October 14th 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...

• Write equations for fact families to understand the commutative property (changing the order of the addends does not change the sum). Students will write math stories to match the addition and subtraction equations they write for their fact families. 
• Use <, >, and = symbols to record comparisons of the total dots on dominoes.
• Recognize, represent, and solve addition combinations to 12 using dominoes. We will share our strategies for adding.
• Learn doubles addition facts through 6+6 using dominoes. 
• Learn new Math Workplace games called "Double It" and "Spin & Subtract".

This week in Science/Social Studies, we will finish our unit on Animals in Fall and learn about bullying prevention with Mrs. Kikkert.

Now that the cold weather is here, please label your child's winter gear with their first and last name!!  Also, we will be going outside unless it is raining or below 0, so please send warm clothing for your child!

Special Points of Interest

• Homework is due on Fridays.
• October 16- Dining for Dollars- Even and Odds Pizza
• Book Orders are due on Friday, October 18th.  Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub Class Activation Code: JBVLX
• October 18 - Box Top Turn In Day
• October 30 - Picture Retake Day.
• Thursday, October 31st - Halloween Parade
• November 1- End of first quarter- No School
• November 11-15- Stuff the Bus Food Drive
• November 13- Dining for Dollars-Brandywine
• November 21- Parent-Teacher Conferences
• November 25- Parent-Teacher Conferences
• November 27-29- Thanksgiving Break-No School