First, I wanted to thank everyone who made it to our Open House last week. I really like the opportunity to give you a glimpse into how our first grade classroom is run. If you couldn't make it, no worries, you can always contact me with any questions you might have as the year progresses.
Here's a look at some of the things we did in class this week.
- Book Fair: Thanks to all of the volunteers who made this such a fun event! I could never bring 22 first graders shopping by myself! Haha!
- Picture Day: OMG - The kiddo were so adorable yesterday!
- Reading Workshop: We talked about dropping bad habits (like mumbling through words you don't know) and picking up good habits (like checking the picture and asking yourself if it makes sense). Each day, the kids are practicing their reading skills by reading independently and with partners. I see so many of the strategies that I teach in class being put into practice by the kids. I love it! At the end of last week, Jackie Taylor, one of the Literacy Coaches in the district, came into our class to do a demonstration lesson on "shared reading", where the teacher and the class read a story together. We use the document camera to project the text onto the Smart Board so that we can practice using all the things that they are learning. The kids loved it, so I have been using shared reading for a few minutes every day and will continue to do so.
- Trick Words: In our class, the sight words are called "Trick Words". I explained to the kids that they are words we see frequently when we read, but that they don't always follow the rules (which is why many of them cannot be sounded out). This week, we reviewed 6 new trick words: the, and, a, is, his, of. Ask you first grader to demonstrate how we tap the trick words down our arm to help us remember how to read and spell them. We review all of the trick word each morning during our morning meeting.
- Fundations: I also introducing 2 "glued" sounds this week: /am/ and /an/. The kids are learning to recognize that when these 2 letters are together in a word, they make a distinct sound. Examples are words like "ham" and "fan". We will continue to identify words like these and practice spelling with this rule. I sometimes call this the "Fussy A" because it makes the short /a/ sound a little whiney.
- Math: The kids are learning about doubles facts like 1+1 and 2+2. We listened to a fun song about doubles this week. Doubles Song. I also talked about Doubles Plus 1 facts. We have also been learning about the terms "addend" and "sum".
- Writing: The kids are continuing to write personal narrative stories. We call them "Small Moment" stories. As they write and revise their stories, they are learning to work with partners to think of new details to add and questions to answer in the stories. In terms of mechanics, we have been focusing on making sure that all sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a "stop sign" (ending punctuation).
- Science: The kids are learning about light and the sun in the sky. This week, we did a Mystery Science lesson where the kids used flashlights to investigate how a a shadow can move on a statue. They discovered that it's the position of the sun in the sky that changes, not the statue. Pretty cool a-ha moment for the kids!
- Supplies for the ever-popular Maker Bin: Do you have any craft supplies that you would like to donate to the Maker Bin? We'd love to have them! The kids also like things like paper towel rolls, empty tissue boxes, and envelopes.
- Volunteers for Pumpkin Day: Yesterday, I sent home a notification for Pumpkin Day. It will be held in the classroom on October 31. The first graders will be pumpkin scientists, making observations and conducting experiments with pumpkins. I will set everything up - just let me know if you would like to help out!
- Women in STEM: Do you work in a STEM field? Would you like to encourage girls at the High School to pursue studies and careers in STEM fields? Check out this opportunity to speak at the Women in STEM Careen Day.
- Math presentation: Want to learn more about the way we teach math at North Andover schools? Check out this meeting. Math This is a district-wide information night.
Upcoming Dates
Tonight, 6:00pm: Scholastic Book Fair and Ice Cream Social
Tomorrow (10/11): Box Tops day, library book exchange
Monday (10/14): No school
Wednesday (10/16): Library
Wednesday (10/23): Early release at 1:45pm
Thursday (10/31), 9:30-11:00am: Pumpkin Day for the first grade
Tuesday (11/5): No school - parent-teacher conferences
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thanks for all that you do at home to support you child's learning!
Katie Barnett
