First Grade News

ISSUE 6 OCTOBER 6, 2017

Reading
We began our first Readers Workshop unit: Building Good
Reading Habits. We learned that readers develop a habit of
taking a sneak peek by observing the cover and the first few
pages of their book to get an idea of what the story might be
about. While reading, students learned to stop and check
their sneak peek to make sure they were on target. First
graders practiced taking sneak peeks
during independent reading and
partner reading time. During partner
reading, first graders read together,
worked as a team, and built good
habits with each other.
Fundations
In Unit 2, students learned how to blend
and segment sounds in three-letter CVC
(consonant-vowel-consonant) words.
Students used their fingers to help them
decode unknown words with the
tapping out strategy:
1. Start by touching the thumb and pointer finger together. Say
the first (consonant) sound of the word.
2. Next, touch the thumb and middle finger together. Say the
middle (vowel) sound.
3. Then touch the thumb and ring finger together. Say the last
(consonant) sound.

Writing 4. Finally, use your thumb and pointer finger to zip the
sounds together and say the word.
First graders are writing COPS! The COPS writing program is
a way to help students remember all of the components of a
good sentence. This week, we focused on the C of COPS Science
which represents This week, first graders
Capitalization. First graders had fun investigating the
learned what needs a capital, pumpkins they picked from
including beginnings of Wards Berry Farm! We
sentences and names of measured our pumpkins,
people and pets. First graders drew scientific sketches,
had fun pretending they were and learned about the
COPS while writing their pumpkin life cycle! It was
Weekend News. We also so fun to connect our
began our Small Moments unit learning to our field trip!
in Writing. First graders
started their first 3-page story
where they are telling of a
special memory in their lives.
Save the Date
October 9th: NO SCHOOL (Columbus Day)
Math October 12th: Oak Tree Program for Mrs. Teehans Class
October 13th: Oak Tree Program for Mrs. Denbys Class
This week in math, first graders
October 18th: Oak Tree Program for Mrs. Hasenfuss Class
practiced solving subtraction story
October 20th: Oak Tree Program for Mr. Daitchs Class
problems. They learned how to draw a
October 26th: Early Release Day (12:15pm)
simple mathematical drawing,
November 2nd: First Grade Harvest Festival
representing their math with symbols.

They also learned how to write a number sentence to match

the story. For example, Hannah had 5 apples and gave 3 of
them to Sam. How many apples does she have left? 5-3=2
First graders had fun thinking of symbols they could use to
represent objects, such as circles, lines, smiley faces, etc.
 First Grade News