November 16th

I hope you had a terrific weekend!  The next two weeks will be filled with reading and learning all about Thanksgiving and different kinds of families in our first grade classroom.  Please return all Family Mobile Projects by Monday, November 16th.  The children love sharing their projects with one another.  Also, we welcome you to visit our classroom on Thursday, November 19th at 2 pm. We will sing some songs, read some facts about Thanksgiving, and play some math games. Please join us!

Below are some highlights regarding our learning for this week:

Reading:  We are comparing fiction and nonfiction books as readers.  This week we are spending time learning about some text features in nonfiction books~ table of contents, glossary, photo captions, and so much more!

Writing:  We have begun a new writing unit ~ nonfiction 'all about' books!  As writers, we are spending some time working on writing books that 'teach' the reader all about a certain topic.  So far we have first grade informational books about bats, spiders, pumpkins, skateboarding, dogs, cats...! This is a different kind of writing compared to 'small moment' writing, but we are doing a great job so far! :)

Word Wall/ Spelling:  Our six new words this week are mother, father, brother, sister, what, & this.  We will also spend time reviewing short vowel sounds, blends, and digraphs...'sh', 'th', 'ch', 'wh'.
We will practice these skills in reading and writing this week and next week.

Math:  This week we will begin topic #4 ~ all about adding and subtracting numbers to 12.  We will focus on learning our doubles facts and 'near' doubles facts to help us solve problems quickly and accurately.

Book Fair:  Eagle's Book Fair will take place this week!  Please see the flyer that was sent home for more details.  Your child may shop during the school day or you may shop with your child during one of the times listed after school.

We are looking forward to a fun week in first grade.  I hope to see many of you on Thursday, November 19th at 2pm in our first grade classroom! :)   As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Eileen Browne