Sailing Through September!
It's hard to believe September has come and gone! It's been GREAT so far! We are doing lots of cool things, and starting to challenge our brains!
Reading
We have finished our lessons working on fables, and are moving on to folktales next week. It might be fun for you to visit the public library and look for folktale stories to share with your child! When reading with your child at home, ask them to identify various story elements that we have been working on in class.
Characters - who is the main character? Who are the other characters?,
Setting (where does the story take place? When does the story take place---morning/afternoon/night, summer/spring/winter/fall, etc.----ask how they know/what is the evidence that shows you where/when?
You can also ask your child about the problem in the story and the solution
Plot - what happened in the beginning/middle/end?
Was there a moral/lesson to be learned? How can we apply that to our own lives?
Are there any examples of personification?
You do not need to ask your child all of these questions every time---maybe just ask them one or two things. There are times you will want to check for your child's understanding of what is being taught at school, but certainly times that we want to show them that we read for enjoyment with no questioning and work attached!
Math
During morning work time, students are working on writing numbers to 120! At home, you can help ensure your child can identify/name all numbers to 120, and also count to 120 starting at any number!
In math, we have been learning to decompose a number - break it down into its parts (part/part/whole method). This is critical for truly understanding the value of a number. We are learning that for every number, there are sets of number partners (you might know these to be called addends instead of partners). The partners are two numbers that work together to add to a total. We have not focused on relating this to subtraction, YET! That is coming. There are various strategies to find number partners. Math mountains, number bonds, using your fingers, circle drawings, and using math manipulatives (blocks, counters, etc.---tangible items). While we teach many strategies, your child will settle in on the strategy/tools that they like best to work with numbers. Ask your child if they can find the partners of any number 10 or less. Here is a video about math mountains. This was introduced in Kindergarten.
Writing
As writers, we are focusing on penmanship quite a bit. This week, your child came home with a handwriting page with a Penmanship in Daily Work rubric attached. When you see the rubrics attached to your child's work, this will let you know that it has been entered into the grade book as part of your student's penmanship grade that will be figured into their report card. Other work that does not have a rubric attached is just for practice, with no grade taken.
Science/Social Studies
We have started our unit on Living vs. Nonliving things. We will be exploring and learning all about how people, animals, and plants change and grow. We will learn what living things need to survive. We just dipped our toes in the water last week with the introduction to this unit. There is a lot more to come!
Our class enjoyed switching classes and teachers this week! Our class went to Mrs. Quist's room for Social Studies where they are beginning to learn all about communities, and being a good citizen!
Spelling/Phonics
We have been sailing through a lot of phonics skills. We have reviewed all vowels, most consonants, and are learning double spellings for -ff, -ll, -ss, zz. We have been working hard to stretch our sounds when writing or building a word and have enjoyed lots of word work activities. In the photos below, students are building words independently at the word work station during Daily 5, and at the whole group area, we are learning to build words and change sounds in words to make a new word----we can change the word pin to spin, and blend the sounds to read the whole word!
SeeSaw
SeeSaw is a really great app that we use to build digital portfolioa where students can show what they know! Each week, we reflect on our "Big Learning"---the big ideas/most important items that we learned and practiced. After we brainstorm a list of big learning topics, students choose one and post a video, photo, or drawing about their topic. This week, many students chose to showcase their reading skills, and talk about their friendships at school! We have focused a lot on building friendships and our classroom community, so it is great to see so many students making friends. Below are a few videos from our SeeSaw posts. It's fun to see our first graders skills grow academically, but also improve their video and photography skills throughout the year.
On Monday, look for a special QR code to come home in your child's folder. You will want to download a QR reader app----they are FREE and scan this code with the app. You can also just use the SeeSaw website. the code will take you to your child's journal/portfolio and you can "like" their post(s) by clicking the heart icon, and you can also leave them a comment.
This is what a QR code looks like. You will get a customized one for your child's specific page.
You can sign up right now, if you'd like!
Click on this link: https://app.seesaw.me/s/503-349-582
Choose your child from the list
Create your account
Once I approve you, you can see content from your child
After you sign up, download the free Seesaw Family app and sign in. You can also access Seesaw from a computer at https://app.seesaw.me.
P.s. If you used Seesaw last year or have more than one child using Seesaw, follow the link above, then click the 'Sign in' tab at the top of the screen. You do not need to create a new account.
Students LOVE when they get messages from their parents and families. Having a real audience to share their knowledge with is the main driving force for performing so well. They want to impress YOU! They want to hear from YOU! It makes them feel so proud, and encourages them to keep learning and doing more. Mostly, we will post on Friday afternoons, but sometimes something will come up that just can't wait until Friday....so check in weekly if you can!
What a great example of kindness & being a good citizen!
Please be sure to check the main page of our classroom website for the October snack calendar, and important dates coming up! Vikingnet.org is a great place to check the district calendar, athletic calendar, and Forest View web page/calendar! I try to combine those calendars and put the most pertinent information specific to your first grader on this classroom website, but you may want to check those sites for other things coming up!
