Harvest Time

Students kicked off the week in Crocker Farm's community garden. Joined with Farmer Leila and Jenn Reese, who organizes science curriculum for the district, we harvested green beans and Nasturtiums, which are an edible orange spicy flower. Students did a great job despite the heat. Other grades were assigned to other veggies and all the vegetables from the garden will be combined for a meal and all students will be able to enjoy the veggies as part of a school lunch.

Room 4 first graders are very strong math students and have a good sense of their numbers within 10. As we focused on 10 friends and decomposing numbers within 10, I am so impressed with how much knowledge and how fluent they already are with these facts. Students worked on an apples problem and we able to find all partners of 10 ( 10+0=10, 9+1=10, 8+2=10, 7+3=10... 0+10=10) and look for a pattern and way to arrange their combinations in a logical way to ensure that they had found all of them, including reversals. I am looking forward to the bowling field trip on Monday which will directly tie into this work. We also played tricky teen number bingo, which looks at number reversals like 16 vs. 61. I have started pulling students to assess them on their individual understanding of number words/numerals, forward and backward number sequencing and structuring. This is part of the AVMR (add-vantage math  recovery) training and work that the K and 1 teachers did last year with Mary Lambert, our math coach. It has been very helpful and has really helped us to rethink our math curriculum and increase student understanding of basic number sense and skills needed for a higher order thinking math.


Students did an excellent job, wrapping up the review portion of Superkids (Welcome Back). We reviewed letters and their sounds, sounding out cvc words, vowels and consonants, manipulation of initial, medial and final sounds, blends and memory words. Next week we will start "The Adventures of Superkids" and start by reviewing digraphs: sh, ch and tch, and focus on new memory words. Please keep reading at home and when any Superkids reading packets come home in folders, it would be great if you could have your child read the story to you. These are decodable so great for most students. 

Handwriting has been moved to first thing in the morning to ensure students get their full 2 recesses. Practicing handwriting at home by writing letters or notes to family or friends is a great way to practice. Students are doing a great job as we work on using upper and lower case, finger spaces and being able to work independently. Some students are needing teacher assistance to remain focused during handwriting. We typically do 2 half pages per day (or 1 letter). In writing students are starting their 2nd small moments stories, which are personalized and individualized for each student. We will be working on these over the next 2+ weeks and then students will have the opportunity to share these out as authors. 

Just as a reminder, please make sure your child wears socks to school on Monday for bowling. We would love to have the following supplies donated to our classroom:  extra snack, table wipes, plastic gallon ziplock bags and chlorox wipes if you are able to donate. A huge thank you to families who have donated. I really appreciate it. You have been so generous!

** Please fill out the conference form and return it asap. I am signing families up for slots as they as returned. Thanks!

Happy Fall!

Happy (almost)Fall! Students are already becoming more independent and rising the higher academic demands of first grade. I am, however, so grateful that we have the ability to have two recess breaks in our schedule. It is clear that students benefit from mental and physical breaks throughout their day. Speaking of which, this week, Ms. Baver (school psychologist) and Tobby Bobbit (guidance) visited our room to launch mindfulness for the year. Ms. Baver will be coming in throughout the fall to hell with lessons and students will respond in the Mindful School Journal. Ask your child to teach you what they are practicing in school and what a mindful body looks like. It is a great way to refocus, be “in the moment” and calm your body and mind. I look forward to learning more next week. We have also continued to work on our Second Step learning, which is our social and emotional learning. This ties into our mindfulness as students learn how to listen and follow directions.

In math this week students wrapped up their unit on counting and sequencing numbers. Students looked at “least to greatest” ordering and comparing numbers as well as counting on and skip counting on a number line. We practiced counting forward and backward. On Wednesday we took our unit 1 assessment and students did an excellent job, showing that they have a strong knowledge of basic numeracy and counting. We have started our new unit on numbers within 10, where students will learn about “10 friends” and be able to decompose numbers fluently. Students will also work on subitizing and continue to build on their addition and subtraction skills. I look forward to our bowling field trip on the 2nd of October. If you haven’t gotten your permission slip in, please do ASAP.

In ELA, reading and writing, students continue to review their Kindergarten skills, including letters and letter sounds, CVC words, memory words, writing sentences with a capital letter, finger spaces, and ending with punctuation. We looked at when we use a period, question mark and exclamation point at the end of a sentence and practiced with a movement activity. Students reviewed adding a “s” to make a word plural and an “apostrophe +s” to make it possessive. In writing students have done the majority of their writing for their first small moment story about the farm. Their next story will be one that they pull from their individual experiences rather than a shared one. They are doing a great job!

Reminders:

Permission slips must be in no later than Monday (25^th). PLEASE turn them in.

Remember to send a note if you child’s dismissal plans change.

Please send a snack with your child daily unless you have donated to the classroom.

Picture Day is on September 28^th.

Wish List:

Gallon size ziplock bags

Sandwich size ziplock bags

Chlorox table wipes

UPDATE! Reading Logs!

Hello Room 4 Families,

At our district meeting teachers met to discuss homework and research studies suggest that reading each night has a positive impact on student learning. There is also research suggesting that reading logs make reading more of a chore and less enjoyable. I like the idea of making reading nightly and having students learn about accountability, however, I think removing the reading log, may remove some of the stress and make it easier on families and more enjoyable. The other first grade room has also decided to “do away” with logs. Please continue to read each night with your child for 10-15 minutes. HAPPY READING! 

Room 4 Pajama Day and Ice Cream Party!

Congrats to Room 4 Students for filling your pom-pom jar! You are all SUPER kids! Keep up the great work! On Friday September 22^nd students may wear their pajamas to school if they choose. We will have a special ice cream treat at snack time. If you have any questions, please email me:

prattl@arps.org 

Thanks, Ms. Pratt

Farm Fun

This week in first was a lot of fun! We saw first hand that students learn best when it is hands-on and through authentic real-world experiences! Our trip to the farm was a lot of fun! Thank you to Jai's mom and Sejal and Iris's mom, who were both wonderful chaperons! Students arrived at McCray's farm and fed the geese and ducks at the pond as they ate their snacks. Then Room 4 students fed animals and went on a hayride. Students all got to choose a pumpkin from a giant patch and had to problem solve to find a way to get their pumpkins off of the prickly vines; we found the twisting method to be a good one. Students then ate lunch and had some one.


In Superkids we continue to review our letters and letter sounds. Students are reviewing initial, medial and final sounds and word families. We have looked at vowels and consonants and identified them. Students should know short vowel sounds but we have not covered long vowel sounds yet. I am pulling students (2-3 per day) to read with them to determine their current reading level. If your child has not yet been read with, I will get to him/her in the next week. Please keep reading with your child at home and if you think a book your child brings home in his/her book bag is too easy or challenging, please send a note. Your feedback is very helpful! After BAS assessments are done, I will be putting students into differentiated reading groups and guided reading will happen daily as well as group, partner and independent reading.

In math we will be wrapping up our first unit on counting and number sense. Students have been working with number lines, addition and subtraction, skip counting, sequencing and solving story problems using a rekenrek, drawing and number line. We are starting to share our ideas and understand that people can find the correct answer by using different strategies. Next week we will take the assessment mid week and then start our unit on numbers within 10 (10 friends), number reversals and build fluency. 

Following our daily math centers and writing, students have also started their social emotional curriculum work, with Second Step. Students have been learning about how to be the best learner in the classroom. Students will start mindfulness next week and our counselors and psychologists will help support our class with this. The curriculum will teach students how to regulate their bodies and increase self awareness. Students will keep a journal and may have some at-home activities they can do for extra practice, as we dive further into the curriculum. I hope to share more ways to bring mindfulness into the home as we move through the year!

Getting the Hang of First...

This week students got their feet wet not only from the rainy weather, but we kicked off Superkids ("Welcome Back" portion) and started math, which is focused on counting strategies, sequencing and showing numbers in various ways. Students have had the opportunity to write about themselves and get to know one another during our writing and unit study block at the end of the day.

With the support of our reading specialists, we are working on checking letter ID and sounds and students current reading levels using the BAS assessment. This will be done with your child throughout the month so we can provide differentiated support. We are reviewing Superkids and the letter sounds,  in addition to tapping out CVC (consonant-vowel-consent) words for both decoding and encoding practice. Students are also reviewing memory/sight words they learned in Kindergarten. We hope to have at-home access to Superkids reading soon if you are interested. We can talk more about Superkids and the curriculum at Open House on October 12th or we can meet too. 

In math students have been playing number games and showing me their ability to sequence numbers, add, subtract, compare numbers and even skip count. I am very impressed and know they must have worked very hard with their kindergarten teachers. Students practiced subitizing as well with quick looks and "chunking" or "clumping" dot patterns to do quick counting. Students also practiced showing numbers on rekkenreks and fingers.Students have been taking beginning of the year assessments, administered by our math specialist and they have been great sports and have done a fantastic job!

In writing students have been working on writing about themselves through numerous projects, such as their, "Hopes and Dreams" writing, "I like, I don't like", self portraits, and their "All About Me" posters. They have worked hard and done a great job focusing thus far. Next week we will go on our field trip to McCray's Farm to provide a shared experience we can all write about for our Small Moments writing unit. 

Reminders:

Please remember to send permission slips in with your child by this Friday. We need a lunch count for the cafeteria by end of day Friday. Please send $7.00 to cover the cost of the trip.A HUGE thank you to families who have donated extra and the chaperone volunteers we have coming with us.

Remember to read each night with your child and fill our reading logs. I will check them each Monday in folders. Keep sending in folders and any dismissal changes, just let me know with a note in your child's folder.

Thank you all so much for your kind donations to our classroom! Room 4 really appreciates it, especially me! We are in good shape right now but could use some Chlorox table wipes, *dry erase markers and cardstock paper-white or color.

Thanks, families!