questions from the pre and post test home today. Please do this with your child and let me know if I can be helpful further. This is a standard we will be revisiting all year and these types of questions appear frequently on the NWEA test.

The other worksheet must be handed in on Tuesday. It is a worksheet on Number Grids. Additionally, they must circle the words that rhyme with red.

rhyming word video

Click here for bar graph video

click here for number grid pattern video

Happy Saturday, Families!

Thank you to so many parents for joining us and helping at the zoo. We had an amazing time and such awesome weather!

Here are our plans for the week:

Spelling
Words
1. red
2. bed
3. sled
4. men
5. then
6. when
7. not
8. one
9. my
10. me

Reading: This week, we will look at characters, settings, and major events in a story. Students should be able to name the setting and list the characters in story. Practice this at home with the books in their book bags. Additionally, they should be able to retell or identify the major events in a story in correct sequence (in order). Please continue reading from their bag of books, as this will help them advance reading levels. So many of them have already made so much progress and I am sure you can see that the levels in their book bags keep increasing. If you ever have questions or need suggestions about what you can do at home to help your child, I am always available to you. We are also learning how to answer Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How questions about a book.

Math: We will learn how to solve addition math problems using counters and drawings. Also, we are learning how to find the missing numbers on a number grid. I strongly encourage you to watch the videos that I post daily on my blog, as they reinforce what we are learning about in class.

Writing: We are working on personal narratives, which are true stories about themselves. This week we will write a personal narrative about a time we went to the zoo. Here is an example of what a first grader should be able to do in writing at this point in the year: Topic sentence: Our class took a trip to the zoo.
First, we rode on the bus. It was a bumpy ride. Next, we looked at all the animals. My favorite was the polar bear. Finally, we went back to school. We were all exhausted. Closing sentence: We had so much fun at the zoo!

Social Studies: This week we will look at responsibilities at home and at school. We will sort examples of each. We will also talk about scenarios where it is alright to break the rules.

Science: We will continue to study properties of air and investigate with bubbles to learn about wind direction.

Have a great weekend!!