Week 25 - March 6, 2020

Frog and Toad

Great job first graders!!  Parents, they looked amazing!

Curriculum

Reading:
Ask your child about Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Seuss, how they might describe him, and why they'd describe him that way.
This week we read about Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Seuss.  With each resource we read or watched, we thought about these two people and decided how to describe each as a person.  When you read books together, think about how the character acts and what they say.  What does that tell you about the character?  What kind of person/character are they?  Are they helpful, independent, passionate, leaders, respectful, funny, etc.  Next week we will begin a new reading unit.  The students will be reading series books and looking at the character.  They will think about how the character acts in each book and see if they are the same across the books or different.

Book Baggies:
Ask your child what books they chose yesterday.
Students brought home six books.  Two books below their level so that they can practice fluency, two books on their level to help them practice decoding strategies and other skills we're learning in class, and two books above level to help students push themselves as readers.  Books should be returned every Thursday.  If your child feels the books are too easy for them, that is okay.  They can build their fluency and confidence as readers.  Levels will change throughout the year, but they will NOT change weekly.

Writing:
Ask your child to tell them one of their opinions.  What are his/her reasons for that opinion?
Students continued to plan and write opinion writings this week.  They learned that sometimes writing an opinion writing can be a persuasive writing.  Next week, we will go back to writing personal narratives.  We will review what personal narratives are, generate some ideas and then begin writing.  Throughout this unit we will learn/review several ways to make our writing better using different types of author's craft such as dialogue, onomatopoeia, show not tell, etc.

Math: 
Ask your child about strategies they use to add numbers within 20.
This week, we did several activities in which we had to show our thinking for how we added numbers within 20.  Some students like to make 10s, others use doubles and others use different strategies.  Next week, we will continue to discuss this as well as what tools we can use to help us add within 100.

Science/Social Studies:
Ask your child what he/she knows about reflections and light.
Students are wrapping up their learning on light.  Next week, the students will figure out a way to culminate and share all of their learning on light, shadows, reflections, etc.

Purposeful Play
Please see the Purposeful Play tab on the blog to learn more about our weekly Play Time and donation items we could use for it!

Homework

• Read every night
• Work on a math skill (i.e. counting forwards and backwards within 120, adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this, telling time, counting coins, measuring - length and volume -  have your child cook with you to practice this, talk about shapes - 2D and 3D - find items around your house, etc.) 

Specials Schedule

Monday: P.E. (Wear tennis shoes)
Tuesday: Art (Bring an Art shirt labeled with your child's name)
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Media/Library
Friday: Rotates (See the back of your child's OWL folder (everyday folder) for a schedule.)

Important Dates

March 11: Science Fair rescheduled (6-8pm)

March 12: 1/2 Day and Sharpen the Saw Day (Please make sure to sign up for each session)

• SESSION 1: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0d4ea8ae2ba7f58-sharpen6
• SESSION 2: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0d4ea8ae2ba7f58-sharpen7)

March 19: Spring Conferences for those who need it.  I have contacted families who I plan to meet with.
April 6-10: Spring Break

Week 24 - February 28, 2020

Curriculum

Reading:
Ask your child about George Washington, how they might describe him, and why they'd describe him that way.
This week we read about George Washington.  With each resource we read or watched, we thought about George Washington and decided how to describe him as a person.  When you read books together, think about how the character acts and what they say.  What does that tell you about the character?  What kind of person/character are they?  Are they helpful, independent, passionate, leaders, respectful, funny, etc.  These are the same things we'll be talking about in class during our read alouds and small group reading time.  Next week, we will be reading about Dr. Seuss and Mahatma Gandhi and thinking about how we can describe them as people using character traits.

Book Baggies:
Ask your child what books they chose yesterday.
Students brought home six books.  Two books below their level so that they can practice fluency, two books on their level to help them practice decoding strategies and other skills we're learning in class, and two books above level to help students push themselves as readers.  Books should be returned every Thursday.  If your child feels the books are too easy for them, that is okay.  They can build their fluency and confidence as readers.  Levels will change throughout the year, but they will NOT change weekly.

Writing:
Ask your child to tell them one of their opinions.  What are his/her reasons for that opinion?
Students continued to plan and write opinion writings this week.  They learned that sometimes writing an opinion writing can be a persuasive writing.  Some students are choosing to try to persuade their reader that we should have nap time in school.  We will continue this work next week.

Math: 
Ask your child about the parts of a clock.  Have them explain how the clock hands move and what they tell you.
Students learned about the parts of the clock.  They put together their own clocks to help them better understand them.  Next week, we will continue to work on telling time to the hour and work on using combinations of 10 and doubles facts to help us add and subtract within 20.

Science/Social Studies:
Ask your child what he/she knows about reflections and light.
Students are wrapping up their learning on light.  Next week, the students will figure out a way to culminate and share all of their learning on light, shadows, reflections, etc.

Purposeful Play
Please see the Purposeful Play tab on the blog to learn more about our weekly Play Time and donation items we could use for it!

Homework

• Read every night
• Work on a math skill (i.e. counting forwards and backwards within 120, adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this, telling time, counting coins, measuring - length and volume -  have your child cook with you to practice this, talk about shapes - 2D and 3D - find items around your house, etc.) 

Specials Schedule

Monday: P.E. (Wear tennis shoes)
Tuesday: Art (Bring an Art shirt labeled with your child's name)
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Media/Library
Friday: Rotates (See the back of your child's OWL folder (everyday folder) for a schedule.)

Important Dates

March 5: Frog and Toad Spring Concert (3pm)
March 11: Science Fair rescheduled

March 12: 1/2 Day and Sharpen the Saw Day (more information to come later)
March 19: Spring Conferences for those who need it.  I will contact families.
April 6-10: Spring Break

Week 23 - February 21, 2020

Curriculum

Reading:
Ask your child about Abraham Lincoln, how they might describe him, and why they'd describe him that way.
This week we read about Abraham Lincoln.  With each resource we read or watched, we thought about the Abraham Lincoln and decided how to describe him as a person.  When you read books together, think about how the character acts and what they say.  What does that tell you about the character?  What kind of person/character are they?  Are they helpful, independent, passionate, leaders, respectful, funny, etc.  These are the same things we'll be talking about in class during our read alouds and small group reading time.  Next week, we will be reading about George Washington and thinking about how we can describe him as a person using character traits.

Book Baggies:
Ask your child what books they chose yesterday.
Students brought home six books.  Two books below their level so that they can practice fluency, two books on their level to help them practice decoding strategies and other skills we're learning in class, and two books above level to help students push themselves as readers.  Books should be returned every Thursday.  If your child feels the books are too easy for them, that is okay.  They can build their fluency and confidence as readers.  Levels will change throughout the year, but they will NOT change weekly.

Writing:
Ask your child to tell them one of their opinions.  What are his/her reasons for that opinion?
Students continued to plan and write opinion writings this week.  They learned that sometimes writing an opinion writing can be a persuasive writing.  Some students are choosing to try to persuade their reader that we should have nap time in school.  We will continue this work next week.

Math: 
Ask your child the value of the digits in the number 48.  What is the value of the 4? What is the value of the 8?
Students did more work with place value this week.  I am hoping that with all of our practice with place value that when we begin to add 2-digit and 1-digit numbers and when we begin to add and subtract larger numbers it will be a bit easier for them.  Next week, we will learn about the clock and how to tell time to the hour using just the hour hand.  In addition, we will work on using combinations of 10 and doubles facts to help us add within 20.

Science/Social Studies:
Ask your child what he/she knows about reflections and light.
Students are wrapping up their learning on light.  Next week, the students will figure out a way to culminate and share all of their learning on light, shadows, reflections, etc.

Purposeful Play
Please see the Purposeful Play tab on the blog to learn more about our weekly Play Time and donation items we could use for it!

Homework

• Read every night
• Work on a math skill (i.e. counting forwards and backwards within 120, adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this, telling time, counting coins, measuring - length and volume -  have your child cook with you to practice this, talk about shapes - 2D and 3D - find items around your house, etc.) 

Specials Schedule

Monday: P.E. (Wear tennis shoes)
Tuesday: Art (Bring an Art shirt labeled with your child's name)
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Media/Library
Friday: Rotates (See the back of your child's OWL folder (everyday folder) for a schedule.)

Important Dates

February 27: Science Fair (6-8pm)

March 5: Frog and Toad Spring Concert (3pm)
March 12: 1/2 Day and Sharpen the Saw Day (more information to come later)
March 19: Spring Conferences for those who need it.  I will contact families.

Week 22 - February 14, 2020

Curriculum

Reading:
Ask your child about Ruby Bridges, how they might describe her, and why they'd describe her that way.
This week we read about Ruby Bridges.  The students are learning to read books and then think about the characters and decide how to describe the characters.  When you read books together throughout the next week, think about how the character acted and what they said.  What does that tell you about the character?What kind of person/character are they?  Are they helpful, independent, passionate, leaders, respectful, funny, etc.  These are the same things we'll be talking about in class during our read alouds and small group reading time.  Next week, we will be reading about Abraham Lincoln and thinking about how we can describe his character.

Book Baggies:
Ask your child what books they chose yesterday.
Students brought home six books.  Two books below their level so that they can practice fluency, two books on their level to help them practice decoding strategies and other skills we're learning in class, and two books above level to help students push themselves as readers.  Books should be returned every Thursday.  If your child feels the books are too easy for them, that is okay.  They can build their fluency and confidence as readers.  Levels will change throughout the year, but they will NOT change weekly.

Writing:
Ask your child to tell them one of their opinions.  What are his/her reasons for that opinion?
Students continued to plan and write opinion writings this week.  They learned to include transitions to connect their different reasons and continue to work on adding evidence to support their reasons.  We also learned to make a good conclusion by restating our opinion, summarizing our reasons and then giving a final thought to the reader.  We will continue this work next week, but we will also learn that opinion writings can be used to persuade someone of something.  We will talk about what that might look like.

Math: 
Ask your child how to balance an equation.
Students worked on balancing equations this week by making both sides the same.  Next week, we will try to gain a better understanding of place value by identifying the value of the digits in different spots.

Science/Social Studies:
Ask your child what he/she knows about light, shadows, reflections and what opaque, translucent and transparent mean.
Students investigated more about light this week by using mirrors and flashlights.  We also learned about how the eye works.  Next week, we will learn more about these things as well as why we need light.

Purposeful Play
Please see the Purposeful Play tab on the blog to learn more about our weekly Play Time and donation items we could use for it!

Homework

• Read every night
• Work on a math skill (i.e. counting forwards and backwards within 120, adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this, telling time, counting coins, measuring - length and volume -  have your child cook with you to practice this, talk about shapes - 2D and 3D - find items around your house, etc.) 

Specials Schedule

Monday: P.E. (Wear tennis shoes)
Tuesday: Art (Bring an Art shirt labeled with your child's name)
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Media/Library
Friday: Rotates (See the back of your child's OWL folder (everyday folder) for a schedule.)

Important Dates

February 17-18: No School - Mid Winter Break

February 20: Black History Trivia Night (4:30-6pm)
February 21: All School Field Trip to Dr. Dolittle
February 27: Science Fair (6-8pm)
March 12: 1/2 Day and Sharpen the Saw Day (more information to come later)
March 19: Spring Conferences for those who need it.  I will contact families.

Week 21 - February 7, 2020

Curriculum

Reading:
Ask your child about Harriet Tubman, how they might describe her, and why they'd describe her that way.
This week we read about Harriet Tubman.  The students are learning to read books and then think about the characters and decide how to describe the characters.  When you read books together throughout the next week, ask your child to think about how the character acted and what they said and talk about what that tells you about the character.  What kind of person/character are they?  Are they helpful, independent, passionate, leaders, respectful, funny, etc.  Then ask your child to tell you WHY they think that?  What did the character say or do that makes them think that?  These are the same things we'll be talking about in class during our read alouds and small group reading time.

Book Baggies:
Ask your child what books they chose yesterday.
Students brought home six books.  Two books below their level so that they can practice fluency, two books on their level to help them practice decoding strategies and other skills we're learning in class, and two books above level to help students push themselves as readers.  Books should be returned every Thursday.  If your child feels the books are too easy for them, that is okay.  They can build their fluency and confidence as readers.  Levels will change throughout the year, but they will NOT change weekly.

Writing:
Ask your child to tell them one of their opinions.  What are his/her reasons for that opinion?
Students continued to plan and write opinion writings this week.  They learned to include transitions to connect their different reasons and continue to work on adding evidence to support their reasons.  We will continue this work next week.

Math: 
Ask your child how to add and subtract 10 to any number.
Students worked on adding and subtracting 10 this week.  Next week, we will learn to balance equations.

Science/Social Studies:
Ask your child what he/she knows about light, shadows and what opaque, translucent and transparent mean.
Students had an opportunity to explore with flashlights this week.  They learned that some items let all light through, some block the light and some let only some light through.  We learned the vocabulary that goes with these ideas and also talked about the shadows created when objects block light.  Next week, we will continue to explore light using mirrors.

Purposeful Play
Please see the Purposeful Play tab on the blog to learn more about our weekly Play Time and donation items we could use for it!

Homework

• Read every night
• Work on a math skill (i.e. counting forwards and backwards within 120, adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this, telling time, counting coins, measuring - length and volume -  have your child cook with you to practice this, talk about shapes - 2D and 3D - find items around your house, etc.) 

Specials Schedule

Monday: P.E. (Wear tennis shoes)
Tuesday: Art (Bring an Art shirt labeled with your child's name)
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Media/Library
Friday: Rotates (See the back of your child's OWL folder (everyday folder) for a schedule.)

Important Dates

February 7: Kid's Heart Challenge (6pm)

February 17-18: No School - Mid Winter Break
February 20: Black History Trivia Night (4:30-6pm)
February 21: All School Field Trip to Dr. Dolittle
February 27: Science Fair (6-8pm)
March 12: 1/2 Day and Sharpen the Saw Day (more information to come later)
March 19: Spring Conferences for those who need it.  I will contact families.

Week 20 - January 31, 2020

Curriculum

Reading:
Ask your child about Rosa Parks, how they might describe her, and why they'd describe her that way.
This week we read about Rosa Parks.  The students are learning to read books and then think about the characters and decide how to describe the characters.  When you read books together throughout the next week, ask your child to think about how the character acted and what they said and talk about what that tells you about the character.  What kind of person/character are they?  Are they helpful, independent, passionate, leaders, respectful, funny, etc.  Then ask your child to tell you WHY they think that?  What did the character say or do that makes them think that?  These are the same things we'll be talking about in class during our read alouds and small group reading time.

Book Baggies:
Ask your child what books they chose yesterday.
Students brought home six books.  Two books below their level so that they can practice fluency, two books on their level to help them practice decoding strategies and other skills we're learning in class, and two books above level to help students push themselves as readers.  Books should be returned every Thursday.  If your child feels the books are too easy for them, that is okay.  They can build their fluency and confidence as readers.  Levels will change throughout the year, but they will NOT change weekly.

Writing:
Ask your child to tell them one of their opinions.  What are his/her reasons for that opinion?
Students began planning and writing opinion drafts this week.  They learned that an introduction should have a hook, tell the topic, and their opinion.  They also learned that the middles should have their reason and give evidence/examples to support their reason.  Next week we will continue to write opinions and we will learn how to make our endings better.

Math: 
Ask your child how to compare numbers.  What place value do you look at first to compare numbers?  What are the symbols we use to compare numbers?
Students worked on comparing numbers this week.  We learned to look at the largest place value to start when we compare numbers.  Next week, we will use our place value knowledge to easily and quickly add and subtract 10 to a given number.

Science/Social Studies:
Ask your child what he/she knows about light.
This week, we thought about what we already know about light and what we still wonder about light.  Next week, we will begin to explore light and why it is important. 

Purposeful Play
Please see the Purposeful Play tab on the blog to learn more about our weekly Play Time and donation items we could use for it!

Homework

• Read every night
• Work on a math skill (i.e. counting forwards and backwards within 120, adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this, telling time, counting coins, measuring - length and volume -  have your child cook with you to practice this, talk about shapes - 2D and 3D - find items around your house, etc.) 

Specials Schedule

Monday: P.E. (Wear tennis shoes)
Tuesday: Art (Bring an Art shirt labeled with your child's name)
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Media/Library
Friday: Rotates (See the back of your child's OWL folder (everyday folder) for a schedule.)

Important Dates

February 7: Kid's Heart Challenge

February 17-18: No School - Mid Winter Break
February 21: All School Field Trip to Dr. Dolittle
February 27: Science Fair (6-8pm)
March 12: 1/2 Day and Sharpen the Saw Day (more information to come later)
March 19: Spring Conferences for those who need it.  I will contact families.

Week 19 - January 24, 2020

Curriculum

Reading:
Ask your child about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., how they might describe him, and why they'd describe him that way.
This week we read about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  After our reading, we talked a lot about what he was like and tried to use character traits to describe him.  We talked about how the things he says and does help us to understand more about him.

Book Baggies:
Ask your child what books they chose yesterday.
Students brought home six books.  Two books below their level so that they can practice fluency, two books on their level to help them practice decoding strategies and other skills we're learning in class, and two books above level to help students push themselves as readers.  Books should be returned every Thursday.  If your child feels the books are too easy for them, that is okay.  They can build their fluency and confidence as readers.  Levels will change throughout the year, but they will NOT change weekly.

Writing:
Ask your child what an opinion is and what opinions they have.
Students have been generating lots of opinions this week.  We will use those opinions next week to begin planning and drafting opinion writing.

Math: 
Ask your child expand some two-digit numbers to see if they understand what each place value truly means.
Students are continuing to learn about place value by building numbers with different materials (base 10 blocks, popsicle sticks and cubes).  They are also beginning to learn about expanded notation (36=30+6).  Having this understanding will help them to eventually add two-digit numbers.  Next week, we will continue learning about expanded notation and learn about comparing numbers.

Science/Social Studies:
Ask your child what pitch and volume mean and how they are different.
This week, the students gained more knowledge about volume and pitch.  

Purposeful Play
Please see the Purposeful Play tab on the blog to learn more about our weekly Play Time and donation items we could use for it!

Homework

• Read every night
• Work on a math skill (i.e. counting forwards and backwards within 120, adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this, telling time, counting coins, measuring - length and volume -  have your child cook with you to practice this, talk about shapes - 2D and 3D - find items around your house, etc.) 

Specials Schedule

Monday: P.E. (Wear tennis shoes)
Tuesday: Art (Bring an Art shirt labeled with your child's name)
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Media/Library
Friday: Rotates (See the back of your child's OWL folder (everyday folder) for a schedule.)

Important Dates

January 30: Multicultural Night (6-8pm)

February 7: Kid's Heart Challenge

February 17-18: No School - Mid Winter Break
February 27: Science Fair (6-8pm)