September News
Mrs. Stone & Mrs. Palmieri's First Grade
Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year!
We hope you had an enjoyable summer. It’s back to school time and we have a very full year ahead of us. We enjoyed getting to know one another and the classroom as well as reading stories, playing games, and learning new songs. Ask your child: What is the first thing you do when someone hands you a paper? (They should be able to sing you our song). We are so impressed with this group of students. Each night we go home and tell our family how much we are enjoying your sons and daughters. They truly are wonderful! They seem to really enjoy school and one another.
Highlights from our first week in STEM!
STEM challenges are small problems that students solve with specific materials. Through this learning with little or no direction they learn the engineering process. This aligns with almost all state standards to some degree at every grade level. We love the open-endedness of the challenges and how students get to really explore and share how the process works. Students essentially get in groups (for most challenges) and have a limited amount of time. We require that during that time they document their learning through a recording sheet so they have information to share with the class when finished.
The Challenge: Really Wheel-y
Using gumdrops, wooden skewers, and toothpicks student's had to build a wheel. The wheel was to roll straight down the slide for at least 12 inches.
Students were allowed to use as many gumdrops and toothpicks in any way for this STEM Break! They could not use any other materials in the wheel construction.
Once their wheel was built, they were sure to display it proudly!
What We're Learning in September
ELA
Reading
Our review skills this month include:
• Beginning, medial, and final letter and sound review
• Blending short vowel words
• Consonant pattern –ck
• Inflected endings –s and -ing
High-Frequency Words
Come, in, my, on, way, she, take, up, what, blue, from, get, help, little, use, eat, five, four, her, this, too
Reading Strategies
• activating prior knowledge
• previewing and predicting
• sequencing
• Character and Setting
• Plot
• Main Idea & Details
Reading Genres
• Realistic Fiction
• Animal Fantasy
• Literary Nonfiction
Writing
We love writing! We will focus on . . .
• Using our journals as a communication tool
• Adding details to our illustrations
• Shared whole-group writing experiences
• Sharing our ideas with our classmates during our sharing circle time
• Writing a Story
• Writing a Fantasy Story
• Writing a Short Poem
• Writing a Personal Narrative
Letter Formation
We are beginning our focus on printing upper and lower case letters using the Zaner Bloser font. We will . .
• Practice letters a - l this month.
Math
Math Addition Concepts
• Find sums up to 10 by adding zero
• Use different ways to make 10
• Identify whether a math statement is true or false.
• Add three numbers using properties of operations to find the sum.
• Count on to add by starting with the greater number.
• Using a number line to add.
• Using doubles to add.
• Using near doubles to add.
First Grade Character Building
Our rules help us to create a safe and caring environment; teach us to be independent; take care of our needs; and allow everyone the opportunity to learn. We are busy focusing on three rules:
• Responsibility
• Respect
• Right choices
Important Information
Back to School Night will be held on Wednesday, September 9th, 2015 from 6:30-7:30pm. Please meet in Mrs. Stone’s room for a grade-level presentation.
We are looking forward to a great year of learning together! As always, please let us know if you have first grade questions or concerns!
Free Learning Websites for Kids
Mrs. Stone & Mrs. Palmieri
Email: Shannon.higgins@nlcinc.com
Website: http://www.chesterbrookacademy.com/elementary/philadelphia/oaks/
Phone: 610.935.4400
Facebook: facebook.com/ChesterbrookAcademyElementaryOaks
Twitter: @CBAOaks