Weekly Update

It's another fun-filled, jam packed week in first grade!  Here's what's happening this week in room 7...

In Reading, we are learning the grammar skill, verbs that tell about now.  We will focus on present tense verbs and when to add an "s" to a present tense verb.  We add an "s" when the verb tells about what one person, place, thing or animal does- i.e: Many girls run now. One girl runs now.  We are reading the nonfiction story "Fishing Bears" concentrating on the comprehension skill of Main Idea.  It is important that your child is able to identify what a story or passage is mainly about and be able to express it in his/her own words.  To extend this skill a step further, you could also ask them to identify several details that will support this main idea.

In Spelling, we are working with words which have the long i sound, but no silent e.  This may be a more difficult concept for the children since they are used to associating a long vowel sound in a word with a silent e at the end.  Please make sure to practice the words with your child at least once per night.  We only have three bonus words this week: both, during, and ready, so if your child is spelling his/her regular words very well, practice the bonus words!

In Math, we are on our very last unit!  It is very short (only 4 lessons) and will focus on fractions.  We will have a quiz on Friday and the test on Tuesday.  After this unit, we will work on our "Step Up to Second Grade" lessons to get the students prepared for math in second grade.

In Science, we are finishing up our last week of our Animal Families Unit.  The students will have learned about six different animal groups- Mammals, Fish, Birds, Insects, Reptiles and Amphibians.  They have also learned about the different features of each animal group and how to tell them apart from other groups.

That's what we have going on this week!  Don't forget about the Walk-A-Thon on Wednesday afternoon!  Let's hope for good weather :)

Have a great week!
Ms. Petrucci