Parent Teacher Conference

Just a reminder: Parent Teacher Conferences will be held Wednesday October 20th and Thursday October 21st. You should have received a note about your scheduled time. I look forward to meeting with you! :)

PUMPKIN math and science

Pumpkins donated by Willies Produce.
http://williesproduce.weebly.com/

FLUENCY

In first grade one of our goals is to have each student reading fluently. (Fluent reading for a first grade student is considered that the child can read 60 words per minute on a level h with 98% accuracy). We have been learning about fluency in our class. I have explained to your child that fluency means reading "not too slow, but not too fast." We talked about "accuracy", that means we are not guessinf on the words we don't know, we read the word correctly. We have also talked about using expression in our voices as we read. We do this by paying attention to the punctuation marks in the things we are reading.
Something we will begin doing each week is having two "fluency poemms" to read. we will practice this as a whole class every day. We will also have a one minute timing on Monday and Friday each week. Please help your child improve their reading fluency by practicing their fluency poems at home. You can help them practice a one minute timing by setting a timer for one minute and seeing how many words per minute they read on Monday and do the same thing on Friday to see if they improved on their words read per minute. You will recieve a copy of their poems each Monday.
Thanks for your help!!

October 1st NEWS

Dear Parents and Students,
How are you? Thank you for your help with last week's apple celebration! Next week we'll have an exciting fall surprise! I hope your child will enjoy the math and science activity we will be doing.
In math we have moved on from patterning and are now learning and practicing addition strategies and facts. We have been using 10 frames and counters; we have also been using dominos. We will soon be learning strategies for subtraction and practicing subtract facts. Please help your child practice their math facts at home.
In reading we are continuing to review short vowels and learn new blends. We have also been practicing our reading fluency and doing reading groups and centers each day. Please remember to read with your child each day and sign their reading folders. Their folders need to be turned in each Monday to earn an entry for a bike.
As a reminder: October book orders are due next Wednesday October 6th.

Please check your PTA news/calendar for upcoming school events.

Thanks for all you do! :)

MATH

Check out this cool website for things you can print off and use at home to help your child with math. Right now we have been learning many strategies for addition. One of the things we have been using is dominos. You can print domino flash cards here: http://mathwire.com/strategies/matsdom.html I have a set of these flashcards we use as a class. It is great practice for basic addition facts.

Apples

APPLES IN AUTUMN

It's hard to eat apples

without my front teeth,

but apples in autumn

are really a treat.

The apples are squooshy

down under my feet,

But those from the tree

are still crunchy and sweet!

APPLE TREE

Way up high in the apple tree

two red apples smiled at me.

I shook that tree as hard as I could

down came the apples,

MMMMM..... were they good!

I'm a little apple, short and round,

I make a munchy, crunchy sound.

If you bite into me you will see-

I'm delicious as can be!

(sing to the tune of "I'm a little teapot")

We read a book about John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed) and talked about this legend. We read several different books about apples too. Each student in our class brought an apple to graph. We also did apple art by making the prints of apples. The best part was going out to enjoy the beautiful fall day and eat our apples! :)

Practicing centers

Sight word practice.

We start reading groups and centers this coming Monday. We have been busy getting ready! :)

Writing around the room.

The listening center.

Writing word families in their journals.

Playing blend tic-tac-toe.

Word work center.