This week has been RED RIBBON WEEK!
Please discuss with your child the importance of staying drug FREE, and talk with them (on a first grade level) about the dangers of drugs!!!
Monday-Red Ribbon Bracelets
Tuesday-Jersey Day-Team Up Against Drugs Day
Wednesday-Slipper Day-Don't Slip Into Drugs Day
Thursday-Wear Red Day (Assembly at 1:15)
Friday-Hat Day-Put a Lid on Drugs Day
This Week's Spelling Words-short e
-beg
-ten
-yes
-pet
-bet
-set
We are learning SO much and I just can't wait to fill you all in! Please go over some of this content at home with your students in addition to homework. Just talk about it! If you apply what they learn here at school to everyday life, the information will be much more valuable to them! Thank you! You all are so helpful in your child's learning.
Math- We are discussing flat shapes and 3-D shapes. We are talking about all kinds of shapes. Circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, hexagons, pentagos, octagons, parallelograms, trapezoids, etc. Ask your kids what things at home have what shape! Also, ask them to talk to you about shapes. How many corners (vertices) does this shape have? How many sides does it have? Could this 3-D shape roll? Could it slide? Does it stack? These are the types of questions that will start turning those wheels!!!
Social Studies- We are learning a ton in Social Studies right now! We are beginning to talk about geography and geographic features. We are learning about maps right now and how to read them. We are also really studying KEYS or LEGENDS on maps and how these help us to read and better understand the map we are studying. At home, please talk to your child about different maps and the importance of a map. Show them some maps. We talked about how our school has a map, our state has a map, our city has a map, and the world has a map. We even made a map of our classroom! Also at home, you can talk to your child about our state and the others 49 states in our country. We will be examining a map of the United States and learning the other state's names as best as we can. Hearing this at home and learning there too will be most beneficial.
Language Arts- Practice, practice, practice punctuation!!! We are still practicing punctuation and can probably never get enough practice in. At home, have your children write sentences and make sure their punctuation is correct. Do they have a capital letter at the beginning? Are names and important places capitalized? Is there a punctuation mark at the end of the sentence (? . !). Double check all of this please.
We also are talking about how two words can be blended into one in order to form what is called a contraction! We made "Candy Corn Contractions" in class one day and the kids really grasped the concept! Please have them tell you some contractions and give you the two words they have to have to make the contraction (i.e. they+will=they'll, we+have=we've, did+not=didn't, will+not=won't). This concept is challenging but we will get it!!!
Reading- We currently are reading books and talking about main idea and key details. We also are talking about who the characters are in a text, what the setting is, and what the plot is as well. Have your children tell you what these things are in the books they're reading nightly. This is a good use of their "re-telling" skills which is one thing we are really working on in reading as well. I want for your child to be able to read a book, or hear a book, and then be able to retell what their brain soaked in. This helps them greatly when it comes to comprehending literature.
**Important Announcements**
-I sent a list of sight words home with your kiddos today! I have highlighted a column titled with a certain color that I'd like them to work on. You can have them read the word (you point and show, then they read), and also write the word (you say and don't show, they write). This will help them with sight word recognition. This also will hopefully help to improve their spelling!
-I also am sending our class BUDDY home this weekend! We have selected a student to spend the weekend with him and we are sending his journal along too! Look at the story example that I have on the front page! Read this to your child (this won't be the first time they've heard it) and help them neatly write a story of their own! This will help build their writing skills, their "retelling" skills as they have to retell their weekend, and their abilities to better understand personal narratives!
