Shirley Hill's First Grade Team ROCKS!

Just a reminder that the spelling test will be tomorrow (Thursday). You can turn homework in Thursday or Friday this week.

Don't forget to pack a lunch for Friday's Field Trip!

SCIENCE:

Today we had an introduction to insects. We learned that most insects have;

*6 legs
*3 body parts - Head, Abdomen and Thorax
*1 or 2 sets of wings
*1 set of antennae

We also learned about he life cycle of a butterfly:
1. Eggs
2. Larva
3. Pupa
4. Adult


MATH:
You will have math homework tonight. The homework is due on Thursday. We will be having a math test on Chapter 2 on Thursday. Thank you for your continued support!

Marvelous Monday

Spelling Words: in, pig, pin, big, dig, did, had, sat, too, no
Challenge Words: pyramid, violin, snakeskin, giggle, hidden

Sight Words: get, hold, home, so, soon

ATTENTION: Due to the field trip on Friday, our spelling test will be held on Thursday morning. Please send homework back Thursday or Friday. Thank you!

Picture Day is TOMORROW!
Please send your child's picture form in!

"Short /i/Sound"

We are working on the "short i" sound in first grade. To help us remember what sound "short i" makes, we have a special hand signal. We itch our nose with our pointer finger. While itching the top of our nose, we say "i, i, itch." Have your child demonstrate for you. It is a cute one!

Thoughtful Thursday

Spelling
Remember that spelling tic-tac-toe sheets are due on Friday (tomorrow). I want each child to practice their spelling words every night. Please do not turn the yellow sheets back in to me until Friday morning. It is very important that you mark which activities your child completes. I have been very impressed with the progress seen from Monday to Friday. Keep up the good work!

Homework Folders
Homework folders will go home each night (even if there is no homework). Please help your child get into the habit of packing their backpack with their folder before they go to bed. This is a great way to instill a sense of independence and responsibility in your little one.

School Pictures
Just a reminder that school pictures are on September 27th. Please send your child's order form back to school on or before the 27th. Thank you in advance for your support! We will be taking our pictures at 10:15. This way we have no worries of lunch messes on our nice clothes or neat faces!

Math:
In math we have started chapter 2 - Using Addition
Our "I can..." statements for this chapter are:
1. I can name all the ways to make 7, 8, 9 & 10!
2. I can write vertical addition sentences!
3. I can add numbers in any order! (2 + 3 = 5 / 3 + 2 = 5)

Spelling Words: hat, had, sad, sat, bat, bag, at, can, help, now Challenge Words: static, advice, answer, baggage, habitat

Sight Words: in, no, too

Math:

On Monday night, your child will have their first math homework. It will always be on blue paper and is due the very next day. Math homework symbolizes the end of a chapter. The homework is to help your child review the night before the test. This week our math test on chapter 1 will be on Tuesday. Please make sure you work with your child on the homework and return it to school no later than Tuesday. Thank you!

Reading:
This week we continue to practice the short /a/ sound. We will be participating in our first week of literacy centers. The centers this week will be:

1. Word Work - Students will follow the directions to create an apple tree. On each apple they will have to write a short /a/ word. If they finish early, they have the opportunity to read through non-fiction books focused on apples.

2. Students will work to take scrambled sentences from their weekly story and arrange them in the correct order. They will then write the sentences out to recreate the story. If time permits, each child will illustrate their sentences.

3. Reading - Students will be reading a simple story called, "Surprise Party!" After reading the story a minimum of three times, they will be making the main character a birthday card. The focus will be on writing a greeting, a body and a closing. Students will have stickers, markers and other craft materials to create their card. Imagination is a must!

4. Listening Center - Students listen to a short /a/ phonetics lesson on CD. They have directions to follow, fun music to listen to and activities to complete. This is always a fan favorite!

5. ABC - Students will use letter cards to build short /a/ words. After building them, they will required to write them down. Lastly, students will illustrate pictures to match the words they built from scratch.

Schedule:
Monday - Art
Tuesday - Gym & Music
Wednesday - Art
Thursday - Gym
Friday - Media

Thanks for another great week!

Please remember to send your child's Friday Folder back to school on Monday. In the folder you will find the Innisbrook fundraiser. This is a very important fundraiser that makes our Wolf Ridge Trip possible.

Thank you for sending your child's spelling homework back to school. The kids were so excited to tell me about all the activities they did throughout the week. The practice really showed! The entire class did amazingly well on their first spelling test. Keep up the good work!

I really appreciate everyone getting the field trip chaperone form back to me as soon as possible. I am looking forward to our trip to Lowry Nature Center on the 30th. I will get in touch with you next week if your help is needed on the field trip. Thank you again for your continued support!

Wonderful Wednesday

Math:

In math we have 3 I Can... statements that we are working towards in our first chapter.
They are:
1. I can show addition stories.
2. I can find the sum.
3. I can write an addition number sentence.
Please talk to your children about these goals. It is important that we all meet our daily academic objectives.

*Please remember to keep your blue family activity sheet at home. The purpose is to inform and help guide parents in the math concepts we are currently working on.

This week in math we have been working on addition. It is important that every student understands what an addition number sentence looks like. Please review with your child that an addition number sentence looks like this:

______ + ______ =SUM

"Short A"

All week we have been focusing on the "short a" sound. I use the visual cue of eating an apple, to spark recall. While doing the visual cue, we also recite, "a, a, apple." Have your child demonstrate for you.

A great idea for practicing "short a" is to build short a words. In class we build one word and just change a single letter to create a totally different word. This also leads into great discussions and teaching opportunities revolving around rhyming.

SPELLING:

Remember to continue to practice your spelling words all week. On Friday, return the tic-tac-toe sheet with a parent signature. I would also like you to mark off all the activities completed by your child. Don't feel as though you have to stop at 3 activities. Do as many as time allows. The more practice the better. If your child has CHALLENGE WORDS taped on the bottom of their pretest, please practice those words. It is important that children are challenged!

Today we had gym with Mr. Halvarson. I noticed the kids were having a great time skipping and moving around the gym.

Marvelous Monday

Spelling Words: am, at, cat, can, ran, man, map, tap, a, the Challenge Words: catnip, program, antelope, happy, platypus
*Students scoring 8 out of 10 or better on their pretest, will receive challenge words to practice.
Sight Words: help, now, let's
The yellow spelling Tic-Tac-Toe sheet will come home tonight in your child's homework folder. Please complete throughout the week. The Tic-Tac-Toe is due on Friday.

Math:In math we are beginning our first unit of addition. In your child's homework folder you will find a blue family involvement activity sheet. This should be kept at home and reviewed throughout the week. Please do not send this sheet back to school. It serves the purpose of informing parents and guiding additional practice/support at home. On the back of the paper is a game that you can make with your child.
The important concepts addressed in this unit are:
*addition sentences
*sum
*plus
*equals

We had an awesome assembly today. All the teachers did cheers and the the High School Cheerleaders came to help us celebrate. We learned about all the different hopes and dreams of each grade. The four that first graders came up were:
1. Become a better reader
2. Meet new friends
3. Have fun
4. Try our best
We are all ready for a super year!

Tomorrow Mrs. Hagen will be testing us on the 37 sight words we learned in Kindergarten. While Mrs. Hagen is testing, we will have a substitute teacher. Mrs. Hagen knows that we will be helpful and respectful to our guest teacher.

Day 4

Fantastic Friday!


Today was our first time in art class. We were very excited to find out the kinds of fun projects we would be working on in first grade. Mrs. Olaussen is the best!

Our color book today focused on the color ORANGE! We learned a new "orange" song, read a story called "Spookley The Square Pumpkin," and made our very own Spookley's! We had a blast!

I hope everyone had a chance to make it to the Back-to-School BBQ! Have a wonderful weekend! Please remember to check your child's backpack for their Friday Folder. Friday Folders should be emptied and returned to school the following Monday. Homework Folders will not be sent home on Fridays!

Thanks for a great first week! I am looking forward to a wonderful future with fabulous first graders.

Day 3

We had a very "Thoughtful Thursday!"

In morning meeting we gave high fives, shared our favorite sports, played a game called ZOOM and learned a new song for tomorrow. Ask your child to share the song and movements with you.
"Hello neighbor, what do you say?
It's going to be a wonderful day!
Clap your hands and boogie on down,
Give a little bump and turn around!"

I can't wait to see if we remember it for tomorrow!


The color BLACK is the second color in our color book. Today we listed all kinds of different things that are BLACK. We also read The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. To finish off our color page, we made a spider web and added thumb print spiders to it. It was a blast! Sorry Moms and Dads for the dirty thumb:)

"A Tee-Riffic Summer"
We made t-shirts with our favorite summer memory! Please stop up and look at our memories displayed on the fronts of our lockers. We worked very hard at making our t-shirts pop with color and details.

Mrs. Hagen had us working hard today! She had us write our numbers from 1-20. She also mixed up the alphabet and had us write each letter that she said. Because it was so hot in our room, we went out and sat in the shade with clipboards to do our work. It was a little cooler but we felt like grownups doing very important work.
** It would be great to have everyone practice writing their numbers at home. In first grade we are going to work on forming our numbers and letters correctly and making sure they are facing the appropriate direction.

Have a fabulous night! See you tomorrow for bus safety!

Day 2

Thank you First Graders for a successful second day! Today we stayed very busy with creating classroom rules, discussing our hopes and dreams for the year and making the first page of our color book.

The class worked together to come up with 4 GREAT rules our class should follow to keep order, learn a lot a stay safe. The rules are:
1. Respect others
2. Take care of yourself
3. Keep our classroom clean
4. Have fun learning new things!


RED is the first color in our color book. We did many things to help us learn how to spell, read and write the color "RED."
1. We read the story The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
2. We made a complete list of all things "red."
3. We learned a new song about the color red.
4. We learned how to write red with capital and lower case letters.
5. We made our very own Grouchy Ladybug.


In morning meeting we continued to greet others with a handshake. We shared our favorite animals today and we played a game of telephone. It sure was funny to see how Mrs. Hagen's message changed from - "First Grade is the best grade." To "I like bears and things and things." Not too sure if we fully understood the concept, but we sure had fun playing:)

Look in your child's backpack for their homework folder tonight. There is a letter telling you all about the folder. Please make sure the folder is brought back to school tomorrow morning. We will be practicing the routines of bringing it into the classroom and packing it for home. Please remember to check your child's backpack each and every night for homework or special information. Thank you in advance for your support and enthusiasm.

First Day of School!

Welcome First Graders!

We had a fabulous day today. Our day started out with a morning meeting. We will be having a morning meeting each day. This is will help our class build a positive community and creates a climate of trust. Each morning meeting has 4 parts...
1. Greeting - Today we learned how to properly shake our neighbors hand and greet them by name.
2. Sharing - Today we did a "rocket share." Mrs. Hagen asked us what our favorite color was. We went around and shared. It was fun to notice how many other friends liked the same color.
3. Activity - Today we played "POP UP." It is a fun number game. Ask your child how the game was played.
4. News and Announcements - We end each meeting with an overview of the day. Here is where we do the calendar and talk about what to expect that day.

We were lucky enough to have gym today with Mr. Halvarson. To top all things off, we played on the new playground. All students know the safe way to play on the playground, and they know the boundaries of our outside area. Mrs. Hagen's class is ready for a Fantastic year!

*Please remember to send back any information sheets from open house. Thank you for all of your support!