9.15.17

Hello First Grade Friends and Families! 👋

We finished Lesson 2-- The Storm, in Reading this week.  Next week we start Lesson 3-- Curious George at School.  There is a new spelling list and a new "Week at a Glance" page in your child's folder.  Please practice spelling as often as needed with your child.  You know them best!  Spelling tests and Reading Tests are always on Fridays, unless we don't have school or I let you know otherwise.  Refer to the Week at a Glance sheet to see what skills we will work on all week!  Remember, anytime your child brings home their Reading book, please listen to them read their reading story for the week.  (You can read it to them, you can take turns reading, the whole family can read together, etc.)  

Today we took our Reading test using the ActiVotes.  These are hand held remote control devices which are synced with our Promethean Board.  The students LOVED using them and it makes the test feel much more fun than using a paper and pencil.  Some other advantages to using the ActiVotes is that after each question I get immediate feedback on how many students answered correctly and incorrectly (don't worry, it doesn't say "who"-- just the percentages of right vs. wrong).  I'm able to immediately address any confusion and we can talk about why one answer choice might be better than another.  When we are able to do this immediately after answering a question, it makes the knowledge "stick" in their brains a little easier!  The downfall is that you don't get to see the paper copy of the test.  This is why we did it on paper last week though, so you could see the format of the Reading tests.  They are all formatted like that and they're all multiple choice-- for now!

In math we are still working on addition to 10.  Please help your child correct mistakes on their math papers in order to help them understand where they went wrong.  I do that with them here as often as I can, but unfortunately, time doesn't always allow it!  I will be sending home Math homework on Monday, so be on the lookout 👀 for that in your child's folder.  It will be a worksheet stamped with "homework" and it should be completed and returned to school the next day.  It is best to read the directions to your child, read any word problems on the page, have them complete it on their own, then check it and go over any mistakes with them.  They can then make their corrections and put the page back in their folder (right side) to bring to school the next day.  

We wrapped up our unit on Bees this week in Science.  Next week we will start learning about apples and how they grow.  

Specials Next Week:
Mon- Computer
Tues- PE
Wed- Art
Thurs- Music
Fri- Library

Reminders:
Early dismissal at 2pm on Wednesday, September 20.  Please plan transportation accordingly.  All regular buses will run, but they will bring your child home an hour earlier.  


Reading Logs- due Monday, Sept. 18 (at least 4 books)
Math Homework- due Tuesday, Sept. 19
Reading Test- Friday, Sept. 22
Spelling Test- Friday, Sept. 22

Enjoy the warm weather this weekend!  
Hugs and High Fives!✋
Ms. Bleich 😊