Weekly Update

Hello Everyone!

I cannot believe that it is already November! Sorry that it has been a couple of weeks since the last classroom update.  We have been very busy, having lots of fun, and working hard! 

Reading

A couple of weeks ago, we started our new reading unit.  It is called “Word Detectives.”  The students have been learning strategies to solve tricky words.  These strategies include all of the strategies they learned in the first reading unit (building good reading habits) and adding new strategies to solve “even harder words.”  First graders are learning to integrate meaning (what makes sense in the story?), structure (what sounds right?), and visual information (what looks right?). We have also used our knowledge of snap words (sight words) to help us read new words.  We’ve learned to look at a word and think, “Do I know a word that looks like this?” Students are also breaking words into smaller pieces.  One of the MOST important jobs word detectives have is to TRIPLE check a word and think, “Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?” Next week, students will be learning more about looking closely at the beginning of words, looking at the end of words, and looking out for “unusual” suspects (i.e., compound words or contractions).  Book bags will start coming home VERY soon! Sorry for the delay!

Writing

We have continued working on writing small moments.  We have been focusing on making our writing “easy to read” by writing neat, using spaces, and stretching words to include LOTS of sounds! Next week, we will focus on ZOOMING IN on small moments.  Students are very enthusiastic about writing, but some have been writing about BIG ideas rather than small moments.  When we wrap up our small moments unit, we will move onto writing “all about” books.  This is such a fun unit and I think the students will love it!

Math

We started a new unit in math.  We have been focusing on solving word problems and showing our thinking using pictures, counters, and number sentences.  A big part of first grade math is explaining our thinking in writing and discussions.  For example, “I know that 7+3=10, so 10-7=3” or “I started at 7 and counted up 8, 9, 10.”

Halloween

We had a wonderful time at the Halloween parade! After the parade, we enjoyed a special snack.  Thanks to everyone who donated and made our celebration possible! We also played Halloween Bingo and Pin the Nose on the Witch! We had a lot of fun with that! We also made a scarecrow that could move... many students had their scarecrow doing the "floss," watched “Cat-in-the-Hat Knows A Lot About Halloween” with Mrs. Yurick’s class.  On Wednesday, we wrote about our night Trick or Treating and watched “Room on the Broom” in the afternoon while enjoying Pirates Booty! 

Conferences

I sent home a Parent Conference Feedback form.  Please take a few minutes to fill it out and send it back! I look forward to meeting with everyone! Please e-mail me if there are any issues with scheduling.

Field Trip

We will be taking our field trip to the Seacoast Science Center on Thursday, November 15th.  Please remember to send the field trip form and money back by November 5th.  We are all set for chaperones at this point.  There will be other opportunities to chaperone throughout the year!

Book Order

I sent home November’s book order.  It is due back on November 16th.  Last month, I was able to get LOTS of new books for our classroom library thanks to bonus points earned! Thank you so much!