September 15-19

We had a busy week of learning in first grade.  Check out all we discovered as we moved through our days! Be sure to ask your child the learning question at the bottom of each overview to learn more about his/her thinking this week.

Reading:  

This week our focus was on working in partnerships.  We learned:

-The things partners talk about when looking at books (how to use strategies to help each other)

-How to share a book with a listening partner and a talking partner (I read, you read, we read)

-How to understand the meaning of our books (making sure each partner understand what he/she is reading)

-How to think about our reading (retell and revisit details of the story)

-How to know if we are doing our jobs as partners (reading a reading rubric and self-assessment)

Question:  How does have a partner help you as a reader?

Writing:  

In writing we took a closer look at the first grade writing process of think, plan, sketch, add detail and revise/edit/publish.  We learned:

-How to sequence a story (Beginning, middle, middle, middle, end)

-How to plan using a graphic organizer

-How to sketch across the pages of a book to remember the most important parts of the story

Question:  Why do you think writers plan before they write?

Math:  

Math this week was more exposure to making and breaking number values.  We practiced:

-Working with the values of 7 and 9 with peas and carrots word problems

-Combination number games to represent values in multiple ways

-True/false equation problems

Question:  How many ways can I make/break the number 5 (Play the game how many am I hiding with items from home)?

Science:

We continued exploring our new weather unit this week.  We learned:

-How to record the weather

-The meaning of words like cloud cover, precipitation, temperature, and wind speed

-How to read a thermometer

Question:  Talk about how your wind flag helped you learn about wind?

Word Work:

This week we started individual word study groups.

Question:  What sounds were you sorting this week?  Can you find three items at home that have the sounds you’ve been practicing? 

Homework:

Weekly homework will come home each Friday.  The main part of your child's nightly homework will be reading twenty minutes five days a week and returning the reading log each Monday.  The Friday homework assignment should completed sometime during the next week.  All Friday homework is due by Friday of the next week.  Please make sure you sign the homework slip and have your child return it during the next week with any homework that needs to be turned in.  Some homework is just for practice and will not need to be returned. There is a direction sheet on the front of Friday homework explaining everything you need to know and have your child complete.