September 4-8, 2017

Specials

Monday - NO SCHOOL!

Tuesday - 6

Wednesday - 1 (Library books due!)

Thursday - 2

Friday - 3

*Reference the brochure you received on Welcome to Wellington Night to know what each day is for specials!*

Upcoming Events & Reminders
September 4 - Labor Day. No School.
September 7 - PTA Ice Cream Social at Shillito Park 6-8pm!
September 14 - Evan's Orchard Field Trip! *Please return permission slips ASAP*
September 18-22 - Book Fair and Grandparents Lunches (more info soon)
September 26 - KY Kids Day
October 5-6 - Fall Break
October 27 - School is now IN session

Library books are now due on the day of Library. That is always Day 1 for our Specials.

Weekly Standards
I can read, write, and identify words with short a.
I can make 10 in different ways.
I can write to tell a story.
I can ask and answer questions about a text using details.
I can correctly write a sentence using COPS. 

Spelling Words

man
can
tap
hat
cat

Sight Words

does
not
school
what

Week in Review
This time of year is so magical. Students come to first grade with only Kindergarten as their schooling experience. When they get to us "big kid" teachers, they have no clue what to expect or what their little bodies are even capable of. I am so proud of all of the hard work your students have put in after only 12 days because IT. IS. SHOWING! Check out what we've been up to this week:

Our focus has been to build our STAMINA for Daily Five. During Daily Five, students can choose from:
Read to Self
Technology (accessing classroom apps, Reading Horizons, and Raz-Kids)
Read to Buddy
Work on Writing
Word Work

Thus far, we've practiced everything but Word Work! WOOHOO! It is important to build our stamina so that students can successfully complete independent tasks while I am working with students on their "just right level" at my reading table.

At Work on Writing, the kids can choose from a whole slew of options but one of our favorites is making a card for someone special :)

We also practiced Read to Buddy. This choice is one of the toughest because we have to remind ourselves that we do this to build our fluency, not to chit-chat ;)

We sit "EEK." Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee

Of course, the room became AMAZINGLY silent whenever I finally introduced our classroom iPads this week. During Daily Five, students are able to use any of my Reading apps - as long as they promise to use only Math apps during math time!

Check out this focus!

^ Download this FREE app to help your kids practice the skill of making ten at home! 

We also used Reading Horizons (you can access this on the lefthand side). Talk about COMPLETE engagement from the kids :-P

In math this week, we talked about ways to make 6, 7, 8, and 9. We practiced in many different ways because this is a skill that requires repetition.

I love using rekenreks to help students break apart the two groups and practice counting on.

We also played "Spill the Beans." To play at home, you just need two sided coins or counters. Grab a handful, spill them out, split them into two groups, and see how you've made the number!

I also introduced one of my favorite math games: 4 way countdown or Shut the Box to my friends.

It's an easy to learn dice game that helps students quickly add or subtract. 

In writing, we're learning about how to write a story so that we can move towards our first personal narrative!

We used Tomie Depaola's book "Pancakes for Breakfast" to help us understand the difference between labeling a story and telling a story. This helped bring our writing to life!

We've also practiced how to share our writing with friends.

We read a lot of texts in our new Wonders program, but we were also able to fit in some other fun books! One of my favorites is:

This is a great conversation starter for how the way we treat others impacts the way they treat us.

We were looking for ways to fill others' buckets all day long!

Another great text is:

This book is about a boy whose mouth is a volcano because he erupts everything he wants to say! One day, he gets interrupted and knows how it feels. We use this book to discuss what are emergencies that are acceptable to interrupt others with and what are non-emergencies that can wait.

We made volcanoes of some of the things we've erupted before!

Some of us thought it was hysterical to wear them like hats!

Have a FABULOUS week!

Aug. 29-Sept. 3, 2016

Specials

Monday - 6 (PE)

Tuesday - 1 (Art)

Wednesday - 2 (STEM)

Thursday - 3 (Technology)

Friday - 4 (Music)

Upcoming Events & Reminders
August 29 - 1st Grade Curriculum Night. 
September 5 - NO SCHOOL!
September 6 - PTA Family Night @ Chick Fil A in the mall
September 8 - Jon Agee Author Visit 
September 9-26 - PTA Bumblebee Fundraiser
September 14 - Field Trip to Evan's Orchard (More info soon!)
September 19-23 - Bookfair. 
September 21 - All Pro Dad's Breakfast 6:30-7:15am
September 22 - Tentative Grandparents Day Lunch
October 4 - PTA family Night @ Burger - Fi!

Useful Links
First Grade Curriculum Night: Click here to RSVP! :)

 Sign up for Remind texts with this link! 

Wish List items:

*magnetic tape (it looks like a tape dispenser but the tape is magnetic!)

Teacher's App of the Week

Here is a "teacher recommended" app that will help your first grader practice a skill that we are working on this week. 

Franklin's Friends of Ten is a free app that will help your first grader practice the ways to make 10 in a fun, engaging way!

Don't worry - IT'S FREE!!!

I'll be introducing this to the class sometime this week, too! :)

Kid-Friendly Objectives
I can choose a topic.
I can read, write, and identify short i words.
I can use capital letters.
I can retell a story.
I can make 10 in many ways.

Week in Review
Now that the official business is out of the way, let's get to the FUN STUFF!

We did it: our first 5 day week of first grade. Are you feeling it? I know I did come Saturday morning! We made SO much progress towards making our way into our normal routines. Here's a glimpse into our classroom. :)

We want to become better writers. Real authors practice writing every day - and we want to be real authors! One of our daily 5 choices is Work on Writing. The best part of Work on Writing is that it doesn't have to be done at your desk!

We also continued to practice Read to Self. We made it to OVER 15 MINUTES IN STAMINA!!!!!

We were able to make our Daily 5 choices (between work on writing and read to self) for the first time on Friday!

In Writer's Workshop, we learned the three steps to writing a story:

1. Choose a topic.

Here we are gluing our heart maps into the middle of our writing journals. We use these heart maps to keep our favorite topics close to our hearts!

2. Draw a picture. Kali was drawing a beautiful picture of a field trip she took in Kindergarten!

Step 3: Write it out! (We practiced this but we'll get more into it next week). 

We got our spelling dictionaries as one step to practicing COPS. Capitalization, Organization, Punctuation and Spelling are important to keep our writing from breaking the law!

Our vocabulary word to piggyback on respect from last week was kindness. Here are some of the texts we read to help us understand it more clearly.

Lily learned that sometimes, "Today wasn't a good day. Tomorrow will be better." 

We learned everyone has an invisible bucket above their heads! Huh?!?! Ask your first grader for more details :)

Here are some of the notes that were OVERFLOWING our class bucket.

This book introduced our first grade project. We each decorated a quilt square to show how we can be kind. It will be hanging up soon!

We learned the first two choices for Math Centers. These two girls are working on putting together a hundreds chart puzzle to help them practice counting to 120.

Groups at my table worked on ways to make 6, 7, and 8 with ten frames, cubes, and rekenreks.

(This shows 4+2=6).

Sometimes Mrs. Carney takes the picture too soon...

All of the kids wanted me to pass along how to make a rekenrek at home. They LOVED it!

-foam sheet

-2 pipe cleaners

-10 blue pony beads

-10 red pony beads

Put 5 of each color on each pipe cleaner. Poke it through the foam board, secure to the back. 

by the end of the week, we were cracking up at Spill the Beans!

(2+4 = 6)

Thank you SO much for all of your kind feedback on the blog. I hope it helps you have a clear picture of what we are working on each week in the classroom. Your first graders take so much pride in their work and learning and it is my pleasure to share it with you each week. :) 

Have a great week!!