Weekly Update: Nov. 16-20

I enjoyed meeting with all of you last week during conferences.  I appreciate all the support at home and am really enjoying working with this group of first graders J If you brought the portfolio home to take a closer peek at please remember to return it to school.  We are digging deep into nonfiction in both reading and writing and students are noticing connections between what they are doing as readers and writers. What an exciting time to be a first grader!

There have been a few questions about PebbleGo.  It is a website that our school subscribes to and is very easy for first graders to navigate.  It is also a great way for them to explore different science and social studies topics through text and videos. Username: electa  Password: electa

Christmas Parade: A flyer will be coming home with more info. about the Christmas Parade.  Be sure to look for it.  If you would like to to help with the building of the New Directions float check out the VolunteerSpot below. 

Please sign up for Kaukauna Christmas Parade Float Building! 

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps: 
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/uEA4Y8 
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot) 
3. Sign up! Choose your spots - VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy! 

Upcoming Events:

TONIGHT! Tuesday, November 17th-Yoga Family Night sponsored by the PSC 6:00-7:00

Wednesday, November 25-Friday, November 27-No School-Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, December 1st-Kaukauna Christmas Parade

Curriculum Updates:

Readers' Workshop: Students are becoming experts on so many topics as they continue to read nonfiction. Today we celebrated all we've learned so far by having a grown-up party to talk about what we've been reading the new things we've learned. Maybe you can have a talking party at your house to learn all about what your child has been learning! The rest of the week we will be learning how to tackle super hard words in order to keep learning. Some strategies we will practice are: readers can be persistent when reading hard words, they can  "crash" word parts together by reading the beginning, middle and end and putting the parts together, readers slow down to check that words look right and then reread to check that it makes sense, and readers learn new words as they read.  

Writers' Workshop: We are starting the second part of our All About Information Books-Nonfiction Writers Can Write Chapter Books! This week we will write table of contents, plan and write chapters, write with details by using comparisons, and use different kinds of writing in our teaching books such as: how-to writing, persuasive writing and stories.

Word Study: The words this week are: on, had, my, big, from. We will be assessing these words on Friday. These are words we want students to be able to read and write automatically without having to think to sound them out. Students also continue to work on phonics skills and word sorts at their developmental level.

Math Workshop: This week we will dig deep into story problems with a change unknown or a start unknown. We will be pushing our mathematical brains to solve these problems. Students will work to visualize the story and use  math mountains and equations to help them with their problem solving.  Here is an example of each type of problem:

Change Unknown: Sam had 4 cookies. Kim gave her some more. Then Sam had 7 cookies. How many cookies did Kim give Sam? (4 + ___=7)

Start Unknown: Sam had some cookies. Kim gave her 3 more. Then she had 7. How many cookies did Sam start with? (__ + 3 =7) 

Science/Social Studies:  We are continuing to learn about weather through our centers. Students are becoming weather experts!  Last week we watched a weather forecast and students were super excited about the slight possibility of snow!

Here are some pictures of when we tested wind speed last week. 

As always, let me know if you have any questions.

-Samantha