A few updates in our classroom...

Reading - Last week we went through all of the aspects of Daily 5.  This week we are actually doing Daily 5 - practicing our stamina!  We need to practice, practice, practice before we start reading groups.  We'll probably start adding reading groups later next week or the following week.

Writing - Every morning we start out writing in our journals and illustrating.  This week the second graders got to be the teachers - They showed the first graders how we are going to do writer's workshop.

Social Studies - We have been learning about maps.  We also learned about three types of communities - urban, suburban, and rural.

Handwriting - The first graders have been working out of their books on the letters Ll, Ii, and Tt.  The second graders have been working out of their books on the letters Ll, Ii, Tt, Oo, Aa, Dd. Cc, and Ee.

Religion - We learned about the story of creation.  We read about it in our book, we read it out of the Children's Bible, and we watched a short video.  Then we made creation waterfall books.  Tomorrow we will start our Good News papers.  They are like the Promise Papers we have done in the past.  They go through the Gospel for the week and then there's a lesson to go with it.

Math - In first grade we have been working on partners and switch partners up to 10.  We have been learning about math mountains, stair steps, break apart sticks, and circle drawings.  :)  Today we used unifix cubes to make addition equations with flash cards.  If we have an extra five minutes at the end of class, the students have been using the iPads and the app Math Ninja.  They love it!

Phonics - In first grade we have gone through all of the letters, sounds, and keywords.  We have been working on tapping, sentence writing, and spelling.  We have started learning trick words and having word of the day cards.  Today we started learning about digraphs.

Math & Phonics - 1st and 2nd grade split up for math and phonics.  I'm going to let Mrs. Van Zeeland know that she can write on this blog to let the second grade parents know what they are learning about.  :)

FYI -

*Please remember to pack a snack daily for your child.

*Envelopes - If anyone has any "junk" envelopes laying around, we'd love them for our classroom.  In Daily 5 - work on writing - we write friendly letters.  The kids love sealing their letters in envelopes.  I'm just about out already.  That's a good sign - we're writing a lot of letters.  :)

*Next week we are starting MAP testing.  We have math on Monday, Sept. 22nd and reading on Tuesday, September 30th.

Have a great night!