Hello families!

We had another great week in first grade!

Want to hear about our week? Ask your child the following questions:

Math:

Reading:

Can you read the following Super Words?

of
not
her
but

What name-learning song did you sing for Shared Reading? (Hint: there's an elephant involved)

Do you know why we named you _______ ? (We read the book, Alma and How She Got Her Name)

Writing Update:

The students listened to and discussed the story Farmer Duck. They responded to the prompt “Describe how Farmer Duck helped on the farm” I modeled and students brainstormed a topic sentence, important ideas and ending sentence. Then, they copied the paragraph we wrote together. It was tough, but they rocked it!

Social Studies Update:

We continued to build our classroom community by modeling, discussing, and practicing our rules and routines. We also read and discussed the Scholastic News “I Love My Community”.

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THINGS TO KNOW:

HELP WANTED:

I am looking for help with the following two tasks, one that can be done at home and one that involves coming to school:

Task at Home: I am in need of a volunteer willing to take our social studies magazines home to collate/sort. It can be done in your own time, even in front of the TV! If you are interested in helping, please let me know. Thank you SO much!

Task at School: We are looking for a volunteer for your child’s classroom for the Art Adventure program students take part in through the Minneapolis Institute of Art. For six weeks in Oct/Nov it’s presenting one preselected piece from a collection for 15-20 min each week. You don’t need to know anything about the piece or art in general! You are given background info on each piece and the kids drive the discussion with their own insight and wonder. If this is a classroom volunteer opportunity you would like to get involved in, please contact Laura Blanks, Somerset’s Art Adventure Coordinator: laura.t.blanks@gmail.com

Important Papers:

If you still have your emergency information forms or field trip permission slip from meet and greet, please sign them and return so we can have them on file.

Toys at School:

Please refrain from sending toys to school with your child. If they have any for an after school program, please remind them to keep them in their backpacks for the entirety of the school day. Thank you!

Library Books:

We have library time every Thursday afternoon. Please help remind your child to return their books on Thursday (or any day prior!) so they are ready to check-out books.

Magnetic Readers:

Your student is bringing home two books to share with you! We’ve already read this book in

class as part of our reading foundational skills curriculum, Magnetic Reading Foundations.

This copy of the book is for you to help extend the learning from the classroom to home.

About These Books:

Reading this book again at home is useful for practicing beginning literacy skills. The book includes some skills that are new this week and some that are review.
This book has high-frequency words in bold print. High-frequency words are words that appear often in English. Your student has been learning about them in class but may not be able to “sound out” the words. It is okay to provide assistance with these words.
Read it together with your student. Have your student read it to you or take turns reading it. Invite your student to share the book with a friend, a family member, or even a family pet!

Important dates:

Sept 28 - Dodge Field Trip - 11:45 - 1:30.

Oct. 2 - Homecoming Parade 5pm

Oct. 8 & 13 - Conferences (Sign up will be coming soon!)

Oct. 15 - 16 - No School - MEA

PICTURE TIME!😎

Have a fantastic weekend!

I sure love these goofballs!

Peek at the Week:

We had a great 2nd week of school! We continue to practice the rules and routines of our classroom and school while we start specific curriculum lessons. Please remember to send a snack with your child each day and return the Take Home Folder every Monday. Thanks for all your help and support at home! I know the transition back to school can be hard for everyone! 🙂

Literacy:

We worked to build our classroom reading community by listening to and discussing the story This is the Way We Go To School and the poem “New Friends.” The students learned about IDR time (Independent Daily Reading Time) and worked to build their reading stamina. The students learned about the importance of working independently and practiced this skill throughout the week. Finally, the students took a one-on-one reading assessment with a teacher from the district screening team. We will use this information to help guide our instruction.

Phonics:

Our phonics curriculum is through Magnetic Reading Foundations. The components of each lesson include: Phonological awareness, phonics, high-frequency words and fluency. This week we worked on:

Phonological Awareness: rhyming and phoneme skills work
Phonics: Vowel: short a; Consonants m, t, b, c, n, s, p, r, h, d
Super Words (high frequency words): and, see, the, to
Fluency: At Bat and Can I Help?

A paper copy of the book Can I Help? will be in your child’s Take Home Folder as soon as they arrive from our district print center. It is a great way to have them practice reading at home!

Math:

Students were introduced to “What is Math?” They discussed math in their daily lives, worked on counting objects to 20, writing numbers correctly, and they played a few games to practice their numbers sense. We learned about math tools and how they are different than toys, and explored pattern blocks, unifix cubes, dice, and whiteboards.

Writing:

Based on the story This is the Way We Go To School, the students created a class book. Each child wrote a silly sentence about how they would get to school. In addition, the students wrote an acrostic ABC poem and created a bus craft. Finally, they practiced writing sentences using this week's Super Words and phonics sounds (short a).

Social Studies:

We read and discussed the Scholastic News “Friends Have Feelings Too.” Students also learned about Constitution Day (September 17th) and continued to build our classroom community!

Things to Know:

Math Homework:

For homework this year, we are sending home this Reveal Math Student Practice Book! Please keep this book in a safe place at home, as we will be using it throughout the entire school year. Here is what you need to know about using this book at home:

Staying Informed: Our weekly emails will outline the math lessons planned for the upcoming week and keep you updated on what pages your child should complete.
It’s completely optional: Your child does not need to return completed pages to school. These pages are simply a tool to show you what we are learning and to offer extra skill practice. However, any time you can spend on them makes a significant impact on learning retention, so please try if you can!

Next Week:

Upcoming Events/Reminders:

September 24 - The first day of Library!

September 24th - aMath Assessments: We will use this information to learn more about your child’s skills.

Sept. 28 - Dodge Field Trip - 11:45 - 1:30

Oct. 8 - 13 - Book Fair!

October 8 & 13 - Conferences - More information about signing up coming soon!

Picture Time!

As part of community building we read the story, Chrysanthemum, and crumpled up a paper heart every time the main character's feelings were hurt by others' actions. At the end, we tried to smooth out all of the wrinkles in the paper. We learned that - no matter how hard we tried - we could still see wrinkles. Then we read the following poem:

We discussed how, even though we can't take back hurtful actions or words, we can try to repair damage by kind actions and words. To represent these kind actions, students decorated a bandaid and placed in on wrinkled and torn pieces of the heart.

As one student mentioned, "If we can fix our class' heart, we can help fix a friend's, too!" 😍