The week of Nov. 29

 Is it really almost December?  I need time to slow down!  I love this class too much!  :)

I hope you all had a wonderful break!

Phonics-

This week we are beginning the r blends like:  cr, dr, tr, br, gr, pr, fr.

The high frequency sight words are:  said, when, there, where

We will also have a lesson on contractions using an apostrophe.

To Do:  With our two day week last week, I did not have time to have the kids read the words on the Fluency Check Phonics sheet.  It is in their folder.  Please have them read the words to you so you can see how well your child has progressed on the skills learned so far!  This does not need to be returned.

Reading:  We just started our unit on Fairy Tales.  We will be learning the elements of a fairy tale, comparing/contrasting, and reading different versions of fairy tales.  This week we are reading:

Monday:  Cinderella

Tuesday:  Little Red Riding Hood, Ninja Red Riding Hood

Wednesday:  Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Snow Bears

Thursday:  The Three Little Pigs, The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

Friday:  The Three Ninja Pigs, Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas

Math--Place Value

Each day we count the days we are here at school with straws and Base Ten Blocks.  We talk about how many tens and ones we have for each.  We are also using coins to count our days.  We are on day 71!  Ask your child to tell you how how we count 4 quarters!

Counting our days this way helps us learn place value.  We are working on a place value packet to practice.  We also have a fun December packet to review skills we've learned so far, while I am doing Fastbridge testing.  So, you won't be seeing any math sheets coming home from our My Math book until I am done testing.  

Coming up!

Dec. 16.    Holiday Party --Half day, dismiss at 12:10

Dec. 17-Jan. 4.  Christmas vacation

Jan. 5.        3rd quarter begins

Jan. 7          2nd quarter grades posted on Skyward

Nov. 22-23

 Our math test over subtraction to 20 is tomorrow!  The class is doing great with the strategies that work for them!

We have completed the first math book of our math series.  There are many homework pages still in it that your child can do at home when they have free time to practice and review.  We will be beginning Book 2 soon.  Fastbridge testing just began so we may be doing other math activities in place of our math book, so I can get the testing done before Christmas break.  

We finished our Science Unit on space with the kids writing details about what they learned about the moon.  Then, we learned how to write a paragraph with a topic sentence, the details, and a conclusion!  The kids loved doing it!  Our last fun thing we did was make our own planets out of modeling clay and then we painted them.  The turned out so cute!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving Break!

The week of Nov. 15-19

How about those CHIEFS?  If you're a Chiefs fan, it was sure nice to have an earned win!

We are back in the swing of things after me being gone on Friday.  We are still learning expected behaviors when a sub. is here.  She had a rough day, so we'll keep having the needed conversations about behavior when I'm gone.

Enjoy the pics below of when our veteran, Joe Hanks, was here last Thursday!  He was kind to let the kids try on his army gear.  

Phonics:  This week we are practicing more blends with the s blends at the beginning of the word.  (st, sw, sc, sl, sm, sn, sp, sk). We will also be learning there are blends at the end of the word like: tent, belt, lamp, gift, pond, mask.

Optional Homework:  We were not able to complete all of the (l blend) unit in one week.  I sent home the last page for your child to do at home.  If they bring it back, I will reward them. :)

New high frequency words:  which, from, call, very

Math this week is working on subtraction to 20 and using all of the strategies we have learned to solve problems.  The kids are doing well using what works best for them!

We are finishing up our science unit filling out our Know-Want to know-Learned. The kids learned so much during our moon unit and were able to answer all of the questions they had before we studied the moon.  

This week in science we are going to learn more about our planets and the stars.  Each student will get their birthday month constellation printed and they will add a gold star for each star on their constellations.

Each student will get to choose a planet to make out of modeling clay. Then, they will get to paint it and keep for themselves!

Lastly, we are going to get to make the phases of the moon out of oreos!  They will love this, because they will get to eat some of the oreos when we are done!

It's going to be a fun way to end our solar system unit!!

Keep reviewing the sight words lists!  

Please work on teaching your child to tie their shoes!

If you're interested in helping out our class with items we can use, please check out my Amazon Wish List!  Thank you so much!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/VVBMQME52683?ref_=wl_share

Coming up!

Nov. 18.    Scott's class visits the book fair!  The ewallet is a great cashless payment option for your child so it doesn't get lost enroute!

Nov. 20.    Winter Wonderland--9-noon

Nov. 24-26.  Thanksgiving Break

Veteran Day Pictures with Captain Joe Hanks!

Thank you all for your service!

The week of Nov. 8-12

 What a beautiful weekend!  It was so nice to get outside and enjoy it!

Look for Book Fair ewallet info. coming home in your child's folder.

I am sending home the Veteran's Day info. letter if you have someone in your family that you'd like for your child to write a letter to and thank for their service.  Please send it back to school by Thursday, Nov. 11.  

Turkey disguise!  The turkey disguise is due back this Friday, Nov. 12.  Your child can choose to cut it out if they want or leave it on the paper.  Have fun getting creative with items from home to disguise it!

Late Start Wednesday!  I needed to ask for their lunch choices for Wednesday, so we have to stick with that choice.  I will let those of you know if your child chose home lunch and don't always bring it daily.

Phonics--Today we began learning about l-blends at the beginning of words like:  bl, fl, pl, gl, cl, sl with short vowels in the middle.  We also know that when we hear a /k/ sound following a short vowel, it is a -ck.   

New high-frequency words:  many, thing, you, these

Another new skill we have in this Phonics' unit is possessives-'s.

I have taught it before, but we have a lesson on it this week.

Math --Our chapter 3 math test was Friday.  I had two kids gone, so will send it home after I've had a chance to give it to them when they both return.  They all did well on it!  There were a few challenging concepts on it.

We began chapter 4 over subtraction from 20 today.  We will be using those doubles we've learned, number lines, and manipulatives as our strategies.

Coming up!

Nov. 10.   Late start day--10:30 arrival

Nov. 12.   CCE Spirit Wear Day

Nov. 18.    Scott's class visits the book fair!  The ewallet is a great cashless payment option for your child so it doesn't get lost enroute!

Nov. 20.    Winter Wonderland--9-noon

Nov. 24-26.  Thanksgiving Break

The week of Nov. 1-5

 It sounds like the kids had a great Halloween!  Now on to November!  The year is flying by!  

This week we are continuing with the same units.  

Science--We will learn more about the Phases of the Moon. It is interesting tracking the phases on my moon app and coloring in the moon calendar.  

I am so impressed with how well the class is writing sentences!  We write in our journals on Mondays to tell about our weekends.  It is fun to see how far they have come already writing complete sentences with a capital at the beginning and a punctuation mark at the end.

Phonics--This is our last week with short vowels and cvc words.  Short e is always the hardest to hear, but the kids are doing great!  

Continue to have your child read the words on the worksheets that come home.  It does make a difference!  The paper decodable book will come home this week too!  I would suggest keeping those decodable books in a folder at home to pull out and have your child read multiple times.  You will notice a huge improvement!

Math--There are a couple more days left in our Addition to 20 chapter.  Using the doubles strategy seems to really help when adding near doubles.  Our test will be on Friday!

Halloween

First Grade Team as "Where's Waldo"

Coming up!

Nov. 4.     Picture retakes

Nov. 10.   Late start day--10:30 arrival

Nov. 12.   CCE Spirit Wear Day

Nov. 20.    Winter Wonderland--9-noon

Nov. 24-26.  Thanksgiving Break