We are getting into the groove of school here at Tavelli Elementary. I love the month of October. Not only is the cooler weather terrific, but I always feel like I get into my stride right around this time of year. It’s happened! We’ve got all our first grade routines down, and most moments of our day are just filled with joy and learning. I have a massive collection of acorns and leaves in my classroom. Anthony- our in house classroom collector of things- has spurred us all on to making this classroom fall festive with leaves and acorns. I’ve had to resort to having kids leave the leaves they collect at recess, in a pile outside our door to make a “leaf pile.” I love it, though. Your children have spurred on so many organic teachable moments. Light bulbs are going off everywhere. In math, some students made the connection of why we practice counting by 5’s and 10’s. They related it to money and being able to count money faster. Students are taking more risks in their learning as well. I am seeing children wrestle through math problems like pros. They are explaining their thinking of how they came to an answer, learning their errors along the way, and as we all say in our class, “growing their brains.” It’s an incredible thing to witness.
SNAPSHOT OF NEXT WEEK
Next Week’s Specials:
Mon: P.E.
Tues: Art
Wed: Technology and Library
Thurs: NO SCHOOL
Friday: NO SCHOOL
Next week in reading, we will review what we’ve been learning the past month in school. We will especially review ending sounds. Students don’t always hear the ‘n’ in words like “wink, sing, or end.” Students will continue to practice finding the main idea and details and summarizing a text. Please discuss these skills with your child as you read at night. Some questions you can ask your child include:
“What picture clues in the story help me to determine the main idea?”
“Can you tell me who the story is about? What is the big event?”
“Can you tell me what happened first, next, and last in the story?”
“If you were the author, would you end the story differently? How so?”
In writing, we will continue to practice writing small moments, continuing to add details to our writing. Most children can write over 5 sentences. I am noticing that students are reverting back to random uppercase letters in sentences, no spacing between words, and most every child forgets to put a punctuation mark at the end of their sentences. Remind your child of this when you see them writing at home. Please be practicing the spelling words. They always go along with the phonics skill we are working on. The memory to paper writing skill is huge in first grade. This past week we learned that a noun is a person, place, or thing. We also learned about the part of a sentence called the subject (naming part).
We are still working on Skip Counting and Counting On in Math Class. You can practice counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s with your child at home to strengthen their understanding of this topic. We are also talking about the Commutative Property and how changing the order of 2 addends does not affect the sum. This is a tricky concept for kids so please try and reinforce it at home through practice questions and IXL modules. Here are some questions to ask:
“Can you count to 100 by 2’s? Can you count to 100 by 5’s? 10’s?”
“Can you count on by 2’s from 13? How about from 44?”
4+2 =6 so 2+ __ also =6
Math IXL skills next week: Practice any of the Counting and Number patterns A.1 thru A.21
Reminders
RED FOLDER: RED Folders are due tomorrow. Thank you for helping your child complete those. The folder should only take about 20-30 minutes a night. If you’re doing more than that, you’re doing too much. The goal of the RED folder is to cement skills taught in school. It's supposed to be a way of connecting home and school. However, I don't ever want students to go over 30 minutes of homework. Students should be only doing about 5-10 minutes of Math IXL, 10 minutes of word practice (they can choose from the nonsense words, poem worksheet, spelling words, sight words, or sight word sentences) and 10-15 minutes of reading with you or another person. Yes, we do much at school, but reading fluency happens when parents are actively reading with their child every day. Next week, I will not be sending home RED folders. It’s only a three day week. Feel free to do math IXL or read with your child anyways, but no formal folder or sheets will be sent home for your child to complete.
NO SCHOOL: Thursday and Friday October 15-16.
Conferences: I am looking forward to meeting with all of you next week. If you don’t remember the time/date of you conference, e-mail me and I can resend it.
Walk-a-thon: Tomorrow is our school Walk-a-Thon! Please send your child in comfortable clothes and proper shoes for running/walking. I am excited for our class to do their best, run/walk hard and have a blast doing so. Our class Walk-a-Thon time slot is from 2:30-3:15 if you would like to join your child in the running and walking fun!
Running club: K-2 Running Club begins October 21st! Running Club will go from 3:45-4:30 every Wednesday.
BOOK ORDER: The October book order is due back Wednesday October 14. Please DO NOT give me cash. Either write a check, or order online using a credit card. You can order through my website: mssandberg.weebly.com.
Enjoy the cool weather this weekend! I’ll look forward to seeing everyone at Conferences Night/Day next week!
Sincerely,
Ms. Sandberg