October Treasures

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This long weekend would be a perfect time for your child to take a 'Phonebook Walk; in your backyard. Please get out any phonebook and go outdoors to look for leaves and pine needles. Students then press their nature findings into the pages of the phonebook for several days. When nice and flat and dry, students can put the leaves/pine needles into the provided baggy and return to school by Friday, October 14^th. We will be using these treasures to investigate and sort in our science curriculum and to use for a future art project.

Next Week we will be introduced to more word wall words to learn to read automatically, spell and use in our writing. Here is our list for the month of October:

Week of Oct. 3—play, he, she, the

Week of October 10—to, at, because

Week of October 17—are, of, it, is

Week of October 24—and, for, from, went, get

Week of October 31—very, came, had, they

Have a great long weekend with your child and we will be back in school together on Wednesday October 12^th.

Word Wall Words

For the week of Oct. 3-7, we will work on these word wall words in our spelling, writing and with phonics word work activities: play, the, he, she. Thanks for practicing these words at home along with last week's words: am, can, will, with, favorite.

WE are Raz-Kids--Building Skills to be Independent Readers

Our class started using the Raz-Kids online program today on a trial basis. Your child can continue using this program at home.
www.raz-kids.com
Link to: Kids Start Here
teacher name is: gaadland
Child clicks on their name
Child's Password: their middle name If they had a two part middle name I just used the first part as the password.
The Raz-Kids program is used in the first grade classroom as one of the components of the Daily 5 Program. Students listen to a story at their independent reading level, read the same story themselves and then take a quiz covering comprehension of the story and also first grade literacy concepts. I encourage the students to listen and read each story 2-3 times before taking the quiz to work on reading fluency. The child can 'work' their way through the level by successfully reading stories and completing quizzes with accuracy. The first grade team has submitted a request for Corral Drive PTA funds to purchase the Raz-Kids program for use in all the First Grade classrooms. Please give it a try at home and comment or ask your questions below concerning Raz-Kids.
Have a great weekend with your child!

Mathematics Homework Folder

Last Friday, you noticed that your child brought home the Mathematics Homework binder. Please continue to play the games/activities in the folder on a regular basis. Throughout the school year the first graders will bring home more games/activities that are to be added to the binder. Continued practice of these games helps students to practice combining groups of numbers, count, add and develop mathematics concepts.

Enjoy our class group picture in shadows!!!

Guided Reading Groups

We have started regular Guided Reading Groups with all first graders. Your child has been bringing home a baggy with books at his/her Guided Reading instructional level of reading. Please have your child read to you each evening, sign the pink booklet and return to school the following day. In first grade we work on all facets of developing reading skills: decoding, decoding strategies, comprehension and reading fluency. You will notice that your child has the same book(s) more than once. Familiar books may come home from past lessons. Thanks for reading and rereading as this helps the child become a more independent reader in all reading skills. Ms. Jensen and Mrs. Walton are also taking some of the students from all first grade classrooms for Guided Reading groups! Ask your child who their Guided Reading teacher is.

First Grade Word Wall Words will be introduced at the beginning of each week: September 26: will, am, can, with, favorite. We will be using these words as a basis of word work activities, phonics lessons and handwritings lesson throughout the week. By the end of the school year your child will have a list of 110 word wall words to be able to read, spell and write. Thanks for reinforcing these words on a regular basis.

Some ideas for home practice include: 1. Make flash cards for each of the words. 2. Have your child practice writing these words on paper, keyboarding them or writing in pudding or on a salt tray. 3. Spell the words with magnetic letters. 4. Look for the words in text such as the guided reading books. 5. Make your own little dictionary and add the weekly words to the appropriate alphabet headings.

Next week's Tuesday Show and Share is: Student Choice. This is our last full class Show and Share as Student of the Week show and share starts soon. You will be informed by a note in the backpack when it is your child's turn for the upcoming week to be Student of the Week!

Have a Great Weekend with your child!

Learning our Routine

September 16, 2011

As we have worked together as a class these past 2 weeks a focus has been to learn our routine and follow the school rules.

Our Rules are: 1. Treat others with dignity and respect. 2. Keep hands, feet and objects to yourself. 3. Enter, exit and walk quietly throughout the building. 4. Use designated areas responsibly.

We have also begun working on the Daily 5(Independent Reading Skills Practice), Investigations for mathematics and a review of Kindergarten Word Wall Words. Your child is bringing home their first books for Guided Reading in their book baggy today. You will note the bright pink sign-off booklet, so that you can sign off each time your child reads. Please sign nightly, even if the books are the same from one day to the next. By reading and rereading familiar books students build their reading fluency and known word base.

We have two sessions of Tuesday Show and Share left on September 23 and 30. The theme for both days is: Student Choice.

Have a great weekend with your childJ

Gail Aadland

Fabulous First Students First Week of School

This was our small group week, culminating with the full group of 25 students on Friday. My focus this week has been to help your child feel confident and comfortable in the classroom setting.
In Literacy we worked on being independent readers of a new text by, 'Reading the Pictures". Stamina and I Can DO It Myself are two phrases you may hear your child saying. We will be working to read independently as we build our stamina for longer periods of times each day. Students learned the habits of eyes in book, brain is thinking about the story and lips are quiet. We also focused on staying in our own reading area.

We are writers of our own lives during Writer's Workshop. We have drawn a picture of a breakfast we enjoyed and today did some writing by labeling or adding a sentence to the picture.

In Mathematics we are having some exploration time to experience a variety of the mathematics materials we will use throughout the school year.

As we begin to build routines and follow rules, we are learning more and more about what is expected of a first grader.

Have a great Labor Day weekend with your child! See everyone back on Tuesday, September 6th.