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Friday, August 30
It was a fabulous first week of school in G1A! Thank you to everyone who attended the parent orientation on Friday. I hope the information was helpful! If you have any questions about the upcoming school year, please feel free to send me an email. Thank you again!
G1A Swimming
- Swim bag, swimming cap, towel, goggles, zip lock bag (wet clothes), uniform clothes, extra underwear
* Only excused from swimming with a doctor’s note
G1A P.E. Class
Wednesday and Friday - Students wear P.E. uniform to school on these days.
* Only excused from P.E. with a doctor’s note
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It was a great first week of school! This week we did a lot of activities to help the students start the school year. Students spent time getting to know their new classmates and learning our classroom rules, routines, and procedures. We also started Reading, Writing, and Math.
We will start homework next week. This will include Spelling (Spelling Notebook), Word Work, and Math. I will send books home and update your child's Raz-Kids account (reading level) when I have completed the beginning of year reading assessments.
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Morning Meeting & Calendar
Every morning we start the school day with a morning meeting. Our morning meeting includes: morning message, greeting, calendar, and an activity. We also take time to talk about our schedule and what to expect. Morning meeting is a great opportunity for the students to practice skills, such as being a respectful listener, speaking clearly, and eye contact. This is also a great way for the students to create a classroom community of learners that are ready for their school day!
Morning Meeting:
- morning message
- greeting
- activity
- talk about our day/schedule
During calendar time, students practice:
- order of the months
- month names
- days of the week
- reading a calendar
- writing the date
- counting
- place value
- money
- graphing data (weather)
This week during our morning meeting our class did a handshake, a ball greeting, a shoe greeting, a pinky handshake, and ta-daa greeting. During our greetings students are practicing their classmate's names, a clear speaking voice, and eye contact.
One of our morning activities was a movement mat activity. Students walked around the classroom when music was playing, then when the music stopped the students found a mat to move (jump, squat, jumping jacks, jog, crab walk, etc.).
I use different chants and songs to help students show they are ready for our daily lessons and activities. During the first week of school our class learned two new chants a day. These posters will be on display in our classroom for the entire school year.
Classroom and School Rules
This week students worked together to label a diagram of a good listener and learned about our Rug Rules. During the school year we will sing the Give Me Five chant to help students look and show that they are ready for their learning.
Bucket Fillers
Students learned that everyone has an invisible bucket with them every day and the choices people make can either fill a bucket and help someone feel good or dip a bucket. In our class this year, students will be encouraged to be bucket fillers with the things they say and do!
First Day of School Activity
On the first day of school we read the book The Kissing Hand. We talked about how the character feels and how we all feel on the first day of school, understanding that we don't all feel the same way and that's okay! Students wrote their name and drew a picture of themselves, then we created a graph together using their drawings. After making the graph, we talked about the data we collected about our class.
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, Ff, and Ll. 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!"
Student Portfolio - Work Display
Throughout the school year, your child's work will be on display in our classroom and we will celebrate the work each student completes. You will often see the students' published writing pieces hanging in this part of our classroom.
Word Work
During the first week of school students reviewed letters A - Z using the Jolly Phonics Songs. You can find these songs on YouTube as well to continue practicing letter names and sounds at home. I also taught our class the American Sign Language alphabet.
Students practiced spelling their name and learned their classmates' names too. We talked about how we start our names with a capital letter. Afterwards the students worked together to put the names in alphabetical order. We sang the name song for every student in our class.
Name Song:
This is Sam!
Sam starts with S!
S for Sam!
Math
Our first chapter in Math this year is Numbers to 10. During this chapter, students will practice and review counting and comparing numbers to 10. We will also make number patterns and complete the patterns with numbers that are missing.
Number Pattern Examples:
6 7 8 9 __ 11
3 4 5 __ 7 8 9
9 8 7 6 __ 4 3
Numbers to 10 - Math Vocabulary
zero 0
one 1 two 2 three 3 four 4 five 5 |
six 6
seven 7 eight 8 nine 9 ten 10 pattern |
same
more fewer greater than less than more than |
Writing
This week during Writing I asked the question, "Why do we write?" Students shared their ideas and we learned that people write to share with others, to remember more, to learn more about themselves, and to have fun! I introduced our class to journal writing and students wrote their first journal entry about their summer holiday.
We also focused on learning the steps in the writing process. 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.
Reading
Our Reading time is called Reading Workshop. Our Reading Workshop schedule includes a mini-lesson, reading time, and a closing.
Mini-lesson: The class sits on the carpet for a short lesson while the teacher teaches the students a strategy to help them become better readers.
Reading: During this part, students will read a book quietly in a smart spot. A smart spot is a spot in the classroom where students can sit safely and read a book. While reading, students are practicing what they learned in the mini-lesson. Students may also be reading with a partner, reading in a group, writing about their reading, or meeting one-on-one with the teacher in a reading conference.
Closing: This part of Reading Workshop is when the class meets back at the carpet to review the mini-lesson and talk about the strategy they learned.
This week our class also learned:
- how to take care of our books and library
- how to read in a smart spot with a reading rug
- how to pick a book that is just right for them (5 finger rule)
- appropriate reading voice level
- voice level 0 = no talking
- voice level 1 = whisper
- how to read with a partner
As part of their reading work this week, students also shared their favorite book with their classmates.
Brain Breaks - GoNoodle
During the day, students will participate in GoNoodle brain breaks and stretches. These activities are great for getting students up and moving! After a lesson or activity, we will often do a brain break to "give our brains a break" because our minds have been working so hard!
Outdoor Recess - Playground
Guidance Class with Ms. Hanna
Ms. Hanna asked the students to hold hands, then tangle up. After getting tangled, they had to practice communicating and working together to get untangled! It was a fun team building exercise for the class!
Thank you for a great first week of school at UST!
It's going to be a WONDERFUL year in G1A! : )
- Ms. Allison