BUT FIRST...  A PARTY!!!

We celebrated earning 10 stars by having a popcorn party on Friday!  We got to make fresh popcorn in the popcorn popper and enjoy eating it while watching a PBS show called Wild Kratts!  We have been using Class Dojo as a behavior tool in our classroom and at the end of every day if our class has collectively earned 100 green points, we get a star in the tens frame.  There was even a couple of days the class earned over 200 green points!  I have been so proud of these first graders because they are truly a well behaved, responsible, and respectful group!  I am so happy that we get to spend this year together and I know we will have many more parties to celebrate them and their hard work!

Our learning this week:

Reading:  The kiddos have been doing an amazing job of remembering the expectations during our "Daily 5" reading block.  They have been working independently in their dailies while I have been giving reading assessments to each student.  Reading assessments are now finished and I am so excited to start pulling small reading groups this week!  Your child will receive small group reading instruction based on their individual need.  So exciting!

Writing:  Our first writing unit will be focused on personal narratives.  We talked about how the stories we write during writing time will be about something that has happened to them, or something that they have done!  Before we write each day, we know we must plan our writing... this is done by thinking of an idea, then we "touch and tell" our stories either to a partner or to the class (ask your first grader what this means).  We also make sure that our story has a beginning, a middle, and an end.  So far, we have been keeping all of our writing at school in our writing folders.  We will be using them again after we learn about "adding more" to our stories. 

Fun Friday Writing! - During Writer's Workshop we can use clipboards and crayons during writing time!   

Math:  We just finished up our first math topic on Five and Ten Relationships.  It is so important for first graders to know all the ways to "make 10" quick and fast.  We learned a couple of new games to help with this... 10 Go Fish and Make 10.  Our new math topic is on Addition.  We will be learning several different strategies to use when adding!

Science:  Our class is participating in a fun science program called the CPS Zoo.  Every two weeks, we will receive an animal to learn about... these animals are stuffed, but they are pretty awesome non the less!!!  Our first animal was a manatee... did you know that manatees don't really sleep?  Because they must come up for air every 15 minutes, they don't ever really fall into a good sleep.  The kids thought this was pretty amazing!  Ask your first grader what else they learned about manatees.  :)

Important Notes:

Please make sure and send back the Friday Folder every Monday.  Thank you for looking through all the papers and signing the back of the comment sheet.  Since I have this blog, I will only be posting comments in the comment section every two weeks.  Please feel free to use the parent comment area to let me know of any questions or concerns.  I always check it when your child turns it in.  

Also, I encourage your child to bring in a water bottle.  Unfortunately, we don't have a water fountain in our classroom and it makes things so much easier when they are thirsty if they have a water bottle handy.  

Important Dates:

Friday, September 23rd - Apple Day for First Graders  

We will be having a fun day of learning with an apple theme to celebrate Johnny Appleseed's birthday.  If your family would be willing to donate some apples to the classroom that would be awesome!  Some of the day's activities will include, making homemade applesauce and having a taste test of our favorite color of apple!  

Monday September 26th - No school (teacher workday)

Tuesday, October 4th - Picture Day