Second Week of School! September 7th - September 10th

Dear First Grade Families,

Whew! We had a great second week of school.  It was a 4-day week, but we were busy practicing our classroom routines, getting to know each other, and also starting in on our academic blocks.  Students are doing such a great job building their independence.  Most students are able to do all the steps of the unpacking process without reminders! They have also started doing "morning work."  Morning work is just a short, review activity to help them settle into the school day.  Some students are eating breakfast, so they might not have a chance to complete each task, but that's okay! We started Reading Workshop, Writing Workshop, and our Everyday Math Lessons.  The pace and workload of first grade is a big jump from Kindergarten, but everyone is doing great!

In Writing...

-We learned that the best stories come from the heart.  Students completed a "heart map" with different people, places, and things that are special to them.  These will be stored in their writing folders to help them when they need an idea for a story.

-We learned the steps to writing a story! The steps are:  think about something that has happened to you, draw the pictures, and write the words.

-We also learned that "When you're done, you've just begun!" When you're "done" with a story, you can .... add to the pictures, add to the words, or start a new story.  We are building up our stamina for writing workshop.

-On Friday, we practiced stretching words to write them.  We learned that writers say a word slowly, write the first sound, say the word again, and write the next sound.... and you keep on going until you don't hear anymore sounds! Right now, I am praising ANY attempts students make at stretching unknown words.  First graders use "inventive" spelling and it might not always be the conventional way to spell a word, but they are learning! As they know more sounds, they will be able to spell words more accurately!

In Reading...

We learned about building "good habits" as readers.

-We got our book bins! 

-We learned to take a "sneak peek" at the beginning of the story.  Look at the cover, look at the pictures, and get your brain ready to read!

-We learned that readers "do something at the end."  Readers look at their favorite part, retell the story, or reread the story.

-We spent some time exploring our magnetic letter sets.  Students built their names, sorted letters by color, and built lots of "big words" for me to read.  We will use these a lot throughout the year for word work!

-We also added a poem to our poetry binders.

-On Friday, we read a Scholastic News about classroom community.

In Math...

We began using the number line to count by 1s, 5s, and 10s.  We are doing "whisper and shout" counting where you whisper four numbers and shout the fifth number.  We also practicing making estimates or "good guesses" and then counting to check our estimates.  We learned a game called Monster Squeeze.  We also were very excited to use our whiteboards! We practiced writing numbers.

In Social Studies...

This week we talked about our "Hopes and Dreams" for first grade.  We talked about what we'd like to learn or get better at in first grade.  Each student chose a "Hope or Dream" and did a writing project.  These will hang in our classroom all year.  We will use our Hopes and Dreams to help us develop our classroom rules/agreements.  How can we help everyone reach their hopes and dreams? Next week, we will brainstorm ideas for classroom rules and sign a classroom agreement.

Housekeeping notes..

-Thank you for returning the paperwork to the office and nurse! 

-Please continue to check your child's red folder each day and send it to school! We are on a roll with this so far! 

-Please send your child with a small snack and water bottle each day! I will do my very best to make sure water bottles make it home, but sometimes, students leave in a hurry for the bus and they are left behind.  PLEASE be sure that water bottles are labeled with your child's name! I usually label the bottom or a piece of stainless steel on my daughter's water bottle.

-Speaking of labeling.... as the weather gets colder, please label your child's sweatshirts and jackets.  I usually write my daughter's name on the tag of her sweatshirts! 

-Please be sure that your child comes to school each day with a CLEAN mask that fits their face.  It is also a good idea to have spares in their backpack in the event that your child's mask gets dirty, wet, or lost.  It is also a good idea to send in a change of clothes in case your child has an accident or spill that requires them to change clothes.  The school nurse DOES NOT have spare clothes in her office.  If you send them in a bag, I will put them on top of your child's cubby.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.  The best way to reach me is via email at kgreene@kitteryschools.com.

I hope you all have a great weekend!!