Parents,

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends and spent some time relaxing on mother’s day! Below is a brief run-down of our week in room 12! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Thanks again!

Reading

In reading this week, we will be looking at theme and inferring with two stories by Patricia Polacco. The students will be asked some higher level questions with each of these stories in which they have to infer answers to those questions. They will also be looking at the story elements in those stories, as well as reviewing cause and effect again. One of the stories that we will be reading this week is perfect for cause and effect.  If you would like to read more about Patricia Polacco, please visit her website by clicking here.

Math

In math this week, we will talk about the following Unit 9 concepts: understanding fractional parts of the whole, reviewing digital time and writing subtraction number stories, comparing fractions, and talking about equivalent names for fractions.  Please remember to continue working with What’s My Rule tables. Click here for a template of What’s My Rule? tables.

Writing

In writing this week, we will continue working on our poetry unit of study. The students are doing an excellent job as they are publishing some of their favorite poems in Google Docs. We talked about how they can either illustrate their poems with their own illustrations, or they can search for images that go with each of their respective poems. Most of the students are very excited about inserting images in their poems and they are finding excellent photos that represent their poems well. I hope to finish typing poems by the end of this week so that we can focus on any illustrating that we need next week.

Reminders

The students will not be checking out library books this week. They will just be returning the books they checked out last week.

Track and Field Day has been rescheduled for Wednesday of this week!! Please remember to send your son/daughter to school in appropriate clothing for the day (gym shoes). Also, a water bottle and sunscreen would be a good idea as well.

We will have a Fire Drill this Friday. I would assume it will be the final drill of the year.

Parents,

Hello! I hope you have all had a well rested weekend. We are quickly moving through May in 1st grade and preparing to be 2nd graders! The children are showing signs that they are ready for summer break to begin. Below I’ve listed a quick run-down of our week. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Reading

  This week we will continue our author study on Patricia Polacco. We will begin the week by reading a story called, “Meteor”. This story is about a meteor crashing down in Patricia’s home town. The children learn about it’s “magical powers” that is posseses. We will be discussing characters, setting, and plot with the story. We will also read another special book from Patricia Polacco called, “Rechenka’s Egg”. This story is about Babushka (grandma) takes in an injured duck, “Rechenka” and nurses her back to life. The children will learn about miracles and positive thinking throughout the story. They have greatly enjoyed each of her stories.

In phonics this week, we will introduce the students to the vowel dipthongs /au/ and /aw/ and discuss the sound that can be made from those dipthongs. We will also begin talking about using what we know about vowel patterns from this year to spell compound words with those irregular vowel patterns. Finally, we will be reviewing rhyming words and compound words.

Math

In math this week, we will talk about the following Unit 9 concepts: engaging in explorations that will involve capacity, symmetry, and heights, understanding fractional parts of the whole, reviewing digital time and writing subtraction number stories, comparing fractions, and talking about equivalent names for fractions. Please continue to practice skip counting, coin counting, and addition/subtraction skills with your child on a nightly basis!

Writing

In writing this week, we will continue working on our poetry unit of study. The students really did a great job before the break with taking risks with the poems that they were writing. After reviewing list poems, which we did not get to spend a lot of time with before break, we will introduce the students to the following poems: If only or I wonder poems, in which the students pretend to talk to something in nature and ask it questions; 5W poems, in which the students have a line for the poem that follows the format who, what, when, where, and why; and then animal parts of speech poems, in which the students think of an animal and write words for the various parts of speech that pertain to that animal.

Again, with each type of poem that we write, I will start with examples from past students, then we will write a poem together. Next, the students will have the opportunity to write on their own, and finally we will share some of our poems that we wrote that day.

Reminders

This WEDNESDAY is delayed start for the students. School will start at 10:00am!

Tuesday is the Dulles Art Show at 6:30pm. Please feel free to come by and check out all of the amazing art work or school has to offer!

Next Monday is our Track and Field Day. Please have your child wear comfortable clothes and apply sun-screen at home. The Track and Field day will last until lunch at 11:45am.

Please remember to check out the first grade calendar for important dates.

Please remember to bring back those library books on Thursday. If you happen to forget, please remember that each book is 5 cents for each day that it is late.

Parents,

    Good evening! I hope you had the opportunity to enjoy the nice weather we had on Sunday! The weather forecasters are calling for 80 degree days this week; just another distraction that we must face! We’ve got a busy week coming up. The children can feel summer right around the corner. Listed below is our weekly schedule. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Reading

   This week we will continue our Patricia Polacco author study. Our first story is called, “The Graves Family”. This story is about a very interesting and unique family that moves to the neighborhood. Many of the things they do and have in their house might seem a bit odd, however, we learn that they are just like everyone else! We are all unique in our own way and the children learn a valuable lesson about respect and how being different is special! The children will be making many connections with the Graves family and all of their quirky manners. We will be exploring a few stories by Patricia Polacco this week that will help us understand main idea and supporting details better. One of the stories this week will talk about a family quilt that is passed down from generation to generation in Patricia Polacco’s family. We will also be reading a story about how a meteor landed in Patricia’s town when she was growing up. The people in the town thought that the meteor gave them all magical powers. The students will be writing about what powers they would want if they were able to touch this magical meteor. If you would like to read more about Patricia Polacco, please visit her website by clicking here.

Math

In math this week, we will talk about the following Unit 9 concepts: solving number grid puzzles; reviewing telling time and what’s my rule tables; adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers; and engaging in explorations that will involve capacity, symmetry, and heights.  Please remember to continue working with What’s My Rule tables, counting coins, and addition/subtraction facts!

Writing

This week we will continue our poetry unit study. We have written 3 poems so far; free-choice, “I wonder poems”, and the “Animal Poem”. This week we will be concentrating on using less words to say more, ending our poems with a bang, and thinking of engaging titles for our poems. Towards the end of the week, we will be working on Awesome Adjective/List Poems, in which the students will think of an item that they can list a lot of something with (pizza for example) and then many different adjectives that they can use to describe that item. I will introduce the students to the following poems as well this week: If only or I wonder poems, in which the students pretend to talk to something in nature and ask it questions; 5W poems, in which the students have a line for the poem that follows the format who, what, when, where, and why; and then animal parts of speech poems, in which the students think of an animal and write words for the various parts of speech that pertain to that animal.

Again, with each type of poem that we write, I will start with examples from past students, then we will write a poem together. Next, the students will have the opportunity to write on their own, and finally we will share some of our poems that we wrote that day.

Reminders:

Please remember to check out the first grade calendar for important dates.

Please remember to bring back those library books on Thursday. If you happen to forget, please remember that each book is 5 cents for each day that it is late.

Parents,

Hello! I hope you are all well. The spring weather continues to add to the children’s overall excitement and anticipation of summer. I still can’t believe this year is almost over. I can’t begin to describe how proud I am of your children. They have truly come such a long way. I still remember the 1st day of school like it was yesterday. Below is the weekly run-down for our week. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Reading

This week we will continue  our study on Patricia Polacco. Last week we learned of two new characters, Rotten Ritchie and Patricia. The children loved hearing about rotten old Richie and his arguments/fights he has with his sister, Patricia. Needless to say, the children were able to quickly make connections to the story. They had little trouble describing their siblings as “rotten”. However, Patricia always provides some-sort of twist to her stories. She provides the classroom with a sense of friendship, bond, and love at the end of her stories. Richie and/or Patricia always step up to help each other out. It’s very cute to see how the children share their personal experiences with their siblings. This week we are going to read two Patricia Polacco stories. The first is called, “The Lemonade Club”. This story talks about two friends who share a very special experience together. We learn of love, friendship, and caring through Patricia’s choice of words and situations. We will also be discussing a difficult topic for children, cancer. One of the characters in the story named Marilyn, has leukemia. We learn of her battle with the disease and how the whole school comes together to support her chemo and treatment. It’s a beautiful tale of two friends that opens our hearts and minds! With that being said, I will also be talking to the children about cancer. I am sure they will have lots of detailed questions about the illness and I will of coarse do my absolute best to answer the questions for the students while keeping it on their level. I will encourage children to share stories or experiences that they may have with cancer if they feel comfortable with the class.

Writing

In writing this week, we will continue working on our poetry unit of study. The students really did a great job before the break with taking risks with the poems that they were writing. After reviewing list poems, which we did not get to spend a lot of time with before break, we will introduce the students to the following poems: If only or I wonder poems, in which the students pretend to talk to something in nature and ask it questions; 5W poems, in which the students have a line for the poem that follows the format who, what, when, where, and why; and then animal parts of speech poems, in which the students think of an animal and write words for the various parts of speech that pertain to that animal.

Again, with each type of poem that we write, I will start with examples from past students, then we will write a poem together. Next, the students will have the opportunity to write on their own, and finally we will share some of our poems that we wrote that day.

Math

In math this week, we will discuss the following Unit 8 concepts:  beginning to develop and understanding of fractional parts of the whole; finding fractional parts for a collection of things; and explorations involving exploring the relationship between fractions and multiples, naming fractional parts of regions, and practicing math facts . Please remember to continue working with What’s My Rule tables, Counting various coin combinations, and adding/subtracting numbers on the number grid!

Other

Other

The mealworms continue to be an exciting part of Room 16, for most students that is. We talked last week about molting, as some of our scientists noticed that there was skin present in their vials. Some of the students thought they added a new mealworm. Unfortunately, we have also had some scientists lose their mealworm to an early death. We have talked about how that can happen when we are investigating living things like plants and insects. We will continue observing our mealworms this week and recording our observations. Our observations are focusing on anything that has changed with our mealworms, as opposed to writing the same observations each week.

Reminders

This Wednesday is a Delayed Start. Students may arrive at 9:30.

Report cards are available online. Please let me know if you have any questions after reading over your son/daughter’s report card.

Please remember to check out the first grade calendar for important dates.

Please remember to bring back those library books on Thursday. If you happen to forget, please remember that each book is 5 cents for each day that it is late.

Parents,

Hello! I hope you have all enjoyed your Spring Break. We were very lucky to have nice weather all week long. I still can’t believe it’s already over, though! I have listed below our topics and activities for this week. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Thanks again.

Reading:

This week we are not only beginning a new author study, but we are diving into our Poetry study!

In writing this week, we are beginning our Poetry Unit of Study. Since April is National Poetry Month, the students in first grade are going to become immersed in poetry writing. We will be talking about many different types of poems and the students will be writing their own poems. We will be working towards creating a poetry anthology by the end of the month, in which the students will be publishing at least one poem in each of the different formats/types that we will be talking about.

We will be starting this week by introducing the students to poetry and talking about what they already know about poetry. Then we will expose the students to free verse poems and show examples of free verse poems that have been written by other first graders. We will be concentrating on using less words to say more, ending our poems with a bang, and thinking of engaging titles for our poems. Towards the end of the week, we will be working on Awesome Adjective/List Poems, in which the students will think of an item that they can list a lot of something with (pizza for example) and then many different adjectives that they can use to describe that item.

With each type of poem that we write, I will start with examples from past students, then we will write a poem together. Next, the students will have the opportunity to write on their own, and finally we will share some of our poems that we wrote that day.

We will also begin our next author’s study. We will begin reading our final author of the year, Patricia Polacco.  She is fabulous author that the children really enjoy listening to. She provides excellent life lessons that the children can identify easily with. I highly recommend heading to your local library to fetch a few of her books to share with your family.  If you would like to read more about Patricia Polacco, please visit her website by clicking here.

This week, we will be reading a story about a rotten older brother who is always trying to do things better than Patricia. The students enjoy the sibling rivalry humor in these stories and find it very easy to make meaningful connections with the characters and events. We will also be reviewing story elements with this story and focus on how thinking about what Patricia did to try to outdo her brother will help retell the important events in the story.

Math

In math this week, we will discuss the following Unit 8 concepts:  making change by counting up, beginning to talk about fractions with equal sharing of objects, and beginning to develop and understanding of fractional parts of the whole. Fractions can be a bit tricky for the students. For some crazy reason, food always seems to help them with their fraction practice. Try ordering a pizza, slicing up an apple, or cutting a pie into even pieces. The children are able to identify with the food and have a true connection to their learning. Please remember to continue working with What’s My Rule tables, counting coins, and adding/subtracting numbers.

Writing:

Please see the Poetry discussion under the Reading Heading!

Other

The mealworms continue to be an exciting part of Room 16, for most students that is. Many of the students were very concerned because their mealworms were not very active during our observations before break. In fact, many of the students were under the impression that their mealworms were dead. I reminded the students of what a dead mealworm looks like and told them that we would have to wait and see what happens after break. I anticipate that most of our mealworms will be in the pupa stage. Two of our scientists noticed that their mealworms were already in the pupa stage, so we talked a little about that stage in case we missed it over break. I do not anticipate any adult mealworms yet, but there is always a possibility. More on that to come! Again our observations are focusing on anything that has changed with our mealworms, as opposed to writing the same observations each week.

Reminders

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Spring Break as much as I did! I was able to get out and ride my bike a couple of times as well as build a new bike and coat rack for my apartment!

Report cards are available online. Please let me know if you have any questions after reading over your son/daughter’s report card.

Please remember to check out the first grade calendar for important dates.

Please remember to bring back those library books on Thursday. If you happen to forget, please remember that each book is 5 cents for each day that it is late.

Hello parents of room 12! We are in the final stretch of 1st grade as we begin the 4th quarter. I can’t believe that it is already Spring. Before we know it, summer vacations will be at our back door! Below is the agenda for the week. Please keep in mind that we have a field trip this Thursday, March 29th to the Children’s Theater. Please pack a lunch with your child on Thursday!

Reading:

Our fairy tales unit continues this week. We are going to first read “The Three Little Pigs” and discuss our fairy tales story elements. The children will also be comparing and contrasting other versions of the “Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf” as a class. Rapunzel is another story that we will be reading and we will completing a comparison activity with the book and play after the field trip. The students will also be thinking about the good and evil characters in each of the fairy tales and talking about the evidence they have for considering those characters good and evil.

Since last week was supposed to be a review week for phonics, as it was the end of the quarter, we are going to be reviewing some of the phonics skills that we have been working on the past few weeks.  We will also be working more with long /u/ vowel patterns and talking about the different ways that we can see that vowel sound.

Math

In math this week, we will be working with the following Unit 7 geometry concepts: exploring 3-dimensional shapes and their characteristics; introducing students to the concept of symmetry and identifying shapes and objects that have lines of symmetry; and reviewing the concepts we have covered in Unit 7. As you can see, Unit 7 is one of the shorter units of study in our math program.  Please remember to continue working with What’s My Rule tables. Click here for a template of What’s My Rule? tables. Please continue to practice the third and fourth quarter math skills listed on the classroom website as well!

Writing

This week we will continue to strengthen the children’s ability to write complete sentences. It is very typical to see a child at this age write run-on sentences that contain multiple thoughts. We are practicing our ability to end each thought with a punctuation mark. We will also practice writing “Thank you” letters as a class. We discuss what goes into a thank you letter and talk about who we might write our letters too. By the end of the week, I hope to have all the children finished with a thank you letter to a person they choose!

Other

As you may have heard, the mealworms have arrived in Room 16, as well as the other first grade classrooms. We were busy talking about the needs of the mealworms and talking about how we can make sure that we met all of their needs. Each student has been given two mealworms to keep in a vial to observe. While some of the students were not as eager as others to partake in this investigation, we did have everyone hold the mealworm for at least two seconds. Part of the goal of this investigation is to get the students/scientists to realize that insects can be completely harmless and there is nothing to be afraid of. For some of the students, this part takes a few weeks. This week, the students will complete their first official observation and record their findings.

Reminders

Our field trip to Children’s Theater to see Rapunzel is this Thursday (3/29). Please make sure you have your son/daughter pack lunch that day. Also, please make sure your son/daughter is on time that day, as the bus is leaving promptly at 9:10.

This Wednesday (3/28) is a Delayed Start. Students may arrive at 9:30.

Report cards will be available this Friday (3/30). Please let me know if you have any questions after reading over your son/daughter’s report card.

Please remember to check out the first grade calendar for important dates.

Please remember to bring back those library books on Thursday. If you happen to forget, please remember that each book is 5 cents for each day that it is late.

WOW! I can’t believe we are finishing up the final week of the third quarter. It seems like just yesterday we were relaxing during our winter break. Spring has arrived and the children are very eager to be outside playing. I must admit this week I will be battling mother nature for the attention of our little ones. Listed below is the agenda for this week. A quick reminder that tomorrow, Tuesday, March 20th, is Grandparents Open House at 7:00pm. I hope to meet lots of grandparents!

Reading

In preparation for our field trip at the end of the month, we will begin a Fairy Tale study that will span the next two weeks. In addition to discussing the various characteristics of a fairy tale, we will also be examining cause and effect as it occurs in the fairy tales. This week, we are going to focus our attention on the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We will be reading three different versions of the fairy tale this week and discussing the characteristics as they occur in those fairy tales. We will also be comparing and contrasting the different versions of the story. Towards the end of the week, the students will be writing their own ending of the fairy tale.

Math

This week we will begin Chapter 7 which investigates shapes. Our unit will cover the following Unit 7 geometry concepts: sorting attribute blocks by attributes; explorations involving strengthening our understanding of attributes, as well as fact platters; identifying 2-dimensional shapes and understanding their characteristics; and constructing polygons. Please remember to practice coin counting, measuring in CM, and What’s My Rule boxes at home with your child on a nightly basis. These are all very important 1st grade skills!

Writing

This week we will be working on a thank you letter. During this time, we will focus on complete sentence writing, correct punctuation, capitalization, and adding specific details to our writing. I will be collecting this at the end of the week as an assessment grade for the 3rd Quarter Report Card

Other

Remember to turn in field trip permission slips and money by Wednesday. I will be randomly drawing the two chaperones on Monday as well and will let the two lucky winners know as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who was able to volunteer their services.

Don’t forget that Tuesday Night (3/20) is our first grade Open House/Grandparents’ Night. The fun begins at 7:00! We hope to see you all there, as we have a lot of hard work to show off to our special visitors.

Spring Pictures are Thursday (3/22).

There is no school on Friday (3/23) as it is a Teacher In-service day. Take advantage of the spring weather!

There is no spelling homework due this week, as it is the end of the quarter Thursday.

Please remember to check out the first grade calendar for important dates.

Please remember to bring back those library books on Thursday. If you happen to forget, please remember that each book is 5 cents for each day that it is late.

Wow! This year continues to fly by! I still can’t believe we are already in the month of March. The children have truly grown, both academically and socially. Thank you so much for meeting with me last week. It was great catching up with everyone. Listed below is our activities for the week. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks again!

In reading this week, we will be wrapping up our non-fiction author’s study. The students have done a fantastic job on their animal presentations. We are going to continue to work on the presentations on Monday and Tuesday. My goal is to have the children present on Wednesday of this week. If you have not gotten a chance to check them out yet, make sure and have your son/daughter log into Google Docs and show you their hard work. We will also share our hard work with our families and grandparents on Open House (March 20th). We will also be getting together with the other first grade classrooms and comparing and contrasting our animals this Friday. All of the bear groups will get together, whale groups, etc.

Also this week, we will be starting our next author’s study. We will be spending the next few weeks working with books by Ezra Jack Keats. This week, we will be reviewing literary elements, talking about drawing conclusions about what is happening in the stories, making and confirming predictions, and answering higher level comprehension questions. Ezra Jack Keats also has characters that reoccur in numerous stories, so students will also have the chance to make connections as well.

Our phonics review will continue this week. We will continue to practice contractions and the -er  -est endings. We started a bit last week, but got caught up with our animal projects which took up a bit of time during our day.

Math

In math this week, we will be working with the following Unit 6 concepts: introducing students to the quarter and counting coin combinations involving quarters; introducing the students to the concept of digital time, introducing the students to the Math Reference Book and how we use it; collecting data, making bar graphs, and then finding the median and range from that data; and reviewing material that we have covered in Unit 6.  Please remember to continue working with What’s My Rule tables and counting coins. We are going to practice counting groups of coins throughout the week and the year. Have your child take out a group of coins from mom’s purse and count them for you.

Writing

In writing this week, In anticipate that we will spending some of our time on our animal research projects. If we do have time for writing workshop this week, we will work on the following concepts: avoiding beginning sentences with that and when, establishing a setting in our stories, and fixing run-on sentences.

Science

The students were introduced to some of the properties of liquids last week. They were reinforcing their understanding of these properties through a Go Fish and Memory game. This week, we will be talking about how liquids take up space in containers, as well as what happens to the liquid level of a bottle as it is slowly tipped over. I have been very impressed with the choices that the students have been making in these investigations the past few weeks. These are typically investigations where they can get carried away, but they have really been focusing on the fact that scientists are serious. Keep up the great work Room 12!

Other

Thanks again for all your hard work in the Animal Research homework. As I mentioned before, the students did a great job bringing in their research and sharing it with their groups. I do hope you take some time to check out their hard work. We would also like to thank the 4th and 5th grade eKids who helped us with our presentations!.

Please remember to check out the first grade calendar for important dates. Please remember to bring back those library books on Thursday. If you happen to forget, please remember that each book is 5 cents for each day that it is late.

We have a lot of fun and exciting things going on in room 12 this week! Below is a brief description of our week! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Reading

In reading this week, we will be wrapping up our non-fiction author’s study. The students will be working in small groups on an animal research project. The groups have been assigned an animal and a particular area to become an expert on. They are going to get together with their groups this week and talk about the information that they found. Then they will be creating a PowerPoint Presentation in Google Docs. After typing in their information in the slides, they will be working with their group to find appropriate images for their presentation as well using the internet. We will also have the luxury of having some our eKids helping us embark on this journey. My hope is to have these presentations finished by the end of the week so that we can share them with the class next week. One of the benefits of Google Docs is that you can see your son/daughter’s group work when you are at home by logging into their Google Docs account from home.

Each of the first grade classrooms are researching a particular type of animal in each of the groups, and then our hope is to bring together all of the students who were working with each group of animal and work together to compare and contrast the animals (so all of the students who researched a type of whale would get together with one first grade teacher, for example). We are very excited about taking our animal non-fiction research project to the next level in this digital age, but we are also moving forward slowly, expecting numerous “bumps in the road.”

In phonics, we are going to be introducing the students to comparative endings. We will be talking with the students about how words that end with /er/ and /est/ compare two or more things. Understanding these endings will also help the students when they are decoding unknown words or when they are introduced to unfamiliar vocabulary in texts. We will also be talking with the students about how the letters /dge/ make the /j/ sound in the middle and at the end of words. Finally, we will continue to work with contractions this week as well.

Math

In math this week, we are going to continue or work in chapter 6. We will begin by practicing our addition facts and transition into counting different combinations of coins. This can be a very difficult topic for the children to grasp. We are transitioning between coins; first counting quarters, then dimes, then nickels, and finally pennies. I highly encourage extra practice at home with your child. Don’t be afraid to pull out a random amount of coins from your purse and practice counting with your child. We will finish the week reviewing digital time on clocks and how we use it.

Writing

Writing will be a two-prong experience for the children this week. We will be spending a great amount of time on our animal projects. We are also in the beginning stages of our “Pen-Pal” program. I am awaiting confirmation back from our sister school in the Cincinnati Public School district. We will also be talking about the following topics in our mini-lessons this week: using correct verb tenses, making sure we are writing in complete sentences, and making sure that we are ending our stories with a BANG!

Other

Now that the Book Fair has ended, we will be excited to get back to checking our library books this Thursday. Please make sure to bring back your library books on Thursday

Remember that the Animal Non-Fiction Research Homework is due on Monday of this week. Please do your best to have that homework in on time so that your son/daughter’s group can get off to a great start. Please let me know if you have any more questions with this project, and thanks again for your help with this project.

We will take a spelling assessment on Thursday of this week for the third quarter spelling words. Please practice your words and check your son/daughter’s assessment to see what words he/she should be focusing on the last few weeks of the quarter.

Please remember to check out the first grade calendar for important dates. Please remember to bring back those library books on Thursday. If you happen to forget, please remember that each book is 5 cents for each day that it is late.