Week of October 2nd

Dear First Grade Families,

I updated the blog, but forgot to let you know, so there are two posts! Today was our 25th day of school! The students have done a wonderful job learning our classroom routines, building community, and making friends. I am amazed by their stamina and ability to to work, work, work! Students are working on building their independence during center time so that I can pull small groups. Right now, students are learning their jobs and what to do when they're "finished" so that they do not have to interrupt the teacher or other friends who are working.

Literacy

-We wrapped up Unit 1 of Fundations. This unit focused on the letter name, keyword, and letter sound. We also did a lot of practice with letter formation. We are working really hard on making our letters the correct size and shape, as well as orientation! Lowercase b's and d's are always challenging for first graders. We are working hard to remember that b's start on the skyline and d's start "like a c" on the plane line. Students are practicing correct letter formation during center time. We celebrated the end of Unit 1 by making "Echo the Owl" crowns and having a snack of alphabet cookies. Students also posed for a picture with Echo the Owl. Those pictures are below!

-We have started Unit 2 of Fundations. This unit focuses on tapping words to read and spell them. We are focusing on consonant vowel consonant (CVC) words, such a dog and job. Some students are fluent with CVC words in reading and writing, but tapping is important because when we move beyond CVC words, we learn that multisyllabic words are made up of little parts that can be tapped out. We've practiced tapping out words like "rabbit."

-We have been working on writing full sentences. We learned that sentences have a naming part (who?) and a telling part (what?). We have been working on writing full sentences. Students continue to practice starting sentences with a capital letter, leaving spaces between words, and punctuation at the end. Students will get MUCH more practice writing full sentences when we begin doing dictation during our Fundations lessons.

-We have been doing daily phonemic awareness lessons. Students are practicing skills, such as: generating rhyming words, listening for the beginning/ending sounds in words, breaking words apart (t-each, teach), breaking words apart, changing the beginning sound in a word to make a new word, and repeating sentences and counting the words.

Math

-We wrapped up our first unit focusing on counting and using the number line to add and subtract. We had our first math assessment.

-We are starting unit 2, which will focus on addition and subtraction strategies. We have learned the games: Roll and Total and 10 Frame Top It.

Social Studies/Science

-This week we learned about Fire Safety. We learned about firefighters and fire safety rules. Next week, on our early release day, students will have a visit from the Kittery Firefighters and get a chance to check out a firetruck! I am so excited as this has been put on pause for the last few years!

NEXT WEEK - We will be using the iPads to take math and reading assessments. If your child has a pair of headphones (not earbuds), please send them to school in a ziploc bag labeled with your child's name. We will use the headphones on Tuesday/Thursday. If you do not have headphones, do not worry! I have 5 pairs for the class and I can borrow from other teachers if needed.

REMINDERS

-No school tomorrow, October 6th or Monday, October 9th

-Early release day October 11th

-Please remember to send your child to school each day with a water bottle and snack.

-As the weather cools down, please send your child to school with a sweatshirt or light jacket.

Pictures.. in no particular order!