3rd 9 weeks, week 3

Dear Family,

We had a great time at The Thinkery yesterday!  Be sure to ask your child about everything they did there. The Thinkery also wanted me to share that they have community night on Wednesdays, 4pm - 8pm, admission is $1 donation.  

Thank you to those that took time out of their day to help chaperone the class! 

Next Week…

Math: Students will be introduced to the concept of doubles. Students will use this strategy to solve doubles addition facts. Students will also use the doubles strategy to create their own equations.

Science: Students will continue identifying the characteristics of day and night and recording changes in the appearance of the moon, stars, and sun in the sky.

Reading/Writing: We will continue our author study of Eric Carle and introduce the concept of ‘changes over time.

Students will plan and write their own Eric Carle story depicting at least one element in the story that changes over time. Students have begun their very own google slide presentations about Eric Carle. I will share them with you all next week!

Balanced Literacy: In Social Studies, we will be learning about different types of landforms. In Phonics, we will be discussing phonograms and days of the week.

Important Dates:

Jan. 25 Schlitterbahn’s Waves of Pages Reading Logs due

Feb. 1 100th Day of School

Feb. 4-8 Spring Book Fair

Feb. 8 PTA Movie Night

Feb. 15 Six Flags Read To Succeed Reading Logs due

Feb. 18-19 No School for students

Mar. 18-22 spring break/no school

*Library is every Tuesday. Please return books!

*Raz Kids reading assignments due every Friday.

Eric Carle Research Links

Pebble Go - Eric Carle

Gale InfoBits - Eric Carle

Eric Carle Research

3rd 9 weeks, week 2

Dear Family,

Your child brought home his/her data binder today. It comes home every nine weeks with his/her report card in a gold envelope located in the the inside pocket of the binder.  In the binder, each nine weeks grading period is separated.  Behind each colored divider (pink for 2nd 9 weeks) you will find an independent writing sample, math assessments, and science assessments.  Please review and discuss the common assessments with your child, but do not remove any of these work samples. (I will return the entire binder to you at the end of the year.)  If you have any questions about what a 1, 2, 3, or 4 means on the report card, please refer to the grading guidelines tab on the 1st grade blog. At this time of year, several students may have mostly 2’s. This indicates that a child is meeting expectations with minimal guidance and is progressing as expected as a learner.  Kindly return the data binder and signed report card envelope with your child by Tuesday. The report card is yours to keep.

Field Trip: Our field trip to the Thinkery is on Wednesday, 1/23.

Lunch: We will be eating an early "lunch" (at 9:45) before we head to the Thinkery and will eat a heavy snack when we get back to school (at 2 PM). Please make sure to send your student with a home lunch (unless you said they would be buying lunch) and a heavy snack. As we are eating this in class (not at the field trip location), you can send it in a regular lunch box - it doesn't have to be disposable.

T-Shirts: Please have your child wear his/her GOLD first grade t-shirt. This will make it easier for chaperones and teachers to keep track of their students.

Next Week…

Math: Students will continue to work with equality and balancing equations. Students will use manipulatives, balance scales, ten frames, equations, etc. to represent equality. Please note: Equality in math can be an incredibly difficult concept for students, therefore, we are continuing this concept from last week.

Science: Students will identify the characteristics of day and night.  They will also observe and record changes in the appearance of the moon, stars, and sun the sky.

Reading/Writing: This week we will begin a research unit on Eric Carle. We will read books by Eric Carle, develop open ended questions, gather information from relevant sources, revise and produce a product to show our class research.

Balanced Literacy: This week in Social Studies the students will continue with their explorations of maps.  They will be creating a flipbook to show their location in space.  In phonics, the students will be working on recognizing letter patterns and CVC patterns in words.

Campus News…

Lost and Found:

Is your child missing a coat, sweater, jacket, water bottle, etc???  The Lost & Found is located by our cafeteria.  Come check it out this week and/or have your child take a second and third look.  ALL items will be donated to the RRISD Clothes Closet after this Friday, Jan. 18.

Campus Climate/Family Survey!!

It's TIME!! We work so hard to not only be the best educational institution in the area, but the most welcoming, fun, educational & innovative school anywhere!  Your participation & active involvement is so very important to us, and what makes us great!  Please take a few moments (Literally 1-3 minutes this year!) to complete this district survey to let us know how we are doing.  The survey has been rewritten to gain maximum feedback from minimum time.  We take your feedback & recommendations seriously!  Our goal this year is no less than 100% participation!  Let us know how we are doing to serve the needs of your child(ren) by clicking on this link:  RRISD Family Survey Link  Please complete one survey per child.  The district goal is 25% participation by campus.  Traditionally, we have about 35-40% with one year (our competitive year with Elsa England at 65%).  Let's make it 100%!  I PROMISE....IT'S EASY!!!

Important Dates:

·         Jan. 17 Report Cards sent home

·         Jan. 21 No School/Holiday

·         Jan. 23 Thinkery Field trip

·         Jan. 25 Schlitterbahn’s Waves of Pages Reading Logs due

·         Jan. 25 Scholastic Book Orders Due by 3 PM

·         Feb. 15 Six Flags Read To Succeed Reading Logs due

·         Feb. 18-19 No School for students

*Library is every Tuesday. Please return books!

*Raz Kids reading assignments due every Friday.

3rd 9 weeks, week 1

Dear Family,

You may have noticed your child's new reflection sheet in their daily folder. Please review your child's day with them and initial the folder every day, please remove any papers in the pocket as well. 

Field Trip: Our field trip to the Thinkery is on Wednesday, 1/23. Chaperones, be on the lookout for a separate email with additional information!

        Lunch: We will be eating an early "lunch" (at 9:45) before we head to the Thinkery and will eat a heavy snack when we get back to school (at 2 PM). Please make sure to send your student with a home lunch (unless you said they would be buying lunch) and a heavy snack. As we are eating this in class (not at the field trip location), you can send it in a regular lunch box - it doesn't have to be disposable.

·         T-Shirts: Please have your child wear his/her GOLD first grade t-shirt. This will make it easier for chaperones and teachers to keep track of their students.

Next Week…

Math: Students will use numbers and equations to represent equality; where two things have the same value. For example, 5 has the same value as 4 and 1. Students will represent relationships concretely with a balance and symbolically with the equal sign.

               

Science: Students will identify the characteristics of the seasons of the year (weather/nature, activities, months, and clothing).

Reading: This week, students review previously taught reading skills: retelling, character traits, main idea and details, asking questions and inferring.

Writing:  Students will continue letter writing with an emphasis on persuasive letters. The focus will be stating an opinion and providing compelling and relevant reasons to support it in order to persuade the reader.

Balanced Literacy: In Social Studies, students will be focused on creating and using simple maps. In Phonics, students will be working on identifying syllables and understanding the concept of a sentence.

Important Dates:

·         Jan. 17 Report Cards sent home

·         Jan. 21 No School/Holiday

·         Jan. 23 Thinkery Field trip

·         Jan. 25 Schlitterbahn’s Waves of Pages Reading Logs due

·         Feb. 15 Six Flags Read To Succeed Reading Logs due

·         Feb. 18-19 No School for students

*Library is every Tuesday. Please return books!

*Raz Kids reading assignments due every Friday.

Welcome Back!

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a wonderful break with family and friends! I got to spend some time with family and took a trip to sunny San Diego. I am back at work today prepping for a great last semester of first grade! I look forward to seeing all the smiling faces tomorrow! 

Here is what we will be learning this week:

Math: Students will be introduced to fraction concepts (fair shares) by creating and analyzing examples and non-examples of halves and fourths. Students will describe fractional parts using language (one half, one fourth).

Science: Students will continue learning about and recording weather information, including weather temperature, such as hot or cold, clear or cloudy, calm or windy, and rainy or icy.  Students will also observe and record ways that wind is moving air.

Reading: Students will learn to visualize and create mental images in their mind while reading to help them better comprehend a story.

Writing:  Students will learn how to write friendly letters that include the five main parts: Heading, Greeting, Body, Closing, and Signature.

Balanced Literacy:  In Social Studies, we will be learning about maps, cardinal directions, and relative location. In Phonics, we will be working on changing beginning sounds to make new words.

Important Dates:

·         Jan. 8 Students return to school

·         Jan. 21 No School/Holiday

·         Jan. 23 Thinkery Field trip

·         Jan. 25 Schlitterbahn’s Waves of Pages Reading Logs due

·         Feb. 15 Six Flags Read To Succeed Reading Logs due

·         Feb. 18-19 No School for students

Please remember to bring library books to school tomorrow!

I have updated RAZ kids to reflect your child's new reading level. They will not have a reading assignment this week, I will assign new books this Friday.