Short, but busy, week in 1A. Here are a few of the things that the kids learned about in class.
- In Reading Workshop, they continued to practice good reading habits. I'm very impressed with the way that I've seen the students strengthen their reading skills! This week, they learned to make a plan to remember their good habits, look at all parts of unfamiliar words to read them, and that partners can also be teachers. Ask them to show you how they do that - it's adorable to watch them encourage their reading partners and suggest strategies to figure out the tough words. Read to them and pretend that you are stuck on a word. See what they do!
- We covered digraphs as our phonic skill this week. The kids learned that a digraph is when 2 letters come together to make one sound (think sh, th, wh, ch, and -ck). We have been word detectives all week, seeking out these sounds as we read. Tomorrow, we will focus on "the final -ck" in words like "sock" and "duck".
- The new Trick Words that I introduced this week are: as, has, to, and into.
- In math, they learned about "partners to 10" which are numbers, that when added together, equal 10. We are also practicing addition story problems, solving them with number bonds, pictures, and addition sentences.
- As always, the kids are spending a little bit of time on the ST Math program each day. I'm impressed with the flexible thinking and the puzzle solving skills that I see. They love this part of the day!
- The kids also continued to work on their small moment stories. In addition to our time with Writing Workshop each afternoon, we spend some time using the personal whiteboards to practice writing mechanics like handwriting, spacing, spelling, capital letters, and ending punctuation. I feel like it's been a very effective approach because the kids are getting timely feedback on the writing. I see a great improvement already!
- This week, I taught the kids about nouns. They learned that nouns are a person, place, thing, or animal. We've been identifying nouns all week. Tomorrow, we will talk about proper nouns.
- In science, we continued to talk about light and shadows. The kids went outside and traced their shadows yesterday morning, then they checked them again later in the day, by standing in their footprints and observed how the shadow changed. They noticed that the position of the sun determined the position of the shadow. A really fun activity!
- We'll wrap up our week with a RAISE Rally tomorrow afternoon. That's when the whole school gets together for an assembly to talk about RAISE values (Respect, Achievement, Inclusion, Service, and Empathy). Kids can wear red, black, and white tomorrow for North Andover school spirit!
- The kids also voted on the Kittredge School Kangaroo logo yesterday - we are still waiting to hear the results! :)
- On Tuesday, we had a successful fire drill. Thanks so much to the NAFD!
Spelling Words Start Next Week
Next week, I will begin sending the first grade homework notebooks home each Monday. The kids can practice the words all week and then return the book on Friday. We will have a spelling check-in on Fridays. I will also send home 2 books that the kids should read aloud to a grown up or older sibling during the week. Books should be returned with the spelling notebook on Fridays. Thanks so much for your support at home!
Here are the spelling words for next week:
thin
bath
chip
chat
much
shop
fish
whip
has (trick word)
of (trick word)
Sentence: Tom has a fish.
Reminders
- Thanks to everyone who saw the emergency release form in your child's backpack last night and returned it to school. If you haven't done so already, please send it in when you can. It just lets me know how to send your child home if we have an unexpected early release (for something like a snow storm).
- Like I mentioned, tomorrow is red, black, and white day. Kids can wear school colors!
Pumpkin Day
Thanks so much to everyone who volunteered to come in for Pumpkin Day! The more, the merrier! I'm also overwhelmed by how many families offered to send in a pumpkin! We have 8 coming our way. Some parents have asked what kind of pumpkin to send in. I'm looking for a couple of larger pumpkins, a couple of medium pumpkins, and a couple of small pumpkins. I'd also like 1 or 2 more unique pumpkins - with bumps or different colors. You can sent them in at any time and I will store them in the class. I'll work with whatever we get, so don't worry too much about what kind you send in. Thanks again!
Upcoming Dates
Wednesday (10/23): Early release at 1:45pm
Thursday (10/31): Pumpkin Day, 9:30-11:00am in our classroom
Tuesday (11/5): No school - parent-teacher conference
Thursday (10/31), 9
Wednesday (11/13): Primo Pasta NightHave a great weekend! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. :)
Katie Barnett
