First Week of School!

Hooray! We made it through our first week as first graders at Skillin! Our focus was learning all about the procedures and routines to be successful first graders. Students practiced the following:

• Lining up in lunch order
• "Give Me 5" (used for respectful listening while on the rug)
• Attention signals such as the chime and a backward countdown
• Voice level chart
• Playground, cafeteria and hallway expectations
• Morning and dismissal routines

Ask your child to explain what they remember about these procedures.

Literacy

Students enjoyed listening to many stories about the first day of school. I read Chrysanthemum and Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes, First Day Jitters by Julie Danneburg and First Grade, Here I Come! by Nancy Carlson. We spent time practicing reading and writing our first names. We created a class chart of first names using index cards. Each child's name was written on an index card with an uppercase letter at the beginning, followed by lowercase letters. Students took turns reading their own name card to the class, placing it in a pocket chart and then they helped read though ALL the names together. After, they used small white boards to practice writing their first and last names, using their tabletop name tags as a guide. They also counted the vowels, consonants and total number of letters in their names.

Math

Students enjoyed exploring several math manipulatives this week including pattern blocks, power polygons, geoblocks and connecting cubes. Students generated ideas on how to use the tools, as well as ways the tools were similar and different. In a warm-up routine called "Start With, Get To," we counted forward by ones beginning and ending with different numbers. In "Mystery Bags," students counted a set of objects in a bag and recorded their findings on a recording sheet. Students discussed and modeled good counting strategies such as keeping objects organized in a neat pile or straight line and making sure to count each object only once. A few children thought it was helpful to find the number on a number line before recording it on the sheet. These counting skills will be especially helpful when we are ready to dive into addition and subtraction!

Specials

We enjoyed our first library, art, and music classes this week. Each student checked out one library book to bring home. Please help your child remember to return his or her book next Wednesday so they can check out a new one.

Here is a reminder of our specials schedule:

• Monday - gym (please wear sneakers)
• Tuesday - guidance (every 3 weeks)
• Wednesday - integrated library/technology 
• Thursday - art
• Friday - music

Reminders

• Our classroom is a nut-free room. Please make sure you carefully read all of the labels on your child's snack. Anything containing nuts, traces of nuts or that has been processed in a facility with nuts cannot be eaten in class. Thank you for your help in keeping all of our children safe.

Thank you for a wonderful first week!

Mrs. Bradstreet