CURRICULAR NOTES
In reading this week, we’ve learned about words starting with l clusters (gl-, fl-,
In math this week, our geometry chapter has focused on solid shapes. Students have been learning names and properties of solid shapes such as cube, sphere, rectangular prism, pyramid, cone, and cylinder.
During social studies, we’ve wrapped up our unit on families at home and students made accordion books showing the people in their families. We had our final Junior Achievement lesson at the end of the week. Students enjoyed playing charades to act out different jobs and learning about how people earn money for those jobs and use it to pay for their needs and wants.
In science, we’ve been learning about different types of living things. We have learned about traits of mammals and traits of insects.
In writing this week, students have been working hard on revising their Special Me drafts. First-graders are learning so much about working through the steps of the writing process and producing wonderful final drafts!
SNOW PANTS AND BOOTS
It’s getting to be the time of year when we need to have snow pants! Just to let you know, we do take students out for recess as long as the temperature is above 10 degrees. Students really enjoy sledding on our little hill and building forts when it’s snowy, so if your child wants to play in the snow, he or she will need to bring snow pants and boots to wear outside. (Students are expected to stay out of snowy areas if they are not wearing snow pants and snow boots.) If you would like to leave a set of these items at school rather than hauling them back and forth, that is just fine! The snow pants can hang on your child’s hook and the boots can be stored on the ledge below the hooks. Please write your child’s name inside all pants and boots, as these things tend to get mixed up and many look similar! Thanks in advance!
CURRICULAR NOTES
In reading this week, we’ve learned about words starting with clusters (gr-, fr-,
In math this week, we started a chapter on geometry. Students have identified different ways to sort objects and shapes and focused on math terms like geometry, side, corner, and vertex.
During our social studies time this week, we’ve had two Junior Achievement lessons. We discussed the importance of jobs that family members do both inside and outside the home and we created a map showing where to obtain our needs and wants within our community.
In science, we’ve started a new unit on living and non-living things. Students have learned terms like trait, necessity, natural, man-made, living, and non-living. We also began learning about traits specific to mammals and listed different types of mammals.
In writing this week, we started a new writing project called Special Me. Students are planning and drafting their stories about what makes each one of them special and unique.
SPELL-EBRATION
Thanks again so much for all your help with our Spell-ebration fundraiser! I’m happy to report that our class spelled a total of 206 words correctly and raised over $890 for our school. What a huge achievement! Our “Breakfast in Bed…clothes” party was a huge success—especially with the addition of a surprise blizzard! Watching the snow and eating pancakes was a fun way to spend the morning, and a great way to celebrate all our hard work!
I wanted to give everyone a heads-up reminder about the dates that I’m planning to be out of school on maternity leave. I’m planning (let’s cross our fingers!) to be here through December 21st at
CURRICULAR NOTES
Much of our time this week has been taken up with ITBS tests. I’m so proud of how hard students worked on their tests. I’m also proud of the respect they showed each other and the rest of school with their quiet behavior in our classroom and the hallways this week. I really think this was a good introduction to standardized testing for our first-graders and they are to be congratulated on a job well done!
We’ve also focused very hard on subtraction strategies this week. Students have been practicing solving subtraction problems by counting back, by using number lines and by matching to compare how many more or how many fewer between two groups. At the end of the week, we worked on identifying related facts, or addition and subtraction facts that use the same family of numbers. To practice this at home, show your child an addition fact like 2+6=8, then ask him or her to write a related subtraction fact.
In social studies, our study of families has focused on how and why families make choices about items to purchase and things that might happen to families to cause changes. Our social studies unit has tied in perfectly with our Junior Achievement lessons, in which we’ve been learning about needs and wants. In social studies this week, we also began reading about the first Thanksgiving. Students are very excited to read and discuss more about this holiday next week.
In science, we’ve continued our study of teeth, focusing on how to brush and floss our teeth and students practiced brushing and flossing techniques.
In writing this week, we celebrated finishing our nonfiction animal stories with a publishing party Friday. Students read their stories aloud to each other and celebrated with cupcakes and juice. What a talented bunch of writers we have!
SPELL-EBRATION
Our Spelling Challenge has been going great with kids working hard on gathering pledges and learning their spelling words. Our Spell-ebration test is on Monday, and we’d love to have every kid in the school wear our yellow “Be. The Academy” shirts to get us fired up! Students should also bring in their completed pledge envelopes on Monday so I can fill out how many words they completed correctly and how much money they need to collect. These envelopes will be returned on Wednesday for students to bring home so they can collect the pledge money over Thanksgiving weekend. As a culminating celebration for our Spelling Challenge, we will have a “Breakfast in Bed…clothes” party on Wednesday morning. On Wednesday, all students are invited to wear their pajamas to school and we will cook and eat breakfast treats!
CURRICULAR NOTES
In reading this week, we’ve been focusing on nonfiction stories and nonfiction text structures. Students are reading (and writing!) stories with a topic, main idea, and supporting details. When reading with your child at home, try to include a mixture of fiction and nonfiction. Some of us tend to gravitate toward fiction stories (I know I do!), but as students get older, they need to read and understand more and more nonfiction text in school. Learning about these text structures now helps students to better cope with increasingly difficult nonfiction texts they will encounter in future schooling.
In math this week, we finished up our chapter on addition strategies. Students practiced (and practiced and practiced!) counting on and using number lines to add. They also learned about “doubles” and “doubles + 1” facts. Additionally, students worked on writing addition sentences to solve story problems.
In social studies, we read lessons from our textbook about different types of homes, basic needs of families, and ways families can change. For our map skills work, we discussed how addresses are made up of both a house number and a street name and we practiced drawing maps according to a map key.
In science, we learned about different types of teeth and the proper ways to brush and floss our teeth. We also learned about the different parts of a tooth, including the crown, the root, and the gum.
In writing, students have been working VERY hard on a book about nonfiction animals. We’ve been learning about the steps of the writing process, including planning, drafting, revising, and publishing. The students keep asking me, “Why do I have to keep writing this same thing?” I tell them that good writers keep working on the same piece over and over until they get it perfect, so our little writers have been diligently working on perfect final drafts. Sometime next week, we should be ready to publish our book!
ITBS TESTING
As many of you know, our school will be taking ITBS tests next week. The Academy chooses to administer the tests to 1st grade students both to familiarize students with the tests and to provide students, teachers, and families with baseline data about class, school, and student performance. I emphasize to students that it’s important to do their best on the tests, but I also try to make sure that we approach the test week in a calm and confident way so that students don’t become overly anxious. I see this as a great opportunity for students to be exposed to standardized testing in a low-stakes environment. It’s important for kids to get a full night’s sleep on the nights before test sessions and to eat a good breakfast those mornings. Thank you in advance for helping to make sure your child is well-rested and well-prepared for ITBS!
SPELLING CHALLENGE
Our Spelling Challenge is coming along very well. Students are working hard on learning their spelling words and they report that they’re doing well collecting pledges also. Just a reminder to everyone: We will be taking our Spelling Challenge test on Monday, November 19th. Tests will be checked and packets will go home with students by Wednesday so they can collect their money over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks for all your help studying words and collecting pledges!
