The new year brings us to the half way point of first grade. Students will be tested for mid-year progress in math, DIBELS, and DRA at the end of January and beginning of February. Look for report cards to come home at the end of the month. They will be the same format as last marking period. The students are growing and learning so much each day, it is very exciting!
Writing Workshop this month focuses on persuasive writing. We will start by writing persuasive letters about things we feel strongly about, and try to convince others to see our point of view. The students have already written letters to me about their desire to have a class pet. They are now working to earn 200 blue tickets so we can get a Beta fish for our classroom. We will also be making speeches about topics we have strong opinions about. Be prepared for some interesting letters to come home from your students!
Our phonics lessons will reinforce short vowels, hard and soft c and g, r,l, and s blends, and contractions. We are doing an author study of Mo Willems. We are also reading about snow, ice, and polar animals.
Social Studies will focus on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We will tie this in with our character education lessons and discuss how it feels to be excluded and what we can all do to be part of a solution to the problems of prejudice and stereotyping.
Math skills to focus on this month include basic addition and subtraction facts, and geometry concepts, such as attributes, polygons, 3D shapes, and symmetry.
In Science, we will be discussing how the weather affects us and how animals adapt to their environment. We will do some experiments with ice, snow, and water. We will make frost and compare that to how snowflakes are made.
There is no school for students on January 21. This is an in-service day for teachers. Our therapy dogs will visit on January 9. We will have our Spelling Bee on January 11. January 18 has been declared a Hat Day. Students should bring in a monetary donation for cancer research.
I am looking forward to a great month with these awesome first graders! Stay warm and healthy!
