Update September 25th

*Happy Fall!*

*Starting this week is Spelling Homework.  On Monday, students will receive their spelling list as well as a Spelling Tic Tac Toe.  Students will have activities to choose from to practice their words three nights this week.  New activities are shared each week to work on spelling words.  If you find an activity that works well for your child but isn't on that week's list, Please do it!! We will also practice these words in class this week.  On Friday, we will have a spelling check-in.  

*In math we will finish up Unit 1.  On Tuesday we will assess students learning through a unit assessment.  Assessments will come home with parents to view and should be returned to school to use for future instruction and grading purposes.

*In Daily Five, we continue to practice Read to Self, Read to Someone and Work on Writing.  We will introduce Work on Words this week.  Students will learn strategies to practice their spelling words at school.  The class is excited to share they've made it past  the 15 minute mark in Read to Self.  We will begin reading groups this week during Read to Self. 

*On Wednesday, we will travel to the Day School to attend the Living Lab.  Our lessons for the day will go hand in hand with our science unit on plants and animals.  We will be at the Day School from 12:45-2:15.  We will have recess/lunch early from 11:55-12:40 to accommodate this change in schedule.  Please dress for the weather as we may be outside for a portion of our trip!

*If you are hoping to volunteer in our classroom, at class parties or on field trips this year, please fill out a CORI form in the main office as soon as possible.  CORI Forms need to be submitted each year.  The wait time for approval is currently about 3 weeks.

*We will travel to the Cameron Senior Center on Tuesday, October 4th (9:30-11am) to visit the Westford Food Pantry. Our class will join Mrs. Mannone & Mrs. Siano's classes to survey the food pantry shelves.  Students will write list of food and supplies the food pantry needs.  A master list will be used to ask our school community to donate food and supplies.  Please return permission slips to school.  I will be in touch if you are chosen to chaperone the trip.

Looking Ahead:
October 10th- No School, Columbus Day

Update September 18th

*I hope to see many of you on Monday night (September 19th) from 6-6:45pm for First Grade Curriculum Night.  We will quickly chat about curriculum and spend time learning about important information for all parents to know.  Please note, we ask that parents come without children in order to discuss what to expect in first grade.

*September 21st is International Day of Peace.  We hope you enjoy our display of peaceful pinwheels outside when you arrive for Curriculum Night on Monday.

*If students have not returned "Writing Ideas" please send into school.  We will be using these ideas for writing throughout the school year.  Please continue to send it sticky notes on Mondays to help students remember what they did over the weekend. Every Monday, we will write about our weekend and share with our classmates.  Some students get stuck on what to write about and having a reminder from home will be helpful.

*Our Focus in Math This Week:

*data collection

*counting by 1s and 5s

*exploring math materials

*solving simple number stories

*counting larger numbers

*In Science this week, we will explore how animal's body parts help them.  Students will see how animals fur, blubber or feathers keep an animal warm.  They will then create a glove using materials that will keep their hands warm in cold water.  Students will record which material kept their hand the warmest.

*We will continue building the components of the Daily 5.  Students are building their stamina in Read to Self and Work on Writing.  We will introduce Read to Someone this week.

*In Writing, we will discuss what to do when you think you're done with a piece of writing and how to continue a story.  We will also explore how you can use known words to spell tricky words.

Update September 11th

**On Monday morning, we will begin the routine of writing "Weekend News." Each Monday, students will write about something they did over the weekend.  Often times, students forget what they did over the weekend.  Please recap your weekend with your child on Sunday night or before school on Monday.  If it's helpful for your child, write a sticky note with a couple of ideas to bring to school.

**We will continue to introduce the components of Daily 5.  Last week students worked on building their Read to Self reading stamina.  This week, we will introduce Work on Writing and finding I-Pick Books.  I-Pick Books are books that students feel they can read on their own and are of interest to them.

**We will continue our Science Unit- Plants and Animal Parts.  This week, we will find similarities between offspring and their parents.  We will also plant seeds in order to see the process plants go through: seeds, roots, stem and leaves.

**In Math, we will focus on 1-more, 1-Less Number Stories, Comparing and Ordering Numbers and Introducing Tally Marks.  We will also learn the rules of some important math games.

**Our classroom tends to get warm throughout the day.  We take frequent water breaks to fuel our bodies.  Please consider sending your child to school each day with a refillable water bottle.

**Please return Writing Idea Charts to school by Friday.  This will help students when they are having difficulty coming up with a writing idea.  The majority of our writing in first grade will come from events that have happened to us.

**We have been working on learning the I-Care Rules in our class.  All teachers at Robinson follow the I-Care Rules.  Students will see these same rules when they visit other classrooms: in the gym, art room, etc.  This week students will be working on an I-Care Rules homework called, Caught Using the I-Care Rules.  Students will be tasked with noticing friends and family members using the I-Care Rules.  

Looking Ahead

**Grade One Curriculum Night is Monday, September 19 from 6:00-6:45pm. 

These sessions will be for parents and guardians only. This will allow much needed time for teachers to focus on curriculum topics and for parents to ask questions. I hope to greet many of you as I discuss the first grade curriculum.

Update September 5th

Hello!  I hope everyone had an enjoyable Labor Day Weekend with family and friends!  I had such a great time meeting and getting to know the class last week.  What a great group!  We practiced many classroom routines and will continue to practice everyday routines in the coming weeks.  Students will continue to build independent skills with morning, lunch and afternoon routines.  One of our goals in first grade is to foster independence with everyday tasks both at school and at home.

**If you have not returned any important forms to school, please do so this week.  Getting the office updated on important student information is essential.  Forms that need to be returned are: Living Lab Permission Slip, Robifulli Trail Permission Slip, Allergy Information, Student Handbook Info, Dismissal Form and Email Address Sign Up.  Thank you

**Each Sunday or Monday I will update the blog with important information about our week.  Please sign up to get an email when I update my blog by entering your email in the "Follow By Email" box in the upper right corner of this page.

**We will begin our Science unit "Plant and Animal Parts" this week.  This is a new Science unit this school year as we're continuing to work to follow Common Core requirements.  This week we will focus on how plants and animals are like others of the same kind.  For example, what makes a dog a dog and a tulip a tulip?

***We will begin Unit 1 of our Everyday Mathematics 4.  This unit will build upon skills already learned in Kindergarten or Pre-1st.  We will play familiar games like Monster Squeeze and Bunny Hop. In addition, we will continue to learn about the math tools that will help us throughout the year.  Students will practice basic counting, skip counting and counting on the number line.

**We will begin to establish the routines of Daily Five.  Please visit the Reading & Daily 5 page on my blog to learn more.  This week we will begin exploring "Read to Self" and the 3 ways to read:

1. Read the words

2. Read the pictures (make up your own story)

3. Retell the story (retell a story you have listened to before)

**Students will practice reading and writing the 25 Kindergarten Spelling Words over the next three weeks.

Looking Ahead:

Monday, September 19th 7-7:45pm First Grade Curriculum Night, parents/guardians only please