Happy Monday everyone!
The students are beginning to understand and follow the new rules and routines of grade one. With every new class, the students need to learn what the expectations are of the classroom community. This week we focused again on our rules and routines, I have also started assessing students. Therefore, we have been reviewing letter and number formation. I have also assessed some students on their reading level. In grade one, we are not only looking at a student's fluency (the ability to read the words on the page), but also his/her comprehensions skills, such as retelling and making connections. That is, we are teaching students to read for meaning and to think about what they are reading.
This week, we started our Social Studies unit on Changing Roles and Responsibilities. This is a great opportunity to discuss, at home, the different roles each family member has and their responsibilities. We have been discussing the importance of rules and what happens when rules are broken. In math, we have been looking at numbers from 1 to 20. We are looking at recognition, the ability to print, and one to one correspondence. We have also reviewed counting by fives and tens to one hundred. Ask your child to count by tens with you the way he or she does in class. We have also started our Printing Program. Printing not only provides fine motor practice, but it also supports their letter-sound development along with building stamina to sit and work. It is important that students learn "stamina" to ensure they are able to pay attention, focus and learn. I have also introduced the different levels assessing so help with their stamina. We discussed how to create a WOW picture. Ask your child how to get a level 3 picture.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Friday, September 9, 2016
Housekeeping
1.Cross Country will begin on Tuesday, September 13th. Please bring your completed form to our first practice, if you have not yet done so.
2. Rotary Teachers
Mr. Blais for Health and Phys. Ed on Day 2 and Day 4
Mr. Lynde for Computers on Day 3 (correction as stated as Mr. Iceton)
Ms. McGee for Music on Day 1
Ms. McGee for Library on Day 5
*You can check for holidays, PA Days and Day Cycle on page 14 of your child's agenda.
3. Join us for curriculum night on Thursday, September 15th at 6:00pm in the gym (non-stage side)
2. Rotary Teachers
Mr. Blais for Health and Phys. Ed on Day 2 and Day 4
Mr. Lynde for Computers on Day 3 (correction as stated as Mr. Iceton)
Ms. McGee for Music on Day 1
Ms. McGee for Library on Day 5
*You can check for holidays, PA Days and Day Cycle on page 14 of your child's agenda.
3. Join us for curriculum night on Thursday, September 15th at 6:00pm in the gym (non-stage side)
First Week
Congratulations! We have finished the first week of grade one. This week we focused mainly on creating a safe and caring environment, as well as, practicing our routines and classroom expectations. To reinforce these concepts, we read many books that discussed empathy and respect, such as Have you Filled a Bucket TodayÉ and Chrysanthemum.
Another component that we are emphasizing in our classroom is a growth mind set. It is the idea that we are always looking to improve. We are trying to get our students to move away from ``Ì can`t`` to ``I`ll try``. We have discussed that``Mistakes are the proof that you are trying``.
We did many activities that fostered a growth mindset such as an art activity inspired by the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds and a STEM activity using the book The Most Magnificent Thing. Ask your child about these two activities.
Here is a list of some growth mindset books that we read:
The Dot
The Most Magnificent Thing
Beautiful Oops
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes
Another component that we are emphasizing in our classroom is a growth mind set. It is the idea that we are always looking to improve. We are trying to get our students to move away from ``Ì can`t`` to ``I`ll try``. We have discussed that``Mistakes are the proof that you are trying``.
We did many activities that fostered a growth mindset such as an art activity inspired by the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds and a STEM activity using the book The Most Magnificent Thing. Ask your child about these two activities.
Here is a list of some growth mindset books that we read:
The Dot
The Most Magnificent Thing
Beautiful Oops
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
We have been concentrating on reading strategies in our language program. We have discussed that reading is more that just reading the words on the page. It is about thinking. Ask your child what they should be doing as they are reading. We discussed concepts, such as what they notice, wonder, see, think, and feel.
We also discussed strategies to help understand difficult words, such as looking at the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of words, using pictures, and notice if the sentence makes sense. Many children make the mistake of only looking at the beginning sounds of words. For example, reading "house" instead of "home".
The students have also started their reading groups. During the small groups, students look at different reading strategies, think critically by making connections and wonderings, and retell the story in their own words.
In math, the students are currently working on 2 and 3 dimensional shapes and figures, as well as, linear measurement. Ask your child what is they need to remember when they measure different objects. In science, the students continue to work on identify different materials and their uses.
Your child should have brought home their patterning, addition, and energy units with their evaluations.
We also discussed strategies to help understand difficult words, such as looking at the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of words, using pictures, and notice if the sentence makes sense. Many children make the mistake of only looking at the beginning sounds of words. For example, reading "house" instead of "home".
The students have also started their reading groups. During the small groups, students look at different reading strategies, think critically by making connections and wonderings, and retell the story in their own words.
In math, the students are currently working on 2 and 3 dimensional shapes and figures, as well as, linear measurement. Ask your child what is they need to remember when they measure different objects. In science, the students continue to work on identify different materials and their uses.
Your child should have brought home their patterning, addition, and energy units with their evaluations.
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