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!