I enjoyed meeting everyone for parent conferences! Our year is off to a great start!
Reminders:
Monday (10/16): Daily folders come home. Return them daily.
Tuesday (10/17): Tuesday folders come home. Return on Wednesday. Look for homework and reading books.
Thursday (10/19): Library lesson only. You may keep your library books or turn them in if you have had time to enjoy them. International Night @ 6 pm.
Friday (10/20): Caraway Academies- 7:55 am.
Homework due.
Skate Night @ 6 pm.
This week in Reading Workshop...
We will begin learning about and reading Nonfiction texts. In this unit, students will learn about the different nonfiction text features and they will explore different types of expository and procedural texts in print and in digital format. We will be meeting in small groups to discuss various reading strategies to increase accuracy, comprehension and fluency.
You can help your child at home by having them read to you or to themselves for 10-15 minutes per night and by reading to them. This can be a very rewarding part of yours and your child's day. Ask them to recall events from the story and to talk about the characters' feelings and actions. If they are reading a nonfiction book, ask them to give you 3 facts from the book. Work on the 1st Grade sight word list. You can find this list in the daily folder.
This week in Writing Workshop...
We will begin thinking like experts! In this unit, we will learn that sometimes authors want to teach their reader about a topic. The students will think about what they are an expert at, and they will write brief pieces that include facts about their topic. We will continue to think about how we can organize our writing so that it makes sense to the reader. We will discuss how expository writing does not have a beginning, middle and end, but that the facts we write still need to be organized in a way that makes it easy to read and understand. Students will continue working on using capitalization at the beginning of a sentence and when using the pronoun 'I'. Students will also continue to think about when they should use end punctuation. In science and social studies, we will record facts and observations in our various notebooks. On Friday, we will reflect on our time in our Academy and then write about it.
This week in Math...
We will continue our unit on Length, Measurement & Time. We will continue to discuss what we could use to measure different objects and the proper way to measure them. We will use different non-standard units (cubes, paperclips, crayons, popsicle sticks) to measure objects in the classroom. We will discuss all of the different ways you can measure an object, such as its length, width, height, and weight. This week, we will also begin learning about time to the hour using an analog and digital clock. We will learn the different features of an analog clock as well.
You can help your child at home by letting them measure objects around the house. Let them use spoons, beans, pennies or toothpicks! Let them read the time for you. Talk about what time it is when your family does important daily tasks (eat dinner, bath time, brush teeth, bedtime). They will have so much fun!
This week in Social Studies...
We will continue learning about how technology and inventions have changed our lives and communities. We will think about how technology has changed families, communication, transportation, and work. We will also learn about how different historical figures have helped to shape our community, state and nation.
This week in Science...
We will continue learning about different forms of energy. The students have learned that there are 3 different forms of energy (heat, light & sound). This week, we will identify a variety of sources of heat, light and sound in the classroom and around the school. We will record our findings and observations in our science notebook.