This week

We've been VERY busy in first grade!  So busy that I haven't had the chance to update the blog!  Sorry about that....

In math, we just finished Topic 6 and we are now starting Topic 7.  Topic 7 focuses on counting and number patterns to 120.  We will be using different strategies to make numbers 11-19, counting by 10's to 120, using a hundreds chart to count, skip counting, and looking for number patterns.  This is a pretty short topic, so we will be done with this topic right before Winter Break.

In reading/language arts, we just finished our unit 2 assessment.  The students did a great job on their test and on the story words!  Way to go!  Feel free to get rid of all the blue word cards they read correctly on their story word assessment.  If there was a word circled, keep that card in their envelope for them to continue to practice.  We started unit 3 today, so they will be receiving their story word cards for this week tomorrow.  We are continuing to learn about nouns, now focusing on animals and things.

In spelling, we are focusing on the "ch" sound.  Some of our words have "ch" in the beginning and some have it at the end.  Practice spelling these words and see what other words you can make with the "ch" sound.  Be careful for catch and match!  Those have a "t" in them that's pretty hard to hear!

In social studies, we are learning about Christmas around the world.  We've been taking imaginary field trips by "Air Petrucci" and traveling to these different lands to learn how they celebrate the holidays.  So far we have visited the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Germany.  We have been creating scrapbooks to document our travels.  The students have been learning so much and finding out how some of our American holiday traditions have come from other countries!

In writing, we should now be writing at least 5 sentences in our journals or other writing activities.  We are focusing on conventions this quarter, so please be sure to reinforce period placement and starting sentences with a capital letter.  We are also working on creating "wrap-up" sentences in our writing.  We want to end our writing with a wrap up sentence so our readers will know that our writing is complete.  We are becoming such good writers and asking questions in our heads to help create more detailed sentences.  Some questions we ask ourselves are "Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How?"  These sentences help us stay on topic and create more details to put in our writing!

In other news....
Read for 2013 was a success!  The students LOVED it and enjoyed wearing their PJ's to school.  They got a kick out of seeing all the adults in the pajamas too!  Thank you for all the parents who volunteered as readers from our classroom.  We couldn't have done this event without your participation!

I just received the Scholastic catalogs today, so I am sending them home with the hope that if you send your orders to me by Friday at lunch time, I can submit them and we will get the books before the kids go on break.  Also, please do not order the book, The Gingerbread Kid Goes to School for your child.  They will be receiving that as a gift at our holiday party.

Some of the students' supplies are running out.  I will be sending home a note with your child of some supplies that may need replenishing over winter break!

Whew!  I think that's it for now!  If you got to the end of this post without going crazy then you are a saint :)

Thanks for sticking with me on this post!  Have a great week!