I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weather this past weekend! Hopefully, spring has officially arrived! :) This can be a very busy time of the year. Many of the children are playing spring sports and have long afternoons and evenings at different event. Please try, however, to keep up with our school events and weekly homework. This will help the children continue to build routines even when their schedules are super busy. It also helps to reenforce our learning as we begin to prepare for second grade! Thank you :)
Spelling & Word Wall: Our new word wall words for this week are: family, girl, boy, house, & can't. The children are doing a great job reading our word wall words quickly and fluently when they see them in books. Our spelling words for this week are all about Earth Day. The children picked their own words from a list to work on. Many of these words can be tricky. Just have your children try their best to read and write these words during the week.
Reading: We are working in our Daily Five Literacy Stations and we are spending more time working as independent readers each day. We are working on retelling main ideas, making connections to stories, and reading with expression and fluency as first grade readers each day.
Writing: We are writing our very own poems! The children love reading and listening to poems each day. This is the time of the year where we try to write our own. So far, we have worked on writing poems about spring. We will continue writing many different types of poems throughout the next two weeks before moving onto a new unit.
Math: We are just beginning a tricky topic ~ adding two digit numbers! We will work with math tools and learn several different strategies when adding two digit numbers. Some of these strategies are very different from the way many of us have learned in the past.
Reminders:
~Our warm & fuzzy jar is full for making good choices as a class! The children may wear pajamas or super comfy clothes to school and may bring in a stuffed animal on Tuesday, April 19th.
~ Please submit all Scholastic Book Orders! The order will be placed Tuesday morning.
~ Friday is Earth Day. This week we will be learning about ways to help the earth. One idea our school is working on is 'Litterless Lunch'. Try to create a litterless lunch each day. It's tricky, but we are trying to come with ideas.
Thank you for your ongoing support. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
Monday, April 18, 2016
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Last Week of March!
I hope you all had a terrific long weekend and were able to spend some time outdoors! We have had our fair share of illnesses lately in our classroom, our families, and our school. I'm hoping for a healthier week ahead. :) Below is a sneak peek at our some of our learning in our first grade classroom.
Word Wall & Spelling: Our five new words for this week are: heard, walk, before, again, & would. We are doing such a great job reading these words and finding them in our stories and poems each day. We have approximately 140 words on our Word Wall! Our spelling focus this week will be on plural nouns. Last week we learned that when words end with ch, sh, s, ss, x, & z, we need to add 'es' to make the word plural. Ex: lunches, dishes, boxes... We also learned that when words end with a consonant + y, you need to change the 'y' to an 'i' and add 'es'. Ex: puppies, babies, parties... This week we will review these spelling rules and work with many more plural nouns. We are also working very hard on writing 'strong sentences' each day. Be sure to ask your child all about weak sentences and strong sentences.
Writing: The children are really getting the hang of writing all different kinds of reviews. We are beginning to wrap up our unit on opinion writing with book reviews. This week we will practice how to write book recommendations filled with details and interesting information without 'spilling the beans'! This can be quite tricky :) We will most likely wrap up this writing unit sometimes next week and will then move on to a unit on poetry in April.
Math: We just completed topic 8, working with tens and ones and how to show numbers in different ways. Our next unit will be working with comparing numbers and writing numbers in order from least to greatest and greatest to least. These concepts can sometimes be tricky. We will practice many skills while using our number lines and 100 charts to help guide us.
Science: As we approach the end of March, we will be wrapping up our science unit on weather. We will continue, however, to study clouds, wind, temperature, weather patterns, and the weather forecast throughout the remainder of the year. During the month of April we will take a break from our official science units and work on social studies ~ all about maps! More information will come!
Thank you so much for your ongoing support. I'm looking forward to a great week ahead with April right around the corner!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)
Word Wall & Spelling: Our five new words for this week are: heard, walk, before, again, & would. We are doing such a great job reading these words and finding them in our stories and poems each day. We have approximately 140 words on our Word Wall! Our spelling focus this week will be on plural nouns. Last week we learned that when words end with ch, sh, s, ss, x, & z, we need to add 'es' to make the word plural. Ex: lunches, dishes, boxes... We also learned that when words end with a consonant + y, you need to change the 'y' to an 'i' and add 'es'. Ex: puppies, babies, parties... This week we will review these spelling rules and work with many more plural nouns. We are also working very hard on writing 'strong sentences' each day. Be sure to ask your child all about weak sentences and strong sentences.
Writing: The children are really getting the hang of writing all different kinds of reviews. We are beginning to wrap up our unit on opinion writing with book reviews. This week we will practice how to write book recommendations filled with details and interesting information without 'spilling the beans'! This can be quite tricky :) We will most likely wrap up this writing unit sometimes next week and will then move on to a unit on poetry in April.
Math: We just completed topic 8, working with tens and ones and how to show numbers in different ways. Our next unit will be working with comparing numbers and writing numbers in order from least to greatest and greatest to least. These concepts can sometimes be tricky. We will practice many skills while using our number lines and 100 charts to help guide us.
Science: As we approach the end of March, we will be wrapping up our science unit on weather. We will continue, however, to study clouds, wind, temperature, weather patterns, and the weather forecast throughout the remainder of the year. During the month of April we will take a break from our official science units and work on social studies ~ all about maps! More information will come!
Thank you so much for your ongoing support. I'm looking forward to a great week ahead with April right around the corner!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne :)
Sunday, February 28, 2016
February 29th!
I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and were able to spend some time outdoors on Sunday! Below is a sneak peak at our learning for the upcoming week!
Word Wall/ Spelling: Our 5 new words are: bed, though, away, over, & until. This week we will work on words with the controlled 'r' sound or 'bossy r'. We will learn that the 'r' does all of the talking in words such as: her, girl, hurt... The vowel is there, but you cannot really hear it! We will practice reading and writing many different words with 'bossy r' this week!
Reading: We will be reading lots of books by Dr. Seuss this week in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday! Wednesday, March 2nd is Crazy Hat Day at Eagle! Your child can wear a silly hat or he/she can make one at school. Also, please send in any books that you have at home by Dr. Seuss. Be sure your child's name is written on the inside. We are looking forward to having fun while reading these silly rhyming stories all week! We will be sure to make some fun crafts to go along with our Dr. Seuss theme.
Writing: We are continuing our work on review writing. This week we are learning that review writers do a lot of different things in their writing to convince readers to pay attention. Review writers often have catchy beginnings, they use comparisons, and they sometimes add small moment stories too. Try reading some reviews at home. You can read reviews about movies, restaurants, books, toys... See what you notice!
Math: We will be wrapping up our unit about skip counting by 2s, 5s, & 10s up to 120! We are noticing many different patterns in the rows and columns within our number charts. We are also working on filling in missing numbers in the different rows and columns.
Reminders: We are reading The World According to Humphrey each afternoon. The children are loving this book! Our classroom hamster, Humphrelina (named by the children!) will go home with families each weekend. I will contact you to let you know when your weekend is getting close. If there is a conflict we can switch with another family. Thank you for your support!
Upcoming Dates: Thursday, March 17th: Eating of the Greens Classroom Celebration! A note will be sent home soon :)
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
Word Wall/ Spelling: Our 5 new words are: bed, though, away, over, & until. This week we will work on words with the controlled 'r' sound or 'bossy r'. We will learn that the 'r' does all of the talking in words such as: her, girl, hurt... The vowel is there, but you cannot really hear it! We will practice reading and writing many different words with 'bossy r' this week!
Reading: We will be reading lots of books by Dr. Seuss this week in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday! Wednesday, March 2nd is Crazy Hat Day at Eagle! Your child can wear a silly hat or he/she can make one at school. Also, please send in any books that you have at home by Dr. Seuss. Be sure your child's name is written on the inside. We are looking forward to having fun while reading these silly rhyming stories all week! We will be sure to make some fun crafts to go along with our Dr. Seuss theme.
Writing: We are continuing our work on review writing. This week we are learning that review writers do a lot of different things in their writing to convince readers to pay attention. Review writers often have catchy beginnings, they use comparisons, and they sometimes add small moment stories too. Try reading some reviews at home. You can read reviews about movies, restaurants, books, toys... See what you notice!
Math: We will be wrapping up our unit about skip counting by 2s, 5s, & 10s up to 120! We are noticing many different patterns in the rows and columns within our number charts. We are also working on filling in missing numbers in the different rows and columns.
Reminders: We are reading The World According to Humphrey each afternoon. The children are loving this book! Our classroom hamster, Humphrelina (named by the children!) will go home with families each weekend. I will contact you to let you know when your weekend is getting close. If there is a conflict we can switch with another family. Thank you for your support!
Upcoming Dates: Thursday, March 17th: Eating of the Greens Classroom Celebration! A note will be sent home soon :)
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Eileen Browne
Sunday, February 21, 2016
February 22nd
I hope you all had a terrific week off with family and friends! Below is a sneak peek at some of our activities for the week.
Word Wall/Spelling: Our new words for this week are: both, only, who, done, & after. We currently have over 100 words on our Word Wall! Our spelling words for this week will be words that go along with our Weather Unit. The children will pick eight words that they want to work on from our weather words chart in the classroom. We will go back to working on a specific skill next week.
Reading: We will continue to discuss 'character traits' this week as readers. While reading stories we will pay attention to what characters say and how they act. This tells us a lot about who the character is. We are learning that 'adjectives' are words that can describe some of the characters we are reading about. We are also learning that characters sometimes change throughout the story.
Writing: We are beginning to write persuasive reviews as first grade writers. This week we will practice reading reviews about toys, restaurants, books... We will notice what the review writers do to convince the reader of his/her opinion. Try reading some reviews at home this week! Notice how many 'stars' were given during the review and if you agree or disagree. You can check out some reviews of toys and games online. Amazon often has many reviews!
Math: We will work on reading, writing, counting, and skip counting to 120 this week! As first graders, we will skip count by 2s, 5s, & 10s. We will also practice some additional tricky skip counting as well for fun! :) During our math activities, we will work with charts to 120 and notice patterns in the rows and columns.
Reminders: We will be celebrating the 100th Day of School this week! Please wear a decorated
t-shirt and send in collections of 100 items. We will work with our collections throughout the week and send them home on Friday.
Thank you for your ongoing support! I'm looking forward to a fun week in first grade :)
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Word Wall/Spelling: Our new words for this week are: both, only, who, done, & after. We currently have over 100 words on our Word Wall! Our spelling words for this week will be words that go along with our Weather Unit. The children will pick eight words that they want to work on from our weather words chart in the classroom. We will go back to working on a specific skill next week.
Reading: We will continue to discuss 'character traits' this week as readers. While reading stories we will pay attention to what characters say and how they act. This tells us a lot about who the character is. We are learning that 'adjectives' are words that can describe some of the characters we are reading about. We are also learning that characters sometimes change throughout the story.
Writing: We are beginning to write persuasive reviews as first grade writers. This week we will practice reading reviews about toys, restaurants, books... We will notice what the review writers do to convince the reader of his/her opinion. Try reading some reviews at home this week! Notice how many 'stars' were given during the review and if you agree or disagree. You can check out some reviews of toys and games online. Amazon often has many reviews!
Math: We will work on reading, writing, counting, and skip counting to 120 this week! As first graders, we will skip count by 2s, 5s, & 10s. We will also practice some additional tricky skip counting as well for fun! :) During our math activities, we will work with charts to 120 and notice patterns in the rows and columns.
Reminders: We will be celebrating the 100th Day of School this week! Please wear a decorated
t-shirt and send in collections of 100 items. We will work with our collections throughout the week and send them home on Friday.
Thank you for your ongoing support! I'm looking forward to a fun week in first grade :)
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Sunday, February 7, 2016
February 8th!
I hope you all had a terrific weekend and enjoyed some Super Bowl fun! This will be a quick and busy week before we head into February break. Below are some highlights of our learning ~
Word Wall & Spelling: This week we are adding 5 new words to our growing World Wall: great, there, right, sure, & our. During spelling, we are working on a review of long vowels a, i, o, & u with silent 'e' on the end. Ex: same, trade, time, ride, rope, poke, mule, tune... We will review that rules of sneaky Mrs. E! You can see her on the end of many words, but you can't hear her! ;)
Reading: We will continue working in our small guided reading groups and rotating through Daily Five Stations each day. This week we will talk about character traits while reading stories. We will learn more about characters by what they say and how they act in various stories. Are the characters helpful, mean, brave, strong, shy...? How do we know that from reading stories? We will also focus on friendship and love as we prepare for Valentine's Day! :)
Writing: The children are doing a terrific job writing about one another's collections. We are trying hard to select our favorite pieces from each collection that we judge. The next step that we are working on is writing lots of great reasons why our selections are the best! We will continue working with comparing our collections this week as writers. The children are loving this unit so far.
Math: We just wrapped up unit 6 and are moving into unit 7 ~ counting, skip counting, and finding number patterns on charts up to 120! This is a great unit as we get ready to celebrate our 100th Day of School just after February break. We will also continue practicing our addition and subtraction facts each day.
Reminders: Thursday, February 11th is a half day with 11:45 dismissal. Please send in a note with any changes in dismissal routines. Friday, February 12th is our Valentine's Day celebration. Please have your child bring in a decorated mailbox and his/her Valentines for each member of our class. Please do not attach treats to the cards. We will be having some treats during the day! Also, this is a great day to dress FANCY! :) We are looking forward to a fun day while celebrating all of the wonderful friendships in our first grade classroom.
I am looking forward to a great week of learning and fun! Also, have a wonderful week off with family and friends.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Word Wall & Spelling: This week we are adding 5 new words to our growing World Wall: great, there, right, sure, & our. During spelling, we are working on a review of long vowels a, i, o, & u with silent 'e' on the end. Ex: same, trade, time, ride, rope, poke, mule, tune... We will review that rules of sneaky Mrs. E! You can see her on the end of many words, but you can't hear her! ;)
Reading: We will continue working in our small guided reading groups and rotating through Daily Five Stations each day. This week we will talk about character traits while reading stories. We will learn more about characters by what they say and how they act in various stories. Are the characters helpful, mean, brave, strong, shy...? How do we know that from reading stories? We will also focus on friendship and love as we prepare for Valentine's Day! :)
Writing: The children are doing a terrific job writing about one another's collections. We are trying hard to select our favorite pieces from each collection that we judge. The next step that we are working on is writing lots of great reasons why our selections are the best! We will continue working with comparing our collections this week as writers. The children are loving this unit so far.
Math: We just wrapped up unit 6 and are moving into unit 7 ~ counting, skip counting, and finding number patterns on charts up to 120! This is a great unit as we get ready to celebrate our 100th Day of School just after February break. We will also continue practicing our addition and subtraction facts each day.
Reminders: Thursday, February 11th is a half day with 11:45 dismissal. Please send in a note with any changes in dismissal routines. Friday, February 12th is our Valentine's Day celebration. Please have your child bring in a decorated mailbox and his/her Valentines for each member of our class. Please do not attach treats to the cards. We will be having some treats during the day! Also, this is a great day to dress FANCY! :) We are looking forward to a fun day while celebrating all of the wonderful friendships in our first grade classroom.
I am looking forward to a great week of learning and fun! Also, have a wonderful week off with family and friends.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Sunday, January 24, 2016
January 25th
I hope you all had a terrific weekend. I have to be honest, I'm a bit envious of my some of my family members who are buried in snow in the New York City and NJ area. Our first graders are also hoping that we get some snow soon!
Below are some highlights regarding our learning for this week.
Word Wall & Spelling: We have close to 100 words on our Word Wall! This week we will add five new words: want, oh, saw, has, & because. During spelling, we will be working on the 'oo' pattern. 'oo' makes different sounds depending on the words. Ex: soon, noon, spoon...book, look, shook, good, hood... We will practice reading and writing these words all week.
Reading: We are back in the routine of working in our guided reading groups and Daily Five Literacy rotations each day. Please be sure to send back any books that your child brings home to read. These books are shared by many different students and teachers in our building. We have been reading a lot of nonfiction books and have been working on retelling facts and answering questions to check our comprehension. You can try this at home too! Though we will continue reading nonfiction texts as part of our science unit, we will also begin learning about character traits when reading fictional stories.
Writing: We have just wrapped up our nonfiction 'all about' teaching books. The children did a terrific job during this unit. We will begin our next unit this week ~ opinions and writing reviews. Please read the letter that is sent home regarding 'collections'. We will be using collections to help us with this writing unit. Thank you for your support! :)
Math: We just wrapped up topic 5 and are now beginning topic 6 ~ strategies for subtraction facts to 20. Knowing addition facts will help the children work through subtraction problems more successfully. We will practice related facts and fact families throughout this unit. Ex: 7+5=12 and 5+7=12 so 12-7=5 and 12-5=7!
Science: We are working on our weather unit. This week we will learn about wind and temperature as we track the weather each day. We will talk about the tools used to measure these concepts and conduct some of our own experiments. We are really hoping for some snow!!!
I am looking forward to a fun week in our first grade classroom. As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Below are some highlights regarding our learning for this week.
Word Wall & Spelling: We have close to 100 words on our Word Wall! This week we will add five new words: want, oh, saw, has, & because. During spelling, we will be working on the 'oo' pattern. 'oo' makes different sounds depending on the words. Ex: soon, noon, spoon...book, look, shook, good, hood... We will practice reading and writing these words all week.
Reading: We are back in the routine of working in our guided reading groups and Daily Five Literacy rotations each day. Please be sure to send back any books that your child brings home to read. These books are shared by many different students and teachers in our building. We have been reading a lot of nonfiction books and have been working on retelling facts and answering questions to check our comprehension. You can try this at home too! Though we will continue reading nonfiction texts as part of our science unit, we will also begin learning about character traits when reading fictional stories.
Writing: We have just wrapped up our nonfiction 'all about' teaching books. The children did a terrific job during this unit. We will begin our next unit this week ~ opinions and writing reviews. Please read the letter that is sent home regarding 'collections'. We will be using collections to help us with this writing unit. Thank you for your support! :)
Math: We just wrapped up topic 5 and are now beginning topic 6 ~ strategies for subtraction facts to 20. Knowing addition facts will help the children work through subtraction problems more successfully. We will practice related facts and fact families throughout this unit. Ex: 7+5=12 and 5+7=12 so 12-7=5 and 12-5=7!
Science: We are working on our weather unit. This week we will learn about wind and temperature as we track the weather each day. We will talk about the tools used to measure these concepts and conduct some of our own experiments. We are really hoping for some snow!!!
I am looking forward to a fun week in our first grade classroom. As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Welcome 2016!
I hope you all had a terrific break with family and friends! I had a wonderful time catching up with family and friends, but I'm happy to be back into a routine with my first grade friends :) Below are some sneak peeks at our learning.
Word Wall & Spelling: Our new words for this week are: could, every, got, home, see, & some. During spelling we will work on 'long o' 'silent e' spelling patterns. We can see the sneaky e, but we can't hear it make any sounds! We have many different spelling words in our classroom, but most of our words all have the long o silent e pattern.
Reading: This week while the children are rotating through different Daily Five Stations, I am working with children individually. We are working on reading 'just right' books and showing what we know about our 'heart' word lists. I am hoping to pick up with our guided reading groups again next week.
Writing: We are working on adding great beginnings, endings, diagrams, pictures, and table of contents to our nonfiction stories. Using nonfiction mentor texts in our classroom is a great way for us to get some good ideas. We are spending a lot of time studying nonfiction books and the different strategies the authors use to teach readers about a topic. Try reading some nonfiction books at home or at the library too. National Geographic for Kids have great stories!
Math: We are adding doubles, doubles + 1, and doubles +2! We learned that knowing our doubles facts helps us to solve 'near doubles' addition problems quickly. Continue to practice math facts at home. :)
Science: We are just beginning a new science unit ~ All About Weather! We will read many books, create some fun experiments and projects, and track the weather each day. So far we have learned that meteorologists are not 'always' right with their predictions.
Reminders: February Conferences will take place Friday, Feb. 5th & Thursday, Feb. 12th. These days have early dismissal at 11:45. More information will be sent home soon!
Thank you for your support & Happy New Year!
Eileen Browne
Word Wall & Spelling: Our new words for this week are: could, every, got, home, see, & some. During spelling we will work on 'long o' 'silent e' spelling patterns. We can see the sneaky e, but we can't hear it make any sounds! We have many different spelling words in our classroom, but most of our words all have the long o silent e pattern.
Reading: This week while the children are rotating through different Daily Five Stations, I am working with children individually. We are working on reading 'just right' books and showing what we know about our 'heart' word lists. I am hoping to pick up with our guided reading groups again next week.
Writing: We are working on adding great beginnings, endings, diagrams, pictures, and table of contents to our nonfiction stories. Using nonfiction mentor texts in our classroom is a great way for us to get some good ideas. We are spending a lot of time studying nonfiction books and the different strategies the authors use to teach readers about a topic. Try reading some nonfiction books at home or at the library too. National Geographic for Kids have great stories!
Math: We are adding doubles, doubles + 1, and doubles +2! We learned that knowing our doubles facts helps us to solve 'near doubles' addition problems quickly. Continue to practice math facts at home. :)
Science: We are just beginning a new science unit ~ All About Weather! We will read many books, create some fun experiments and projects, and track the weather each day. So far we have learned that meteorologists are not 'always' right with their predictions.
Reminders: February Conferences will take place Friday, Feb. 5th & Thursday, Feb. 12th. These days have early dismissal at 11:45. More information will be sent home soon!
Thank you for your support & Happy New Year!
Eileen Browne
Sunday, December 20, 2015
December 21st!
As you can imagine, our first grade classroom is filled with energy and excitement! The next three days will be spent reviewing and practicing reading, writing, and math skills. We will also be finishing up our unit on Holidays Around the World!
Monday: We have been learning all about holidays and traditions around the world. Please join us at 2:15 in our classroom. The children will sing some songs and share the projects that we have been working on. I will have a 'sign out' sheet for anyone who will be taking their child home at the end of the day.
Wednesday: Pajama Day! Please have your child wear comfy pajamas and bring in one stuffed animal that is able to fit in his/her backpack. We will celebrate our last day of 2015 together!
I hope that you all have a terrific break with your families and friends. Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Monday: We have been learning all about holidays and traditions around the world. Please join us at 2:15 in our classroom. The children will sing some songs and share the projects that we have been working on. I will have a 'sign out' sheet for anyone who will be taking their child home at the end of the day.
Wednesday: Pajama Day! Please have your child wear comfy pajamas and bring in one stuffed animal that is able to fit in his/her backpack. We will celebrate our last day of 2015 together!
I hope that you all have a terrific break with your families and friends. Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Sunday, December 6, 2015
December 7th - December 11th!
We are very busy learning about different Holidays Around the World! Be sure to ask your child all about Globe Trot Scott! He has been traveling to different parts of the world and helping us to learn about different traditions and holidays. So far, Globe Trot Scott has taught us about Italy, France, and Germany. He brought us some books and left some tasty treats too! We can't wait to see where he will travel next!
Word Wall & Spelling: We will add six new words this week: went, if, had, friend, very, & care. Each morning we practice reading and writing our Word Wall Words using white boards and markers. They are doing a great job using our Word Wall throughout the day when needed. We will continue working on the long a sound this week during spelling. Last week we practiced reading and writing words with 'a' silent 'e'. This week will learn that 'ay' and 'ai' can also make the long a sound. Ex: day, play, stay, spray, rain, pail, air... We will practice some of our first grade priority words as well!
Reading: We are back into the groove of working in our guided reading groups and Daily Five rotations each day. Thank you for returning any books sent home in the reading bags! The books in the reading bags are typically 'just right' levels for independent reading. Remind your child to use all the different decoding strategies to help them figure out unknown words during reading. We are working on this each day first grade readers.
Writing: We are currently using first grade checklists to help us with our nonfiction all about writing pieces. This week we will work on editing our writing. We will also begin to add 'table of contents' and 'chapters' too! We are super excited to about adding these features to our stories. :)
Math: This week, we will continue using what we know about addition to help us solve subtraction problems. If we know 6+6=12, then we can quickly solve 12-6=6! This works for other problems too. Ex: 8+4=12 so 12-8=4. We are going to work really hard with 'related facts' this week. Please practice this skill at home too! Solving addition and subtraction problems is an extremely important skill in first grade.
Traditions Project: Please send in all completed projects anytime before December 18th. Remember, the tradition does not need to be anything fancy! Perhaps your family goes apple picking or pumpkin picking every fall. Maybe your family has a special plate that is used for birthday celebrations each year. Does someone in your family have a special family recipe that they make? Have fun with it and thank you for sharing. :)
December Celebration: Please join us on Monday, December 21st at 2:15. We will sing some songs and share some of what we have learned about Holidays Around the World. We will have some snacks too! We look forward to seeing you.
Have a great week! :)
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Word Wall & Spelling: We will add six new words this week: went, if, had, friend, very, & care. Each morning we practice reading and writing our Word Wall Words using white boards and markers. They are doing a great job using our Word Wall throughout the day when needed. We will continue working on the long a sound this week during spelling. Last week we practiced reading and writing words with 'a' silent 'e'. This week will learn that 'ay' and 'ai' can also make the long a sound. Ex: day, play, stay, spray, rain, pail, air... We will practice some of our first grade priority words as well!
Reading: We are back into the groove of working in our guided reading groups and Daily Five rotations each day. Thank you for returning any books sent home in the reading bags! The books in the reading bags are typically 'just right' levels for independent reading. Remind your child to use all the different decoding strategies to help them figure out unknown words during reading. We are working on this each day first grade readers.
Writing: We are currently using first grade checklists to help us with our nonfiction all about writing pieces. This week we will work on editing our writing. We will also begin to add 'table of contents' and 'chapters' too! We are super excited to about adding these features to our stories. :)
Math: This week, we will continue using what we know about addition to help us solve subtraction problems. If we know 6+6=12, then we can quickly solve 12-6=6! This works for other problems too. Ex: 8+4=12 so 12-8=4. We are going to work really hard with 'related facts' this week. Please practice this skill at home too! Solving addition and subtraction problems is an extremely important skill in first grade.
Traditions Project: Please send in all completed projects anytime before December 18th. Remember, the tradition does not need to be anything fancy! Perhaps your family goes apple picking or pumpkin picking every fall. Maybe your family has a special plate that is used for birthday celebrations each year. Does someone in your family have a special family recipe that they make? Have fun with it and thank you for sharing. :)
December Celebration: Please join us on Monday, December 21st at 2:15. We will sing some songs and share some of what we have learned about Holidays Around the World. We will have some snacks too! We look forward to seeing you.
Have a great week! :)
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Welcome December!
I hope you had a terrific Thanksgiving with family & friends. The children were certainly excited to celebrate this holiday! Below is a preview of our 1st grade learning for the week:
Word Wall & Spelling: We will add six new words to our wall: make, came, way, him, we, & did The children should be able to read these words quickly in isolation. They should also be able to recognize these words when they see them in books. During spelling, we will work on reading and writing words with the long 'a' silent 'e' pattern. Ex: made, gave, cake, shake... Once children realize that 'sneaky, silent, Mrs. E' has a job, they will be able to read and write many other long a words too!
Reading: We will continue reading nonfiction books and discussing the text features in nonfiction: table of contents, glossary, close up pictures, labels, arrows, & diagrams. We will also work in guided reading groups again. We took a little break from reading groups while we were reading and learning all about Thanksgiving!
Writing: We will continue working on our 'all about' nonfiction books. The children are learning how to add labels, close up pictures, and facts to teach readers about their various topics. This week we will work on using first grade checklists to guide us in our writing.
Math: We are working on using what we know about double facts, friendly facts to ten, and addition facts to help us solve subtraction problems. When we know addition facts, it can help us to quickly solve related subtraction facts!
Social Studies: This month we will be learning about traditions and holidays all around the world! We will read many books, learn some songs, and make some projects to go along with our learning. Please talk with your children about some traditions that your family has. Ex: a special blanket that has been handed down in your family, a special meal that your family makes, a special trip that your family takes each year, something special that you do on birthdays... These are just some ideas to get you started. A letter will be sent home explaining the homework for this activity. The children love learning about families and traditions.
We are looking forward to getting back into our routine with a full week of learning in first grade! :)
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Word Wall & Spelling: We will add six new words to our wall: make, came, way, him, we, & did The children should be able to read these words quickly in isolation. They should also be able to recognize these words when they see them in books. During spelling, we will work on reading and writing words with the long 'a' silent 'e' pattern. Ex: made, gave, cake, shake... Once children realize that 'sneaky, silent, Mrs. E' has a job, they will be able to read and write many other long a words too!
Reading: We will continue reading nonfiction books and discussing the text features in nonfiction: table of contents, glossary, close up pictures, labels, arrows, & diagrams. We will also work in guided reading groups again. We took a little break from reading groups while we were reading and learning all about Thanksgiving!
Writing: We will continue working on our 'all about' nonfiction books. The children are learning how to add labels, close up pictures, and facts to teach readers about their various topics. This week we will work on using first grade checklists to guide us in our writing.
Math: We are working on using what we know about double facts, friendly facts to ten, and addition facts to help us solve subtraction problems. When we know addition facts, it can help us to quickly solve related subtraction facts!
Social Studies: This month we will be learning about traditions and holidays all around the world! We will read many books, learn some songs, and make some projects to go along with our learning. Please talk with your children about some traditions that your family has. Ex: a special blanket that has been handed down in your family, a special meal that your family makes, a special trip that your family takes each year, something special that you do on birthdays... These are just some ideas to get you started. A letter will be sent home explaining the homework for this activity. The children love learning about families and traditions.
We are looking forward to getting back into our routine with a full week of learning in first grade! :)
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Sunday, November 15, 2015
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
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
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Welcome November!
I hope you all had a fun weekend! I wanted to take a minute to thank you for all of your support last week. We had so much fun building and decorating our Haunted Houses with all of the supplies and treats that were sent in. We also now have a wonderful gift basket FILLED with gift cards donated by first grade families for Eagle's Silent Auction. THANK YOU!!! Be sure to check out the Silent Auction Tuesday, November 3rd at our school. It is a terrific event with some great raffles and prizes.
Below is a peek at some of our first grade learning for this week ~
Word Wall & Spelling: Our six new words are: one, her, get, then, when, & look. We will also work on the short e sound in spelling. We will read and write words in many different short e word families: get, let, met, set... best, west, crest... etc.
Reading: We will be working on decoding strategies this week as readers. We will talk a lot about what to do when you're stuck on a word as a reader. Be sure to ask your child all about some skills that we use each day during independent reading, partner reading, and small group reading.
Writers: We are working on finishing up our stories that we are most proud of. We plan on reading our small moment stories to Mrs. Crawley's 2nd graders this week! We are super excited to share our work. We will write one more personal narrative this week before moving into our next writing unit.
Math: We will work on building numbers in Ten Frames this week. This is a rather quick unit that is mostly review of building parts to make numbers within a ten frame. We will continue to talk about whole = part + part.
Social Studies: During the months of November & December, we will read, write, and learn all about different types of families. We will discuss families of long ago and families of today. Please see the letter that your child will bring home this week regarding a Family Project. Work together, have fun, be creative, and return the projects as you complete them. The due date for all family projects is November 16th. This will allow us time to share our projects with one another. We will also invite families into our classroom on November 19th at 2:00 . Please see the letter for more details! :)
Thank you so much for your ongoing support.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Below is a peek at some of our first grade learning for this week ~
Word Wall & Spelling: Our six new words are: one, her, get, then, when, & look. We will also work on the short e sound in spelling. We will read and write words in many different short e word families: get, let, met, set... best, west, crest... etc.
Reading: We will be working on decoding strategies this week as readers. We will talk a lot about what to do when you're stuck on a word as a reader. Be sure to ask your child all about some skills that we use each day during independent reading, partner reading, and small group reading.
Writers: We are working on finishing up our stories that we are most proud of. We plan on reading our small moment stories to Mrs. Crawley's 2nd graders this week! We are super excited to share our work. We will write one more personal narrative this week before moving into our next writing unit.
Math: We will work on building numbers in Ten Frames this week. This is a rather quick unit that is mostly review of building parts to make numbers within a ten frame. We will continue to talk about whole = part + part.
Social Studies: During the months of November & December, we will read, write, and learn all about different types of families. We will discuss families of long ago and families of today. Please see the letter that your child will bring home this week regarding a Family Project. Work together, have fun, be creative, and return the projects as you complete them. The due date for all family projects is November 16th. This will allow us time to share our projects with one another. We will also invite families into our classroom on November 19th at 2:00 . Please see the letter for more details! :)
Thank you so much for your ongoing support.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Sunday, October 25, 2015
An Exciting Week in First Grade!
As you can imagine, this will be a fun and busy week in our classroom. We will be learning about spiders, bats, pumpkins, and fall fun. This will be a brief update, but filled with some important reminders. :)
Word Wall: Our six new words for this week are: up, but, like, day, thing, & are Please practice reading these words (and all of our Word Wall Words) quickly and fluently.
Spelling: Our short vowel focus will be on the short u sound and on building many different word families using this vowel sound. Ex: cut, but, hut, shut.... bug, dug, hug, tug...
Writing: We will look through our writing folders and select one favorite 'small moment' personal narrative story this week. We will use checklists and work with partners to edit and revise our stories to make them the best they can be! At the end of the week, we will read our stories to another class as a way to celebrate our great work!
Math: We will review subtraction, whole = part + part, whole - part = part, and problem solving this week as we prepare to work on another math assessment as first graders! I will send home our completed assessments for you to review with your child. Please sign and return all math assessments this year.
Reminders:
* Eagle's Silent Auction is coming SOON! Please send in all donations for our gift basket this week. You can send in actual gift cards or a cash donation to be put towards the purchase of gift cards. No donation is too small! Thank you for supporting this terrific fundraiser for our school.
* Please send in all items to help build and decorate our Fall/Halloween Graham Cracker Houses by Wednesday. We will decorate the houses on Friday at 2:15 in our classroom. I will send home a note. Please let me know if you will be joining us so that we can partner up children accordingly. Thank you! :)
* Wednesday, October 28th: 11:45 dismissal for children due to parent-teacher conferences.
* Friday, October 30th: Children do not wear costumes to school, but can certainly dress in festive orange and black. The Spooktacular will be hosted by Eagle's PTO in the evening. This is a great time to showcase your costumes! :)
I am looking forward to an exciting and busy week in First Grade!
Eileen Browne
Word Wall: Our six new words for this week are: up, but, like, day, thing, & are Please practice reading these words (and all of our Word Wall Words) quickly and fluently.
Spelling: Our short vowel focus will be on the short u sound and on building many different word families using this vowel sound. Ex: cut, but, hut, shut.... bug, dug, hug, tug...
Writing: We will look through our writing folders and select one favorite 'small moment' personal narrative story this week. We will use checklists and work with partners to edit and revise our stories to make them the best they can be! At the end of the week, we will read our stories to another class as a way to celebrate our great work!
Math: We will review subtraction, whole = part + part, whole - part = part, and problem solving this week as we prepare to work on another math assessment as first graders! I will send home our completed assessments for you to review with your child. Please sign and return all math assessments this year.
Reminders:
* Eagle's Silent Auction is coming SOON! Please send in all donations for our gift basket this week. You can send in actual gift cards or a cash donation to be put towards the purchase of gift cards. No donation is too small! Thank you for supporting this terrific fundraiser for our school.
* Please send in all items to help build and decorate our Fall/Halloween Graham Cracker Houses by Wednesday. We will decorate the houses on Friday at 2:15 in our classroom. I will send home a note. Please let me know if you will be joining us so that we can partner up children accordingly. Thank you! :)
* Wednesday, October 28th: 11:45 dismissal for children due to parent-teacher conferences.
* Friday, October 30th: Children do not wear costumes to school, but can certainly dress in festive orange and black. The Spooktacular will be hosted by Eagle's PTO in the evening. This is a great time to showcase your costumes! :)
I am looking forward to an exciting and busy week in First Grade!
Eileen Browne
Sunday, October 18, 2015
All About Pumpkins!
I hope you all had a terrific weekend! Below is a sneak peak at some of our learning that will happen this week in our first grade classroom.
Word Wall: We will add six new words: dog, he, she, out, at, & they. The children are doing a terrific job reading our Word Wall words and finding them in everything we read. Keep looking for these words at home too! :)
Reading: We are in a good groove of working in guided reading groups and daily five literacy stations each day. The children will continue bringing home 'just right' books in their reading bags during the week. They should be able to read these books fluently. Practice retelling the stories and talking about the main idea, the main character, the setting, the problem, and the solution in the books the children are reading. We are also working on reading with expression and paying attention to punctuation within the stories.
Writing: We are currently working on editing, revising, making our stories easy to read, and practicing craft moves in our personal narratives. We sure are busy, but writing workshop has become a favorite time of the day for many children! Our writing folders are filling up with many wonderful small moment stories and we just love sharing them :)
Math: We are wrapping up Topic 2 on subtraction numbers. This week we are working on problem solving as well as fact families. We will use manipulatives and writing number sentences to notice how numbers go together. Ex: 2+3=5; 3+2=5; 5-2=3; 5-3=2 ~ We can write four number sentences using the same three numbers, but the number sentences must make sense and 'tell the truth'!
Science: We will read, write, and learn all about pumpkins and pumpkin seeds this week. We will also create a fun pumpkin craft that we will hang in our classroom. We are having a blast with our seed unit.
Extras:
~We will continue to have homework this week. Our spelling focus will be short 'o' sounds this week. Thank you for supporting your children at home. Each week we will have spelling, math, and reading logs to complete. The children are so proud to bring their completed work back to the classroom each day. Keep up the great work!
~October Scholastic Book Orders are due this Wednesday! I will place the order Wednesday night. This will allow enough time for any Halloween books to get to us in time! You can browse the flyers online. Email me if you need our class activation code.
~Haunted House Decorating: We will build our Haunted House projects with our 5th grade buddies, but will definitely need help decorating them! We will be decorating our houses on Thursday, October 29th at 2:15. We hope that you can join us!
~First Grade T-Shirts: We are working on ordering orange tie dye "Eagle's First Graders Rock"
t-shirts for our three first grade classrooms. An order form will be coming home soon!
We are looking forward to another great week of learning in our First Grade Classroom!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Word Wall: We will add six new words: dog, he, she, out, at, & they. The children are doing a terrific job reading our Word Wall words and finding them in everything we read. Keep looking for these words at home too! :)
Reading: We are in a good groove of working in guided reading groups and daily five literacy stations each day. The children will continue bringing home 'just right' books in their reading bags during the week. They should be able to read these books fluently. Practice retelling the stories and talking about the main idea, the main character, the setting, the problem, and the solution in the books the children are reading. We are also working on reading with expression and paying attention to punctuation within the stories.
Writing: We are currently working on editing, revising, making our stories easy to read, and practicing craft moves in our personal narratives. We sure are busy, but writing workshop has become a favorite time of the day for many children! Our writing folders are filling up with many wonderful small moment stories and we just love sharing them :)
Math: We are wrapping up Topic 2 on subtraction numbers. This week we are working on problem solving as well as fact families. We will use manipulatives and writing number sentences to notice how numbers go together. Ex: 2+3=5; 3+2=5; 5-2=3; 5-3=2 ~ We can write four number sentences using the same three numbers, but the number sentences must make sense and 'tell the truth'!
Science: We will read, write, and learn all about pumpkins and pumpkin seeds this week. We will also create a fun pumpkin craft that we will hang in our classroom. We are having a blast with our seed unit.
Extras:
~We will continue to have homework this week. Our spelling focus will be short 'o' sounds this week. Thank you for supporting your children at home. Each week we will have spelling, math, and reading logs to complete. The children are so proud to bring their completed work back to the classroom each day. Keep up the great work!
~October Scholastic Book Orders are due this Wednesday! I will place the order Wednesday night. This will allow enough time for any Halloween books to get to us in time! You can browse the flyers online. Email me if you need our class activation code.
~Haunted House Decorating: We will build our Haunted House projects with our 5th grade buddies, but will definitely need help decorating them! We will be decorating our houses on Thursday, October 29th at 2:15. We hope that you can join us!
~First Grade T-Shirts: We are working on ordering orange tie dye "Eagle's First Graders Rock"
t-shirts for our three first grade classrooms. An order form will be coming home soon!
We are looking forward to another great week of learning in our First Grade Classroom!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Welcome October!
I honestly cannot believe how quickly September went by! We are now entering my favorite time of the school year...fall! We are so lucky to live in an area where we are surrounded by crisp cool air and colorful leaves. This is a perfect time of the year for our class to be examining seeds (apples, sunflowers, pumpkins), leaves, and trees. This week we are spending time outside learning about seeds and sunflowers. Today the children observed our sunflowers in our school's garden. We drew diagrams and labeled the different parts just like scientists.
Reading: We are doing a nice job working in our Daily Five stations. I am now beginning to work with small guided reading groups during this time period. Your children will bring home 'reading bags' during the week. Please be sure to return all books back to our classroom. We are currently working on taking 'sneak peeks' at books, making predictions, and discussing the big idea in books as we read.
Word Wall & Spelling: We added six more words to our word wall: in, that, said, for, be, & of. We now have 24 words on our wall. The children should be able to read these words quickly in isolation without out stretching out letter sounds. They should also be able to recognize these words in books. This week we are also working on spelling words. We are practicing writing words with many different short a sounds and short a word families. Some of the word families that we are learning about this week are: at, an, ad, ag, & ap We can make many different words just by switching the first letter with these word endings. Ex: hat, bat, cat, sat, flat...
Math: We are now working on topic 2 in math ~ subtraction. We began this unit by learning about finding missing parts of numbers. We will soon begin breaking numbers apart, writing subtraction sentences, and solving subtraction problems.
Writing: This week we are learning how to tells our personal narrative stories in 'itsy bitsy' steps. We are working hard on bringing our stories to life by using speech bubbles and making our characters move. Adding details and tiny pieces of information makes our stories so much more interesting to read. Right now, writing workshop is our favorite time of the day! We dim the lights, put on 'writing music', stretch out, share ideas, and get our stories onto paper.
Homework: This is our first week of homework! The children were so proud to bring in their math papers to me today. They know that completing homework and turning it in is a 'big kid' responsibility. Remember, first grade homework is a all about building routines and accountability while keeping you connected to what we are working on in the classroom. Thank you for your support!
Farm to You Fest: This is a great opportunity for us to focus on healthy eating. Please send in healthy snacks and also donate produce if you are able to do so. Please see the note below from our district website.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
"Squash Hunger Produce Drive: Each school in the district will have collection bins for soft and hard produce all week. We are encouraging items such as apples, eggplants, squash and potatoes, since we would like the items to last. Lettuce and strawberries, for instance, can be quite perishable. How often does your student get to bring a whole eggplant or squash in their backpack? Volunteers will deliver the produce each day to McCarroll’s Delmar Marketplace, where Capital Roots (formerly Capital District Community Gardens) will weigh and collect the produce to be delivered to local shelters and food pantries. In 2014, our district donated a recored-breaking 1,659 pounds of fresh produce. Let’s top that impressive amount this year!"
Reading: We are doing a nice job working in our Daily Five stations. I am now beginning to work with small guided reading groups during this time period. Your children will bring home 'reading bags' during the week. Please be sure to return all books back to our classroom. We are currently working on taking 'sneak peeks' at books, making predictions, and discussing the big idea in books as we read.
Word Wall & Spelling: We added six more words to our word wall: in, that, said, for, be, & of. We now have 24 words on our wall. The children should be able to read these words quickly in isolation without out stretching out letter sounds. They should also be able to recognize these words in books. This week we are also working on spelling words. We are practicing writing words with many different short a sounds and short a word families. Some of the word families that we are learning about this week are: at, an, ad, ag, & ap We can make many different words just by switching the first letter with these word endings. Ex: hat, bat, cat, sat, flat...
Math: We are now working on topic 2 in math ~ subtraction. We began this unit by learning about finding missing parts of numbers. We will soon begin breaking numbers apart, writing subtraction sentences, and solving subtraction problems.
Writing: This week we are learning how to tells our personal narrative stories in 'itsy bitsy' steps. We are working hard on bringing our stories to life by using speech bubbles and making our characters move. Adding details and tiny pieces of information makes our stories so much more interesting to read. Right now, writing workshop is our favorite time of the day! We dim the lights, put on 'writing music', stretch out, share ideas, and get our stories onto paper.
Homework: This is our first week of homework! The children were so proud to bring in their math papers to me today. They know that completing homework and turning it in is a 'big kid' responsibility. Remember, first grade homework is a all about building routines and accountability while keeping you connected to what we are working on in the classroom. Thank you for your support!
Farm to You Fest: This is a great opportunity for us to focus on healthy eating. Please send in healthy snacks and also donate produce if you are able to do so. Please see the note below from our district website.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
"Squash Hunger Produce Drive: Each school in the district will have collection bins for soft and hard produce all week. We are encouraging items such as apples, eggplants, squash and potatoes, since we would like the items to last. Lettuce and strawberries, for instance, can be quite perishable. How often does your student get to bring a whole eggplant or squash in their backpack? Volunteers will deliver the produce each day to McCarroll’s Delmar Marketplace, where Capital Roots (formerly Capital District Community Gardens) will weigh and collect the produce to be delivered to local shelters and food pantries. In 2014, our district donated a recored-breaking 1,659 pounds of fresh produce. Let’s top that impressive amount this year!"
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Apples and Seeds!
This week we will be wrapping up our learning about apples! We had an apple taste test and learned that our class loves green and yellow apples. We also learned a lot about apple trees, Johnny Appleseed, and apple orchards. Tomorrow we will be making apple crisp in our First Grade Classroom. Please send in 1 or 2 apples tomorrow to add to our recipe! This will be a fun way to end our unit on apples. We will begin learning about many other types of seeds this week beginning with dissecting and growing lima beans. This is a fun science unit for fall!
Reading: This week we will being working on our Daily Five rotations. The children have been doing a nice job with Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Writing. During this time, I will be reading with children individually and begin forming guided reading groups. Next week the children will begin bringing home reading bags. Please keep the reading bags in your child's folder or backpack. Read the books and return the books each day so that other classmates may borrow them. Thank you!
Word Wall: We will add six more words to our wall this week. They are: it, run, no, yes, to, & was. As of this week we will have 18 words on our Word Wall. The children should be able to read these words quickly when they see them on lists or in stories. Please practice reading these words at home.
Math: This week we will wrap up our unit on adding numbers. We will have a first grade assessment at the end of each topic. I tell the children it's a chance to 'show what you know'. Each assessment will be sent home after I have checked it. Please sign and return each assessment that is sent home. We will do this at the end of each math topic. It's a great way for us to communicate and keep track of how your child is doing throughout the school year.
Writing: We will continue our work on personal narratives or 'small moment' stories. We talked a lot about how we can write a whole story just from one small moment in our lives. As a class, we created a whole story about when I spilled the markers all over the rug during writing workshop! We decided that our writing ideas do not need to be 'big and fancy'. Our ideas happen every day! :) I am so proud of all of the writing that is taking place in our classroom each day.
Homework: Please return your child's Reading Log each Monday. A new log will be sent home on Mondays as well. I love seeing all the 'tricky words' that the children are either reading or learning about. Math and Spelling homework will begin next week.
Thank you so much for your support! I am looking forward to a busy and fun week in first grade.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Reading: This week we will being working on our Daily Five rotations. The children have been doing a nice job with Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Writing. During this time, I will be reading with children individually and begin forming guided reading groups. Next week the children will begin bringing home reading bags. Please keep the reading bags in your child's folder or backpack. Read the books and return the books each day so that other classmates may borrow them. Thank you!
Word Wall: We will add six more words to our wall this week. They are: it, run, no, yes, to, & was. As of this week we will have 18 words on our Word Wall. The children should be able to read these words quickly when they see them on lists or in stories. Please practice reading these words at home.
Math: This week we will wrap up our unit on adding numbers. We will have a first grade assessment at the end of each topic. I tell the children it's a chance to 'show what you know'. Each assessment will be sent home after I have checked it. Please sign and return each assessment that is sent home. We will do this at the end of each math topic. It's a great way for us to communicate and keep track of how your child is doing throughout the school year.
Writing: We will continue our work on personal narratives or 'small moment' stories. We talked a lot about how we can write a whole story just from one small moment in our lives. As a class, we created a whole story about when I spilled the markers all over the rug during writing workshop! We decided that our writing ideas do not need to be 'big and fancy'. Our ideas happen every day! :) I am so proud of all of the writing that is taking place in our classroom each day.
Homework: Please return your child's Reading Log each Monday. A new log will be sent home on Mondays as well. I love seeing all the 'tricky words' that the children are either reading or learning about. Math and Spelling homework will begin next week.
Thank you so much for your support! I am looking forward to a busy and fun week in first grade.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne
Monday, September 14, 2015
Welcome September!
We made it through our first week of school and Open House! Thank you so much for your support as we kick off a new school year together.
Reading: This week we will be reading some books by Kevin Henkes, one of my favorite authors. We will spend some time talking about the different characters and the 'big ideas' or messages within some of his stories. We will look for comparisons and differences too! As readers, we will also begin 'read to self' in our classroom. We will review the different ways to read a book (pictures, words, retell) as we remember what reading looks and sounds like in our classroom. Our expectations will be a bit different as first graders because many of us can read for longer periods of time now!
Writing: The children have been asking me if they will work in writing folders again this year. The answer is..."Yes!" We will begin our 'small moments' or personal narrative writing unit this week! This will be our first writing unit of the school year and I'm so excited to get started. Each child will have his/her own writing folder to organize and keep track of their different stories that are being worked on each day.
Math: We will work on part + part = whole. The children will play games, draw pictures, act out stories, and use hands on materials to add numbers together during our first math unit as first graders! The math pages that come home will give you an idea of some of our lessons this week.
Word Work: We will add six words to our Word Wall this week! During the first part of the school year, we will review and practice words from our kindergarten word wall. We will gradually add words to our classroom Word Wall each week throughout First Grade. Be sure to ask your child about our new words each week! This weeks words are: I, a, the, me, can, & go Please practice reading these words at home.
During the month of September we will read and learn all about seeds. We will begin with apple seeds, but will move on to learning about many other seeds too! There are so many different seeds for us to identify. Fall is the perfect time for us to explore!
I am looking forward to a great week of First Grade learning. We are certainly off to a fantastic start!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
Reading: This week we will be reading some books by Kevin Henkes, one of my favorite authors. We will spend some time talking about the different characters and the 'big ideas' or messages within some of his stories. We will look for comparisons and differences too! As readers, we will also begin 'read to self' in our classroom. We will review the different ways to read a book (pictures, words, retell) as we remember what reading looks and sounds like in our classroom. Our expectations will be a bit different as first graders because many of us can read for longer periods of time now!
Writing: The children have been asking me if they will work in writing folders again this year. The answer is..."Yes!" We will begin our 'small moments' or personal narrative writing unit this week! This will be our first writing unit of the school year and I'm so excited to get started. Each child will have his/her own writing folder to organize and keep track of their different stories that are being worked on each day.
Math: We will work on part + part = whole. The children will play games, draw pictures, act out stories, and use hands on materials to add numbers together during our first math unit as first graders! The math pages that come home will give you an idea of some of our lessons this week.
Word Work: We will add six words to our Word Wall this week! During the first part of the school year, we will review and practice words from our kindergarten word wall. We will gradually add words to our classroom Word Wall each week throughout First Grade. Be sure to ask your child about our new words each week! This weeks words are: I, a, the, me, can, & go Please practice reading these words at home.
During the month of September we will read and learn all about seeds. We will begin with apple seeds, but will move on to learning about many other seeds too! There are so many different seeds for us to identify. Fall is the perfect time for us to explore!
I am looking forward to a great week of First Grade learning. We are certainly off to a fantastic start!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Welcome to First Grade!
Dear First Graders,
I hope you are all having a terrific summer with your family and friends! I can't wait to hear all about the fun things you did during the past two months! I am now busy getting ready for our school year. Our first day will be here before you know it!
Below is a list of supplies that you will need to help with our first grade learning this year.
2 boxes of 24 Crayons
2 boxes of pencils (Ticonderoga brand last the longest!:)
3 large pink erasers
1 box of markers
1 box of colored pencils
6 large glue sticks
2 2-pocket folders (1 red & 1 yellow) pockets on the bottom
2 composition notebooks (hard cover)
1 single subject spiral notebook
1 primary journal (primary lines at bottom and blank space at the top for pictures)
1 one inch 3 ring binder (hard cover so that it can stand up when needed)
1 plastic pencil box (new item added to list)
1 art smock (an oversized old t-shirt works fine!) (new item added to list)
You can drop off your supplies on September 1st or September 2nd from 4-5pm in our new first grade classroom. Find your new cubby and place all of your items neatly inside. We will spend our first day of school organizing and labeling our materials.
Enjoy the rest of your summer! Be sure to read, write, and practice your math facts. This will help you to get ready for first grade learning! I will see you soon :)
Love,
Mrs. Browne
I hope you are all having a terrific summer with your family and friends! I can't wait to hear all about the fun things you did during the past two months! I am now busy getting ready for our school year. Our first day will be here before you know it!
Below is a list of supplies that you will need to help with our first grade learning this year.
2 boxes of 24 Crayons
2 boxes of pencils (Ticonderoga brand last the longest!:)
3 large pink erasers
1 box of markers
1 box of colored pencils
6 large glue sticks
2 2-pocket folders (1 red & 1 yellow) pockets on the bottom
2 composition notebooks (hard cover)
1 single subject spiral notebook
1 primary journal (primary lines at bottom and blank space at the top for pictures)
1 one inch 3 ring binder (hard cover so that it can stand up when needed)
1 plastic pencil box (new item added to list)
1 art smock (an oversized old t-shirt works fine!) (new item added to list)
You can drop off your supplies on September 1st or September 2nd from 4-5pm in our new first grade classroom. Find your new cubby and place all of your items neatly inside. We will spend our first day of school organizing and labeling our materials.
Enjoy the rest of your summer! Be sure to read, write, and practice your math facts. This will help you to get ready for first grade learning! I will see you soon :)
Love,
Mrs. Browne
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Last Week of Kindergarten!
It is so hard for me to believe that this is our last week in our kindergarten classroom together! Please know that I am so very proud of how much the children have grown ~ socially & academically ~ since the beginning of the school year. Most are taller and are missing a couple of teeth! Some have longer hair. Some have shorter hair. They have simply lost that 'preschool baby' look about them. They are all reading, writing, exploring, & doing tons of math each day. These kids are absolutely more confident and are so ready to rock First Grade!
A special thank you to all of our families who have supported us throughout the school year. You have helped your child complete monthly family projects, reading logs, Halloween activities, & Gingerbread Houses. You have helped them in celebrating birthdays, the 50th Day of School, the 100th Day of School, Valentine's Day, Dinosaur Exhibits, Kindergarten Graduation, Field Day, & so much more!
Thank you for everything you have done this year to help make our school year fantastic. I wish you all a safe, healthy, and fun summer with your families and friends!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
A special thank you to all of our families who have supported us throughout the school year. You have helped your child complete monthly family projects, reading logs, Halloween activities, & Gingerbread Houses. You have helped them in celebrating birthdays, the 50th Day of School, the 100th Day of School, Valentine's Day, Dinosaur Exhibits, Kindergarten Graduation, Field Day, & so much more!
Thank you for everything you have done this year to help make our school year fantastic. I wish you all a safe, healthy, and fun summer with your families and friends!
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
Sunday, June 7, 2015
June 8th
Wow! We are truly getting into the final stretch of our school year. We still have many fun activities planned to help us learn, play, and grow each day.
Our graduation t-shirts are here! Please check your child's backpack on Monday for his/her t-shirt. The children should wear their t-shirts to school on Friday (for Kindergarten Graduation) and the following Friday (for Field Day). The children are very excited to sing some songs and share some treats with family and friends. Please send back the pink note if you haven't already done so. It helps us with planning and setting up seating for Friday's celebration.
On Tuesday we will be starting our Kindergarten Countdown to the end of the year. We will have fun counting the last 12 days of school. Each letter in the word KINDERGARTEN will represent an activity for the day. A copy of the activities for this countdown will be sent home on Monday. Tuesday is the first day of our countdown. It will be Kday, which will be Kindness Day. We will be showing kindness to our 5th grade buddies by making them thank you cards for a great year! Most of these activities will be done during the school day. You do not need to worry about sending anything in from home, but we wanted you to be aware of our countdown. Be sure to ask your child all about it!
Throughout the remainder of the school year we will wrap up our unit on oceans and sea creatures. We will learn a little bit about the rainforest. We will also continue to practice our Heart Words as we read and write each day. During math we are working on sorting objects and identifying different types of shapes and patterns. The end of the school year is approaching, but we are still learning each day!
Thank you for all of your support. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
PS... As the weather gets warmer, please feel free to send in a water bottle with your child each day. The children may keep their water bottles at their tables. Please fill all bottles with water only. Thank you!
Our graduation t-shirts are here! Please check your child's backpack on Monday for his/her t-shirt. The children should wear their t-shirts to school on Friday (for Kindergarten Graduation) and the following Friday (for Field Day). The children are very excited to sing some songs and share some treats with family and friends. Please send back the pink note if you haven't already done so. It helps us with planning and setting up seating for Friday's celebration.
On Tuesday we will be starting our Kindergarten Countdown to the end of the year. We will have fun counting the last 12 days of school. Each letter in the word KINDERGARTEN will represent an activity for the day. A copy of the activities for this countdown will be sent home on Monday. Tuesday is the first day of our countdown. It will be Kday, which will be Kindness Day. We will be showing kindness to our 5th grade buddies by making them thank you cards for a great year! Most of these activities will be done during the school day. You do not need to worry about sending anything in from home, but we wanted you to be aware of our countdown. Be sure to ask your child all about it!
Throughout the remainder of the school year we will wrap up our unit on oceans and sea creatures. We will learn a little bit about the rainforest. We will also continue to practice our Heart Words as we read and write each day. During math we are working on sorting objects and identifying different types of shapes and patterns. The end of the school year is approaching, but we are still learning each day!
Thank you for all of your support. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Eileen Browne :)
PS... As the weather gets warmer, please feel free to send in a water bottle with your child each day. The children may keep their water bottles at their tables. Please fill all bottles with water only. Thank you!
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