Homework Support
*Weekly homework will be posted on Seesaw each week.
Dear G1 Parents,
Thank you for helping your child complete their first week of Grade 1 homework!
I wanted to take a moment to discuss how to best support your child when they complete their assignments and how much assistance should be given to your child when you see a mistake, especially in the sentences they have written for spelling homework.
We are in the process of helping our students become more independent in their school work and are strongly encouraging them to read, evaluate, then correct their own work before bringing it to the teacher to be checked. As we work toward independence, these skills are still new and we are asking parents to check their child’s homework and provide support to correct it as needed.
We are recommending the following steps to helping correct your child’s homework:
Ask Questions
Start with questions when they have finished, such as:
- "Have you checked that you have everything you need, such as capital letters, end marks, and correct spelling?"
- "Can you see any words we should check for spelling?"
- "Have you used your best handwriting?"
- "Is anything missing?"
Guide Their Attention
If you see mistakes, guide their attention toward the area that has the mistakes.
- "Let’s check the end of the sentence again."
- "What should we do at the beginning of a sentence?"
If they still haven't picked up on any mistakes, you can give your advice to your child on what you would do.
- "I think we should fix that spelling here, what do you think?"
- "Maybe we should use a capital letter here, what do you think?"
- Spelling Correction - If it’s a weekly word from school, it should be spelled correctly in your child’s work. If it’s a new word, ask your child to sound it out and do their best to write the letters they hear. You can write the correct spelling above your child’s spelling. We will be able to look at the word and know if your child should be spelling that word correctly based on what letters and sounds have been taught at that point in the school year.
We believe that if you keep correction student-led and positive, this will help your child’s confidence while also encouraging them to speak more at length about their work and writing process. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email us.
Thank you for your support!
- Mr. Hassey & Ms. Allison
Extra Note:
The first unit of writing has just begun and will last until October. During this unit, we will teach students:
- how to write complete sentences (naming part, telling part)
- types of sentences (telling sentences, asking sentences, exclamatory sentence)
- punctuation (. ! ?)
- capital letters
- editing marks
Throughout the school year we will also focus on other parts of writing, including other punctuation marks, grammar, and parts of speech.
- plurals
- alphabetical order
- using the right word (homophones)
- nouns
- verbs
- adjectives
- pronouns
- commas
- apostrophes
Mystery Reader *ZOOM*
Parent Sign Up
Mr. Hassey and I would like to invite parents to read books to the G1 students this year as Mystery Readers! G1A and G1B classes will join the Mystery Reader on Zoom.
When you have a moment, please visit the G1 Mystery Reader calendar.
Mystery Reader Calendar - CLICK HERE
*Calendar has been updated to December 2020*
If you are interested in being a Mystery Reader, you can choose a week that's highlighted on the calendar. After you pick a week that is open (no one has signed up) please complete the section on the left side of the calendar with your name and child's name. You can also write on the calendar to show the days and times that work best with your schedule. Once you have filled in the calendar, please take a moment to email your child's homeroom teacher letting us know that you are interested in being a Mystery Reader for Grade 1. We will work with you to schedule a day and time during the school day to sign onto Zoom for the read aloud.
Remember, it is a mystery! Please do not tell your child if you are the mystery reader. We would like to keep it a surprise for the students. We hope to have many parents volunteer and participate! Thank you!
UST Squads
Two years ago UST started a new monthly incentive at UST called Squad of the Month. This award has been created to help encourage our students to be active members in helping our school be the best place it can be!
Squad of the Month Award
UST students are divided into four groups. When these groups were created, the school voted to call these groups “squads.” They also chose to name the squads after marine animals. Each class (G1 - G6) have students representing each squad.
We will be focusing on positive behavior students show throughout the school day and the Class Dojo points they earn based on those choices. Students will also be awarded points when they wear the correct uniform to school and arrive to school on time.
UST Squads
Narwhal Squad (squad color - blue)
Turtle Squad (squad color - purple)
Electric Eel Squad (squad color - yellow)
Stingray Squad (squad color - red)
What is the Squad of the Month award?
This monthly award will be presented to a squad based on:
- Positive Class Dojo Points
- Correct Uniform (daily)
- Arriving to school on time (arrive to school by 8:25 am → in class by 8:30 am)
The Squad of the Month award is announced at the end of every month during our school assembly. School assemblies will be hosted on Zoom this year. The squad that earns the Squad of the Month award will have their crest on display outside each classroom to celebrate!
Squads will also be connected to other school events throughout the school year, including Sports Day in April.
G1A Squads:
G1A POKEMON WEEBLY CHALLENGE
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Week of August 31
This week I introduced Growth Mindset to our class. Students shared times they felt like giving up because something was difficult or they felt upset because they made a mistake. There will be a display on the classroom door to help us change the words we say and understand that we are always growing and learning! I'm excited to have this as part of our class and hope to see the students motivated and ready to face challenges, keep trying, and put forth their best effort no matter the task!
Handwriting Practice
Letters: Cc, Oo, Aa, Dd
Students will be practicing handwriting when they arrive in the morning as part of their morning work for the next few weeks. This week we practiced letters Cc, Oo, Aa, and Dd. Next week we will work on letters Gg, Qq, Ss, and Ff. We are not practicing the letters in ABC order because we are focusing on how the letters are formed. For example, you start c at the same spot you start o, a, d, etc.
Letter Formation
c o a d g q s f
l h b t k
i u w y r n m j p
v x z
e
"If you can make a c you can make an o! If you can make an o you can make an a! If you can make an a you can make a d!"
Social Studies
Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
*How Can We Get Along in School?
This week we started our first Social Studies unit focused on Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. Our first question was, "How can we get along at school?"
During this unit students will:
- learn how to solve problems
- examine why we have rules
- understand how people can work together
To begin answering the question, "How do we get along in school?" the class listened to a story called The Goats on a Bridge. We read the first part, then stopped and brainstormed what might happen next.
The students came up with a lot of different ideas, such as:
- the goats will fight
- the goats will fall into the water
- one goat will jump over the other goat
- the goats will take turns
The story helped the students discuss how the goats could have solved the problem. I introduced the word cooperation and we asked ourselves, "Did the goats cooperate? How could they cooperate in a way that is fair to both of them?"
What ways can we get along at school?
- share
- listen
- talk
- take turns
- play fairly
- be a good sport
The students also played a caterpillar game with hula hoops. They had to practice working together to move the caterpillar around the room and pick up stuffed animals.
Math
Numbers to 10
The class is learning how to count objects to 10, how to compare numbers (more, fewer, greater than, less than), and how to complete number patterns (1 more, 1 less). Students are using different classroom materials during our math lessons: ten frames, counters, and connecting cubes.
We also read the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. In the book the character has a name with 13 letters. The students unscrambled the letters in their first name, then traced their name with different colors (neat handwriting, forming letters correctly, capital letter at the beginning). Each student read their name to the class, then counted the letters in their name and added it to our name graph.
Spelling / Word Work
Weekly Focus: short a
At the beginning of the week I introduced our weekly words. Every Monday students will write the weekly words in their spelling notebook and complete their spelling homework on Monday and Tuesday. Spelling homework will be posted on Seesaw every Monday and is due Wednesday by 9 a.m. I will ask students to turn in their homework folders every morning when they arrive to the classroom.
Week 1 Weekly Words
Focus: short vowels (short a)
Weekly Words: ask, sat, fan, map, hand, cap, sad, fat, bat, as
Challenge Words: basket, salad, napkins, wagon, cabin
During the week students practiced reading and spelling the words by participating in different spelling activities. One activity we do is called "chant spelling." Each word is shown on the board. We stretch the word apart (sound it out), count the sounds, read the word together, and spell it with a fun, silly chant.
Examples of spelling chants:
We will also begin adding weekly words to the Word Dictionary in the back of the writing workbook (ABC order). Weekly words will be on display on our class' Word Wall. The Word Wall and Word Dictionary will be used during the school year to help students spell words correctly during writing activities.
Writing
*Writing Process
*Writing Traits
This week students completed a pre-test beginning of year writing assessment. They also learned the steps in the writing process and six writing traits. During the school year students will follow the writing process while learning how to write a variety of writing pieces (narrative, descriptive, expository, report writing, etc.).
Writing Process
Pre-write: Plan your writing.
Write: Write your first draft.
Revise: Change your writing to make it better.
Edit: Check your writing (spelling, capital letters, end marks).
Publish: Share your writing.
Six Writing Traits
Ideas - Start with great ideas.
Organization - Make your words and sentences easy to follow.
Voice - Sound as if you are really interested in your topic.
Word Choice - Choose the best words.
Sentence Fluency - Use sentences that are fun to read.
Conventions - Follow the rules for writing.
Reading
Readers Build Good Habits
This week we started a new reading unit focusing on how readers build good reading habits.
At the beginning of the week, I introduced Real Reading vs. Fake Reading. During independent reading time (Read to Self), students are practicing how to stay focused and show "real reading."
Read to Self
- Eyes on own book
- Read whole time
- Stay in smart spot
- Read quietly to yourself
- If you are done, get another book quickly
Students are also learning that there are different ways to read a book. This week our class was introduced to the first two ways: read the pictures, read the words. Next week we will practice retelling stories in our own words.
3 Ways to Read
- Read the illustrations
- Read the words
- Retell the story
Classroom Jobs
This week we started classroom jobs. Each week the name cards will rotate and students will have a new job to try.
Outdoor Recess
Art Class with Mr. Guy
Have a wonderful weekend!
- Ms. Allison