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

                         

Classroom News

Reading: We continued reading our nonfiction texts and worked on comparing and contrasting two different mammals that we read about.  As we read we continued to to focus on what the mammal eats, its’ characteristics, where it lives, and other interesting facts we heard along the way.  A few of the interesting facts we learned this week were that Beluga Whale’s live in the icy Arctic waters and use echolocation when they are in the deep dark water so they can see how far away an object is.

Math:  We are continuing along in Chapter 7.  Students are doing well understanding the concepts of greater than, less than, and equal to.  To understand these concepts we look at the tens and ones place to determine which number is larger.  If the numbers in the tens place are different we use the tens place to determine which is larger, if they are the same we look at the ones place and determine the larger number in the ones place to decide which is greater.

Writing: Students are really working on choosing just one topic for their “teaching” books.  We are focusing on the table of contents and headings as we work on them.  The table of contents helps the reader to know what they are going to be learning about on each page.  Students are applying this skill to their own “teaching” books.  It is taking lots of practice but we are getting the hang of it!

What We’re Learning Next Week:

Reading: Next week we are going to be beginning a new theme.  We will be starting a winter theme!  During this theme we will be reading all sorts of books that have to do with winter.  A few of the stories we will be reading include, The Three Snow Bears, Rabbit’s Snow Dance, and 50 Below Zero.  While reading the stories we are going to be working on asking and answering questions about a text, retelling stories and including key details in that retelling, and describing major events, characters, and settings.  This is going to be a busy unit!

Math: We will be finishing up Chapter 7 next week and having our math test on Thursday.  We will complete the last lessons that have to do with problem solving and looking at numbers that are 10 more and 10 less.  We will then do the chapter review and have our test!  We are confident students will do great on their test!

Writing: Students are going to work on picking one topic and really making it into a piece they would want to publish by perfecting their table of contents, headings, and title for their story.

Important Information

Fluency Poems

Students received new fluency poems this Friday!  They are to practice all week long and have them ready by next week Friday, January 30.

We love hearing the expression as your child reads! 

Important Dates:

1/26: Report Cards Go Home

                         

Winter Author Study

Classroom News

Reading: This week we began our author study on Jan Brett.  Students have really been engaged in her stories.  Some of the stories we have read include, The Hat, Annie and the Wild Animals, and Home for Christmas.  Students really enjoy using the borders to tell the story.  They use the borders to help them make predictions about what will happen next and what is happening at the same time that the author isn’t telling you, but the illustrations are.  Our focus is on retelling stories, describing characters, setting, and major events.  As your child reads at home ask them about these things in their own books.

Math: This week we finished up Chapter 5.  We feel the students did well on their test!  Students did well with their first introduction to algebra! 

Writing: Students have loved working on their information books.  They have been coming up with great information stories telling facts about cats, dogs, sharks, flowers, pumpkins, and even Minecraft!  They love to share their knowledge.

We also began a fun writing activity about Santa being stuck in our chimney!  They are very cute!

What We’re Learning Next Week:

Reading: Students will continue to learn about and study various Jan Brett books.  Coming up we will be reading two stories about some pesky trolls and a few stories she wrote that will get us in the holiday spirit!  We will be working on words and phrases that tell a character’s feelings or emotions, comparing and contrasting characters across various stories, and continuing to practice retelling stories including major events and key details.

Math: We will be starting our new chapter, Chapter 6.  In Chapter 6 students will learn how to use place value to model, read, and write numbers to 120.  We will start by counting by ones to 120, tens to 120, and then understanding how tens and ones work using models to find equivalent forms of numbers.

Writing: Students will continue to write information books and work on adding more details and helping readers picture the details by using comparisons.

Phonemic Awareness:

Students will be learning about the ending -nk and –ng this week.

Example: sunk, thing

Please practice at home using spellingcity.com

Important Information

Please be sure to practice sight words with your child each night.  If you are unsure what list your child is on, ask your child’s teacher.

Important Dates:

12/5: Progress Reports go home

12/10: Early Release

11:45

  

                         

Spelling City

Please remember that we have a great resource available to us through Spellingcity.com.  I post students spelling words for the week on the website and they are able to go on and practice the words through fun games.  If you cannot find or remember your child's login that was sent home, please contact me and I will send home a new one.  I can also track to see if your child is using this resource and I would LOVE to see more students taking advantage of it.  :)

Don't forget about xtramath.org either! I can send home a new username and password for that as well. :)

Hot on the Campaign Trail

Classroom News

Reading: The 2014 gubernatorial election may be over for adults however, first graders are just getting started learning about elections.  The kids have been introduced to election vocabulary and the voting process.  We have read a few fiction books about elections and compared and contrasted characters in each selection.  Students have also made a poster for a mock election among the three first grade teachers.  May the best candidate win!

Math: Thank you for completing the Chapter 4 practice test. This is a nice way to prepare for the assessment given in class.  Students performed well on their assessment.  Chapter 5, Addition and Subtraction Relationships, began this week.

Writing: Students have spent time this week publishing a Small Moment story.  The kids were instructed to select their favorite writing piece to publish.  Then, they added titles and cover pages to their work.

What We’re Learning Next Week:

Reading: Our election theme will continue for another week. Students will engage in fiction based read alouds followed by comparing and contrasting characters in the selections.  We will continue to record our thoughts using a Venn diagram graphic organizer. 

Math: Chapter 5-Addition and Subtraction Relationships continued

Students will be learning about fact families.  Fact families are numbers that live in the same house and can be manipulated to make two addition and subtraction sentences.  Students will learn how to use the same numbers in a different order.

Writing: Students will begin their next unit in writing and will learn how to make a basic type of information book.

Phonemic Awareness:

Review long and short vowel sounds with your child.  Remember long vowels say their names!

 Spelling Words

We WILL NOT have a Spelling Test due to the short week.  Keep practicing Sight Words.

Important Information

We look forward to seeing you at Parent/Teacher Conferences.

Important Dates:

11/11 No School-Veteran’s Day

11/12 Parent/Teacher Conferences 4-7

11/13 Parent/Teacher Conferences

1-4, 5-7