We did it! We finished the FIRST week of FIRST grade. It was awesome! I will keep saying it....this is an amazing group of kids!!
One of the things I LOVE about our school (and believe me, I love A LOT of things!) is the great emphasis on kindness. As part of our character education, the elementary grades will be choosing an emphasis each month. The month of September is all about RESPECT (Can you hear Aretha Franklin singing???). It's a great way to start the year because our school and class principles are built on respect for ourselves, others, and property. I will be looking for examples of students that go above and beyond the "expected" norms of respect. They will be our stars for the month. So here's to our first "star" of the month! Congratulations to Johnny!
Johnny noticed that some students forgot to push their chairs in when we came up to the carpet. He pushed them in without being asked or without pointing out that he had done it (a favorite first grade technique). Yay!
We also celebrated our first birthday of first grade....Happy 7 to our very own sweet Ella! On birthdays, the birthday child comes in to find a birthday "balloon" above his/her desk, our birthday bear, a sign, and a number card waiting to be signed by all of his/her friends! At morning circle, we make a human birthday cake...it's always fun and it's good for some giggles and smiles. We will celebrate Ella's and all other September baby birthdays on the last Friday of the month.
There is a lot of emphasis on reading fluency when we test for our IRI (Idaho Reading Indicator) and the best way to become a fluent reader is to read known texts repeatedly. Poems are fun, short texts that are enjoyed by children. Encourage your child to read this poem to you, themselves, pets, and other family members. As they become familiar with the poem, have them vary their voice inflection to make it interesting to listen to (over and over again!!). Please have your child return the poetry book on Monday.
They should have also brought home a packet of work from this week. As you can see our main emphasis in math was:
*investigating active addition using pictorial examples (the kangaroo sheet)
*the commutative property of addition -- the order of addends does not change the sum (the clothespin sheet)
*+0 strategy in addition. We learned a song called "Zero, Zero"....my favorite part... "When you add zero to a number, it stays the same. You don't have to think or use your brain."
In the upcoming week, we will start Reading Rainbows! Reading Rainbows is just the name I give for our station rotation in reading. It's a good way for students to get smaller group instruction. They are divided into six learning groups of five students each. Each day, they will either see myself or our awesome para-professional, Mrs. Taylor in a small group for literacy instruction. This is also a great time for having parent volunteers.
Speaking of parent volunteers, I am in the process of collecting all the data and will try to put together a schedule soon. We LOVE parent volunteers in our room.
I will print up a schedule and send it home next week so you'll have a better idea of how your child is spending his/her day.
Have a restful and wonderful weekend! Looking forward to seeing your cute kiddos on Monday!
Carin
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