Reading : Last week, we spent a lot of time sharing and discussing our favorite books. We spoke a lot about why thinking about our favorite books is such an important thing to do. We said that thinking, or telling others, about our favorite books is often a great way to find other books that we might love. It's also fun to re-read our favorite books because it often make us feel happy.
Last week the students got a few chances to read freely in the classroom library, which they all enjoyed tremendously. I have a feeling that free reading time might make its way into our schedule as the students finish their snacks each day.
Phonics/Word Study : At the beginning of the school year, we are going to review all of the letter sounds, along with the proper handwriting formation of each letter. Last week, we focused on the letters m and s. We used these sounds to work on beginning and ending sounds of words.
In addition, we've studied two poems so far this school year, the New School Year poem and the Hello poem. Each day we do a different activity with the poem of the week. Once binders start coming home, you'll see these poems in the poetry section.
Math : Last week, we continued to practice skip counting and learning about the number line. At the end of the week, we started to learn about tally marks. Have your child show you how to make tally marks. (If he/she forgets, it's okay because we'll be working on it at the beginning of this week as well.)
We also learned a couple of different math games this week. We enjoyed playing Penny Dice and Top-It with partners. There are pictures of the students playing math games at the end of this post.
Science : In first grade, we rotate science and social studies units. We're starting off the year with a science unit all about butterflies. So far, we've talked a lot about the butterfly life cycle. See if your child remembers it!
We also went to the Discovery Lab and learned about the parts of insects bodies with Mrs. Crawford.
Odds and Ends
Back to School Night is Thursday, September 27th at 7pm. I look forward to seeing you then. Sept. 27 is also a 12:45pm dismissal day. On 12:45pm dismissal days, I usually tell the students to bring a larger snack than normal, in order to help get them through the long morning.
Please keep in mind that your child's decorated writing folder is due on Thursday, September 27th. Let me know if you have any questions!
I realize that the writing photographs were due on Monday, when we didn't have school. Please do your best to get your child's picture to school some time this week, as I'd like to use them in our first writing unit.
Here are some pictures of 1-Bu last week: