January Newsletter
!
2014!
!
Mrs. Hiramoto and Mrs. Prough- First Grade
When can you find the time? • Bring a book to the doctor’s office or anywhere else you may have some down time. • Keep books in the car (we keep some in the side door pocket). • Have your child read while you are making dinner or cleaning up- he/ she can read aloud to you while you listen and cook. • Keep books or comics in the living room and have your child read while waiting for a commercial to end. • Bring a book to a brother or sister’s game and let your child read if he/she gets tired of watching. • The more a child reads, the better. Set a goal for him/ her to read 10,000 words a month. Count the # of words on a few pages and get an average then multiply by the # of pages read. Often a goal will help motivate them to get there and do it!
Independent Reading There is nothing more academically important to your child than reading. It is the basis for almost everything they are going to do in school. Fortunately, it is easy to become a better reader...You READ! Studies have proven that the more time a child spends reading the better reader he/she is going to become. It’s actually been called the number one predictor of success!! We know that often it is difficult to squeeze homework into an already busy schedule with soccer, dance, scouts, etc., and independent reading time is often the last thing that a child does. Again, there is nothing more academically important than reading.
1
tive, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.
Language Arts We are finishing up our World Cultures unit the first part of the month. During this unit we have “traveled the world” learning about how different cultures are unique and learn about their traditions through food, light, sound and art. In the middle of the month we will be starting our next unit, We Live Here, which will take us through the rest of the trimester and into March. During this unit we will learn about local, city, county, state and national governments. We will also be learning about what makes each special and unique. Students will learn about national symbols, why they are important and what they represent. Also, each student will be choosing a famous American to do a “report” about. The CCSS (Common Core State Standards) that will be the focus of this unit are: RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
L.1.2e Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions. L.1.5b Define words by category and by one or more key attributes (e.g. a duck is a bird that swims, a tiger is a large cat with stripes).
Writing We do a weekly writing assignment and we also do a monthly writing lesson that is displayed on our wall. This month our monthly writing will focus ont he life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We will learn about Dr. Kin, brainstorm facts, and then “rehearse” how we might write sentences about Dr. King in paragraph form. You can see our final products up on the wall in a couple of weeks.
Math
RI.1.8 Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.
The kids are learning so much! We start off January with UNit 6 on Time. It’s a great time to think about pointing out the analog clocks (non digital!) in your house or even purchasing an inexpensive analog watch for your first graders to wear.
W.1.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer questions. SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
We continue to do our Beyond the Basic Facts practice and 1 minute “fast facts” quizzes. We are currently on +4. We will
L.1.1j Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interroga2
stay on plus four until 85% of the class has passed. We will also go back and review all previous numbers. Also, just in case you thought something looked funny, the Sw un Math publishe r s changed the fast facts strips to ten problems instead of twelve in one minute. :-)
most appropriate (we changes levels last time in Mid. November). We will continue to reassess throughout the remainder of the year and make adjustments as the students blossom into fluent readers
On-Line Math Games Fun Brain - This site has a number of different Math games for almost all the skills. They also have a number of LA games too. http://www.funbrain.com/math/index.ht ml Batter’s Up Baseball - A fun fast game to practice the facts.
Accelerated Reader For students in out class that are reading above grade level, we are encouraging them to start reading Accelerated Reader books and start taking quizzes. Many Surf Tales books are Accelerated Reader. You can check by going to www.arbookfind.com Many of the books you have at home are also AR books. When you child reads an AR book, he/ she just needs to let us know and we will get him/ her on a computer to take a quiz!
http://www.prongo.com/math/index.html
Dositey - A number of games are listed on this site including a fun mystery picture game and some worksheets for at home practice. http://www.dositey.com
Important Days
Surf Tales
Jan. 20 - No School- MLK Day Jan 22- Last day to turn in Jog-a-thon waivers!! Jan. ??– Flag Deck and Early Out Jan. 31– Early Out Friday
Some students are moving up levels in Surf Tales based on their most recent STAR Reading Test. You may find that the books seem quite a bit harder in the new level. A little adjustment period where the books are now challenging is normal. If you child is experiencing a lot of frustration with the new level, however, please let us know and we can make some recommendations/ adjustments. If your child does not change levels, it means that their current level is still 3