First Grade News

August 24, 2015

Curriculum Highlights

Student Learning Results Think Creatively, Communicate Effectively, Learn Enthusiastically,

Live Ethically, Reason Critically, Collaborate Constructively
Writing Workshop - Getting Help During Writing Workshop using multiple strategies
Word study Short vowels, phonology
Math developing number sense
Reading Workshop I PICK Self-monitoring How am I going with choosing just right
books for myself?

Reminders

Tuesday September 1, 6:30pm Open House 6:30pm in the studio and then up to the grade
one common area. Please note this is not a time to talk about individual student progress. The
time is dedicated to sharing curriculum information that is relevant to the whole group. Parent
teacher conferences will be held in early October. If there are any concerns before then teachers
will arrange a private meeting with parents. If you have any questions that you think might be
relevant to the group kindly email them to your homeroom teacher so that we can allocate time
in the schedule to address them.

News from Ms. Tindalls class

In grade one we teach writing through a format called Writing Workshop. In this format children see
themselves as writers/ authors. They develop a genuine feel for writing its power and purpose. They
know what it means to write for themselves, but also what it means to write for an audience. Children
study the craft of other writers and write about what they know and what is meaningful to them. The
power and decision making is turned over to the students. The teacher acts as a facilitator and
encourager in helping students find ways to further improve their work, but it is always the students
who make the decisions about what they need to work on next. The writing cycle is utilized to help
children become real authors and writers. The stages of: planning; drafting; revising; feedback;
editing; and publishing, will be used by students this year. The students learn to help each other
through this process by gaining feedback from their peers. Mistakes, revision and editing are all seen
as positive and vital parts of the writing process that all authors go through. Already students are
beginning to use the language of writing. At home, talk about the books you read with your child and
note things you like that the author did, such as: used rhyming words; good descriptions; wrote about
something important to them; a surprising ending; a captivating beginning etc. Start to help your child
see the connection between the stories they read and what they can write.
In partnership,
Ms. Tindall

Monday
Reading: Talk with an adult about why you chose your book. What is the Purpose? (EG,
enjoyment, to learn something, to practice reading). You can refer to the IPICK poster on the
following page or the one posted on our blog. Ask the adult what are some different purposes
they read for? Ask them to show you some examples.
Math: Go on a number hunt. Where do you find numbers? What are their purposes? What
does each number you find represent? How do numbers help us?
Tuesday
Reading: Talk with an adult about why you chose your book. What Interests you about that
book? Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction? What are some topics that interest you? What
type of books do your family enjoy?
Math: Play Top It. Each player turns over a number card. The person with the highest
number says, Top It, and receives a point. (Set up your scoring system before you start
playing. Perhaps youll use tallies, numbers, or another method.) If the player can also tell the
difference between the two numbers he/ she scores another point.
Wednesday
Reading: Talk with an adult about your understanding of the book you chose. Even if you can
read all of the words it doesnt mean its an easy book for you. Did you Comprehend? Can you
retell the beginning, middle and ending of the book? What information did you learn from it?
What is the authors message/ main idea?
Math: Practice tallying and counting by 5s. Tally the number of times your mum jumps the
skipping rope, the number blue, red, yellow Legos in the box etc. Explain to an adult what
tallies are and why they are useful.
Thursday
Reading: Talk with an adult about how many words you Know in the book? Did you know all of
them, most of them or some of them? Ideally, a just right book has mostly words you know,
with just a few to work out. Teach an adult the Five Finger Rule.
Math: Play the Before and After Game. Deal 5 cards to each player. Turn over one card from
the central pile. If you have a number in your hand that comes before or after the one turned
over you can put it on top. If you cant go, you have to pick up. The first one to get rid of all
of the cards in their hand is the winner.
Friday
Reading: Talk about how you read the words in the book you chose. Were you smooth? Did you
stop at periods/ full stops? Did you change your voice for speech or question marks? Did you
read just as though you were talking?
Poem collection: Recite/ sing to your family and friends some poems from your poem
collection. Put your finger on each word as you read. . Return your poem collection to school
on Monday.
Math: Choose one of the math games/ activities you did this week that you think you could
improve on. Why do you think you could get better? What was challenging for you? What was
easy for you? Whats your plan to improve?

Think before you print! Do you really need a hard copy of this?

Our guide for choosing a Just Right book.