The Last Day of November!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow morning we will be back to busy first grade learning!  This week is busy with some special events, in additional to our daily learning!

• Wednesday:  Kiwanis Magic Show at 9:30 in the gym
• Thursday:  Packer Dress Day and Holiday Concert at 6:30 at West High School
• Friday:  80's Dress Day and Movie Night at 6:00 in the gym

Tomorrow in math we will be looking at number patterns and skip counting.

Our new word wall words this week are:  away, far, live, walk

The students will have a guidance lesson with Miss Eake in the morning.

During writer's workshop the students will be working on their community helper information books.

We will take some time to review the expectations for literacy stations.  I will meet with small groups for guided reading as the students work on their independent stations.

During social studies we will begin to build our gingerbread houses!  Each student will be able to build and decorate their very own gingerbread house!  A huge THANK YOU to all of the families who donated money to our 'First Grade Fund' to make this project possible!  

Wonderful Wednesday!

It sounds like the weather might not be so wonderful today, but we can still make it a wonderful day indoors!

Today in math students will continue to explore ways to make sums of ten.

During word work students will work independently to create a page for our class 'Letter Book'.  Students will also be introduced to a handwriting booklet.  Students will be learning that they must start their letters at the top and they must be written nice and neat every time.  Please encourage your child to use their 'nice neat' writing when doing homework and other writing activities at home.

Students will check out new library books.  The hope is that your child is bringing home one 'practice book' and one 'look book'.  Ask your child to tell you the difference between a practice book and a look book.

Students will continue to write their information teaching books during writer's workshop.

We will continue to learn about community helpers.  A homework sheet is in your child's folder tonight.  Their task is to interview someone at home about their job.  Please have your child complete this task by Monday.

Parent teacher conferences are today and tomorrow afters school, as well as Friday morning.  I look forward to meeting with all of you and sharing your child's progress!

Coming up this week...

All week we will continue to work on our 'Organizing & Collecting' math unit.  Students will continue to learn about efficient counting strategies and work on structuring to make sums of ten.

Our new word wall words this week are:  child, had, school, thank
We will also be working on letter formation this week during our word work time.

During writer's workshop students will continue to work on writing information teaching booklets.

This week during out literacy mini lessons we will read books written by author Kevin Henkes.

During social studies we will be learning about community helpers.

There is no school on Friday.  Our students will have art on Tuesday this week instead of Friday.

I look forward to meeting with all families this week during our parent/teacher conference meeting!

Food Drive!

Annual Kiwanis FOOD DRIVE

November 23rd- December 2nd

*Non-Perishable Food Drive

*Students can bring Donations to their classrooms

*Boxes will be provided to each grade level by Student Council Representatives

Thank you!!

Movie Night!

Tomorrow night is movie night in the Shapiro gym!

'Inside Out' will play from 6:00-8:00 on Friday!

Wonderful Wednesday!

Today in math the students continued to practice efficient counting strategies.  All students were encouraged to make groups of ten and count by tens.  All students also had time in the computer lab to work on strengthening their math skills using Dreambox.

During word work all students practiced reading and writing words with the short o sound.

During writer's workshop we reviewed strategies to use when it comes to spelling.  We discovered no matter what type of writing you are doing the spelling strategies don't change.

We read another Robert Munsch story today titled Wait and See.  While we read the story we made powerful predictions, clarified, ask and answered questions, and summarized the story.

During social studies time we read an informational text titled Veteran's Day.  Thank you to all of the veterans reading this!

Have a great evening!

Our School Store is opening!!!

COME CHECK IT OUT!

The Student Council SCHOOL STORE

EVERY THURSDAY from 2:35-2:50.

New items are being added!

(Brain Erasers, Bendy Friends, Stress Balls, Books marks AND MORE!)

Your support is appreciated...

Thank you!

We are mathematicians!

This week during math we have been exploring counting objects and using efficient counting strategies.  Students are enjoying this hands-on learning experience!

Reading Rocks!!!

Each day students have at least 15 minutes of read to self time.  During this time students read books from their book boxes.  1-2 times per week students have the opportunity to read books on the Raz Kids website.  The Raz Kids website can be accessed from home.  If you have questions about how to access this site from home please contact me!  

Terrific Tuesday!

Today during math we worked on finding efficient counting strategies.  We learned that 'efficient' means to be quick and correct.  All students chose to count by 5's or 10's!

During word work we focused on reading and writing words with the short 'i' vowel sound.

During music the students are busy working with Mr. Crowe to prepare for our upcoming holiday concert!  It will be here before we know it!

During writer's workshop students continued to write information teaching booklets.  Today we learned about why it is important to think about questions our reader's might have when we are writing.

During social studies all students made a building to add to our classroom neighborhood!  You will be able to see our classroom neighborhood next week at conferences!

Reminder:  tomorrow we visit the library for book check out!

Have a great evening!

Halloween Pictures!

Here are a few photos from our Halloween celebration!

Small Moment Author Celebration

On Wednesday, October 28th the first grade classes had their first 'Author Celebration'.  We invited staff to come listen to students read their small moment stories.  The students enjoyed the opportunity to share their writing with multiple readers!  

Winter Clothing Drive

WINTER CLOTHING DRIVE

November 9th-25th

Student council would like to help the community keep warm this winter!

Here is how YOU can help!

During the weeks of November 9th through November 25th, please bring in gently used winter outerwear to our donation center (located in the front atrium) and student council will donate these items to local shelters in need of warm clothing.

* Please note that only the following items will be accepted:

Hats, Mittens, Scarves, Snow Boots, Coats, and Snow Pants.

Coming this week...

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Tomorrow morning we will begin our first Fosnot math unit of the year.  This unit is an opportunity for students to work together cooperatively to problem solve and find efficient math strategies.  During this unit students will be working to count groups of objects, and identifying effective ways to count quickly and accurately.

Our new word wall words for this week are:  home, near, this, tree

Our new Instrumental Enrichment instrument is 'organization of dots'.  This task requires students to make a plan, follow a model, be precise, and limit impulsivity.

Students will have a guidance lesson with Miss Eake tomorrow morning.

In the afternoon we will continue to learn about and write information 'all about' teaching books.  Ask your child what their current topic is!

I am currently working on completely our fall DRAs (developmental reading assessment) with all students.  This assessment, along with classroom work and observations, allows us to determine your child's independent and instructional reading level.

During social studies we will continue to learn about neighborhoods.  Students will also work together to create a classroom neighborhood model.

Terrific Thursday!

Good Morning!

Today our students will complete their last lesson for unit 2 of math.  This evening they will come home with a review packet, and tomorrow will be their unit assessment.  Some of the major concepts taught in unit 2 were telling time to the hour, counting pennies and nickels, and addition and subtraction strategies.

During word work time we are continuing to work on beginning sounds, ending sounds, and short vowel sounds.

Today we begin a brand new unit of writing!  Students will be learning how to write informational teaching books!  Students may choose to write about a sport, an animal, a video game, a chore - the possibilities are endless!

I have begun our fall round of reading assessments.  Each student will be read with individually to determine their current independent and instructional reading level.  More information about your child's assessment will be shared at conferences.  These assessments look at oral reading and comprehension skills.

In social studies we are learning about different types of homes and neighborhoods.

Thank you to all of you who signed up for a November conference.  Meeting times will be sent home in your child's folder tomorrow.  I look forward to meeting with you!  If you have not yet signed up, please contact me.