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First Grade - Week of October 30

 


MARK YOUR CALENDAR

November 7: Planetarium Field Trip (AM)

November 10: Veterans Day Assembly - 1:00 (Wear Red, White and Blue) 

November 22-24: No School - Thanksgiving Break

November 27 - December 1: Lakeside Scholastic Book Fair 


IMPORTANT NOTES


November 7: Field Trip 

Grand Rapids Public Museum & Planetarium 

  • Please remember to send your child with his/her booster on Tuesday morning. Please make sure your child’s booster is labeled with their name. 

  • Our programming begins at 9:00 and we will leave the museum around 10:45 to make it back to school for lunch and recess.  While at the museum we will be attending a planetarium showing and exploring the exhibits. 


Library: Just a reminder that both library books need to be returned every Thursday in order for your child to check out new books. If your child would like to turn them in prior to Thursday that works, too. They can simply place them onto the black library cart outside our classroom. 


Doubles Facts: Knowing doubles facts in “a snap” is an important skill toward fact fluency. We are working on these facts during our Personal Practice time in our Math Work Places. I am sending home some more flashcards in your child's Home Folder so they can practice at home with you, as well.


Math Packet: November’s Home Connection was sent home in your child's Home Folder today. Remember that this is simply a way for your child to practice what they’re learning at school at home. Take the time to sit with your child and have them show you what they’re learning in math!


Title Talk: We had a wonderful title talk in the learning commons on Thursday. Mrs. Webber highlighted new and old series that are in our library. Here is the list. Your child will be bringing home the document in their home folders today. They put stars next to the titles they are looking forward to checking out over the next couple months! 


Field Trips: We will be taking five field trips this year, GRPS Planetarium, Forest Hills Performing Arts Center, Recycling Center, Van Andel Institute, and the Celebration Cinema IMAX. If you would like to volunteer to drive for any of the field trips, please complete this sign-up.  All parents will have the opportunity to join us on May 17th for the Celebration Cinema field trip. I will send out a separate form for this field trip in the spring.

Our first field trip will be to the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Planetarium on the morning of November 7. Please be sure that you’ve filled out a volunteer consent form if you plan on driving for this field trip.

Classroom Volunteers: Its officially time I ask for help. :) I would love help preparing for upcoming math units and projects. Please sign-up here if you would be willing to volunteer in the classroom. Thank you in advance for your help.

WEEK AT A GLANCE


Reading/Phonics: The SSDA (Super Secret Detective Agency) is continuing to challenge us now that we’re official agents. This week we focused on how Word Detectives Use Snap Words to Read:

  • We used snap words as clues to think about what world make sense when we got stuck on a word

  • We solved mystery words by thinking of similar snap words


We also practiced sorting word parts with the silent e {-ake, -same, -ane, etc.}

Word Detective Badges

Unit 2 Snap Words (bolded words have been taught): big, eat, make, out, take, have, came, same, home, more, not, of, put, your, I’m, into, little, now, three, if

Encourage your first grade to both read and write these in a snap when they’re reading and writing at home. 


Writing: We are half-way through our How-To Unit. Since this is a genre of writing we are familiar with from Kindergarten, we have been taking some extra time to focus on spelling and getting our writing ready to be easily READ by readers. We have also been:

  • Observing a mentor text “My First Soccer Game” to borrow craft moves from published authors

  • Adding tips, warnings, and suggestions to elaborate


Math: We started Unit 3 of our math curriculum on Wednesday. This unit focuses on single digit number facts. The Work Places in this unit are designed to help students become more familiar with fact family and doubles relationships.


SEL Lesson: In this week’s lesson, your child will learn to use body language and context clues to figure out when someone feels calm. They’ll practice looking at the person’s face and body, as well as thinking about what’s going on in the situation.

Try This at Home: Encourage your child to notice when others around them feel calm. Have them practice using body language and context clues to figure out when family members, friends, or characters in books, movies, or on TV might be feeling calm.


STEM in Literacy Friday: This week was our first STEM in Literacy Friday. First, we learned about the engineering design process: ask, imagine, plan, create, experiment, and improve. Then we read Claymates by Devorah Petty and Lauren Eldridge.  Finally, the students were able to imagine and plan their own design on paper and used playdough to create their masterpiece. During the engineering process your child improved their design with new tools that were introduced throughout the lesson. Our Stem in Literacy Fridays are made possible by the East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation!



















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