Hello First Grade Falcon Families,
The first few weeks of school have been full of newness and adjustment. The students are getting used to being back in school, with a new teacher and new routines, and staying at school for a full day. I’m sure you know more than I how worn out they are. This is normal, and for a while they will need a little extra patience from you and sleep in their beds. But soon they’ll get used to this new situation and hopefully they’ll come home to you with smiles and plenty of exciting experiences to share.
Below you will find the normal format of the bi-monthly classroom update. It includes what we’ve been learning, will be learning, support ideas, reminders, and upcoming events at a glance. Please read it thoroughly and contact me with any questions or comments. This update may be one of the longest because I am just beginning to explain the procedures and routines of first grade to you. Thank you for your patience in reading.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Riggs: We began Riggs this year by reviewing how to sit properly, hold our pencils, and angle and hold our papers. Then we moved onto learning how to form the letter strokes that make up the letters in the written English language. Next week, we will begin reviewing the sounds and formation of the first 55 phonograms. The students will be tested each morning on the formation and recognition of the phonograms they learned the day before. Our goal is to learn 3-4 new phonograms per day. In order to keep up this pace, every student will need to practice saying and writing the phonogram sounds nightly.
Support Idea(s):
- Using your phonogram card set, review the sounds of the first 55 phonograms with your student. Have them hop each sound as they say it for a kinesthetic connection.
- Remember that as your student completes their Riggs homework, they should say the sound(s) of the phonogram as they write it slowly and carefully.
Reading:
- During “read aloud” each day the students have listened to and discussed books about school, manners, and where we live in this world as well as the first of six Aesop’s Fables we will examine this year—The Boy Who Cried Wolf. While listening to informational texts, the students drew and labeled what they learned. While listening to stories, the students drew the main character(s). In the coming weeks we will focus on the setting in stories (where the story takes place) and retelling the story (what happened in the beginning, middle, and end).
- During “quiet reading” the students will progress through three books of 12 short stories, each book increasing in complexity. I will give them a reading mini-lesson before they begin reading, and then they will use the reading “tools” I teach them to decode words and begin (or increase in) reading independently. This week we focused on: (1)sounding out CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) words by saying the first sound of each phonogram and then blending those sounds together, (2)skipping a tricky word and coming back to it later, and (3)what to do when you need help. In the coming weeks we will review these first few lessons, and possibly move on to learning about examining words for any multi-letter phonograms and marking them as we see them.
- During “guided reading” the students will be split into four groups based on reading assessments. Two groups will go to Mr. Currey in 2nd grade and two groups will remain in my classroom during this time of the day. In each classroom the teacher will read with one of the groups using on-level text while the other group works on an independent academic activity (usually related to reading). For example, this week the students learned two independent activities: 1. Choosing “just right” books from the classroom library, and 2. Growing Phonogram (ask your student about this one :-)).
Support Idea(s):
- Expose your student to reading for 15 minutes every night. If they can read on their own, ask them to read out loud to an adult, sibling, stuffed animal, or to themselves. If they cannot yet read on their own, read to them and slowly increase the amount your student reads as time goes on (i.e. first just one word, then a few, then a sentence, page, whole book).
The Institute for Excellence in Writing (I.E.W.): I.E.W. is the writing system that our school has adopted as a tool to help students with writing. In first grade, I.E.W. begins with the examination of various works of poetry as good examples of writing. We will discuss the meaning of poem and any unknown vocabulary words, locate nouns, adjectives, and verbs, find synonyms and antonyms of select words, and practice summarizing and retelling.
Public Speaking: Throughout the year we will memorize select short poems from the first grade Core Knowledge Sequence. We will first discuss the meaning of the poems, then work on memorizing them in class. When the students are ready, they will recite the poem in front of the class. The students will be encouraged to stand with their hands still, make eye contact, and to speak loudly and slowly. The first poem we will recite is “Hope” by Langston Hughes. The students will be encouraged to take their Sayings, Phrases, and Poems book home for extra practice if they need it before reciting.
Support Idea(s):
- In about a week, ask your student to recite “Hope” by Langston Hughes to you. If they cannot, encourage them to bring their Sayings, Phrases, and Poems book home so that you can help them practice.
MATH
Below are the concepts we have been learning, and will be learning in math*:
Read and identify numbers to 100
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Identify right and left
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Identify one more and one less than a number
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Graph data on a graph
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Tell and show time to the hour
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Add the doubles (i.e. 3+3, 6+6)
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Identify pattern block attributes
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Identify ordinal position to sixth
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Create and read a repeating pattern
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Identify and act out “Some, some more” stories
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Compare numbers to 50
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Compare and order objects by size (area)
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*Taken directly from Saxon Math 2, lessons 1-10
Support Idea(s):
- When your student is adding “the doubles” (i.e. 7+7, 4+4) ask them to recite the doubles rap they learned in kindergarten. We have reviewed, and will again review, this rap to help us remember the sums of the doubles.
- Have your student practice drawing analog clocks, showing the time, and then telling the time. You can take turns writing a time for each other to guess and make it a game!
SCIENCE AND HISTORY
Our first unit in science is actually mostly a geography unit about where we live in this world. Then, we will begin our first history unit learning about the early people (hunters and nomads) who migrated to the Americas. Below are the concepts we will be learning about during these units**.
I. Geography: Where in the World Am I?
- Name your continent, country, state, and community
- Map sense: world, continents, country, oceans, hemispheres, compass rose
II. The Earliest People: Hunters and Nomads
- Crossing from Asia to North America (the land bridge as one possibility)
- From hunting to farming
- Gradual development of early towns and cities
**Taken directly from the Core Knowledge Sequence, first grade
Support Idea(s):
- A GREAT resource for helping your student review and comprehend the concepts we’re learning during history and science is the book, What Your First Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. A few copies may be available at your local library, and used copies can be purchased (for $0.01 plus $3.99 shipping!) on Amazon.com - http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0385319878/ref=sr_1_1_up_1_main_olp?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379274790&sr=1-1&condition=used
- Talk with your student about what they have learned during our science and history lessons at school. Ask questions and see if they are able to answer them. If they are unable to answer your questions, provide extra support for them by reading books (from the library), or finding appropriate websites on the topics we're studying. Ask questions during and after the reading to encourage involvement and comprehension.
FIRST FIELD TRIP FRIDAY and BONUS FEBRUARY FIELD TRIP
First Field Trip Friday:
Who: CHPCS First Grade
What: Plumper Pumpkin Patch and Tree Farm
When: Friday, October 25th, 2013
Where: 11435 NW Old Cornelius Pass Rd, Portland, OR 97231
Why: As a part of the first grade Core Knowledge Sequence, we study about:
- Mesopotamians as the world’s first farmers
- Ancient Egyptian society, including mummification (We will mummify the pumpkins!)
- Living things, including plants and the plant cycle of growth
How: Bus
Bonus February Field Trip: I have already used all of the money in the first grade field trip fund to book wonderful and fun field trips for the year, but I think it would be a memorable academic experience for our class to join Mr. Currey’s second grade class at the play “Charlotte’s Web” this February put on by the Oregon Children’s Theater. Second graders have the esteemed opportunity to read Charlotte’s Web as a class in second grade, and the plays put on by the Oregon Children’s Theater change from year to year. That means that Charlotte’s Web will only be available this year. The cost of the play is $6 per student. If you are willing and able, please send $6 in an envelope to school with the words “Charlotte’s Web”. If you are unable or unwilling to pay please let me know via email and I will do my best to find a way to cover the cost. Thank you!
REMINDERS
- Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog at the bottom of this webpage!
- If you haven’t already, please sign up for a fall conference slot using the link I emailed to you from signupgenius.com.
- Look out for a volunteer opportunity sign-up form coming your way from signupgenius.com. The most immediate need I have is a classroom cleanup crew for every Thursday afterschool. Cleanup duties should only take 30 minutes when you work together with your family! The more families that sign up, the lighter the load. Thank you for signing up.
CALENDAR AT A GLANCE
Friday, September 20th
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Mrs. Varis’ Birthday!
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Wednesday, September 25th
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Picture Day!
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Thursday, September 26th
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All School Assembly (ASA) hosted by 8th grade, 8:00AM
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Monday, October 7th
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Jog-a-Thon, Book Fair, V.I.P. Day
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Thursday, October 17th
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The Annual Harvest Festival, hosted by Mrs. Adams
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Friday, October 25th
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Field Trip Friday – First grade is going to Plumper Pumpkin Patch and then beginning the mummification process with our pumpkins at CHPCS!
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After you have faithfully read this lengthy yet important update please write “YAY!” in your student’s planner so that I can see it and I will give them two tickets (earned and saved for prizes) for your diligence.
Thank you!!
-Mrs. Varis
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