First grade - The First 7 days!

Reading - We are learning all about daily 5.  In daily 5 we work in reading groups and literacy centers.  Before we can even think about starting reading groups, we have a lot of work to do!  The first step is learning about and practicing all the aspects of the literacy centers.  

The centers are -

1.  Read to Self

2.  Read to Someone

3.  Listening to Reading

4.  Work on Writing

5.  Word Work

So far we have learned about the first three.  We discuss the jobs of the students and the jobs of the teacher.  Then we practice, practice, practice!  We call that building stamina!  We have been practicing the correct way to do read to self and read to someone.  Friday we introduced the listening center.

  

This week we will practice how to correctly work in the listening center.   This center takes a lot of technology.  It takes chromebooks, ipads, and tablets.  It takes practicing with a mouse.  It takes headphones.  It takes untangling headphone cords.  It takes practicing logging in and out.  It takes learning passwords.  It takes learning how to turn the volume up and down.  It takes working with QR codes.  It takes wifi troubles.  It takes patience for the teacher when all the students need your help at the same time.  :)

Math - We have started working on lessons in Saxon math.  Each day we will do a lesson and then we will do the worksheet together as a class.  Saxon is a spiraling curriculum, so we may work on different things each day.  So far we have learned about doubles (1+1, 2+2, 3+3, etc., rectangles, writing number sentences (equations), and ordinal numbers first through sixth.  

Writing - We just started our journals.  Our journals this early in the year are 4-choices journals.  The students have a question that they need to answer.  The choose one of the four choices to answer the question.  They then draw about what they wrote.  On the first day of school I had the students write about something they did on the first day of school.  On the last day of school, I'll have them write about something they do that day.  Then we'll compare the writing.  I guarantee you will be amazed at how far your child has come!  The students LOVE to see the difference as well!

Phonics - We start the year with a review of the letters/keywords/sounds that the students learned in kindergarten.  We have spent the last week reviewing those, as well as practicing the correct way to write the letters.  After reviewing all of the letters, the students were to write all of the lowercase letters of the alphabet on the correct lines.  This is something they will do again at the end of the year.  The progress will again amaze you!  We are now working on tapping out cvc words.  (consonant-vowel-consonant)  We are building them with letter cards, tapping them out, and writing them on our whiteboards.  

Handwriting - We work extremely hard on handwriting in first grade.  The students are expected to be forming their letters the correct way and placing their letters on the correct lines.  They will learn when to use lowercase and when to use capital letters correctly.  This last week we started working in their handwriting books.  They worked on the letter Aa.  In our class, if they are not writing the letters correctly, they will be erasing and redoing them.  

Religion - We have started by reading stories out of the Children's Bible.  Our first story we read and learned about was the creation story from the book of Genesis.  We are working on coloring our own creation books.  This year we are starting a new program called Friendzy.  We had our first Friendzy lesson last week.  The theme of our first unit is "We Need Each Other".  We will also continue working on the virtues and values cards that the students worked on in kindergarten.  I am hoping to start that this week.  I will let you know our first theme soon!  Every Friday we will attend Mass together.  We have now attended Mass twice as a class.  We are working on how to genuflect, how to make the sign of the cross, and when to sit/stand/kneel (making sure they are doing that correctly - not laying over the pew/leaning on the pew).  Once a month we will attend Adoration - we will start that this Friday.

A few pictures from the first days of school -

Have a great week!