October 28, 2024

Hi 1A families,

I hope that everyone enjoyed the beautiful fall weather this weekend! Here are a few updates from our classroom.

Caregiver-Teacher Conferences

Looking forward to chatting with everyone. :) Here's is a link to the 1A Conference Sign Up form. If you designated that you would like a virtual meeting, I will send out the link on the day before the meeting.  All in-person meetings will take place in the classroom. 

Pumpkin Day - Wednesday!

I'm looking forward to Pumpkin Day in class! Thanks to everyone who volunteered to come in - we have room for all of you and you should have received a message from me on October 10th.

If you offered to donate a pumpkin, you can send it into school any time between now and Wednesday morning. Thanks to everyone who already sent them in!

Homework packets and book bags

The kids were very excited to complete the first homework packet this week - and they did a fantastic job! Of course, it's completely optional, but they were enthusiastic about having this "big kid" responsibility. As a reminder, if they kids choose to complete the homework packet, it is due at the end of the week. Book bags should also be returned on Fridays.

The kids have been working hard in class

Here are a few of the things they have been learning about:

• In Wit and Wisdom, we focused on the book Green Eggs and Ham. The students learned about point of view of the narrator as well as sequence words that help to put the events of the story in order: first, next, then, last. They also learned about the lesson of the story: You don't know if you'll like something until you try it.
• The students completed a craft and writing task based on the story Creepy Carrots. The finished products are hanging in the hallway outside of our classroom. If you are coming to school for a conference, be sure to check them out. They are adorable!
• The first graders also learned about questions and telling sentences. They are learning to differentiate the two so that they can choose the correct ending punctuation as they write.
• In math, the students learned another strategy for subtraction: the number path. We also discussed how addition and subtraction facts are related. 6 + 2 = 8 and 8 - 6 = 2
• The trick words for the week are: or, for
• I also introduced the FLSZ rule in words such as puff, fill, kiss, and fuzz. When a one-syllable word ends in F, L, S, and Z, you should double that letter at the end of the base word. This can be a tricky concept to implement when writing, so we will continue to circle back to it in the coming weeks.

Upcoming Dates

• Wednesday, October 30: Pumpkin Day in 1A (Kids can wear orange if they would like)
• Friday, November 1: Fall Extravaganza (Mr. Cushing will send out more information on this event)
• Tuesday, November 5: No school for students - Election Day/Caregiver-Teacher Conferences
• Monday, November 11: No school - Veterans Day
• Wednesday, November 20: Early release at 1:45 (teacher professional development)
• Wednesday, November 27: First Grade Thankful Show at 9:00 am (families invited - details coming soon); half day (11:50am release)
• Thursday and Friday, November 27/28: No school - Thanksgiving break

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you so much for your support at home!

Katie Barnett

October 20, 2024

Hi 1A families,

Just a quick update on what's been happening in 1A. Here's what we did in class during our short week.

• Building on the parts of speech that we have discussed so far this year (nouns and verbs), the kids learned about adjectives (describing words). They practiced differentiating the types of words in a small-group sorting activity during our literacy centers time.
• In math, the first graders learned about double facts (when both addends are the same: 2+2, 5+5, etc.). They also learned about doubles facts plus one (2+3, 5+6, etc.) Knowing both of these common facts helps the students when they work with larger values. At the end of the week, I introduced the concept of subtraction.
• I also discussed the spelling rule of the final -ck, which comes at the end of one-syllable, short vowel words such as "sick" and "pack". 
• In conjunction with that concept, I taught the first graders when to use C and when to use K in words. They learned the Cat/Kite rule. When a word begins with the c/k sound, look to the vowel that follows it to determine whether it is spelled with a C or a K. "C takes a, o, and u, K takes the other two." Examples include: cap, cod, cup, kit, kelp

• The trick words (sight words) that I introduced this week are: he, she, we, be, me
• We have also been discussing voting and elections. The vocabulary words we discussed are: vote, election, ballot, leader, president, and Democracy. We read two stories: Splat the Cat for President and Duck for President. Then we held a mock election where the students could vote for Spat the Cat or Duck. We then tallied the votes. Ask your kiddo which fictional candidate won our election!
• In the Wit and Wisdom curriculum, we focused on a book titled That Book Woman, which is a fictional story about a library who delivers books to a family in the mountains of Kentucky during the Great Depression. Her determination to bring stories to the kids inspires Cal, one of the boys, to learn how to read.
• I finished our chapter book read-aloud Ramona The Pest - and the kids loved it. Ask them to tell you all about it. :)

Homework

We've finally reached the time in the year when we begin homework in first grade! I want to stress, however, that homework is completely optional. I like students to have the chance to practice the skills that they are learning in class, but I also recognize that they work very hard during the school day, so you might feel like it's more beneficial for them to spend their time on other endeavors at home. It's your choice.

The packet will go home on Mondays and can be sent back to school on Fridays. On the front cover of the packet, there are five spelling words that match the phonics skill we are working on in class as well as a sentence to practice. I will give an informal spelling check in on Fridays. We will also practice these words and the sentence in class during the week.

This week's spelling words and sentence are:

thin
then
math
with
she (trick word)
She can go with them.

Book Bags

I will also send home a "book bag" with classroom books in it each week. The kids choose the books themselves at school. They can borrow them for the week and read them, then return them to school with the homework packet at the end of the week. I encourage the kids to find a cozy spot at home and enjoy the books each week. They can read them independently or with someone else. Hint: If the kids keep the book bag in their backpack, they will always have it to return to school on Friday. 

Accessing ST Math and Boost From Home

I sent home a printout of how to access these two valuable resources from home. The kids have used both programs in school and are familiar with how they work. Any time that they spend working on their math and reading skills outside of school is fantastic! If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer them. :)

Upcoming Dates

• Wednesday, October 23: Early release at 1:45 (teacher professional development)
• Friday, October 25: Picture day
• Wednesday, October 30: Pumpkin Day in 1A (Kids can wear orange if they would like)
• Friday, November 1: Fall Extravaganza (Mr. Cushing will send out more information on this event)
• Tuesday, November 5: No school for students - Election Day/Caregiver-Teacher Conferences
• Monday, November 11: No school - Veterans Day
• Wednesday, November 20: Early release at 1:45 (teacher professional development)
• Wednesday, November 27: First Grade Thankful Show at 9:00 am (families invited - details coming soon); half day (11:50am release)
• Thursday and Friday, November 27/28: No school - Thanksgiving break

As always, please let me know if you have any questions. The kids are doing an amazing job as students. I am so proud of all they have accomplished so far this year. :)

Katie

October 14, 2024

Hi 1A families,

We've been so busy in first grade! We had an amazing day for the field trip - the sun was shining and the kids were smiling all day. They had the opportunity to learn about how farms work and how apples grow and are harvested. Not only that, but they took a hay ride, picked apples in the orchard, played on the playground equipment, and saw some of the farm animals. Rogers Spring Hill Farm puts together a fantastic experience!

Here are a few of the highlights from the past couple of weeks:

• As part of the phonics curriculum, the students learned about the sounds that /am/ and /an/ make in words. Examples include: band and ham. Ask your first grader why we call those the "fussy a" sounds. They also learned about the /all/ sound in words like fall and small. They have been practicing how to read and spell words with those letter combinations.
• I also introduced the concept of digraphs. That is when two letters come together to make one sound. We practiced reading and writing words with ch, sh, th, and wh. Example words include chip, shock, that, and when.
• I also introduced new "trick words" over the last two weeks. Trick words are words that the students should learn by sight because they are high frequency words and/or words that do not follow the spelling rules that we have learned up until this point. We follow the list of words in the Fundations curriculum. The trick words that have been introduced in class are: a, and, the, is, his, as, has, to, into
• In math, we have continued to work with addition. The students learned the math vocabulary words: addend, sum, equal sign, and related facts. The students are also learning about the commutative property (you can add the numbers together in any order and get the same sum. 4+2=6 and 2+4=6).
• In the Wit and Wisdom curriculum, the students have been been delving into the ways that books can change lives. Most recently, we read a book titled My Librarian is a Camel that talks about how children in remote areas of the world get books. The first graders have also been learning to spot the difference between fiction and nonfiction books. Ask them about what they know. :)
• Since the field trip, we have been reading about how pumpkins grow so that we can get ready to be pumpkin scientists on Pumpkin Day. 
• As a class, we completed both the DIBELs early literacy assessment and the MAP assessment (which covers both reading and math). The DIBELs assessment results were sent home in your child's take home folder on Friday and the MAP assessment results will be sent home in a couple of weeks. Both of these assessments help to inform my instruction and are administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. 

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who has come in to be a Mystery Reader. The kids love it! If you haven't had a chance to sign up and would like to visit our class, here is the Mystery Reader Sign Up.

Caregiver-Teacher Conferences

Just about every family has signed up for a meeting slot. Thank you so much! I am looking forward to talking to all of you about your fantastic kids! Caregiver-Teacher Conference

Upcoming Dates

• Wednesday, October 23: Early release at 1:45 (teacher professional development)
• Wednesday, October 30: Pumpkin Day in 1A (Kids can wear orange if they would like)
• Tuesday, November 5: No school for students - Election Day/Caregiver-Teacher Conferences
• Monday, November 11: No school - Veterans Day
• Wednesday, November 20: Early release at 1:45 (teacher professional development)
• Wednesday, November 27: First Grade Thankful Show (families invited - details coming soon); half day (11:50am release)
• Thursday and Friday, November 27/28: No school - Thanksgiving break

Thanks for all that you do to support your child's learning at home. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Katie Barnett

Caregiver-Teacher Conference Sign Up

If you have not done so already, please sign up for a conference with me. This is a time when we can talk about your student's progress at school. Most conferences take place on Tuesday, November 5, however, I added some times outside of that date if that works better for your schedule. You will have the option to have the meeting in-person or virtually. (Please note your preference when you sign up.) If none of the listed times work for you, just let me know and we can make other arrangements. 

Caregiver-Teacher Conferences

Looking forward to chatting with everyone!

Katie Barnett