Friday 9/28

Happy 'No School Friday' Fantastic First Grade Families! I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend! We had a short week, but it was jam packed with learning!

Guided Reading is officially underway! I have been meeting with small groups for individualized reading instruction while the other First Graders are making their independent Daily 5 choices. Between Mrs. Marting and myself, each First Grader is seen anywhere between 3-5 times a week. We are learning valuable strategies to become better readers using Just Right books.

All of the First Graders were looking extra fancy for Picture Day, so we decided to take a class picture!

 We couldn't resist taking a goofy picture too!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Wednesday 9/19/2012

Thanks for stopping by Fantastic First Grade Families!

It’s been a BUSY three days this week!

After practicing and practicing, we have officially added the fourth part of Daily Five to our daily rotations – Listen to Reading! Each day 10 First Graders get the opportunity to listen to stories online using our classroom laptops and their personal headphones. This is BY FAR the students’ favorite part of Daily Five – they are so excited when it is their turn to Listen to Reading!

As a whole class we have begun practicing the fifth and final part of Daily Five – Word Work. We have been sorting S, T, and ST words getting comfortable with our options during the Word Work portion of Daily 5. Once the students’ have mastered working independently with our Word Sorts, we will officially have completed Daily Five. This means the students will have five different options to choose from during our Guided Reading time.

In Writing we continue to write our pattern books. We have been writing our Number Pattern books - both counting UP and counting DOWN and have now moved into Days of the Week pattern books. These First Graders LOVE to write and LOVE to share their writing with their classmates. Each day we take time for a few First Graders to share writing - whether it is finished or still in the process! The student's book is placed on the ELMO for everyone to see on the board and they use the microphone to make sure EVERYONE can hear their story!

 Laptop Time still continues to be one of the favorites in First Grade!

 Work on Writing - one option is writing in our Writer's Notebooks. 

 Listen to Reading - we have officially added this part of Daily Five and it's a HIT!

 Read to Someone - always a good choice during Daily Five!

 Mrs. Marting has her own table in our room to comfortably meet with her Guided Reading groups.

 Word Work - sorting our words by their initial sound: S, T, or ST.

Word Work - working with a buddy to sort our words helps us HEAR the initial sound in each word to recognize if it is S, T, or ST.

Have a GREAT night!

First Grade Friday!

Happy Friday Fantastic First Grade Families! I don’t know about you, but this week sure flew by!
 
On Thursday, our CSR Mrs. Marting began coming into our room to meet with Guided Reading Groups. We’re really getting in the swing of things with Daily 5! The students are now practicing choosing their own Daily 5 choice. This means that at any given point there will be First Graders Reading to Self, Reading to Someone, Working on Writing, or meeting with Mrs. Marting. We will continue to add in the other two components of Daily 5 – Listen to Reading and Word Work.

During Work on Writing, we have many options! We can choose to write in our Writer's Notebooks, our journals, or continue working on our writing from Writer's Workshop. We are currently writing counting pattern books.  

 When we Work on Writing we know that we:
Choose a spot around the room and stay in that spot
Write THE WHOLE TIME!
Work quietly
Write about anything we choose





 

 

 

 
Today we took our first Math test! The students did fabulous! Keep an eye out for the graded test to come home Monday. Again, you will find EE, ME, SD, or AC as your child’s grade.
 
Our second week of spelling has come to an end as well! These principles we are practicing are skills that will help us all throughout First Grade, so it is important we are practicing at home too. Principle 3 and new Star Sight Words will come home Monday!
 
Thank you to each and every one of you for sending field trip permission slips back by today. No one missed the deadline! WOO HOO! J
 
Have a GREAT weekend!

Concord Flyer Tuesday

Today is Concord Flyer Tuesday which means your child will have multiple papers in their Take Home Folder. Don’t forget to check out the Scholastic Book Order! Remember, if you choose to order ONLINE instead of by paper, our classroom will receive FREE BOOKS!

If you have not already turned in the permission slip for Tennessee Theatre Company’s Production of The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood on Monday, March 11, 2013 at E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall I sent another permission slip home with your child. Please sign and return by FRIDAY 9/14.

We had another marvelous morning with the laptops today! We still continue practicing logging on and getting familiar with the laptops. We spent our time exploring www.ABCYA.com. Check it out at home for educational activities for your First Grader!

During Read to Someone, we know it is important to quickly and quietly find a partner. We have been practicing silently raising a book in the air to let our classmates know, "I need a partner!"

We also know there might be a time when there is an uneven amount of First Graders who choose Read to Self during Daily 5, but we can make it work!

In Math we are learning about Order Property and Ways to Make 10. We defined Order Property in our Math Journals: the order of the addends does not change the sum: 3 + 4 = 7 and 4 + 3 = 7. We’ve also discovered the ELEVEN ways to make 10. Today we played a game with our Math Partners to practice all the ways to make 10. Ask your child if they can explain Order Property and give you three ways to make 10!

IMPORTANT REMINDER: TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12) IS AN EARLY RELEASE DAY!

Library Day!

Happy Monday Fantastic First Grade Families!

I hope everyone had a chance to get outside this weekend because the weather was BEAUTIFUL!

In your child’s Take Home Folder you will find their graded spelling test from Friday 9/7. You will also find their Spelling Principle 2 list and Special Star Sight Words. This week we are learning that you can change the first letter of a word to make a new word (far, tar, bar).  Based on our spelling tests from last week, your child has THREE Special Star Sight Words for this week instead of two.  It is important to practice our Spelling Principle and Special Star Sight Words each night along with 15 minutes of reading!

Today was our second time visiting the Library! Although Mrs. Graef was not there to give us a lesson, we still returned our books and checked out new books with Mrs. House. We still continue to practice using the IPICK strategy when picking out books, even when we’re at the library.

 When we came back from the Library we had a few minutes before lunch so we spent some time reading our new library books!

Once we have checked out our books, we know that we should wait for our friends sitting criss cross applesauce reading our new books in a line by the door. 

The First Graders are really enjoying Read to Someone! We continue to practice finding a spot to sit EEKK together, check for understanding with our partner, and build stamina.

If you have not turned in your child’s permission slip to see Tennessee Theatre Company’s Production of The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood on Monday, March 11, 2013 at E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall please do so by this Friday 9/14. I will gladly send another copy home if you need me to.

Don’t forget this Wednesday 9/12 is an EARLY RELEASE day. If your child’s normal dismissal routine will change, please send a note as a reminder for me and your child. 

Read to Someone!

Happy Friday Fantastic First Grade Families!

Even though we had a short week, it was four days full of learning!

As we dive further into Daily 5, we continue to build our Read to Self stamina. We have reached 12 straight minutes of Reading to Self! 

We have also started practicing Read to Someone. We know that it is important to Read to Someone to practice our fluency, reading strategies, and become better readers all around!

When we Read to Someone we sit EEKK:

Elbow to elbow

Knee to knee

I read to you

You read to me

Elbow to elbow

Knee to knee

Book in the middle

So we both can see

While we Read to Someone we are checking for understanding after each page. It is important our partner is comprehending what we are reading to them!

 The character word of the month for September is RESPECT. This morning we took some time to brainstorm what respect means to First Graders. We know it’s important to show respect to teachers, classmates, and family members. Being respectful to ourselves and others is important in Room 11! We will continue working this word into our everyday vocabulary and practicing being respectful toward others.

Our first spelling test went great! Check your child’s Take Home Folder on Monday for their graded spelling tests. You will see one of the following at the top of your child’s test:

EE – exceeds expectation

ME – meets expectation (this is where we want your child!)

SD – still developing

AC – area of concern

This afternoon we met with our buddy class! Miss Rauschenbach’s third grade class came to our classroom after our spelling test. With September 11 approaching next week, we took some time to write thank you notes to our local Firefighters and Police Officers. Some of the students have family members who help serve and protect us so it was especially important to them!

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Hopefully it’s not as rainy as last weekend!