The first-very short-week is done! It was a busy, busy week! In fact, I overheard one young friend tell another friend he was "exhausted" at 9:30 Friday morning! The first three days were even better than I'd hoped! Despite the heat in our room, the kids worked hard and played hard.
We've been reading lots of great books and reviewing Fundations skills. As you may remember from kindergarten, Fundations is our spelling/phonics program. For the next week or two, the lessons are a review of the skills students learned last year with an emphasis on handwriting...properly forming the letters in the lines and spacing on writing paper. Our daily work is practicing sounds and "tapping" words as well as practicing "trick words." Trick words are words that are phonetically irregular and can't be "tapped." When children learn to tap words, they are learning to tap once for each sound heard in a word. To tap a word like "bat", students tap three times: /t/ and /a/ and /p/. But students also tap three times for a word like "fish" because fish also has only three sounds: /f/ and /i/ and /sh/. Although the sound /sh/ has two letters, it makes only one sound so one tap. As the units progress, I'll send you information about the current skill being learned.
Our first math unit starts with explorations of the many fun math manipulatives that we'll use throughout the school year. This first unit uses "bugs" as the vehicle for addition and subtraction learning. Our discussions and activities are often related to beetles, ladybugs or butterflies. Our first week of Number Corner has been an introduction to the daily routines (focusing on calendar skills), but next week your child will be introduced to day of the week routines: Money Monday; Time, Temperature, Tally Tuesday; Workout Wednesday; Thursday Thinking; and Friday's Figuring. Each day the group is presented with a content specific task or game to learn. All of the activities are meant to be engaging to young learners and often students are completely unaware of the complexity of the tasks they're being asked to complete because of the fun they're having while learning! Math homework doesn't begin for a few weeks and then is sent home once a week in the form of a game or family activity. On occasion, I may send your family and "extra" game based on need, following an assessment. These extra games are meant to help your child master a skill and I hope you'll find time to play at home!
And speaking of homework...the most important thing that you can do at home with your child is READ! I know days can be short and before you know it, it's almost time for bed. Please try to find time each day to spend with books. It's equally important for you to read to your child as it is for your child to practice reading to him/herself. We've already begun the reading assessments which will help me determine the best place to begin reading instruction for your child. Reading involves two very important steps: reading the words (decoding) and understanding what those words mean (comprehension). Many early readers learn to read many words but don't have a deep understanding of what is read. It's very important for both processes to be well developed! We'll be working on both this year!
I'm very excited to get back to school on Tuesday! I hope you and your children have a restful and fun weekend!
Stay dry!
Michelle
Monday, September 5, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Rain, Rain Go Away!
We had indoor recess several days this week which makes for a very "busy" afternoon! And kiddos are coming to school with big, red bug bites! Nurse Shelley has something miraculous that she puts on that seems to make the itching go away!
On June 9th our class will travel to the Audubon Center in Huntington for a program called Wetland Explorations. Our class, along with Mrs. McGuire's class, will leave school at 8:30 and return by 11:30 which means the kids will be having lunch here at school. As the name implies, we'll be outside in the WETlands! If your child has rubber rain boots (or can borrow a pair from a friend) that would be best! If not, an extra pair of sneakers with dry socks would work. They will likely need bug spray and possibly sunscreen...keep your fingers crossed that it isn't raining because we go rain or shine! (Anyone want to volunteer for this trip?) I'll send you more details next week so you'll know exactly what to pack. We really would love volunteers, so if you'd like to spend a few hours out by the pond with a bunch of curious first graders, please let me know!
Our farm unit is drawing to a close and the kids are dying to bring the farms home. We have a few more farm activities and I'll begin by sending home a folder with all of their payment sheets (I know you'll be surprised to hear that farm land in "Hinesville" only costs $10 a square!) Please ask your child all about the farm and the animals they learned about...cows, chickens, goats, horses, sheep and pigs. It's been a really fun unit and I'm sad to see it come to an end!
Have a great weekend!
On June 9th our class will travel to the Audubon Center in Huntington for a program called Wetland Explorations. Our class, along with Mrs. McGuire's class, will leave school at 8:30 and return by 11:30 which means the kids will be having lunch here at school. As the name implies, we'll be outside in the WETlands! If your child has rubber rain boots (or can borrow a pair from a friend) that would be best! If not, an extra pair of sneakers with dry socks would work. They will likely need bug spray and possibly sunscreen...keep your fingers crossed that it isn't raining because we go rain or shine! (Anyone want to volunteer for this trip?) I'll send you more details next week so you'll know exactly what to pack. We really would love volunteers, so if you'd like to spend a few hours out by the pond with a bunch of curious first graders, please let me know!
Our farm unit is drawing to a close and the kids are dying to bring the farms home. We have a few more farm activities and I'll begin by sending home a folder with all of their payment sheets (I know you'll be surprised to hear that farm land in "Hinesville" only costs $10 a square!) Please ask your child all about the farm and the animals they learned about...cows, chickens, goats, horses, sheep and pigs. It's been a really fun unit and I'm sad to see it come to an end!
Have a great weekend!
Friday, May 13, 2011
What a Whirlwind!
It's already May and the end of the year is in sight! Luckily, first graders have a very different sense of time and they don't realize how quickly the end is coming! We'll keep having math and reading and writing and spelling right up to the very end. By keeping the schedule as normal as possible, the class will continue to be kind and productive and learning!
Our farm unit in math is in full swing! The farms are taking shape and have barns, farmhouses, silos, sheep, cows, chickens, goats, pigs...the farmers here are very busy! You'll be happy to know that a house in "Hinesville" costs only $30! The kids are so excited and most days kids spend extra time in the morning working on their farms. We've read many great books about farms and farm animals. They really do have a better understanding of how much work it is to farm and what a dangerous job it can be. More importantly, perhaps, they have worked really hard to "pay" for everything on their farm. There were days where I'd planned some extra time to help them count out (for example) $27 to pay for the barn. I was certain that using two tens, a five and two ones would be really tricky...the entire class whizzed through that activity and surprised me! It's even more motivating than I thought! We had a special visit this week...Nathan Brown (from Mrs. McGuire's class) invited his grandmother to bring her lamb to show and share with our classes. Each child had the chance to pet the lamb, named Blanca. Very sweet!
I've been working on the end of the year reading assessments. I know...it's early to begin the END of year assessments, but our supervisory union collects data and most of it needs to be in by June 1st or not long after. On a positive note, children are doing REALLY well and showing great growth!
As the end of year activities draw closer (Move Up day, field days, school picnic, etc.) I'll be sure to send reminders. Field days usually has a water activity which requires a bathing suit and/or change of clothes...sunscreen...etc.
Have a great weekend!
Michelle
Our farm unit in math is in full swing! The farms are taking shape and have barns, farmhouses, silos, sheep, cows, chickens, goats, pigs...the farmers here are very busy! You'll be happy to know that a house in "Hinesville" costs only $30! The kids are so excited and most days kids spend extra time in the morning working on their farms. We've read many great books about farms and farm animals. They really do have a better understanding of how much work it is to farm and what a dangerous job it can be. More importantly, perhaps, they have worked really hard to "pay" for everything on their farm. There were days where I'd planned some extra time to help them count out (for example) $27 to pay for the barn. I was certain that using two tens, a five and two ones would be really tricky...the entire class whizzed through that activity and surprised me! It's even more motivating than I thought! We had a special visit this week...Nathan Brown (from Mrs. McGuire's class) invited his grandmother to bring her lamb to show and share with our classes. Each child had the chance to pet the lamb, named Blanca. Very sweet!
I've been working on the end of the year reading assessments. I know...it's early to begin the END of year assessments, but our supervisory union collects data and most of it needs to be in by June 1st or not long after. On a positive note, children are doing REALLY well and showing great growth!
As the end of year activities draw closer (Move Up day, field days, school picnic, etc.) I'll be sure to send reminders. Field days usually has a water activity which requires a bathing suit and/or change of clothes...sunscreen...etc.
Have a great weekend!
Michelle
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