Week of Aug 24

Classroom News

Reading: In reading this week we continued to talk about character and setting. We did this by reading Brand New Books and Brand New Pencils. We learned how to describe a character and setting using adjectives. The kids are doing very well with this. They completed a variety of assignments related to character and setting.

Math: In math this week we continued to work on addition concepts. We learned how to add zero, add in any order, and put together numbers to 10.

What We’re Learning Next Week: 

Reading: This upcoming week we will continue to learn about character and setting. However we will also learn how to recognize events in a selection and problem and solution. We will be reading many books by the funny Robert Munsch. Please check out his books online at Tumblebooks...you will laugh out loud!!!

Math: We will be taking a Chapter 1 math test on Wednesday. We will begin Chapter 2: Subtraction Concepts on Thursday. Subtraction is a difficult concept to master. Please practice at home. Look for all these concepts in their homework.

Phonemic Awareness:

We will be working on the short i sound this week. It will be found with these endings:

-op -ot, -ock, -ox

Look for these endings in books that you and your child read! 

Welcome Back!

Classroom News

Welcome Back!  We hope you all enjoyed your time off from school and were able to do some fun things over break!

Reading:  In reading we did some reviewing on topics we have already learned and studied this year.  Students demonstrated that they have learned a lot so far in first grade!  We did a really fun activity to go along with the story Jack and the Beanstalk.  We can’t wait for you to see it when you come to Giles Night at the Museum!  We have worked so hard perfecting so many different fairytale projects for you to see! 

Math:  In math we wrapped up chapter 11.  The students have a firm understanding on three-dimensional shapes.  They understand that two-dimensional shapes are hidden in the flat surfaces of a three-dimensional shape!  This weekend be sure to complete the math chapter 11 review for Monday!

Writing: Students have been working well on their opinion writing.  We have some very opinionated students here in first grade.  It is great that they love to voice their opinions and say their feelings on so many different topics and ideas!

What We’re Learning Next Week:

Reading: Next week we will be beginning our new unit on the sun, moon, and the earth.  We will be intertwining science with our reading curriculum to learn about nonfiction text features.  A few of these features include bold words, labels, and captions.  We will be learning about why these are important as we read and what value they add to the text.  We will do a nonfiction text scavenger hunt and be locating the various features we have learned about in a variety of nonfiction books.

Math: We are going to be having our Chapter 11 math test on Tuesday.  Students have done a great job learning all about three-dimensional shapes!  They are able to recognize their various attributes and take them apart and put them together to create new shapes.  We will then begin to learn about two-dimensional shapes in chapter 12.  Students will be able to recognize there various attributes and look at how they are similar and different.

Writing:  We are going to be continuing to write our reviews.  We are continuing to edit and work on publishing our reviews.  Students are really enjoying writing their opinions on various ideas and topics!

Phonemic Awareness:

Students will be learning about the digraph oi and oy.

Example: oil and toy

Please practice at home using spellingcity.com

Important Information

Fluency Poems have begun again!  Your child’s fluency poem is due next week, April 17, 2015.

Please be sure to practice with your child every night!

Important Dates:

4/30: Night at the Museum

6:30 – 8:30 P.M.

                         

Happily Ever After!

Classroom News

Reading:  We wrapped up our fairy tale unit this past week.  It was a fun unit and students really enjoyed comparing and contrasting characters from a fractured fairy tale to the original version.  We were able to read so many great fairy tales!  We did a fun craft on The Three Little Pigs, which happens to be a crowd favorite!  We took our assessment on Friday.  Student’s put forth their best effort comparing and contrasting Goldilocks from the original version with Goldilocks from the fractured fairy tale.

Math: We began Chapter 10 this week!  We began to learn about picture graphs and how a picture graph represents data and gives us information.  We also learned how to make a picture graph and how we can use it to answer a question.

Writing: Students continued to write opinions about their collections this past week.  They learned that sometimes people will disagree with their opinions and that is okay.  We also learned it is important to give reasons to support our opinion.  This makes our opinions stronger!

What We’re Learning Next Week:

Reading: Next week we will be beginning a brand new unit.  We will be learning about point of view.  In a story sometimes the author tells the story and sometimes the character tells the story.  We will be reading a wide variety of texts and exploring who is telling the story in each text and using textual evidence to decipher how we know!  We will be studying first person point of view and third person point of view.

Math: We are going to be continuing along in Chapter 10.  Next week we will learn how to read bar graphs to find the number that a bar shows, we will make a bar graph to learn how it helps us to compare information, we will read tally charts, make tally charts, and practice problem solving to learn how graphs can help us to solve problems by representing data!  It will be a busy week in math!

Writing: We are going to continue writing opinion pieces.  We will be learning how to bolster our arguments and opinions.  We will be introduced to quotation marks and learn how we can use them in our writing.  We will also learn how to use a variety of punctuation marks and why they are important to include in our writing.  We will work on being persuasive and writing persuasive reviews!

Phonemic Awareness:

Students will be learning about the digraph ou.

Example: mouth and found

Please practice at home using spellingcity.com

Important Information

Fluency Poems!

Check your child’s fluency folder for their new fluency poem!

Fluency poems are DUE March 20!  Be sure to practice each week and make sure your child brings home their new poem!

Important Dates:

3/27: Report Cards Go Home!

Cinderrrrrella!

Classroom News

Reading: This week students compared and contrasted characters from the beloved fairy tale Cinderella.  We watched the original version and talked about the evil characters and the good characters.  We then noticed that this fairy tale also used the number 3 because there are three evil characters!  We then read the story Bigfoot Cinderrrrella.  This was a funny fractured fairy tale about a bigfoot girl named Rrrrella who charms prince charming by knocking him into the water!  We noticed many similarities between the fractured characters and the original fairy tale characters.  We also began working on Wanted posters!  We can’t wait for you to see them during our Night At the Museum in April! J

Math: We are finishing up Chapter 9.  We are really getting the hang of telling time.  We are practicing all day long and seem to really understand the concept!  Next week we will be taking our Chapter 9 test.  Look out for the practice test to go home.  We will have our test on Tuesday.

Writing: We began learning about how to write reviews!  Students loved judging their toys and deciding which one is the best and giving reasons for why it is the best.  This will be a fun change of pace for students.

What We’re Learning Next Week:

Reading: Next week we will be continuing to read more fairy tale stories.  We will be having our assessment on Friday.  We will be reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears both a fractured and original version.  Classes are going to be reading Jack and the Beanstalk and Sleeping Beauty.  We are also going to be doing crafts focusing on beginning, middle, end, and problem and solution.

Math: We are going to be having our Chapter test on Tuesday.  We will be beginning Chapter 10 next week.  We will be learning al about how to represent data using different types of graphs and how graphs and charts can help you to organize and interpret data.  We will learn how to read picture graphs next week, and learn to make our own picture graph.

Writing: We are going to be continuing to write our opinion pieces using our collections.  WE will learn how to explain judgments in convincing ways.  We will learn that often times opinion writers will expect disagreement and that you need to be able to have a counterargument ready.  We will also learn how to bolster arguments.

Phonemic Awareness:

Students will be learning about the digraph ow and ou.

Example: plow and round

Please practice at home using spellingcity.com

Important Information

Fluency Poems!

Check your child’s fluency folder for their new fluency poem!

Fluency poems are DUE March 13!  Be sure to practice each week!

Important Dates:

3/11: SIP Day Half Day Student Attendance

              

Once Upon A Time...

Classroom News

Thank you to all the parents who came out in the bitter cold for parent teacher conference!  We really enjoyed having the chance to talk with you about the progress your child has been making in the classroom both socially and academically.  Having your children has been a pleasure and we are looking forward to a great rest of the year!

Reading: This past week we continued to learn about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  We learned that George Washington cut down his father’s cherry tree and didn’t lie about it.  Honesty was very important to him and Abraham Lincoln.  Abraham Lincoln’s nickname was “Honest Abe”.  We compared and contrasted these two great presidents.  We even made an acrostic poem with the word president!  

Math: This week we concluded learning about two-digit addition and subtraction.  We have come a long way in first grade!  We know how to use the strategy make a model with tens and ones to solve almost any addition and subtraction problem.  Based on observation during the Chapter 8 test, we are confident that the students did well!

What We’re Learning Next Week:

Reading: We are beginning a whole new unit in First Grade next week!  We are so excited about it!  We are going to be studying fairytales.  We love teaching about fairytales and the elements of a fairytale.  While reading all the different fairytale stories we will be learning how to compare and contrast the experiences of a character across two separate texts.  Students have prior experience with this so we will be looking for them to use more inferencing skills and delve deeper into what makes the character act a certain way.  We will be reading lots of fun fractured fairytales that are told from different characters perspectives.  We will also be learning how we can tell whose point of view the story is told from.  Head to the library and check out some fairytales to read with your child!

Math: Next week we will be beginning Chapter 9 in math.  We are totally switching gears and will be learning about measurement!  This will be a fun change of pace for students.  It will be a very hands on unit.  Students will learn how to put things in order based on length, they will use nonstandard units of measure such as paperclips, they will make their own nonstandard measuring tool, and they will be measuring an object and then comparing it to another object.

Phonemic Awareness:

Students will be learning about digraph –ew, ­-ue, and ­–ui. These three digraphs have the long u sound.

Example: fruit, few, and blue

Please practice at home using spellingcity.com

Important Dates:

3/2: No School: Casimir Pulaski Day

                         

Happy Valentine's Day!

Classroom News

We had so much fun during Jump Rope for Heart!  We really exercised our hearts and learned how important it is to treat our bodies well and give them the things they need to be healthy.  We are going to practice making good healthy choices!

Reading: We learned about two of our country’s great presidents!  George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are two famous presidents who did great things to make our country a better place.  We learned that Abraham Lincoln helped to win the Civil War and that Illinois is nicknamed, “The Land of Lincoln”.  We found out that George Washington was our country’s first president.  He was good at math, but not at spelling!  We made mini books that talked about how important President’s Day is and why we recognize our presidents.

Math: This week students learned how to use models to add ones or tens to a two digit number, they learned to make a ten to add a two-digit number and a one-digit number, they practiced how to use place value to add, and learned to problem solve with addition word problems.  We are doing great with two-digit addition and subtraction!

Next week is Parent Teacher Conferences!  If you do not remember your conference time please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher.  We look forward to meeting with all of you! 

What We’re Learning Next Week:

Reading: This upcoming week we are continuing to learn even more about our country’s great presidents!  We are going to compare and contrast George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  They have many similarities and many differences!  We are going to create another mini-book on these two great presidents.  When we finish we will bring them home to share!  We are also making a great President’s Day craft!  We can’t wait for you to view it during conferences!

Math: Next week we will be wrapping up chapter 8.  We will be having our math test on Friday.  Look for our Chapter 8 Review to go home on Tuesday. 

Writing: Students are continuing to work on their “Teaching Stories”.  We are working hard on editing and revising.  These are two very difficult things for us to do in first grade.  We have been applying so many different skills and writing so much about what we know!  We love to be teachers!

 Phonemic Awareness:

Students will be learning about digraph i.e. and ight with the sound of long i.

Example: pie, tight

Please practice at home using spellingcity.com

Important Information

Fluency Poems!

Next week your child will have the same fluency poem.  We did not get a chance to test students due to the crazy morning with Jump Rope for Heart!

Continue to practice and we look forward to hearing your child read their poem fluently next week!

                         

Winter at Giles

Classroom News

Reading: This past week first grade continued along in their winter unit.  It was extremely fitting given the blizzard that blew through Norridge!  As we read stories we worked on asking and answering questions about the characters and setting, we also continued to work on story retelling.  We are getting really good at putting it all together and including those major events that happen in a story and the problem and solution!

Math:  We have begun Chapter 8!  This week students put their addition and subtraction fluency to the test when they practiced adding and subtracting within 20.  They then learned how to add and subtract tens!  Students know how to draw a model to solve the problem.  We also know that we can use a hundreds chart find the sums of numbers.  We have so many strategies in first grade that we can use to be great mathematicians.  

Writing: We are continuing to work on our “teaching” stories.  Students are really demonstrating their ability to teach about topics that they are really knowledgeable about such as, Minecraft, dogs, cats, planets, and elephants!  We have a wealth of knowledge in first grade!  Students are loving being able to share what they know!

  

What We’re Learning Next Week:

Reading: Next week we will be completing a mini reading unit on President’s Day.  We will be learning about what it means to be president and we will be learning about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  The class will be comparing and contrasting the lives of Washington and Lincoln.  We will do a writing activity where students decide who they think would have been a better president and they will write what they have learned about their chosen president.  Look for our great work when you come to conferences!

Math: This upcoming week students will be using models to add ones or tens to a two digit number, they will make a ten to add a two-digit number and a one-digit number, they will learn how to use place value to add, and practice problem solving with addition word problems.  We always encourage students to draw a picture in class, this is our way of making a model.  Please encourage students to draw pictures at home as well!

Writing: Students are going to be continuing their work on their “teaching” stories.  We are trying to publish our stories by the time conferences come!  Hopefully you will be able to see some finished products! 

Phonemic Awareness:

Students will be learning about digraph ow.

Example: blow, pillow

Please practice at home using spellingcity.com

  Important Information

Fluency Poems!

We have just started fluency poems in first grade!  We are very excited because fluency is a very important part of reading.  The next poem is DUE on February 13.  Please practice every night with your child.

Please always follow up with your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

Important Dates:

2/11: School Improvement Planning Day 11:45 Dismissal

2/16: President’s Day No School

2/18: Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00 – 7:00

2/19: Parent Teacher Conferences 1:00 – 7:00 No School