Update October 25th

*This Thursday, October 31st at 12:45pm, is our Harvest Party.  Thank you to the parent volunteers and parents that have signed up to donate items for the party! Students may bring costumes in school to wear only during the Harvest Party.  The costumes should be brought to school in a bag with your child's name on it.  No face paint, masks or weapons will be allowed.  

*In Math, we will practice counting on the number line, counting to add/subtract and skip counting.

*In Social Studies, we learned about leaders and rights/responsibilities.  This week we will create a list of leaders in history and present-day.  We will learn about Neil Armstrong and discuss his character traits.

*In comprehension, we will continue to learn about Non-Fiction features: table of contents, glossary, labels, captions, index, bold words.

*In Spelling, we will work on pattern words that rhyme with -all, -ill and -ell.  I will continue to send home spelling lists.  The activities are optional assignments.

*Star of the Week: I will be the first Star of the Week in our class.  On Friday, I will share personal photos, collections and some of my favorite things with the class.  Each Friday we will choose a new Star of the Week.  Every student will have a chance to share.  When your child is chosen, you will receive a letter with information and a poster for your child to fill out.  My hope is for everyone to have their own special time to share a little bit about themselves.

Looking Ahead

October 31st at 12:45- Harvest Party
November 5th- School Store
November 11th- No School (Veteran's Day)

November 21st, 12:10-1:10 - Author Visit- Salina Yoon (I am in need of two parent volunteers.  Please email me if you are available.)

November 25th- No School, 2-8pm Parent/Teacher Conferences

November 26th- 2 Hour Delay- 8:30-10:45 Parent/Teacher Conferences 

November 27th- 12:20pm Early Release

November 28 & 29- No School

Update October 18th

*Thank you for sending in donations for our three school parties.  If you have not sent in the $6 donation for parties, you can send it in with your child in their BEE Binder.   I will go out this weekend to get supplies for our first party, the Harvest Party!

*In Math, we begin Unit 3.  Our focus this week is finding the parts of a number story and their totals.  We will also play domino top it.  Domino Top It is a game you could play at home if you have a set of dominoes.

*Domino Top-It*

1.    Place all of the dominoes on the table face down.

2.    Each player turns over one domino and counts the dots on each end of the domino.

3.    In turn, players say the number model corresponding to their domino; i.e., 4 + 7 =11 (for 4 dots on one end and 7 dots on the other).

4.    The player with the largest sum takes all of the dominoes from that round.

5.    Play continues until all dominoes are gone.

6.    The player with the most dominoes at the end of the game is the winner.

*Reading Groups are going really well.  Some of you have noticed students coming home with reading response journals in their reading bags.  Most of the time I send these home just so you can see what we're working on in reading group.  If I'm expecting the students to do any work in them at home, I will mark that on the reading log.  

*We will begin to learn about Non-Fiction features this week.  We will find features in a read aloud book and then students will explore other non-fiction books from our classroom library to find features.  

*We will begin a social studies unit focusing on Civics.  This week our focus will be on discussing groups we are part of  and the roles different people play.  We will also learn the word "citizen" and talk about what good citizens do at home, school and in our community.

*In Recess Club, we will review expected behaviors and students will share expected behaviors they noticed over the week.  We will read the book How to Lose All of Your Friends and make a list of unexpected behaviors at school.

Looking Ahead

October 31st at 12:45- Harvest Party
November 5th- 1st Grade School Store

November 11th- No School (Veteran's Day observed)

November 25th- No School, 2-8pm Parent/Teacher Conferences

November 26th- 2 Hour Delay- 8:30-10:45 Parent/Teacher Conferences 

November 27th- 12:20pm Early Release

November 28 & 29- No School

Update October 13th

There is no school Monday, October 14th or Tuesday, October 15th.

*Since this is a short week, we will not be sending home a spelling list.  I will send home math homework on Thursday only.

*In Math, we will finish up Unit 2.  Our focus during this unit has been on solving addition and subtraction number stories and using multiple strategies and tools to solve.  We will finish this week with a math assessment to check where students are and allow me to plan for the next unit.

*Last week in writing, we focused on the inside story of our small moment stories.  The outside story is what happened.  For example: We went apple picking with our cousins.  The apples were high up on the trees and hard to reach.  My big cousin had to help me."  The inside story is how you felt.  For example,"It was the best time ever!"  In first grade, many students inside stories are simply "it was fun."  Last week we created a list of interesting and different ways of saying "it was fun."  This week, we will create a list of ways to say "it was not fun."  Students will practice using these interesting ways of sharing their inside story in pieces they have already finished.

*Last week, we began Recess Club.  In Recess Club, we use the new Mindfulness Space in our school to learn social skills needed to navigate first grade.  Last week, we reviewed what expected behaviors we should see at school (listening to the speaker, hands are for helping, safe bodies.)  This week, our focus will be on what we think friendship is and what is expected and unexpected in friendships.  We will read a book called "You Are Friendly" by Todd Snow.  Student's training assignment for the week will be looking out for expected and friendly behaviors.  They will also practice expected behaviors at recess, school, home, one the bus and in the community.

*On Friday, we will meet our 4th grade Book Buddies from Crisafulli. The 4th graders will come to visit us at Robinson.  Each student will be paired with one or two 4th grade buddies.  They will converse, read with one another and get to know each other over the course of the school year.  Next month we will travel to Crisafulli.

*Just recently, we welcomed a new student to our classroom.  Everyone did such a great job of welcoming her! I have updated the friendship list with her contact information.  You can access the list here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10idzniGVzYc9hg9ncmcAe6JUzbt0Jvw-RYWB8-vHCI8/edit?usp=sharing

Update October 7th

*This week, the students welcomed a new fish into our classroom.  Our fish is named Chicken and he is very happy to join our classroom.  Students are taking turns feeding Chicken and reading to him during Read to Someone.

*In Math, we will practice using a calculator and work on change to more and change to less number stories.

**In Writing, we are writing "small moment" stories.  Small moment stories are taking a big story like going on a trip and picking one small moment from the trip to write about.  For example, the plane ride or your favorite ride at Disney.  

*In Science, we will talk about what body parts help different animals to survive.  We will observe our new fish, Chicken.  We will also discuss how parents take care of their offspring.

*On Wednesday, we will have an all school community meeting to talk about the "i" in Spirit, Inclusion.  Our class will lead community meeting by teaching the school a morning greeting we do often called Snowball.

*If you have not signed up for Seesaw yet, please join us. I'm updating often with student work and fun information about things going on in our classroom. The link to sign up and follow your student's work is here: https://app.seesaw.me/s/438-654-585

*Last week I emailed volunteer times to everyone who sent back a volunteer form. If you think you signed up to volunteer in our class and you haven't heard from me, please send me an email.

*Our Harvest (Halloween) party is on Thursday, October 31st in the afternoon. We have 3 parties in first grade. I am asking each student to send in a $6 donation to help with the costs of the 3 parties. If you could send in the donation by the middle of next week, that would be helpful!

Looking Ahead:

Monday, October 14th- No School, Columbus Day

Tuesday, October 15th- No School, Professional Development