Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2014

We had another great week in first grade! The children are learning many new skills each day.  They are learning to be better writers, readers and problem solvers and I am so proud of each and every one of them.  Please keep up with daily reminders and nightly talks.  It is through these small conversations that our children are encouraged to do their best and make great choices each day! I thank you all for being such a wonderful and supportive group of parents.

School Pictures will be taken on Tuesday, September 30.  Please send your payment by Tuesday morning if you are planning to purchase pictures.  Thank you!

READING

This week we will learn a new comprehension strategy and that is making predictions.  Reading is thinking.  As we start to read a story, we will look at the picture on the front cover, read the title and try to guess what the story is about based on the title and the picture.  When we read stories, we stop from time to time and predict what might happen next.  Sometimes our predictions are correct and sometimes they are not.  We will learn how to use all the clues in the story and things being said so far, to make the best prediction possible.

WRITING
We will continue writing stories about our lives.  Last week we learned how to "zoom in" on one thing and write about a small moment in time, something in our life that happened over a small few minutes.  This week, we will practice stretching one small moment across several lines or several pages.  We will read stories or part of stories that have those moments in them and see how famous authors stretch a small moment over few pages.

WORD STUDY

This week, we will begin talking about the sh, ch, th, and wh diagraphs.

MATH
Last week we explored the number line/number track and looked at specific numbers and pointed to "one more" or "one less". This week we will take that knowledge and move on to addition. The strategies that we work on is "Count On Addition Strategies for Basic Facts". It is essential that all students are able to successfully calculate both mentally and with paper and pencil their basic facts. Count On strategies include Count On 1 (+1 facts), Count on 2 (+2 facts) and Count on 0 (+0 facts).  This week we will focus on Count On 1 and turn around strategy.  If 12+1=13 then 1+12 is also 13.  We will apply this Count On 1 strategy in problem solving.

SCIENCE
This week in science we will learn about weather. Weather is what is happening in the atmosphere at a certain time.  Temperature ,wind and precipitation are all parts of weather.  There would be no weather without the sun.  The sun's heat causes clouds, winds, and precipitation to form. We will learn about different kinds of weather such as sunny, warm, cold, calm,windy,rainy,icy and learn how to use a thermometer to measure temperature. 

Habit #3:  Put First Things First

I spend my time on the that are the most important.  I set priorities.

Reminders:
*Specials- A Group:  PE on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
               B Group:  PE on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
**Wear tennis shoes for sure on these days!!!!
*Library- Tuesday 11-11:30
*Send orange folders back every day.
*Send a healthy snack with your child every day.  We will eat snack at 10:30

Dates to Remember:
September 30:  School Pictures will be taken

October 4:  Bike Rodeo

October 8:  Family Spirit Night @ Catfish Parlour

October 13:  No School

October 16:  Science Night

October 25:  Harvest Festival

October 29:  Early Release Day dismissal @12:45

November 24-28:  Thanksgiving Break

December 3:  Early Release Day dismissal @12:45

December 8-12:  Book Fair

December 19:  Winter Break begins

September 22-26, 2014

READING
This week we will learn about fiction and the elements of fiction. We will learn about the setting; the place and time where the story takes place, the main characters;the important people or animals that do or say important things in the stories, and the plot which is a series of important events in the stories.  We will learn that just like the stories we write, fictions have also a  beginning, middle and ending.  We will also discuss the author's purpose in writing fictions.

WRITING
We will continue writing stories about our lives.  This week we will learn how we can "zoom in" and write about a small moment in time with details.  Our job from here on is to discover those small moments in our lives.  A small moment happens over a few short seconds or minutes.  For example, it could be about a moment that I was riding my bike and I fell into a mud puddle and hurt my knee, or about a time that we were in the car, coming back home and we had to stop the car in the middle of the street, because a deer was standing there and wouldn't move.  We will learn how we can expand our small moment with details and write it over a few lines.  We will also use our fingers and tell our small moments across our hand so we can record the beginning, the middle and the end of our small moments.

WORD STUDY

This week, we will be talking about the short u and long u vowel sounds.  This will wrap up our vowel review!

MATH
So far, we have been working on place value.  The children have learned that the place of a digit in a number matters and depending on its place a digit can represent tens, or ones.  This week we will learn about decomposing numbers and describing the numbers in expanded form.  For example, 34 is actually 30 and 4 and 52 is 50 and 2.  We will also compare numbers using number line and review the vocabulary, greater and less than.  for example, looking at a number line, what number is one less than 17? or 16 is one less than what number? We will apply our knowledge of number line and number comparison to solve everyday math problem.

SOCIAL STUDIES

This week we will learn about our great state of Texas!  We will discuss our state patriotic symbols such as Texas flag, Texas pledge and  and Alamo. Our motto is friendship.  We will also learn about the leaders in our state and community.

EDUCATION GO GET IT WEEK

This week is Education Go Get It Week.  Education Go Get It Week provides students with information about higher education options.
Monday: Students and families can learn about colleges and majors at Round Rock High School.  6:00-8:00 pm
Tuesday: A career riddle will be broadcast on the announcement
Wednesday: Students will dress up in " what they want to be when they grow up" outfits.
Thursday: Teachers will share information about the college they attended.
Friday: Students and staff will wear college shirts to school.

Habit #3:  Put First Things First

I spend my time on the that are the most important.  I set priorities.

Reminders:
*Specials- A Group:  PE on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
               B Group:  PE on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
**Wear tennis shoes for sure on these days!!!!
*Library- Tuesday 11-11:30
*Send orange folders back every day.
*Send a healthy snack with your child every day.  We will eat snack at 10:30

Dates to Remember:
September 24:  Early Release Day dismissal @12:45

                           Skate Night @6:00

September 26:  Kona Ice at Caraway @ 2:45

October 4:  Bike Rodeo

October 8:  Family Spirit Night @ Catfish Parlour

October 13:  No School

October 16:  Science Night

October 25:  Harvest Festival

October 29:  Early Release Day dismissal @12:45

November 24-28:  Thanksgiving Break

December 3:  Early Release Day dismissal @12:45

December 8-12:  Book Fair

December 19:  Winter Break begins

September 15-19, 2014

Thank you for coming to Parent Information Night.  I know our time was short and I didn't get to meet with each of you, but I am looking forward to our fall conferences to meet with you individually and to set goals for your child's academic and social success. I will draft a schedule for our fall conferences and will send it to you soon.  Thank you for sending a healthy snack each day and for sending the Daily Agenda folders.  I appreciate your help and support.

Here is what we will be doing this week:

WRITING

This week in writing we will continue working on our stories.  The children have done a great job illustrating and writing about some real events in their lives.  We will learn how to write in complete sentences.  A complete sentence is a complete thought that tells who or what the sentence is about, and what happened. It starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark.  We will also learn how writers write with a beginning, middle and an ending.  Once we finish writing our stories, we will re-read our stories to make sure our stories make sense.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING AT HOME?
Please encourage your child to form the letters correctly. Almost all of the letters in alphabet start from the top to the bottom.  Some children have the habit of forming the letters from the bottom to the top and this will affect their handwriting as well as speed in writing.  Also please have your child practice writing their names neatly starting with capital letter and then lowercase letters.  If you need double lined paper at home, please let me know, I'll be happy to give you some.  

READING

This week in reading we will practice “read to someone”.  Read to someone will help us to be a better reader, practice our fluency and mostly it is lots of fun.  We will learn how to sit closely to our partner, so our elbows and knees touch. This close proximity will allow us to read with quiet voice such as only our partner can hear us and not the rest of the class.  It would also allow both of us to see the words and the pictures.  There are two ways to read to someone.  One way is to take turn reading a paragraph or a page and the other is to do choral reading, where both partners read together.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING AT HOME?

Spicewood Spring public library has a variety of "I read, you read" books, where there is a harder paragraph for the parent to read and an easier one for the child to read. But you can practice partner reading with almost any book, as long as it is a good fit book for your child.

WORD STUDY

We will be continuing reviewing our vowels.  This week, we will focus on short and long i.  We will talk about how adding a silent e to the end of a word, such as kit, would change the vowel, and make a new word, kite.

MATH

We will continue our unit on place value.  We will use number tracks and make numbers using our 10 sticks (10 blocks) and ones.  We will emphasize that the place of a digit in a number matters.  Depending on where the digit is, in tens place or in ones place, the digit has a different value (example: compare 17 and 71).  Last week we worked with teen numbers.  This week we will work with 2 digit numbers greater than teens. When studying 24, we will see that 2 is 2 sets/groups of 10 which makes twenty and the 4 is just four ones.  When comparing the numbers, we will think about both tens and ones in a number.  24 is greater than 22.  The number of 10 sticks are the same but the ones are not.  24 has 4 ones and 22 has only 2 ones.  We will emphasize the vocabulary such as greater than, less than, before and after.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING AT HOME?
continue counting with beans, macaronis, pennies, buttons, or anything similar.  Have your child count the items.  Your child can put the items in groups pf 2 and count by 2, or groups of 5 and count by 5 or groups of 10 and count by 10.  Let your child practice that 34 is 3 sets/groups of 10, therefore it is 30 and 4 ones.  Compare the numbers.  Ask your child to show you one more, or greater than the number.  Or one less than the number.

SOCIAL STUDIES
This week we will learn about Freedom, Liberty and various United States symbols.  We will read, learn and write facts about the Liberty bell, the United states Flag, and our National Anthem.

Wednesday is Constitution Day.  We will discuss what is constitution and what is a right.  The constitution lets the people of the United States know how they will be governed and what rights they have as American citizens.

THANK YOU!

Thank you for a great start to the new school year.  It seems like every one is happy when they are dropped off, and that means the world to me!  More than anything, thank you for supporting your child's learning at home.  Your child's success and education is a result of, us working together! So thank you for being a partner in your child's learning!

Habit #2:  Begin with the End in Mind
I plan ahead and set goals.  I look for ways to be a good citizen.

Reminders:
*Specials- A Group:  PE on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
               B Group:  PE on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
**Wear tennis shoes for sure on these days!!!!
*Library- Tuesday 11-11:30
*Send orange folders back every day.
*Send a healthy snack with your child every day.  We will eat snack at 10:30

Dates to Remember:
September 24:  Early Release Day dismissal @12:45

                           Skate Night @6:00

September 26:  Kona Ice at Caraway @ 2:45

October 4:  Bike Rodeo

October 8:  Family Spirit Night @ Catfish Parlour

October 13:  No School

October 16:  Science Night

October 25:  Harvest Festival

October 29:  Early Release Day dismissal @12:45

November 24-28:  Thanksgiving Break

December 3:  Early Release Day dismissal @12:45

December 8-12:  Book Fair

December 19:  Winter Break begins

September 8-12, 2014

Writing Workshop:  
We will be focusing on writing about what we know.  The kiddos have been thinking about personal experiences so that they are able to write interesting, detailed stories.  We will also talk about how authors think about their story, then draw it, and then add words.  We will also learn about saying a word and listening for the sounds, then writing the letters they hear.

Reading Workshop:  
We will learn about stamina, and we will talk about how we can build our stamina in reading so that we reach 30 minutes of silent reading.  Throughout the year, your child will be picking their own books to read during Read to Self and Read to Someone.  Because of this, we will learn what Good Fit books are and how to recognize if a book is a Good Fit for you.  Every day, I will meet with either individual students or groups of students.  We will discuss why these reading conferences are important, and will learn silent signals the students can use so the conferences are not interrupted.  Lastly, we will talk about the importance of respecting everyone's reading time, and using kind reminders when we are being disturbed.

Word Study:
This week, we will continue talking about vowels.  We will focus on the letter Ee.  We will brainstorm words that have the short e sound and the long e sound.

Science:
We will begin by thinking about what a scientist is and does.  We will brainstorm different jobs that use science.  We will begin learning about how to use our science notebooks.  We will talk about what they are for and why they are important to scientists.  We will discuss science safety, and we will even do our first experiment.

Math:
We will continue to count using groups.  We will explore placement of digits in numbers and how the value of the number is affected by the placement of the digits.  We will use magnetic ten frames to help us build numbers.  We will learn to compare teen numbers.  We will apply all of this knowledge in problem solving activities.  We will also learn how to construct a tally chart.

Habit #2:  Begin with the End in Mind
I plan ahead and set goals.  I look for ways to be a good citizen.

Reminders:
*Specials- A Group:  PE on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
               B Group:  PE on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
**Wear tennis shoes for sure on these days!!!!
*Library- Tuesday 11-11:30
*Send orange folders back every day.
*Send a healthy snack with your child every day.  We will eat snack at 10:30

Dates to Remember:
September 8:  Open House 6:30-7:00
September 24:  Early Release Day dismissal @12:45

September 2-5, 2014

Hi friends!  I hope everyone has had a restful, long weekend!  I love the fact that we are starting off the new year with 2 4 day weeks.  I think it will help, not only the students, but parents and teachers as well, to have an easier transition.

Writing Workshop:
This week in Writing Workshop, we will begin talking about what this time in our classroom should look like and sound like.  We will cover expectations for this time, and discuss the proper way to use our writing tools.  We will also talk about how authors talk about their ideas with other authors before writing a story.  

Reading Workshop:
In Reading Workshop, we will begin to set up expectations for Read to Self time.  This is time that your student will have every day to read quietly to themselves.  We have talked already about 3 different ways to read a book (read the pictures, read the words, or retell the story), so even if they aren't fluent readers yet, they have the knowledge to do this even at home.  We will start out at 10 minute incraments for Read to Self, and by the end of the year, the students will be reading independently for up to 25 minutes!  That sounds like a lot, but they can do it!

Social Studies:
We have already discussed what a community and a citizen are.  This week, we will talk about the difference between rules and laws.  We will talk about why we need rules and laws, and we will also think about positive and negative consequences.  All of this will lead us into learning about the leaders in our school, community, state, and nation.

Math:
This week, we will use Math Racks to help us begin to visualize numbers using groups of 5 and 10 as benchmarks.  We will work on recognizing and building numbers up to 20 using these benchmarks.  We will talk about how using this strategy can be useful and more efficient than counting one by one.

Habit #1:  Be Proactive
I am a responsible person.  I am in charge of myself.  I choose my actions, attitudes, and moods.

Reminders:
*Specials- A Group:  PE on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
               B Group:  PE on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
**Wear tennis shoes for sure on these days!!!!
*Library- Tuesday 11-11:30
*Send orange folders back every day.
*Send a healthy snack with your child every day.  We will eat snack at 10:30

Dates to Remember:
September 8:  Open House 6:30-7:00