Mrs. Faccio's 1st Grade Class
October 10, 2015
What's Up in the Classroom?
This week has been extra crazy and extra fun. We had field day, a field trip, picture day, a 1/2 day sub on Friday and a birthday celebration. The kids loved it!! In the midst of all that, we finished all our testing. Students all had a phonemic awareness test, running record, writing sample and spelling inventory. They will start their word study on Monday with a note for you explaining the program. Our small group guided reading will also be starting this week. Students who demonstrate similar reading behaviors and can all read a similar text are grouped together to work on reading skills with me while the other children work independently. Right now, I will just be pulling one to two groups a day because we are not super independent yet but hopefully soon, I will be able to increase that number. I want to make sure everyone is getting meaningful instruction and kids aren't just sitting around while I'm working with groups. This can be tricky with 1st graders!
Field Day Fun
Our PBIS incentive for the month of September was a mini field day. The students needed 40 tokens to participate and I'm proud to say that my whole class made it!!
Barkhausen Field Trip
Thank you to all who were able to chaperone for the Barkhausen field trip. The students had a wonderful time. If you were not able to attend, I included pictures from the day's events!!
Reading Book Bags
Students brought home their reading book bags this week with an explanation of how I came to their reading level and books for them to read. They also have questioning stems for you to use when you are reading with them. Each book can be read multiple times to practice accuracy and fluency. I will change the books every Monday and Wednesday so please send them back on those days!!
Reading Logs and Book It
Don't forget to send your child's reading log back to school when it is filled up. They receive a ten token and will then get a new log. This month also starts the beginning of the book it program. Students that fill out their log and return it will also get a coupon for a free personal sized pizza from Pizza Hut!
Craft Supplies
If you have any craft supplies lying around your house that you are looking to get rid of, we have a lot of budding artist in our classroom. Students have 15 to 20 minutes at the end of each day to explore things they are interested in. Our art center is popular and I'm going through supplies quickly. We could definitely use some extra goodies!