FIRST GRADE FLASH
GARDEN OF LEARNING-October 9th
DIGGING INTO ACADEMICS
We learned about the Farm.
We read many great books about the farm including Mrs. Wishy Washy, Barnyard Banter, Farm Animals, Who Took The Farmers Hat and One Red Rooster.
We read Pick a Sack and Get Up Rick and learned about words with ick and ack.
We took an addition assessment, started math centers, and started a chapter on subtraction.
We made cards for a little girl from Willow with Brain Cancer(Jillian).
We started rolling out Daily 5 with all its centers up and running. Students are reading Farm animal Fluency passages leveled for their ability and students are practicing writing and handwriting skills.
We learned to summarize and retell a story in sequence.
We practiced editing sentences and identifying the naming and telling parts.
Mrs. Wishy Washy Book
Mrs. Wishy Washy Song
Barnyard Banter
Digging Deeper
We will continue to explore the farm and learn about farm animals, producers and consumers.
We will read the Little Red Hen and The Little Red Hen Gets Help. We will compare different versions of the Little Red Hen.
We will make Tacos on Thursday at 2:00. Please look for the FALL SIGN UP GENIUS
We will learn about words with short e...en, et, ell
We will write informational and narrative pieces about farm animals and the farm.
We will practice subtraction strategies.
We will practice writing sentences distinguishing between the naming part and telling part of a sentence.
We will summarize and learn about story elements...characters, setting, events, beginning, middle, end.
APPLES
COWS GIVE US
ON THE FARM
Calendar of Events
Sign Up on SIGN UP GENIUS FOR OCTOBER ACTIVITES
OCTOBER
9th Mustang Meeting 2:00 First Grades will sing.
12th In Service Day school closed
13th WIN begins
14th please wear pink for Breast Cancer Awareness
16th Farm, Fall and Pumpkin Centers we need volunteers
16th Kindness Garden dedication
23rd field trip to Savidge Farm
30th Halloween Party 1:00- 1:45 2:15-3:15 Halloween Parade 1:45
Over the next month our first grades will be learning about the farm, pumpkins, and fall. We have planned a field trip and a special center day to supplement these units.
On October 9th we will make “MOOOstaches “ with Nutrition Inc.
On Friday October 16th we will be having animal Centers with all the first grades. We are looking for volunteers to help 9:15-10:45 and 1:00-2:00. Please let us know if you can help.
On Friday, October 23rd , the first grade classes will be taking a field trip to Savidge Farm. Students will get to rotate through several stations as they learn about life on the farm including a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. Each student will also bring home a pumpkin. The PTO will be covering the cost of the buses and the $5.00 admission cost. Please sign and return the permission slip to school ASAP.
TURTLE TALK:
- Congrats to our First Graders! Nice Job at the Mustang Meeting! We are so proud!
- Please support PTO Cookie Dough Fundraiser.
FARM, FALL, AND PUMPKIN CENTERS
We are looking for...
1. volunteers with clearance to help 9:15-10:45 and 1:00-2:00
2. pumpkin or gourd donations to weigh, measure, etc.
3. any farm animals that could be brought to school. (Does anyone have any connections???)
KINDNESS KORNER
We read Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed...and learned about acts of kindness.
Please look for our KIndness Flowers...students are asked to perform acts of kindness, record on the flower, color, cut out and return the flower for our kindness Garden.
We will be making seed medallions this month to kick off our Kindness Garden.
If you can help please send in arts and craft items for Jillian, a 4th grader from Willow, who underwent Brain surgery this week for brain cancer. We made class cards for Jillian.
On Friday, October 16th at 2:30 we will be dedicating the Shoemaker Kindness Garden and planting trees and flowers. Two Buddy benches will be placed in the garden for students to have a place to go when feeling sad or lonely.
WIN What I Need Time
___Academic Support/Start Up Build Up
Students receive instruction in a small group setting to build phonics and reading skills to help them become successful readers.
___Academic Support/ Leveled Literacy Intervention
Students receive instruction in a small group setting to build sight vocabulary, phonics skills and reading strategies learned to help them become successful readers.
___PALS
Students receive instruction in phonics and reading strategies to
help them be successful readers and build fluency.
___ Phonics
Students receive instruction reinforcing phonics skills with a heavy emphasis on reading words in context to help them become successful readers.
___Strategic Intervention
Students receive practice in sight words, phonics and reading skills to reinforce skills taught in the classroom.
___Sight Words
Students receive practice in reading passages with emphasis on sight word vocabulary in context to build reading fluency.
___Enrichment
Students receive instruction in enrichment with emphasis on higher level thinking skills, and reading and writing skills to improve comprehension with heavy emphasis on nonfiction stories.
TOP TURTLE SARA
CURRICULUM AND HOMEWORK UPDATE
I have been getting a few notes and emails about homework and curriculum and I want to take a few minutes to hopefully clarify and explain some things.
The beginning of First Grade is always an adjustment for both students and parents. To help shed some light... here is some curriculum info and homework help to clarify.
1. First graders come to us with a wide range of abilities... our first graders are reading from DRA levels of 3 to 28. ( pre readers to fluent readers).
2. Over the course of the last month we have been busy assessing to find out student strengths and weaknesses...First we administered a reading fluency and nonsense word fluency assessment. These assessments helped place students into WIN groups and gave us a baseline. We will reassess in Winter and Spring and chart growth. Students who placed below the 10th percentile are reassessed weekly to monitor growth. Students assessed below 25th percentile are reassessed monthly to monitor growth.
3. WIN groups begin next week. We meet 4 times per week to reinforce, enrich and give students extra of what they need.
4. DRA's will be administered in the next few weeks to find student's Fall DRA levels. To find a baseline I administered a running record which gives us a fluency and DRA level. Students have been grouped accordingly for Daily 5 centers and guided reading groups.
5. Differentiation is a big part of our day.. both in math and language arts. Students have personal book bags with leveled books to read through out the day. Students have been put on RAZ KIDS and assigned a starting point to get them use to the program and computers. Students will go on at school during Daily 5 and can go on at home as well for extra practice. And in guided reading students are given reading passages at varied levels to help teach sight words and teach comprehension skills.
6. In math a fall placement test was given. Students were grouped accordingly and this week we started unfolding math centers. Formative and summative assessments are being given regularly to monitor growth and to give appropriate instruction, interventions and enrichment. Centers, small group and whole group instruction is used to teach, reinforce, enrich and help students be problem solvers.
7. Students come to us with different abilities and learn at different rates and it is our goal to help them grow and learn from their personal starting point and at their pace. With that being said we do have a common curriculum , common reading and math materials and goals. We assess often, differentiate materials and implement interventions and enrichment activities based on their needs. We do not accelerate students but help them stretch their minds to be thinkers and problem solvers.
Homework:
Homework is intended to reinforce skills taught and help students become better in reading fluency and math skills. Since children learn at different rates and come to us at different stages some student will find the homework easy and some will find it too difficult. Here are some guidelines to help you find a happy place for your child.
1. Sight Vocabulary words : goal build sight vocabulary and know words by sight. Study words.( for some this may mean review daily for others they may already know them)
Students are expected to write 1 sentence using two words. For more capable students it is expected they write more sentences(extra lines are provided)
Vocab mom checks words each Friday. I will also reassess each marking period to see if students are retaining the words. For those experiencing trouble go back and review previous lists. I have arranged for a study buddy to practice these words 2 times per week for students who need extra practice.
2.Little Readers: goal is to reinforce sight words and phonics skill and help build fluency. It is a retelling of our shared story. For students who need extra practice read daily and return on Wednesday to read to parent volunteer. The written part is to help students understand the reading writing connection. For beginning readers and writers 1 to 2 sentence is sufficient. For fluent reader please have them write 3-5 sentences to help stretch their thinking. Please write about theme of the story. ( I apologize if I confused you this week.. I got ahead of myself)
3. Math sheets are spiraling and reinforce skills over and over again. They will be sent home on the day listed on the Homework Helper and are due the next day.
4. Sight word and fluency passages are intended to build fluency. Repetition is the key. READ READ READ!
5. Whether students need reinforcement or enrichment... my website and newsletter give suggestions of EXTRAS to help you... SpellCITY( games to reinforce spelling words) Testing will begin in January.
RAZKIDS build comprehension and fluency Xtra math practice math facts math fluency check will begin in January.
Shoemaker Science STEM LAB
Lettuce BE KIND!
Lettuce BE RESPECTFUL!
Lettuce BE GRATEFUL!
Lettuce PLANT SEEDS OF KINDESS!
We explored the lab...magnet table, shells table, seeds table. Look at the wonderful Sunflowers donated by Jaflo.
CHECK OUT THESE SITES TO REINFORCE SKILLS TAUGHT
Please look for the flyer with directions for your child to practice addition facts at home as well as in school. I have showed the students the site but please log on at home to get them more familiar with the site.
Mrs. Arnold's First Grade
Email: parnold@eastpennsd.org
Website: http://classic.eastpennsd.org/teacherpages/parnold/
Location: Shoemaker Elementary School, North Fairview Street, Macungie, PA, United States
Phone: 610-965-1626 33112