This week with our Wonders program we will look at: Where do animals live together? Our guided reading books are all about Meerkats. We will continue our learning about this interesting little animal during the week as we work on a Research Project – learning how to gather interesting and important facts about Meerkats. The spelling this week will be tricky word endings: lend, send, fast, past, sink, wink - - of, who (with exposure to: eat, under, no). With our Everyday Mathematics program we continue with adding and subtracting using the number line and the number grid. We will also be learning how to fill in a “Frames and Arrow” diagram. This is what a Frames and Arrows diagram looks like: Frames and Arrows show a sequence of numbers that follow a given rule. Each frame contains a number. The frames can appear in a variety of shapes. The arrow stands for the rule that determines the next number in the sequence or the number that goes in the next frame. A Home Link will be sent home that explains this further.
In Science we will define, test, and solve another problem – can changing the strength and direction of a wrecking ball’s push save a house from being crushed? We are winding down our first Trimester. I am looking forward to getting together with you and sharing all of the wonderful social, emotional, and academic growth that has happened with your child.
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Although the snow was falling outside all day it didn’t stop the First Grade and Readiness children from their inside Harvest Celebration. All the children participated in the following activities:
We also enjoyed homemade doughnuts and cider. Ask your child to tell you about their favorite activity. Why do birds have beaks? We had such a fun time investigating the relationship between the shape of different beaks and the food each bird eats during our Mystery Science adventure last week. Ask your child to tell you about this.
We will continue learning about the first Thanksgiving - comparing and contrasting with our present day celebration. Be on the lookout for your child’s Thanksgiving flipbook – they will have lots to share with you. Friday’s snowstorm...specifically the wet snow...brought about a reminder about the importance of packing an extra set of clothes for your child in their backpack. It’s time to replace the extra “summer” clothing with “winter” clothing. Also, please pack extra socks! Although boots get left at the classroom door somehow the wet snow still appears on our classroom floor and we have puddles which seem to find all stocking feet. Has your child learned how to tie their shoes? Beginning in January it is expected that your child is able to tie their own shoes, independently. Between the excitement of Halloween and Thanksgiving, full moons, the time change, and the unexpected November snow we have found that there has been difficulty following routines and maintaining expected behaviors. We are working hard at earning our “dobs” by showing kindness and expected “Bobcat” behavior. A conversation with your child on how they are doing would be greatly appreciated. Mrs. Queen and I send warm wishes from home to home and from heart to heart to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving. May this day be a beautiful reminder of the wonderful things in life! Happy Veterans Day. A heartfelt THANK YOU to all the brave men and women who have chosen the path of service in our armed forces.
Our Wonders program will focus on our Essential Question: What buildings do you know? What are they made of? We will be talking and reading about buildings and what they are made of. So, of course, the three little pigs is a perfect story for us to dive into. There are so many wonderful variations of this tale, we will read two that your children have probably not read yet - - The Pigs, the Wolf, and the Mud by Ellen Tarlow and The Three Dassies by Jan Brett. Our phonics focus is short vowel Uu. The spelling words for the week are: run, fun, nut, cut, bug, rug, - - could, one Last week I sent home a list of the Sight Words that your child has mastered. If there were any words that your child is still having difficulty with, please help them to practice these words. Next week they will be assessed again. Our Wonders program will expose us to singular and plural nouns as well as contractions. The cold weather is upon us. Cynthia Rylant’s beautiful book, In November, will help to guide us to write our own stories about the approaching winter. These stories will go on the bulletin board just outside our classroom door. Your children are learning how to use different resources to help them to add and subtract as well as identify numbers up to 120. Rekenreks continue to be a favorite! We have been working hard on number operations and algebraic thinking. By the end of First Grade, your child will need to be proficient with:
This week in Science we will investigate Animal and Plant Superpowers. Why do birds have beaks? Why do baby ducks follow their mother? Why do leaves change color in the fall? A quick preview of what is planned for Thanksgiving week: On Tuesday, November 20th we will get together with our friends from the Readiness and First Grade classrooms for some seasonal activities. We will have two very special artists working with us: Mrs. Keefe (our former Art Teacher) and Mr. Real Fallu. We are planning a special snack for all the children. Please let me know if you could donate:
This week with our Wonders program we will be reading and talking about jobs with our Essential Question of: What jobs need to be done in our community? The short vowel “Ee” will be our phonics focus.
Our spelling words are: leg, beg, men, hen, head, bread Our sight words are: there, again Since there is no school on Tuesday due to the elections, your child will be bringing home their reading group book on Wednesday. We are continually adding and subtracting numbers. We will be looking at numbers in Number Stories this week. This is a fun activity you can do with your child. Here is an example of an addition number story: On our drive to school I saw 5 white cars and 3 blue cars. How many cars in all did we see? Here is an example of a subtraction number story. For Halloween I collected 10 pieces of candy. I ate 6 pieces of candy. How many pieces of candy do I have left? Did your child tell you about “Tiny Town”? We had so much fun investigating how pushes can change the speed and direction of falling objects. Using great teamwork as some trial and error, your children were able to successfully direct a “boulder” down a mountainside away from a town. We will be talking about Veterans Day this week. Is anyone is your family a veteran? Talk with your child about this special person – we’d love to have them share this information with us. |
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