We Are Settling In!

The students came up with this list of four reasons why WE ARE IMPORTANT!

Even though it has been a short week, it has been a busy one!

We jumped right into our language arts centers.

 This week in our WORD WORK center, we have focused on the short i sound for a review. We also reviewed the -ap, -ag, -and, -at word families and we introduced the -it word family as our WORD FAMILY OF THE WEEK. At this point in the year, much of our work is a review, as a result, we can make sure we are on the right track. The students used beans to create words in the -it family, they used magnetic letters to create a variety of sight words, they visited www.starfall.com to review the short i sound.  As teachers, we recently subscribed to MORE STARFALL, it is an extension of the website, www.starfall.com. It has excellent phonics/reading activities and also offers a home membership if you want to check it out.

Students chose 10 words from the word wall, put them in ABC order and then used the words to write sentences.

This week in our WRITING CENTER the children worked independently in the phonics books to review the short i and short a sounds.  They completed pages in their theme notebook, wrote sentences using words on the word wall and they were also given the opportunity to "write the room". We continue to review what needs to happen at the beginning and end of sentences.

In our READING center the students listened to: MISS NELSON HAS A FIELD DAY and completed a follow-up activity independently.  They identified words rhyming with the -it family, reviewed the -at, -ag, -and, -ap families by playing a pom pom toss game and they read through three different scholastic magazines.

POM POM TOSS

HWT workbook

Your children are learning how to follow multiple directions. When they are working independently with their TIC-TAC-TOE boards, first they are encouraged to problem solve alone when they are unsure or cannot remember a direction. If they are unable to come up with an answer on their own, they then go to a friend in their group. The last resort is to come up to a teacher, because the teacher is working with small groups of students and should not be interrupted.

This week Mrs. Waller continued to work with the students using their Handwriting Without Tears workbooks. We have completed our review of uppercase letters and are moving on to lowercase letters. This work is intended as a review of what they have learned in PreK and Kindergarten. While this was going on, Miss Fate continued guided reading in small groups.

The kids gently place their hands on the wall and say the word before leaving the room! (this word will change as needed)

In math this week we continue to get use to the routine of number corner.  We introduced/reviewed the concept of a "pair" and a dozen.  We are working on number sentences, reviewing even/odd and learning about strategies to help your children compute mental math. The hundred board was used to review skip counting (counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's).....this is only the beginning as we start to build their number sense.

Number corner equations!

Counting by 5s

Counting by 2s

In Social Studies we continue our theme. The family collage has come home....the students are excited about this first big project. The students have also been working hard in their theme notebooks.

In TNT on Wednesday, we got together with Mrs. Wiedeman and Ms. Lorfing's class to brainstorm ideas for our first grade banner that will be created by our classes and used in the 50th Anniversary celebration.

Friday was a great day. Be sure to ask your child/children about their Hands-On Science celery experiment. It was so much fun. We also had another successful morning in the computer lab.

Thank you so much for popping in on our curriculum night. We are always happy to share what goes on here at school and we look forward to the remainder of the school year.

REMINDERS:
September 10th & 11th OT screening
September 12th & 13th Speech/Hearing Screening
MONDAY September 17th, Family Collage Due
TUESDAY September 18, PICTURE DAY!

Please remember to send a snack with your child to school even if they are hot lunch. We really appreciate it!

We have had another great week. Have a wonderful weekend.
Mrs. Waller and Miss Fate

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