Friday, October 1, 2010

Minnetonka Regional Park

We had the most wonderful field trip yesterday. The weather was picture perfect and we learned a ton about insects. We were able to explore the woods of Minnetonka Regional Park looking for insect species. We found more than we could count. There were also a few other surprises (like a huge frog and deer droppings). YeAh! Thank you to all the parents and grandparents that helped with the trip. You did a great job assuring that our class was listening and learning. Thank you again! Morgan's Grandma sent in a few pictures from our day. Please enjoy! Today, Ava brought in a beautiful caterpillar to share with the class. We had a great discussion about the life cycle. Ask you child about the four stages of life that we talked about today.

1. eggs

2. Larva

3. Pupa

4. Adult

Short "i" is the sound that we have worked on this week. We will continue to practice short "i" next week as well. Ask your children about the finger cue we use to remember short "i". (itch, itch, itch)

Bag Books

Our first set of bag books went home on Thursday! Please remember that the levels are easy right now. All students were tested last week and given books that match their guided reading levels. If the books seem too easy for your child, be thankful. That is the goal. Each child has had a chance to read their books a number of times during the week before they find their place at your home. Remember that First Graders often memorize and that is okay. It is part of the reading process. It also creates a sense of comfort and confidence with young readers.

To make sure your child is reading, cover up the pictures. Have them read the pages of the book without being able to use picture cues. It is also fun to read the book from back cover to front cover. It just shakes it up a bit! One other idea is to point to words out of sequence. This assures that they are truly decoding and blending words. As a first grader it is also important for us to recall the beginning, middle and end of a book. At school we practice recognizing the characters, setting, problem and solution. Holding these discussions with your child will help them to be a more successful reader.