Dear First Grade Families,
Sorry for the lack of updates! The last couple of weeks have been hectic. For the past month, I have been spending my Saturdays doing a Responsive Classroom Training from 8-3:30. This training focuses on promoting a positive classroom community and social emotional learning. It was a great training, but I'm happy to have my Saturdays again for horses and relaxation!
In the classroom, we have been BUSY BUSY BUSY! I cannot believe it is already October. The days are flying by! Your students are doing an amazing job adjusting to the first grade pace and workload!
Our Literacy Block (Reading Workshop, Word Study, Phonemic Awareness) has been going well. Our first unit focused on building good reading habits to help students orient themselves to a book (take a sneak peek), talk about books (do something at the end), and build up their stamina (using reading mats). During reading workshop, I have begun working with students in small groups. It has been great to do some targeted practice with students. In Word Study, we have been working through short vowels. So far, we have covered a, i, o, and u. We will be saving short e -- the hardest vowel -- for next week! Students are doing well reading and writing words with short vowels. This week, we started doing daily phonemic awareness lessons. They take about 10 minutes per day, but are fast paced and the students are really enjoying them. If you'd like to see an example, click on the video link here. Next week, we will start a new reading unit focusing on strategies for solving tricky words. The students will learn lots of new skills and strategies to become Word Detectives. (Shhhh.... don't tell them, but the Super Secret Detective Agency will be coming and leaving them Missions for each day!). We have also been adding TWO new poems to our poetry binder each week! One is a decodable phonics poem and the other is a thematic poem. Students love reading their poetry binders during reading workshop. On Fridays, students are able to read their poems with a partner and they are doing great!
In Writing, we have been working on writing "small moment" stories. Students are working on focusing on "one time" something happened and writing a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Overall, students seem to enjoy writing time! Some students have a hard time thinking of stories, so we draw on experiences they talk about during morning meeting or throughout the school day. Writing is the HARDEST thing we ask first graders to do, so I am really just focusing on getting students to feel successful and working with each student where they are RIGHT NOW. We will be focusing on "writing for readers" next, which emphasizes the importance of leaving spaces between words, writing ALL the sounds we hear in words, and rereading our stories to make sure that our stories make sense!
In Math, we wrapped up Unit 1. We had our first math assessment. Overall, students did well! The first unit focuses on counting, using the number line to add, comparing numbers, and solving simple number stories. Our second unit will focus on addition strategies, such as counting on, complements of 10 (1+9, 5+5), and the "turn around rule" (or commutative property). We have been able to play partner games in math, which has been SO nice! It is great for students to practice math skills and also important social skills like turn taking, playing fair, etc.
In Theme Work, we learned about apples and their life cycle and Johnny Appleseed. This week, we started learning about fire safety. The rest of October will focus on pumpkins and their life cycle and nocturnal animals.
The MOST exciting thing that happened was our AMAZING new playground! I cannot believe we have such a nice playground at our school! It has made recess so much more fun! The students LOVE exploring all the new playground equipment. THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this possible. Our students are SO lucky!
Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks...
I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend! I am looking forward to spending some time with horses, working in the garden, and relaxing! Enjoy the beautiful fall weather! Here's a picture of my daughter, Addy, and my friend's giant horse, Sully!
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