Week of November 1

Dear First Grade Families,

 We had a great week! I cannot believe we have been in school for nearly 50 days and it is already November! The students were all thrilled to share trick or treat stories and talk about their favorite kinds of candy.  I’m glad that the weather cooperated on Sunday and everyone was able to get out and have fun! I will never forget my daughter’s first trick or treat after a BLIZZARD!

This week in Writing…

-We wrote about our weekend news!

-We practiced writing stories about illustrations with a beginning, middle, and end.  We used the transition words first, then, and last.

-We started a new round of writing centers! There are 8 different centers in each round.  Some of the centers are:  handwriting, sentence fix up, build-a-sentence, and “ghost words.”  We do writing centers Monday through Thursday and “Free Write Friday” Journals.  The students are really enjoying our new writing routine!

-Students cleaned out their writing folders and a LOT of writing came home from the beginning of the school year.  I have a piece of writing from the beginning of the school year and saved the weekend news students wrote this week.  It is quite the difference!

This week in Reading…

-We continued our daily phonemic awareness lessons. 

-We practiced using iPads for the “listen to reading” center.

-We read a new poem about the month of November.

-In a couple of weeks, we will start reading centers! This will give me an opportunity to work with students in a small group while other students are practicing skills with partners or small groups.  Center work has been going really well and I am looking forward to it!

This week in Math…

-We wrapped up Unit 2 and took our assessment.

-We started Unit 3, which will again focus on addition and subtraction strategies.  This week we learned about part-part-total diagrams and solved word problems using different strategies.

-We practiced part-part-total by doing an activity called “Domino parking lot.”  Each student got a set of dominoes and had to add up the number of dots and put them in the correct “parking spot.” We also learned a game called Domino Top It.  Students have been enjoying using dominoes throughout the day!

-We are continuing to practice math centers.

This week in Science/Social Studies

-We continued learning about nocturnal animals.

-We read about bats and learned that they are not birds! They are mammals.

-Next week we will learn about Veterans Day.  Veterans Day is near and dear to my heart, as my husband was in the Army National Guard and served one year in Iraq! I am also VERY proud that 3 of my grandparents were veterans! I know many of our families are military connected and I would like to say THANK YOU for your service!

 Housekeeping…

-Please send your child to school with a water bottle every day!

-Please check your child’s red folder every day and clean out the papers!

-As the weather gets cooler, students will need a jacket/sweatshirt for recess.  Please be sure to label your child’s clothing so that we can get it back to them if it is left in the cafeteria or on the playground.

-There will be no school on November 11^th in observance of Veterans Day.  November 12^th is a Professional Development Day for teachers, so there is no school.

-Parent Teacher Conferences will be held November 10^th and November 18^th.  If we are meeting virtually, I will send you a google meet link as soon as possible.  If we are meeting in person, please note that masks are required! Conferences will be 15 minutes in length.  I look forward to meeting with you!

 I have a Donors Choose project up for new reading/math center materials.  If you’d like to help our classroom, please click here.  Even a share will help spread the word!