Mrs. Klan's First Grade

Hi Families!
Khan Academy is an amazing website where students can learn about concepts that we have talked about it class or discover new concepts, especially in math. You can access khan academy through the clever website, but if you have trouble doing so, I am always available for help. I STRONGLY encourage you to explore this learning tool with your child. The videos are very short, thorough, and user friendly. The students really seem to love it and it will definitely help prepare them for NWEA and upcoming math concepts. Additionally, it will reinforce concepts that we haven’t talked about in awhile and allow your child to work at his/her own level. My goal is to post three or four videos a week on my blog. The videos are just a few minutes long, so it won’t take much time at all. I am confident that if your child watches these, his/her understanding in math will increase. Here’s our first one. I know I am posting late, so you can always view it tomorrow 😉

Please click below:

Click Here

Hello Families!

We had a great day 🙂

Tonight’s homework is a fact family triangle.

Tonight’s writing topic is to record proper nouns from their book. A proper noun names a special person place or thing such as:

Amy, Kroger, Miller, Target, Dairy Queen, Mr. Awada

Have a wonderful evening 🙂

Hi Families!
Tonight’s homework is a story problem with three addends. Students must know when to add or subtract to solve a story problem. Additionally, they are using a domino to construct fact family sentences.

Writing topic- Many students are did not take their books home, so I am a little concerned about their writing this evening. They are to use the nonfiction text features in their book such as the photos, diagrams, and headings to write 2 or 3 facts (key details) about their book.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Remember, they may bring in Valentines to pass out and/or a wrapped treat. We have 26 students in our class.

Please remember to have your child turn in his/her permission slip by Wednesday.

Have a great evening!

Hello Families! Wow, it certainly warmed up yesterday! It almost felt like spring 🙂

Here are our plans for this week:

Spelling

Words

1. spot

2. spill

3. speed

4. stop

5. stick

6. fast

7. old

8. by

9. after

10. going

Reading: We are continuing to read informational or nonfiction books. Students should be able to look at the title or photos in a book and identify the Main Topic (what the text is mostly about). They are searching for important information or key details and then recording these facts on circle maps or in their notebooks. This week we will use text features such as glossaries, indexed, table of contents, bold words, diagrams, photos, and headings to gain information in a nonfiction text. Additionally, we will look for similarities and differences in books about the same topic. I strongly encourage you to read and explore nonfiction books with your child at home. Additionally, the internet is a fantastic resource to learn more about a topic they are interested in and you can do this safely together.

Math: The “Make a Ten” strategy is becoming a bit challenging for our children, but we will keep practicing. Here is an example:

9+7=
They need to “make a ten ” with the 9…so 9+1 (we take 1 from the 7, leaving 6) so the new addition sentence become 9+1+ 6= 16

It’s tricky, but don’t let it stress you or your child out. This week, I will also introduce the concept of counting money…another challenging task for first graders. I will be sending containers of change home with 8 students at a time. Please practice counting the change with your child. You can use that and coin change that you have at home to help your child grasp this concept. If we practice a little each day, it will become easier for them.

Science: Wow! So many of my students are fascinated with this unit about our solar system! We are learning that the sun warms the earth and provides light and energy. It appears to move across the sky, but it is really Earth that rotates around the sun (along with 8 other planets…poor Pluto isn’t a planet anymore). We are learning that Earth is tilted on its axis and that the sun’s angles affect the weather throughout the year (seasons). YouTube has wonderful videos that help our children understand important information about our solar system. I encourage you to explore with your child.

Social Studies: We will take our social studies assessment this week about goods, services, consumers, needs, wants, producers, consumers, and economics in general.

Writing: This week, we will write a “How-To” for making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We had a blast on Friday actually making the sandwiches so please check our our pictures below.

Field Trip: Please sign your child’s permissions slip and send in $10 for your child to attend the Legoland trip. These are due on Wednesday Feb 15th. Parents, please know that it is my wish that all of you can join us, however, we may have limited space available. We only have two busses and five first grade classes. We have to see how many volunteers we have from five classes and make sure that we have enough room on the bus. I will contact you by this Friday either way to let you know if you are able to accompany us. I appreciate your patience and willingness to join us. I know that those who signed up REALLY want to go, so I am hoping this can happen 😉

Valentine’s Day is Tuesday. I sent a note explaining that your child may bring a wrapped treat and Valentines to pass out. Please do not send in cupcakes or brownies. Treats must be wrapped. I will provide a treat for them that day 🙂

Have a terrific Sunday!

Hi Families!
It was so great to see some of you at Math Night this evening!

Tonight’s homework: Students are “making ten” while adding. This is challenging. We will keep practicing.

Writing Topic: Make a list of needs and wants.

Have a great evening!

Hi Families!
We are learning to add ten using a number grid. This is tonight’s homework.

Writing Topic: They are to record three facts about the sun. I really encourage you to make sure your child completes the writing prompt. Reading and writing are so connected and they will get better at both if they read and write several times DAILY 😉

Field trip: We have a trip planned to LEGOLAND on March 3rd. Please fill out the permission slip and return by Feb. 15th. The cost is ten dollars. If you would like to join us as a chaperone, please write your name and number on the permission slip. We have limited space, so I will contact you and let you know if we can accommodate you. Thanks for your time!

This rain needs to end!! 😉

Hi families!
Tonight’s homework asks student to either count tens and ones or draw tens and ones to represent a number. The writing topic is actually written on the homework. They are to make a BMME chart about our day today. They should tell what happened in the beginning, middle, middle and end of our day. Have a fantastic evening!

There is a PTA meeting tomorrow at 2:00 in the cafeteria. You attendance is greatly appreciated 🙂 Have a great evening!

Hello Families! I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Let’s take a look at what we have planned this week:

Spelling

Words

1. tell

2. fell

3. well

4. sell

5. spell

6. smell

7. who

8. four

9. saw

10. eat

Reading: We are revisiting nonfiction, informational books for a few weeks. It’s important that students learn how to look at text features such as:
1. Bold words
2. Indexes
3. Photos
4.s Subheadings
5. Table of Contents
6. Glossaries
7. Diagrams and pictures

Although it is important for them to be able to read most of the words in the books they read, it is possible for them learn information about a topic just by using these text features. Students should be able to “read” a book and identify the Main Topic- this tells what the book is MOSTLY about. Additionally, they should be able to retell or record at least three KEY DETAILS- these are facts or pieces of important information from the book or text. This week, we’ll also learn how to look for connections between two things (animals).

Social Studies: We are listing ways that people earn and spend money and discuss reasons why people voluntarily trade (to get what they want).

Science: We are continuing to learn about the sun and its impact on weather:
1. The sun is a star
2. It gives us heat, light, and energy
3. It appears to move in patterns across the sky
4. It is cooler in the shade than it is in the sun.
5. We have more hours of daylight during the summer than winter.

Math: We have continued work with fact families. They should be able to solve for the missing number in an equation. Additionally, they must know how to label the parts of a fact family equation. For example: 6+5=11 6 and 5 are the parts, and 11 is the whole. We are also learning how to determine whether an equation is true or false. We’ve been doing that during Math Workshop, so please look for a sorting game in their math bags. We have been learning about telling time to the hour, half hour, and quarter hour, so please practice with the clocks that are in their math bags. Some children have inquired about telling time to the minute. I have introduced this, so feel free to practice this at home.

Writing: We are publishing our opinion writing and next we will work on “How To ” informational writing. We will talk about how important it is to write detailed steps when writing a “How To.”

I want to emphasize again how important it is for your children to be reading at home. All of your children have demonstrated so much growth in reading this year, and we want that to continue. Additionally, they should be completing their math homework as this teaches them to be responsible and helps reinforced concepts we’ve learned about in class. Finally, their writing notebooks are helping them to practice the mechanics of writing, express themselves creatively, and explore the reading/writing connection. Please help your child take this responsibility seriously.

Have a great weekend!!

Sorry for the late post. Tonight’s homework asked students to draw tens and ones to represent a number.

Just a reminder: Tomorrow is electronic game day. Students may bring in a toy or game if they do not have anything electronic.

Have a great night!