February Update
Happy Valentine’s Day! We celebrated the 100th day of school last week; it is
hard to believe that much time has gone by. I reminded the students that that
means they are much closer to being second graders than beginning of the year
first graders. Below is a quick summary of what we have been up to in each
subject.
Literacy
All reading groups have been reading fiction and non-fiction books. We are
focusing on characters, setting, problem and solution in fiction books and
main idea and supporting facts in non-fiction reading. Reading books should
be coming home with your student daily. These books should be at an
independent reading level, and students should be able to read them with
minimal support. Sometimes they will ask to bring an easier or harder book
home, and I will let them. Book difficulty also varies within each level. If
your student continues to bring the same book home please remind them to
switch each morning.
In phonics we are working in long vowel spellings. The students have learned
the silent e spelling for each sound, as well as the “vowel teams”: oa, oe,
ay, ai, ee, ea, ie and ue. We are working on using these patterns in our
reading and spelling. When reading a remind students to try one vowel sound
and if the word does not sound correct try the other vowel sound. This will
become more automatic as they practice. Starfall.com is a great website to
practice phonics skills.
As you may have heard, we started Writer’s Workshop. This model allows
children to have free choice during writing, as well as experience the entire
writing process from beginning to editing and publishing. For editing we are
focusing on capitals, punctuation, varying sentence openers and word wall
spelling. I am also asking students to expand their writing to include more
details.
Math
This month we have worked on building fact power. The goal for the end of
first grade is that they will have memorized +/- 0, +/- 1, doubles facts
(5+5) and complements of ten (6+4). Students have practiced these facts
through many games. Please continue to study the fact triangles that were
sent home.
Quarters have been introduced and students are now expected to count all coin
combinations. This week telling time to five minute intervals will be
introduced. Children are not expected to master this skill by the end of
first grade. The year-end goal is telling time to the hour and half hour.
Science
The students are excited about their mealworms! We are observing these
insects to learn about life cycles. They came to us as larva (mealworms) and
many have already entered the pupa stage. I am sure your student will share
with you what they become as adults! During these observations we talk about
how animals change and the things they need to live.
Social Studies
After vacation we will begin a mapping unit. Students will learn about street
addresses and cardinal directions. This is a fun topic to discuss at home as
you plan trips or follow directions on a GPS.
I hope you have a great February vacation! Please let me know if you have any
questions. All the students are working so hard and learning so much!
Important Dates
February 20-24: Winter Vacation
March 13: Report cards go home
