First Grade News, December 2016
November 27, 2016
During a regular school day, first graders have a very busy schedule. Our morning is dedicated to reading. We use the Reading Street series. There are many books to read, workbooks that help us practice reading skills, and we use our Mimio board to watch informational videos about the concepts we are learning. Reading Street also has many digital teacher resources that we can display on the board to help focus on a specific skill. We also use the Accelerated Reading program. Students read books at their reading level and complete tests on the computer. This challenges the students as they move up in levels based on their scores.
Our afternoons are extremely busy with math, spelling, writing, and social science lessons. The math lessons are in two parts. The first part of the lesson is called the math meeting. Here we discuss the calendar, count the number of days in school, read numbers from our hundreds chart, identify and graph the weather, tell time, and so much more. The other part of the lesson may include any of the following skills: counting, writing numbers, adding, subtracting, finding ordinal numbers, identifying shapes, graphing information, finding more, most, least, fewest, and sorting by attributes. We have started using math flashcards and take them home from time to time to have our parents help us memorize them. Students also practice these math skills using different apps on the iPads.
We are working on spelling words and writing skills. The students take a spelling list home each week to practice. Students also practice the weekly spelling words on iPads using the spellingcity.com program. We have been writing words, sentences, poems, and information about the topics we’ve been studying in social science class. We’ve learned about our country’s flag and other symbols. We’ve learned about the life cycle of an apple tree and about a man by the name of Johnny Appleseed. The changing leaves was a favorite topic and is still on our minds. We’ve found the life cycle of a butterfly is fascinating! And of course, Halloween is always a favorite event in First Grade! We were the first class to tour the new fire station and want to thank Gary Peters, Nick Rademacher, and Allyson Gottula for taking the time to show us around. We have just completed our study of the first Thanksgiving and have realized that we have so much and are so thankful. We are now into our unit about Mexico. We will learn where it is located, some Spanish words, and the Christmas customs.
First grade is an amazing year of learning! We are thankful for our textbooks, materials, supplies, and technology devices that we use on a daily basis. If you ever have a chance to visit, please walk through our hallways and see our beautiful work. Have a wonderful and safe winter!