Hello families!
Our week began with a fun-filled and informative trip to the Retzer Nature Center and Planetarium in Waukesha. We enjoyed our program in the planetarium about the nighttime sky, our time listening to Lois Ehlert's book Leaf Man, and our nature walk!
On Friday, we used the materials we collected on our nature hike to create faces. We had a look at the work of Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo to inspire our creations!
 |
| We were delighted to find some insects hiding in our organic matter! |
 |
| Look at all of our amazing creations! These will be in our hallway above our coat hooks, so you'll be able to see them in person during conferences later this month. |
During Readers' Workshop this week, we added to our "Readers Build Good Habits" anchor chart as well as to our "Reading Partners Work Together" chart. We spent much of our time learning about how readers keep track of their reading volume with reading mats. Ask your reader about the STOP and GO sides of his/her mat and how s/he uses the mat to keep track of his/her reading. We also set goals for our reading each day with a continued focus on squeezing in reading time throughout our day. We know that the more we read, the better we get!
 |
| First grade readers learned that if we sound bumpy or boring when we read, we need to reread to smooth out our voices. |
 |
| Ask your reader about his/her goal and how s/he is doing toward meeting that goal each day. What is helping him/her to reach or surpass that goal? What is not helpful? |
 |
| Please be sure your reader is keeping track of the reading s/he is doing at home each evening. Book Briefcases should be returned to school on a daily basis. Thank you! |
 |
| Word Rings are GREAT to read during Read to Self time! |
 |
| Poems that we've learned are great to read as well. These are extremely helpful in developing our fluency! |
 |
| After a book is read, we DO SOMETHING. Ask your reader to tell you what s/he might do AFTER reading a book (reread the whole book, reread their favorite part, retell). Next we record the title on our Reading Log and add a tally mark. |
In Math Workshop this week, we began our Math Expressions curriculum. We're looking at the numbers 1-10, with a focus on five groups. We used stair steps and number cards as tools to help develop and extend our understanding. Everyone was so excited to finally get their math workbooks! We also added math to our morning routines with our math routines. On Friday, our activity was Ten Frame Flash. You can have your child practice it at this website: https://www.schooltube.com/
 |
| Exploring Stair Steps. |
Mrs. French joined us for Guidance on Wednesday and will continue to join us every other Wednesday throughout the year. We learned about bucket filling. Ask your first grader about what this means and what s/he does to fill others' buckets and how others fill theirs.
In Writers' Workshop this week, we continued to bring our stories to life. We learned that we can touch the characters in our sketches and make them talk by imagining what they were really saying during that small moment. We also learned that writers tell their stories in small steps, bit by bit!
 |
| We used George McClement's book Night of the Veggie Monster, looking very closely at how he told his story bit by bit. Ask your first grader to tell you how he did this! |
On Friday, Stormonth School welcomed our local police officers for a Thank a Police Officer assembly. It was a beautiful and touching assembly, and I could see that the officers' buckets were filled to the brim!
Introducing this week's Kings and Queens:
Thanks so much for the book orders that came in! I was able to use my earned bonus points to get new bathroom passes, books/CDs for our Listening Station, a Ten Frame math game, and loads of books both for our classroom library and for read-aloud and shared reading experiences! I appreciate this support not only of our classroom but also of your reader!
 |
| Books galore purchased with Scholastic Book Club bonus points - THANK YOU! |
Next week is our Scholastic Book Fair here at Stormonth, and I hope you'll take advantage of this other great opportunity to share the joy and love of reading with your first grader!
Until then...
Michelle
Mark your calendars!
Monday, October 3: NO SCHOOL
Coins due for "Reading Makes Cents." The PTO has decided to extend the collection date! Please send in loose change so that we can purchase books for schools in need. Thank you!
Wednesday, October 5: Picture Day at 11:00am
Early Release
Thursday, October 6: Book Fair Preview at 9:00am
Wednesday, October 12: NO SCHOOL
Thursday, October 20: Conferences 4:30-8:00pm
Friday, October 21: Monster Bash
Wednesday, October 26: Early Release
Conferences: 3-6:30pm
Thursday, October 27: Conferences 4:30-8:00pm
Tuesday, November 22: Music Concert (Last Names A-M at 10am/Last Names N-Z at 2pm)
Wednesday, November 23: Early Release Day
No comments:
Post a Comment