Friday, October 13, 2017

October 16-20, 2017

Thank you so much to everyone for making conferences run smoothly!  I truly appreciate your flexibility if I had to reschedule.  I also appreciate everyone’s promptness!  Remember that we can always sit down to talk any time throughout the year if you have any concerns. 

Thank you to everyone who purchased a 1st Grade t-shirt for your child.  Many of you gave extra money, and due to this generosity, we have plenty of money to pay for transportation for our 2nd field trip in the spring!  Kudos to all of you!

Please leave everything in the homework bag when it is returned on Friday morning.  It makes changing everything out much easier.  Thank you!

Reminders: 
Monday (10/16):  Daily folders come home.  Return them daily.
                       Homework bags come home.  Return on Friday.
Tuesday (10/17):  Tuesday folders come home.  Return on Wednesday.
Wednesday (10/18): No Library this week.                                                       
Thursday (10/19):  International Night @ 6 pm.
Friday (10/20): Caraway Academies- 7:55 am.
                       Homework bags 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.


Technology
Thank you to everyone who has sent in headphones. 
This week, we will use the laptops and ipads to read expository texts in order to gain information about a topic.  We will use websites such as PebbleGo and Brainpop, Jr.    

This week’s Life Skill is Problem Solving! We will think about how we can create solutions for difficult situations and everyday problems.  We have already started talking about this during our Tribe time.  We have talked about how you can stand up for yourself in a kind way.  We will discuss different options we can use to solve our problems. Our Tribe Circle will focus on how we have been problem solvers throughout the week!

That's all for now! Have a great week!

Dates to Remember:
Oct 19th- International Night
Oct 20th- Skate Night @ 6 pm
Oct 25th- K-2 Author Visit
Oct 27th- Sock Hop (School dance) @ 6 pm
Oct 23-27th- Red Ribbon Week
Oct 31st- Report Cards go home
Nov 20-24th- Thanksgiving Holiday
Dec. 15th- Field Trip to the Thinkery (more info to come later!)
Dec 21st- Last day of classes
Dec 22-Jan 8th- Winter break

Jan 9th- Students return to School

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