OCTOBER IN GRADE ONE

Dates to remember

*October 6th full day teacher inservice

*October 9th Columbus Day

*October 26th early dismissal due to Parent Teacher Conferences from 1:00 to   8:00

*October 27th NO School due to Parent Teacher Conferences from 8:00 to 12:00

READING

We will be continuing to review consonant sounds and short vowel sounds.  Through reading texts we will be comparing and contrasting, and working with cause and effect.  Our reading genres will be fantasy, realism and realistic fiction.  A main focus will be on story structure and elements.  Reviewing and working on high frequency words will be done.  Students will continue to read just right books daily.

WRITING

We are still working on small moments.  We are working on ways to bring our stories to life, make our characters talk, move, feel, and think.  We are working on telling our stories in steps.  After we complete our narrative unit, each student will publish their favorite small moment story.

MATH

We will be finishing up unit one this month.  We will be working on composing numbers.  Our unit 2 is on 2-dimensional geometry.  A goal is decomposing and composing 2-D shapes. We will also describe and sort shapes.  

SCIENCE

Our second unit is Communication.  We will discuss how people can communicate with people who are nearby and far away.  Our discussions will be centered around how we communicate with others.  The students will practice communicating using light and Morse Code.  They will also create a telephone using cups and string.  They will need to build, test, and explain their creation.  It is always amazing to see how many “phones” do work!

OTHER

Please continue to check communication folders daily.  

The year has started wonderfully and the first graders are awesome!

STUFFY DAY

We did it!!  We earned over 500+ Dojo points.  The fantastic first graders voted……..and the results are in. Bring your favorite stuffed animal to school won.  So, on Friday the 29th we will each bring in our favorite stuffy to tell about, write about, read to, and practice math with.

September News From Grade One

We are off to a wonderful start!  The students are all so eager and anxious to learn all about grade one.  We have worked on classroom and schoolwide rules and expectations.  Just a few reminders…..We do not bring toys to school unless it is for a special day or a reward.  We can not heat up meals at lunchtime.  

Here is a little bit about what we will be working on this month……..

MATH

How Many of Each is our unit one title.  We will be working with the mathematical ideas of counting, ordering, comparing quantities, and addition.  Children will be asked to explain their math thinking and reasoning.  We are also working on correct number formation.  

READING

We have started our Back to School Review Unit.  In this unit we work with introducing the reading strategies of prediction, retell/summarize, and question.  We review rhymes, beginning sounds, and other phonemic awareness skills.  Letter formation and recognition is also a focus.  We will also review high frequency words that were taught in Kindergarten. The students  have started read to self time, and we are working on increasing our reading stamina.  We are also working on selecting a “just right” or a “good fit book”.  Doing this will increase reading fluency and accuracy.  

WRITING

Writing Small Moments with Independence is unit one!  As writers they will be challenged to bring their small moments to life.  They will make a beginning for their story, show what happens in order, use details to help the reader picture the story, and make an ending for their story.  

SCIENCE

Coming up…...we will study the behavior of light.  Students will observe reflection of light, and which materials allow light to pass through and which material block light.  

September will be a busy and fun month.  If you have any questions or concerns please contact me. We are partners in this adventure called first grade!