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 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.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you!
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Saturday, August 29
K1, K2, G5 - 9:00
K3, G6 - 9:45
G1 - 10:30
G2 - 11:15
G3, G4 - 12:00
G1A Zoom Information
Meeting ID: 969 142 5561
Passcode: g1aust
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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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Morning Meeting & Calendar
Every morning we start the school day with a morning meeting. Our morning meeting includes: greeting, morning message and calendar. We also take time to talk about our schedule and what to expect. This is a great way for the students to create a classroom community of learners that are ready for their school day!
Morning Meeting:
- morning message
- 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
- weather
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Classroom Signs & Rules
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 all of our classroom chants. These posters will be on display in our classroom for the entire school year.
One important chant is called Give Me Five. During the school year we will use our fingers to check and show that we are ready for our learning. Our class also practiced different voice levels. Our voice level sign will be used during all parts of the day. I also use a lot of American sign language in the classroom. This week students were introduced to the alphabet and other signs: restroom, water, yes, no, stand up, sit down, stop, thank you, and "I love you."
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 into someone's bucket. When someone's bucket has been dipped, they feel sad. In our class this year, students will be encouraged to be bucket fillers with the things they say and do!
Beginning of School Activity
This week we read the book The Kissing Hand. We talked about how the characters feel and how we feel about starting grade 1, 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.
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 - Spelling
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. On the first day the students reviewed the first 6 letters in the Jolly Phonics program: s, a, t, p, n, i. Their challenge was to create as many words as possible using these letters. We tried the same activity again with new letters added each day.
Students also 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 Lena!
Lena starts with L!
L for Lena!
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 |
Reading
Our reading time schedule includes a mini-lesson, reading time, and a closing.
Mini-lesson: The class has 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 reviews the mini-lesson and talks about the strategy they learned.
This week our class was introduce to our schedule and learned:
- How to take care of our books and library
- How to preview a book - Am I interested in the book? Do I want to read it?
- look at the front cover
- look at the back cover
- flip through the pages
- look at the pictures
- think about what the book is going to be about
- How to pick a just right book (5 finger rule)
- Appropriate reading voice level
- *voice level 0 = no talking
- *voice level 1 = whisper
- voice level 2 = table talk
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! The students wrote about their summer holiday.
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
Thank you for a great first week of school at UST!
It's going to be a WONDERFUL year in G1A! : )
- Ms. Allison