Support strategies for home

What you can do at home to help:

*Make 10 frames!
*Make fact families with 3 related numbers (2 parts and 1 whole)
*Write a paragraph using a topic "green" sentence, 3 detail "yellow" sentences, and a concluding or "WOW!" "red" sentence
*Show them a picture and have them write about it
*Have them read to you and ask comprehension questions with some depth, such as character traits or inferences (not obvious meanings)
*Encourage the kids to do their best in preparing for 2^nd grade, both academically as well as behaviorally

Suggestions for home reading and writing

During this time of year, curriculum moves much more rapidly than in the beginning. I want you to be award of what your students are learning and what they should be working on to meet standards. Let's keep our expectations high and provide as much support for the students as possible. The more we practice, the better prepared for second grade they will be.

In writing, please have your student practice using the stages of the writing process in their homework. Help them to develop an appropriate topic sentence. Brainstorm with them 3 detail sentences (but have them come up with the idea so they understand what they are writing), and they should be able to come up with a WOW sentence on their own as a conclusion.

First grade is a wonderful time to see your student blossom, but it is challenging as well. Being aware of our academic student expectations will help you to provide the support necessary to create an optimal learning experience for your student. Exposure and practice are the keys both in the classroom as well as at home. :)

Curriculum Update

In reading, while still reviewing, we are starting to move away from phonics. We are now reading stories in our anthologies that follow a theme. The theme that we just finished is “Keep Trying”. In that unit, we read Frog and Toad stories along with some shorter stories and poems. We are working on answering comprehension questions in complete sentences and writing summaries. Right now, the big push is in reading fluency (reading in a fluid voice while using intonation for quotations and punctuation).

In addition, we are working hard on finding books that are “just right” for the reader. If in doubt, don’t push the book with the higher reading level. Reading books that are too challenging really stalls the comprehension process when kids have to sound words out (more than 5 on a page).
In math, we have been working on coin recognition (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters only) as well as counting coins. We have practiced adding a group of coins together starting with the coin that has the highest value. This is sometimes tricky for kids to do and is a great thing for you to do at home. Also, we have been taking timed math fact tests almost every day and the kids are getting very good! They have now realized that they are not going to correctly complete all of the facts within 2 minutes if they are not memorized. That’s the goal! In second grade, they will be taking timed tests from the same program, but with only 1 minute to complete them.

In science, we have transitioned from weather to The Water Cycle and
then to states of matter. The kids are discovering properties of solids and liquids in various investigations. We had our first Science Club (instead of Book Club) with parent helpers on Tuesday and the kids LOVED it! Thanks helpers!

Leprechaun Traps

As you saw in your child’s homework folder this week, all first graders are constructing a leprechaun trap as part of their homework. The most important part of the trap construction is the plan. The students need to draw a diagram of their trap with labels. We've emphasized that they are the engineers and engineers solve problems (just like in our Lego engineering lessons). The kids need to bring them to school on Friday, March 14^th. The kids will share their trap and explain how it will work. On March 17th, we will check to see if we’ve caught any of those clever leprechauns! The kids seem to really be having fun with this. We appreciate your help at home!

No Bully

At Rancho, we exercise a NO BULLY policy! All of the staff members were fortunate to have a No Bully speaker come to our school and give us some great suggestions and strategies. In the office, there is an anonymous Bully Box, where the students can drop notes off for Mrs. Kawata. Also, we do Bullyproofing lessons and role-play in class. The kids have a great character foundation already, so let's keep it up. Thanks!

5 Finger Rule

As students are checking out books from the library and choosing books to read at home, don't forget the "5 Finger Rule"! As the student reads a page, if they don't know a word, they hold up 1 finger. If they get to 5 before the page is over, have them choose a simpler book.

Welcome back from break!

When we return from break, we are going to continue our hard work in reading, writing, science, and math. The first grade team (yes, the whole team) would appreciate your support in retaining high expectations for our students, both academically and behaviorally. The behavior that we have been experiencing during the last few weeks has been much worse than desired (overall). Please remind your students that we (teachers and parents) expect them to take pride in their work, work hard, and do their very best. Ask your child how the day was, what they learned, and if they did their best. Have them explain to you exactly what good behavior in school looks like. They know it, they may just need reminders! Having the children see that the school-home expectations are consistent is the best way to instill these critical practices and study habits. We have a lot to learn in the next few months to prepare for second grade and it is important to remember that good behavior and successful academics goes hand in hand. Thanks for your support, we appreciate it.

Curriculum Update

Our reading curriculum has changed directions in the past few weeks. In the beginning of the year, we were really working on sounds and reviewing spellings from Kindergarten. Then, we really worked on putting all those sounds together to decode words correctly. Now, we’re working on reading fluently for comprehension. There is a balance between the two. What we are aiming for are readers who can read with correct intonation and pacing while still comprehending what they are reading. Please don’t push your child to read higher-level books that are not right for their comprehension level. You can monitor this by asking questions throughout their reading and having them make inferences. Ask them about the story while using the academic terms that we use in class such as character, setting, main idea, etc.

Right now, the students are reading from a book called their “First Reader”. In that book are a few stories within the same theme. You’ve probably seen some of the comprehension questions from these stories come home. We are teaching the kids good study skills such as highlighting words in the question that we will use in the answer. Also, we teach the kids how to answer a question completely and correctly. There are a lot of skills that go into a simple read and question lesson! We will soon move into using a reading anthology. This is exciting for the kids and it’s a great way to practice those skills that they will need for second grade.

In math, you have probably seen that we have been drilling the timed tests every day. The kids are all so supportive of each other; it’s really nice to see. The way it works is that they start on addition with answers as high as 10, then it moves on to subtraction, harder addition, and so on. The students have 2 minutes to complete the whole test correctly. When they have done so 3 times, they move to the next test. This will continue in second grade as well, so the kids are really prepared after doing it in first grade.

In science, we are starting our unit on weather. So far, we have read stories, created hurricane flags, and completed one investigation on air. The kids are using the scientific method when completing these investigations. They are getting really good at using words like “hypothesis” and “observation”. Ask them about it!

Reading strategies and information

Your first graders have worked so hard to learn all or most of the 100 high-frequency words (or sight words). As they begin to master these words and learn most of the regular phonetic sounds, it is time to read for fluency. During this time, students may often be reading books that they call "too easy" for them. Although we want to continue to challenge every first grader, they need to be reading predictable books where most of the words follow the rules. When you think that your student has mastered the book, make sure they are reading with correct intonation (for example, using expression when a character is speaking or pausing at a comma) before you move onto a more difficult book.

At this point in the year, we are discouraging "guessing" as a reading strategy. Please help your first grader to "sound out" an unfamiliar word. This helps them when spelling the word as well.

Thank you for your support at home. Being supportive in your child's education is a critical part in helping them to become a lifelong learner. Thanks!

Update

The kids had a great time on our field trip on Friday! We were able to see the African penguins being fed by a biologist, the white alligator in the swamp, the Philippine Coral Reef, the Northern California Coast, the awesome rainforest habitat, and so much more. The kids were great and we all had a lot of fun!

MAP Testing
 This week, the first graders will begin MAP testing for the second time this year. As a reminder, this is a computerized test that all kids in Novato are taking. The kids are able to wear headphones and listen to directions before choosing an answer. Since first graders don’t do STAR testing, this is our "standardized" test that we can look at to see growth over the school year (on that test). This is absolutely not the end-all as far as your child’s academic performance. The student’s daily performance in class is much more heavily weighted than in this one assessment. I will send home their progress on the MAP test in the next few weeks.

We do ask that you try to have your child get a good night’s sleep on Tuesday night and eat a good breakfast (and pack a snack). These are helpful things for everyday performance, not just on the MAP test.

Curriculum
 We have been working on all the spellings for long vowels. This is really where phonics gets tough! Before break, we will send home all of the sound cards/spellings that your child has learned and is expected to use correctly. This is where it is really beneficial to correct your child’s spelling, so be sure to look for those in the Friday Folder.

In writing, we are always practicing writing complete sentences while using correct conventions (capitalization, punctuation, finger spaces, etc.). We are working on writing with a prompt and completing a full paragraph. The kids know that a "green sentence" is their topic sentence and makes the reader want to keep going. The "yellow sentences" are the detail sentences that make the reader slow down and get a better understanding of the topic. The "red sentence" is the concluding sentence, or WOW! sentence that completes the paragraph.

In math, we have been working a lot on place value (tens and ones) as well as figuring out what ten more, ten less, one more, and one less. We are now taking timed tests too, which I have written about below.

In science, we are wrapping up our unit on animals in winter. We will soon begin investigations in weather.


Timed Tests
 Last week, we started taking real timed tests (we’ve had a lot of practice ones). Everybody starts with 30 addition problems. The kids have 2 minutes to do as many as they can. The goal is to complete it accurately, which means that they have to memorize facts. Once the kids have completed it 3 times, they move on to another test. You will see these tests coming home in the Friday Folder. We try to make it fun for the kids, not competitive. We tell them that as long as they do their best, it is fine. We want them to get further in a test than they did the previous week.