Hello first grade families!
I hope you had a lovely weekend. I was in Petoskey for a soccer tournament.
Thank you for subscribing to my blog. This is the way I communicate special dates, important events, photos of the kids, and our academic goals for the week. As of right now, we have only 7 of the 20 families subscribed. Hopefully, more of my first grade families will subscribe soon.
Thank you!
Thank you for all of the classroom donations of paper, tissues, disinfecting wipes, soap, and hand sanitizer. The paper is always needed.
The other items will help keep us healthy by keeping our room clean.
Thank you for attending Open House
Thank you to all the families who attended Open House last Thursday. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet each other, for you to see our room, and for your child to show you around.
If you did not sign up for a parent-teacher conference, please email me and I will reserve a day and time for you.
Dates to Remember
Tuesday, September 13 – Wear gym shoes – your first grader has gym on Tuesdays. They will have to sit out if they are not wearing gym shoes.
Friday, September 16 – 12:05 dismissal (Half day of school) Teachers have professional development learning in the afternoon.
Photos of your First Grader Learning
I have some cute photos of the first graders playing Shake those Disks. I will publish them as soon as I know which kids can be published on the blog. If you signed a form indicating that you do not want photos published, I will place an emoji smiley face over your child’s face.
A Peek at What We are Learning
ELA
We are still in our 20 day review before starting spelling. I am reviewing letters and sounds. We are blending letters together to make consonant vowel consonant words. We call them CVC words. They have a short vowel sound. CVC words will be our initial spelling patterns.
We are learning to write in our journals without worrying about “how to spell” a word. We are saying it and writing the letters of the sounds we hear. We call that hearing and recording sounds in words.
We are also learning to be responsible at learning stations. We call them workstations. Right now, we have 3. They are Reading, Writing, and Game/Puzzle workstations. We will add the Word Work and Computer workstations soon. These are important because they allow your child to practice a taught skill while I assess and teach reading to small groups.
Math
We are learning about the commutative property in addition. For example, 2+3=5 and 3+2=5. The addends can be switched around, they will still add to the same sum.
We are also learning about all the ways to make an 8, 9, and 10.
We are working with ten frames, drawings with quick circles, and number bonds.
Science/Social Studies
We went on a hunt with partners looking for living and non-living things. We will share them this week. We will start learning about plants and animals.