December News #1

We've been busy in our classroom and we're working hard. We have just two weeks before the holiday break and we still have lots to do and learn. With the holiday quickly approaching brings a lot of excitement and anticipation for 6 and 7 year olds. I enjoy being around their enthusiasm this time of the year, and it can be difficult to keep their young minds focused. Therefore, please help me out by praising their nice printing, and the papers they have been successful on. Work habits tend to slide this time of the year.

Math: We have been working in Chapter 5 which is titled "Addition and Subtraction Relationships".
Most of our lessons thus far have focused on numbers that are related and how we can use what we know about one fact to help us solve other facts using those same numbers. We call these "Fact Families". For example: 5, 6, and 11 are a family- they are related. They have been working on taking those numbers and writing all the facts for that family: 5+6=11  6+5=11  11-5=6  11-6=5. All our lessons last week used this process but presented it in different ways. We used two colors of cubes to model related facts by showing one number in red, the other in yellow, and putting them together to show the whole. We call these parts: part-part-whole. You may also recall seeing the paper we did using the triangle strategy where the number representing the whole was placed at the top and the two parts were placed at the bottom. We also applied these concepts when finding missing numbers. Check to see if your child can find the missing numbers for these facts: 7+____=15  15-7=____
9+___=14  14-9=___. You can practice this by writing missing number problems for your child. Many have been successful by solving the addition one first. They have discovered that if they don't know the fact they could start with the part that is given and count up to the whole to find that missing addend. We will continue to work in chapter 5 this week and will complete this chapter before the holiday break, which means we will be tested over it sometime next week. Over the break, you may want to work on the facts using flashcards or the computer. A good site to find math games is abcya.com. This site has numerous games to reinforce skills in 1st grade. I use this for centers so your child will most likely know some games they can do.

Reading: I hope that reading has become a daily routine for your child. Our reading series does provide take-home stories that go with each set of new vocabulary words. I hope that you are enjoying these books and that your child enjoys the success of reading them to you. (not all groups have brought them home, it depends on the reading level of the group they are in). Do encourage your child to read the phonics and vocabulary pages that they are doing independently. These pages are implementing the phonics skills, as well as the high-frequency words highlighted for each week. Our reading goals last week were to read and spell words with wh, ch, and tch. Our grammar skill was to find verbs in sentences both present and past tense and our comprehension skill was to identify the main idea and details. Our goals this week will be to read and spell words with the long i sound, to predict while we read, and to use the words is and are correctly. During the 2nd quarter, I have implemented a program called "Read Naturally" for all students. This program focuses on fluency. This is how the program works: your child reads a leveled passage for 1 minute (cold timing) and the number of words read is graphed. They then practice that same passage and answer a set of questions related to what they read. After practicing for several days, they read the same passage for 1 minute (hot timing) and the number of words read correctly is graphed. The students enjoy seeing the progress they've made from the first reading to the final timing. These passages have also come home in their ziplocs to practice. Several volunteers have helped with this program. Thanks to those for giving us your time. This week, during guided reading I will be working with kids in small groups to write a "narrative" piece which is a goal in 1st grade and part of our report card. Your child may or may not bring books home in their ziplocs every day this week. The writing project will take at least 3 days. We will complete Book 3 before the holiday break, which means we will be taking the Unit 3 reading test next week.

Winter: As winter approaches I'd like to recommend that you label all of your child's winter clothing including boots. The locker area during the winter months can get congested with the extra outer wear and sometimes their belongings don't end up back in their locker after recess. We do have a lost and found table for items found outside the lockers. If your child is participating in the book-it program, forms for December can be returned on January 6th our first day back from the holidays.

Star Student: Kelton and Caden have most recently been featured. Kelton likes to drink juice and eat steak. When he grows up he wants to be a "high-voltage lineman". He wants to learn more about hunting and his favorite books are about Junie B. Caden likes to drink pop and eat cookies. When he grows up he wants to be a football player. His favorite movie is "Homeward Bound" and his favorite TV show is "Jingle all the Way".