First
Grade
Flyer
September
16, 2016
We are off to a fabulous start this year! What a nice group of first graders, they are
excited to learn! Some classroom
expectations we are working on are: being active listeners (with their whole
body), following directions (even if you don’t want too) and keeping up with
our busy and fast paced routines. Please support these same topics at home by
giving your child daily responsibilities and chores. Some ideas are: Jobs such as hanging up coats
and backpacks, putting their lunchbox by your sink, setting or clearing the
table, wiping down counters, empting dishwashers, folding or sorting laundry,
or taking out the trash. Consistent
expectations and reinforcement are important for 6 and 7 year olds to
learn. They can do these jobs as a way
to practice following directions and to help out their family.
This week we have also dedicated time
to talking/reading about being a “school family.” Members of a family help one another, practice
always being respectful, responsible, ready and safe. We also discussed how to react if someone does
or says mean things to you… (Stop! Take
a breath, and then react with words. Don’t continue the negative action.) Our focus word this week was “empathy.” We are learning to put ourselves “in someone
else’s shoes” and how to show kindness and compassion as well.
Starting
next week, we will continue our morning with Reader’s Workshop. This is when I
model what good readers do and teach
a reading strategy through a mini-lesson. After the mini-lesson the children
are given a basket of books to independently practice what they have just
learned. The strategies that will be taught next
week are Good Readers … practice everyday, predict during the story as to what
they think will happen next, and look at the pictures to get our brains
thinking about what words we might see on that page and how to pick out a “Just
Right book” for themselves. We will
also be starting our “Writer’s Workshop”.
Everyday your child will produce a piece of writing. At this point in the year, we review what
authors and illustrators do, model how to think of a topic (out loud), choose a
topic, sketch a quick drawing of your idea, count how many words are in their
sentence when spoken out loud, and stretch each sound in the word to write it. We also remind them about “5 Star Sentences”:
1. We start our sentences with a capital letter.
2. Leave spaces
between our words
3. Use punctuation
at the end
5. Our sentences need to be neat
When writing at home (a thank you note,
message to a parent or Grandparent,, grocery list…) with your child, please be
consistent in following this same routine.
In a couple of weeks, your child will
be bringing home a leveled book from my classroom. These are in a special bag and labeled with
your child’s name. You will find a note
inside the bag, for parents, explaining how to help your child when reading at
home.
Please assist your child
in remembering to return it daily for a new book J
In math, our math workshop time is in full
swing! We learned many math routines and
procedures and we began using lots of different “math tools” that will help us
become great “mathematicians!” Our focus
in Unit 1 is on building numbers and solving story problems. Great start mathematicians!
We will soon begin our investigation of U.S.
National Symbols for Social Studies. We will
learn important facts about the American Flag, Bald Eagle, Liberty Bell, Statue
of Liberty, White House, and Mount Rushmore . We will look at some literature and will be
viewing short video clips and making posters to teach others about these unique
symbols.
Every Friday, your child will be bringing home a
red Wildcat folder (unfortunately, these folders have not come in yet, loose
papers will be in your child’s backpack this week). This folder will contain important
information from the office and our classroom. Please return these folders to
school every Monday after removing all papers.
At this point for homework, please encourage your child to read daily
before bed, finding sight words and pointing to the words as you or they
read.
We had a super first 2 weeks with your child. We hope they have enjoyed their first grade
experience so far!
Thank you
for all of the generous classroom
donations; we greatly appreciate it!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Ms. Mason and Mrs. Putnam
Reminders:
*Send a healthy, peanut free snack for your child
every
day.
*Be prepared for the day’s specials classes (see
special schedule included in paperwork in backpacks today)
* Send all lunch money in an envelope or baggie
with your child’s name on the front.
Important Dates:
ü
Sept.21
PTC Boxtop collection kick off
ü
Sept. 22 PTC Chuck E Cheese Night
ü
Sept. 23 Picture
Day
ü
Sept. 23 Blackout Football Game
ü
Sept. 27 Family Watch Dog Night 6-7pm/PTC meeting
7-8pm
ü
Sept. 30 Field trip money due ($12) and PTC Hat
day
