October 15th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We're off to a great start in guided reading!  All groups have met with multiple times and I'm just so proud of these 1st grade readers!  Please remember when reading at home that it is very important to give children lots of practice with reading text that they are able to read well.  This means fluent reading that sounds good!   Don't be fooled into thinking that your child isn't learning or progressing unless they're struggling or working hard to decode.  Their reading should sound like good reading.  If the reading doesn't sound fluent, feel free to try reading together for a few pages.  It will help your child to hear your fluent reading of the same text he/she is reading.  

This week during literacy, we'll continue to learn the routines of guided reading and we'll also be focusing on complete sentences.  You can help at home by encouraging your child to speak in complete sentences.  When they use an incomplete sentence, model what the complete sentence version would sound like and have them repeat it.  This will support our work in writer's workshop as we make sure we are beginning with a capital letter and using ending punctuation in our complete sentences.  

Our students have been working very hard on a small moment (narrative) story that spans multiple pages.  They have been adding to their stories day by day as well as making corrections such as capital letters and ending punctuation.  Take a look at them when they come home.  You will be so proud!

In math this week, we will begin a unit on Numbers in Base Ten, create groups of ten with "leftovers" and build, count, and write numbers to 50 using base ten blocks.

In science, we have been working on our Land and Water unit.  Your child will be learning about natural resources and their uses in the environment.

Special Points of Interest

• Tomorrow is Picture Retake Day
• Our Halloween party is next Friday, October 26th.
• Thursday, November 1st - End of First Quarter
• Friday, November 2nd - No School - Teacher Professional Development and Record Day