Daily 5 Round Up
Centers and reading groups are up! I am meeting with small groups and we are beginning to work on leveled texts together. To start, we are establishing routines for this small group time and setting expectations. I am conferencing with students as they read and learning about my first graders as readers! While I am meeting with groups, the rest of the kiddos are BUSY at literacy based centers and working with words activities. They love Daily 5!!
Writer's Workshop Round Up
We are well into our first unit: Small Moments. These are essentially narratives. We have learned a bit about carrying on independently as writers. We created an anchor chart that shows the steps writer's use to write a story. Writer's think of a topic, plan across pages, write, and revise! We are continuing to build our writing stamina!
Math Round Up
For the past two weeks we have been working on different strategies for solving math problems including, adding, subtracting, and finding a missing addend or a missing part. Children are learning to visualize a problem, model the problem with cubes, and solve using a part/part/whole model.
As we progress along you may see some math packets (stapled pages) coming home. The nature of the math program is that not all students will get to all of the problems all of the time. We are using our math time for hands on learning as well as pencil and paper tasks. If your child comes home with blank problems, it is OK! You can choose to help him or her work through any unfinished work but this is truly optional.
Word Study Round Up
We are continuing to work on letter sounds and letter formation as a review. We are paying close attention to the vowels and some of the trickier consonants. This week we also began reviewing the concept of tapping out words for reading and spelling short vowel words. Ask your child to demonstrate tapping out some words such as map, sip, net, mop, and lug.
Homework Round Up
Homework in first grade will consist of the Poem Notebook, Booktime books or Raz Kids (not yet begun), Sight word practice (as needed), and weekly math pages from the EnVisions curriculum. Please help your child build a routine that encourages 10 minutes of homework a night. Math pages that come home Monday are due back by (or before) Friday.
Here's one way to schedule your child's homework time:
Monday -math
Tuesday-Booktime or Raz Kids (once it is established)
Wednesday- Booktime or Raz Kids (once it is established)
Thursday-Poem Notebook
Poem Notebooks have already begun to come home. Look for the other components of homework to begin in the coming weeks.
Thanks for taking the time to read about our days! Come back soon!
