Reading Update: Unit 1 Week 3

 The theme in this unit is My Neighborhood. In this unit, we will be answering the question: What is a neighborhood? The children will read realistic fiction that discusses neighbors and neighborhoods.  Each week we will address specific questions such as What is a neighborhood? What and who can I see in a neighborhood?  We will use elements and clues in the texts to make connections. We will also read infographics, informational texts, and procedural texts. 

Highlights from Unit 1 Week 3:

Weekly Question:  How do signs in our neighborhood help us?

Reading:

This week we turned our focus to reading informational texts. The children are identifying the information that different parts of a book provide. They are beginning to recognize the characteristics and structures of informational texts, features such as headings and labels, and use them in order to locate key information in a text. In addition we have been working hard to recognize the differences between stories and informational texts. 

• This Week's Story:  Look Both Ways! by Janet Klausner

• Genre:  Informational

• Weekly Question: How do signs in our neighborhood help us?

• Weekly Vocabulary

     traffic, crosswalk, right, left

• Foundational Skills
• children learned how to segment and blend the sounds in three-letter words with the middle sound short /o/.
• reading and writing words with short /o/ in the middle.
• decode words with initial and final consonants Ff, Gg, and Bb.

• Heart Words - words we need to know by heart.

     are, by look, was, you

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson
  

Reading Update: Unit 1 Week 2

We have begun Unit 1. The unit theme is My Neighborhood. In this unit, we will be answering the question: What is a neighborhood? The children will read realistic fiction that discusses neighbors and neighborhoods.  Each week we will address specific questions such as What is a neighborhood? What and who can I see in a neighborhood?  We will use elements and clues in the texts to make connections. We will also read infographics, informational texts, and procedural texts. 

Highlights from Unit 1 Week 2:

Weekly Question:  What Can I See in a Neighborhood?

Reading:

Our focus is on reading realistic fiction and understanding the setting. The setting is where and when a story takes place. In realistic fiction, the places are real or seem real.

• This Week's Story:  Henry On Wheels by B. B. Bourne

• Genre:  Realistic Fiction

• Weekly Question: What Can I See in a Neighborhood?

• Weekly Vocabulary

     block, corner, sand, street

• Foundational Skills
• children learned how to segment and blend the sounds in three-letter words with the middle sound short /i/.
• reading and writing words with short /i/ in the middle.

• Heart Words - words we need to know by heart.

     do, like, one, the, we

  

Math Update: Unit 1 Lesson 3: Add in Any Order

 This week your child will learn that numbers can be added in any order.  A family letter will come home in your child's BEE folder today.  

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson

Reading Update: Unit 1 Week 1

As you have probably heard, we have adopted a new literacy curriculum that is more in line with the science of reading research. We are getting our arms around all of the resources and are excited to have launched

Unit 1. 

The unit theme is My Neighborhood. Over the next 5 weeks, we will be answering the question: What is a neighborhood? The children will read realistic fiction that discusses neighbors and neighborhoods.  Each week we will address specific questions such as What is a neighborhood? What and who can I see in a neighborhood?  We will use elements and clues in the texts to make connections. We will also read infographics, informational texts, and procedural texts. 

Highlights from this week:

Weekly Question:  How can neighbors help each other?

Reading: Our focus is on reading realistic fiction.  The children are learning that realistic fiction is a made-up story that could happen in real life. It has characters, settings, and events that seem real. 

This Week's Story:  The Blackout by Zetta Elliott

Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Weekly Vocabulary

     check, listen, mutters, quiet

Foundational Skills

• children learned how to segment and blend the sounds in three-letter words with the middle sound short /a/.
• read and write words with short /a/ in the middle.
• review consonants Mm, Ss, Tt 

Heart Words - words we need to know by heart.

     I, a, his, is, see

Unit 1 Family-School Connection

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson
  

Curriculum Night Presentation

                                  

Hello families,

I enjoyed seeing many of you at the Curriculum Night. In case you were not able to make it, I have included a link to the presentation that was shown. For those of you that did attend, we did not get to review all the slides at the end. Please take the time to look at these slides, which introduce you to our support staff and specialists. There is also important cafeteria information. I hope you find it helpful and informative. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Enjoy the long weekend.

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson

Starting the Year with Hopes and Dream

 Each year in Room 18, we begin with the children naming their most important goal, or "hopes and dream" for the year. This process takes place over the first few weeks of school. To start, I ask the children to think of reasons why we come to school. Then we name the things we are looking forward to learning and accomplishing in first grade. Each child selects their most important goal for the coming school year. These hopes and dreams become the basis for creating our classroom rules. The class and I talk about what rules we need so that we have a classroom where everyone can work well together and achieve their hopes and dreams. Finally, we post the rules along with our Hopes and Dreams in a classroom display. The children have fabulous goals for first grade!

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson

Math Update: Unit 1, Lesson 2 Doubles and Near Doubles

You may have noticed that your child is bringing home an assortment of math papers each day. The papers with the blue banner on top are work that we have done in class and it is being sent home. Many times we don't get to finish all these problems. However, in-class work does NOT need to be completed at home or returned to school. Please note the papers with the green banner on top is homework and called "Practice" pages. Homework should be completed and returned the next day. I hope this helps to alleviate any confusion.

Below is the Family Letter that was sent home earlier. We are starting Lesson 2: Doubles and Near Doubles. We have been solving problems with double facts (4+4). We have also been working on facts that are close to double facts like doubles plus one(4+5). Ask your child to tell you what makes a fact a double fact. Learning to recognize these facts will help your child add quickly and accurately. 

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson

 

Curriculum Night

YOU'RE INVITED!

What:  First Grade Curriculum Night

Where:  Room 18

When:  Thursday, September 22nd ~ 6:45 - 7:30p.m.

Who:  Parents/Guardians (this is an adult-only event)

Reminder:  Please remember not to park in or block fire lanes outside the front door.  The fire chief will be checking and this presents an unsafe situation whenever a large number of people are in the building and fire apparatus cannot closely approach the school.

I hope that you will be able to attend this important event.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson

Class T-Shirt Orders

Class T-shirts/ 

MEPTO T-shirt Orders

It is a McGovern tradition that each classroom has a special color t-shirt that we wear on Field Day, our annual Field Trip, and occasional spirit days throughout the year.  

While we do not know our class color yet, MEPTO is ready to take your orders.  Please click here to order a t-shirt.  

We would never want anyone to not have a t-shirt, so if you are in financial need of a t-shirt please reach out directly to Amy McDonald, Principal of McGovern (amcdonald@medwayschools.org). 

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson

The Day You Begin

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson is a beautiful story encouraging children to appreciate their differences and connect with others even if they feel scared or alone.

The story encourages us to celebrate what we have in common with each other and value our differences.  What makes us different is what makes us special.

After we read the book we created "Welcome Doors" as a way to share information about ourselves and get to know each other better.  We celebrated what we have in common and what makes us unique!

Check out this You-Tube Video of The Day You Begin read by the author Jacqueline Woodson.

From Amazon.com

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson

The Dot

We celebrated International Dot Day by reading The Dot by Peter Reynolds. The Dot tells the story of a caring teacher who reaches a reluctant student in a creative way. The teacher dares a very reluctant Vashti to "make her mark" and see where it takes her. Vashti begins by making a simple dot on a piece of paper which leads to a journey of self-discovery.

We had a great class conversation about Vashti, noticing how she didn't think she could draw in the beginning. She didn't have confidence in herself. Then we discuss how Vashti changes at the end of the story. She builds up confidence in herself as an artist. We were reminded of the power of the word YET. When we can't do something we need to remember to say "I can't do this ... YET" instead of "I can't do this."

Inspired to make his/her mark, each child in Room 18 created their own unique dot art which is proudly displayed in our 'dot' gallery.  

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson

No Math Homework Tonight

 

Today the children had a math quiz on Unit 1, Lesson 1. There will be no math homework tonight.

The Power of Yet

 

The Power of Yet

Recently we read Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae. The book centers around a Giraffe who can't dance like all the other jungle animals and is made fun of because of his lack of dancing skills. Gerald is the perfect character for teaching students about a growth mindset.  After we read the story we brainstormed things we can't do YET. We shared many ideas and discovered that everyone has something that they can not do YET!  

As we finished the story Giraffes Can't Dance, we discovered that Gerald finds a dance of his own. His "YET" has become a 'NOW'. All it took was practice, confidence in himself, and time! After reading, we created this poster of the things that we can't do yet. We discussed how there will be a lot of things in first grade that we can't do yet, but with a little perseverance and courage, we are already on our way to getting there!

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson

Math Update: Unit 1 Lesson 1: Counting On to Add

Today we began the first unit in our Ready math program - Numbers Within Ten Addition and Subtraction. Your child brought home the Table of Contents for Unit 1 which outlines the concepts we will cover over the next few months. In addition, your child brought home a Family Letter which gives an overview of our first lesson: Counting on to Add. These were sent home in your child's BEE Folder.

Typically, students complete blue pages as classwork at school. They won't always be finished and that is okay. Beginning next week, any green pages will be homework and are due the next day of school. 

If the homework problems seem too hard for your child and they don't know what to do, please just write a note to me on the top of the page and send it back to school.  I will be sure to give your child the extra support they need to complete the assignment independently. 

Joyfully,

Hilary Jackson

First Few Days of School

 

We had a wonderful first seven days of school! I am confident we will have a great year together. It has been a whirlwind of learning procedures, practicing routines, reading books, and the children are starting to get a feel of how our day will go. We have spent much of our time getting to know each other and the school. The children have heard a lot of new information and I have tried not to overwhelm them. 

Math Homework Next week children will bring home workbook pages from their Math book that accompany the day's lesson. These will usually go home on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. The sole purpose of math homework in first grade is to help children know what to say when you ask them, "what did you learn at school today?"  If the homework problems seem too hard for your child and they don't know what to do, please just write a note to me on the top of the page and send it back to school.  I will be sure to give your child the extra support they need to complete the assignment independently. 

• At the beginning of each lesson (usually on Mondays), I will send home the Family Letter which outlines lesson objectives, and activities you can do at home as well as the math vocabulary we will be using for that lesson.
• Blue pages that are sent home are pages we complete together in class. Sometimes they won't be finished and that is okay.
• Green pages are homework. They are to be completed each night and returned the next day.
• Homework will USUALLY go home Mon-Thursday evenings. I do not assign homework when the children have a math assessment, which is usually on Fridays.

Forms

•  Class Directory Oftentimes throughout the school year, families from our classroom reach out to me asking for contact information for different students for various reasons such as sending birthday party invitations and coordinating playdates. I am not allowed to share this private information, BUT each year I create a shared contact class directory where parents CAN share contact information ONLY if they are comfortable with the families of our classroom having access to it. Please use this link to enter the contact information you would like to share in our class directory. Should you have any questions, please let me know. I hope you find this helpful in coordinating outside-of-school activities and fostering friendships.

 

I am looking forward to another great week! Have a wonderful weekend.

Joyfully, 

Hilary Jackson