First Grade News

October 19, 2015

Curriculum Highlights

Math Even and odd numbers, number grid patterns

Science Tools for measuring the weather
Writing Workshop The writing cycle
Reading Workshop Fluency and Expression

Reminders

If youve not yet returned your childs portfolio to school, kindly do so.

News From Ms. Tindalls Class

Our students are excited about writing and are having some good discussions about
what real authors do. We continue to talk about the writing process. It is not critical
at this moment that your child fully understands this process as it will be revisited
throughout the year. Right now exposure is the goal. You can support this learning at
home by talking about the process you go through in your writing. Lets look at a
letter you may write to grandma and how you can talk about each stage of the writing
process. Planning writing on sticky notes or scrap paper things you want to
remember to tell grandma; first draft writing the letter in an email; revising
reading back over the letter and making any changes to ensure it makes sense and you
have all the important information; feedback asking another family member if
youve included everything Grandma might like to know about; editing checking for
spelling, punctuation and capitals, using the spell check; publishing adding a photo
or changing font and sending it to grandma.
Spelling - I encourage children to use their invented spelling in school as they
move toward more conventional forms of spelling. The children should be gaining in
the number of high frequency words that they know how to spell at this point in time
(the for it in etc.). For more difficult words, please ask children to do their best
(they might try the word invitation and write it invutashun). This is certainly
acceptable at this point. We want children to be able to get their ideas down on paper
and take a risk with their writing. If they feel that they need to spell every word
correctly this slows them down and they select only those words that they know how
to spell which, as you can imagine, is very limiting. When they move into the editing
stage of their writing, this is their opportunity to make corrections for spelling,
punctuation, capitalization and grammar.
In partnership, Ms. Tindall

Monday

Reading: Talk to an adult about what a fluent reader sounds like.

Word Study: Find words that have <ck>. What patterns do you see? Where is the <ck>
usually located?
Math: Play the game Coin Grab. Put coins ( 1s, 5s and 10s to start) in the middle. With
one hand behind your back each player grabs a handful of coins. Each player sorts their
money into groups 1s, 5s, 10s and then counts the total amount. Keep a score board with
players names and the amount they grab. Circle the highest amount for each round. ***
Extend this activity by including other denominations such as 10s, 20s, 50s.

Tuesday

Reading: What are some things you can do to improve your fluency?
Math: Have another game of Coin Grab.

Wednesday

Reading: How do different types of punctuation guide your fluency and expression? EG
What do you do when you see a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark?
Math: Go on a pattern hunt. Do patterns always occur in a straight line? Are there other
ways that make patterns? Make your own definition for what is a pattern.

Thursday

Reading: How do speech marks guide your fluency and expression? What do they mean? How
do they change your reading?
Math: Play shop. Label a few items in your home with price tags in cents. Play purchasing
items giving the exact amount using 5s and 1s. * To extend use higher amounts and higher
denominations of coins/ only give a 50 cent coin and ask for change to be given for each
item.

Friday

Reading
Poem Collection: Recite poems and songs to your family and friends. Please return the
folder to school on Monday.