1st Grade Blog

Please remember students should wear their PE clothes and PE appropriate shoes on PE days. Even if PE is on a Friday (which is normally casual dress day) students still need to wear their PE uniform.

Snacktime Reminder

Students perform better when they have good food in their bodies. Please try to send your student with a simple, healthy snack that they can enjoy in the afternoon.  This extra nutrition can help their brains and bodies do their best in the late afternoon and during after school activities.

Announcements: 

For the most up-to-date and more detailed information about what we are working on in the classroom, please check the lesson plans on renweb and bloomz.

Literacy: We’re learning more strategies that we can use while reading any type of book. Our current unit focuses on fluency, phonics, and comprehension. Students are doing three reading jobs independently or with a partner. Students are doing read-to-self (once a week, this includes picking new books from the classroom library), read-to-someone, and listening. Ask your child to tell you about their reading jobs! Also during literacy time, students do word work building phonics and spelling skills based on their current level and needs.

Writing: We are writing our opinions. We are using sentence starters like “I think”, “I feel”, and “In my opinion”.

Math: We’re learning about place value and comparing numbers within 40. We do math stations daily and do independent work to build addition fact fluency and do guided math to develop new skills.

Social Studies: We’re learning about getting along with others.

Picking good fit books

Students will use this strategy for picking good fit books from our classroom library or “Book Nook”. This will ensure that they are reading a book that will challenge them, but not to the point of frustration.

I PICK:

I look over the book inside and out

Purpose – Students should ask themselves why they are reading a book.

Interest- Students should ask themselves whether they are interested in a topic, author, or theme.

Comprehension – Students should ask themselves if they can understand the meaning of the text.

Know – Students should ask themselves if they know MOST (95%+) of the words.

New Words

We are always learning new words! Some are words that are introduced as part of a lesson, while others pop up while we are reading or discussing. I will list them here. With the newest words a the top of the list.

content – what is inside something

feminism – the belief that men and women are equal.

fluency – the ability to do something quickly and easily

sum – the answer to an addition sentence

addend – a number that is added in an addition sentence (equation)

stamina – being able to do something for a long time

collaboration – working together

Bloomz  is where I will update parents on what’s going on in the classroom.  It’s a great place to see many photos and videos throughout the year so you can get a look inside our classroom.

Raz-Kids is where students will be reading each night. Students can read a story, listen to a story and answer questions about a story. Ideally students should do all 3 for at least one story a night.

Log in information coming soon.

Sumdog is a fun math game site. Students can practice their math skills while playing games, earning points, and competing against friends.

Log in information coming soon.

Counting by 1’s

Common core standard: Extend the counting sequence (Count to 120, starting at any number less than 120).

Counting down

We’ve been practicing counting down in preparation for subtraction.

Counting by 2’s

Common core standard: Add and subtract within 20 (e.g., by counting on 2 to add 2).

Adding

Common core standard: Add and subtract within 20.

Place Value

Common Core Standard: Understand place value

Phonics

Phonics are the building blocks for literacy so we like to review with these videos.

Common core standard: Phonological Awareness

English Language Learners

These videos are for students that are just beginning to learn English.