November 7-11

Happy November!

As the days are getting cooler, please remember to send your child to school with jackets, hats and mittens! Some of the recesses are getting pretty cool!

REMEMBER:

Conferences are this week! If you have forgotten your time or you need to reschedule, please email me at sconnor@kearsarge.org

There will be no school on FRIDAY in honor of Veteran's Day.

This Week:

Math: We are finishing up our topic on using addition to subtract. We will be having our test on Wednesday and then on Thursday we will be taking a review test on the last four topics. You will notice that the homework this week is tests from each topic as review. If you are finding that these topics are not review for your child, please email or send in a note!

Literacy: We are starting to talk about the essential question "how do animals communicate". Please study the spelling words that were sent home with your child this week. Our test will be next Thursday.

Social Studies: We are still talking about community, but we will be taking a quick break to talk about Veteran's Day. If you have a family member or a friend who is a Veteran or is currently serving in our Armed Forces, please take a minute to fill out the tag that went home today. We will be creating a wall of these for students to look at throughout the upcoming weeks.

October 31- November 4th

Happy Halloween!

Look below for some awesome pictures from our day!

This week:

Literacy:
This week we are focused on the essential question: What lessons can we learn from story characters?. We will be talking about writing in complete sentences, the endings -ck and -ack, as well as, double final consonants. Please help your child practice their spelling words this week.

Math:
We will be focusing on subtracting 0, 1, and 2. We will also be talking about using addition to solve subtraction problems. This is often a difficult topic for students, if they have difficulty on their homework, please do not hesitate to send in a note and I can go over it again with them.

Social Studies:
We will be focusing on our community for the next couple of weeks.

October 17-21

Happy Fall! (or is it still summer?)

This Week:

Math: We are working on numbers in a ten frame and will be completing this topic this week.

Literacy: We are focusing on the essential question "Who can you meet in a neighborhood", adjectives, the ending -et, words with short e, and the consonants y, j, w, k, and v.

Science: We are finishing up our unit on insects by talking about people who study insects as their job.

Check out these kiddos working on putting words in alphabetical order. This is a really challenging concept!

Week of October 11-14

Reminders:
Any last minute Bulb or Yankee Candle orders are due.
Please send your child to school with a jacket, recess time is still a bit cold.

This week:

Math: We are starting our new math unit on Five and Ten Relationships. Students will be able to recognize and represent parts of ten.

Literacy: We are discussing neighbors and neighborhoods this week in Literacy. We will be focusing on short e words and the essential question "who is a neighbor".

Science: We are wrapping up our science unit on insects.

Week of October 3-7

Reminders:

• Don't forget to bring in your bulb or Yankee Candle orders!
• We do not have school on Friday or Monday.
• Scholastic Book Orders are due online or in class by Thursday. 

This Week:

Math: We will be wrapping up our Subtraction Topic, with our test being on Thursday. 

Reading: We are focusing on short o, action words, sequencing stories, understanding authors word choice, and monitoring and clarifying our writing. 

Science: We are focusing on how insects grow and reproduce. 

Week of September 26-30

Reminders:
Don't forget to ask your families to buy bulbs or Yankee Candles to help support the PTO!

This Week:

Math: We are focusing on subtraction this week!

Literacy: Students are working on short i sounds, possessives and non-fiction reading, while learning about storms.

Science: This week we are focusing on how insects fit into the food web. We will start talking about decomposers as the week progresses.

Guest Reader

We had a special volunteer read to us today! 

Week of September 19th-23rd

Happy Monday!

Reminders:

• Open House is WEDNESDAY 6:00-7:00.
• A PTO fundraiser went home today.
• A homework packet went home today. It is due on Friday. 

This Week:

Math: We are completing Topic 1 on Understanding Addition. Our test will be tomorrow. On Wednesday we will begin working on Topic 2: Understanding Subtraction.

Literacy: We had our first spelling test today. We focused on the procedures for testing, and will be sending home  a list of new words on Wednesday to practice for the following Thursday. We work on our words each day, so you do not need to stress about practicing them at home.

Science: We are working on creating our own insects that follow the rules of insects. We will be writing about them as well.

Xtra Math

Yesterday we learned how to use xtramath.com to practice our addition facts! 

The Macarena is so hard!

For our brain break today we did the Macarena! It was difficult to learn!

Week of September 12th-16th

Reminders:

• If you have not sent in all your paper work- please get it in!
• The PTO is looking for volunteers! A paper went home about it on Monday. 
• Open House is Wednesday September 21st at 6:30. See you then!

This week:

Math: We continue to work on topic one, focusing on making numbers 9 and 10. We are planning on finishing up this topic this week, and work on review and our first test next week.

• We will take all of our tests online, if you would like to log in to their account and see how they are doing, you can go to www.pearsonrealize.com. Their login is firstinitiallastname2.kresw and their password is krsdlunchnumber. An example would be sconnor2.kresw, krsd12345. If you have any difficulty logging in, please do not hesitate to email me!

Literacy: We are working on nouns, short a, consonants f, d, p, and n, the words play, you, with, help, and, be. Students are reading stories and working on talking with their partners about new words.

Science: We are discussing insects. This week we will begin talking about the things that all insects have.

Have a great week!

Week of September 6-9

Welcome to our First Grade Blog!

Reminders for the Week:

• Please bring in all signed and completed paper work as soon as possible!
• Scholastic Book orders are due on Friday, September 9th. 
• Want to order but lost the packets? No problem! You can order online at: http://www.scholastic.com/parents/ our class code is: M8JZD 

This Week in First Grade:

Math: We are starting our first Math Unit on Making 10. Students have been focusing on making the numbers 6,7, and 8 this week. Check out the work that comes home each day to see how your child is doing!

Literature: We have been focusing on review words and letters from last year. We are doing this to help warm up our brains to learn our new first grade words. 

• This block will include reading, writing, and spelling.

Science: Our first science unit will be on insects. We have just started to talk about things that we already know, and things that we wonder about insects.  

Don't forget to get lots of sleep this weekend to prepare for our first full week of school next week!! Also enjoy the hot and sunny weather!!

Happy First Day!!

Today we spent the day getting to know each other, our classroom, and our school.

Here we are exploring our math manipulatives that we will be using throughout the school year. 

I'm looking forward to a great school year! Don't forget to fill out all the paper work and get it back as soon as possible!

From the Polar Caves!

Week of May 23-27

This Week:

Math: This week will be wrapping up our unit on making graphs and will begin on geometry.

Writing: We will be focusing on "How To Books" and making our own step-by-step book about how to make a sundae.

Reading: We continue to read our books in small groups and work on reading centers.

WIN: My group continues to work on inflicted endings.

Spelling: We continue to use www.spellingcity.com to practice our spelling words in school. Please continue to practice this at home as well.

Science: This week we will be discussing the parts of a plant and working through some of the definitions of the plant life cycle.

Plant Life

Look how much one of our plants grew! We planted Lima Beans and watched them grow!

Week of May 16-20

This Week:

Math: We begin talking about using graphs to answer questions about data.

WIN: My WIN group will begin talking about inflected endings.

Reading: We will get new books this week! Please continue to read these books with your child each night!

Writing: Our writing assignment this week will focus on the book Miss Rumphins Story and ask us to think about what we can do to make the world more beautiful.

Spelling: Don't forget to study spelling words on www.spellingcity.com

Science: We continue to learn about seeds and the plant life cycle.

Week of May 9-13th

Events:

David Elliott was rescheduled for TODAY! Your child should have brought home an autographed book today.

LEGO Club permission slips went home on Friday.

This Week:

Math: This week we will be finishing up our unit on telling time to the half hour. 

WIN: My WIN group continues to work on "Bossy R" words. 

Reading: This week we go back to our reading groups! Please help your child read their book at home each night. 

Writing: We will be focusing on a writing project that focuses on making wishes. 

Spelling: We continue to use www.spellingcity.com to practice and learn our spelling words. Remember, this can be used at home too. 

Science: This week we begin our new Science unit on Plant Life. 

David Elliott Door Decorating

Check out the door we made for David Elliott, who will be here on Friday to share his books with us!

Week of May 2- May 6

Happy MAY!

Square One Art Orders were sent home today, please let me know if you did not receive a part of your order!

Book orders went home today as well, please send in completed orders by Friday, May 6th. This will be our last book order of the year, so be sure to stock up on Summer Reading materials!

This Week:

Math: This week we begin working on telling time. We will be taking it slow, this is often a difficult topic for students!

WIN: My WIN group continues to work on vowel combinations.

Reading: Students continue to work in small groups on their reading needs. Please continue to read the books that are sent home each night with your child.

Writing: This week work is top secret until Sunday :)

Read Aloud: Our new Co-Authors of the month are Kevin Henkes and Shell Silverstien.

Spelling: We continue to use www.spellingcity.com to practice our spelling words. Your child should know how to log in on their own, if you would like to have them practice this way at home too.

Alice the Fairy Wands

Sharing our magic wands from David Shannon's Alice the Fairy!

Week of 4/18-4/22

Last week before vacation!
I hope everyone has a safe, fun, and enjoyable week off from school!

This week:
Math: We are working to review topics 9-12 for our benchmark test. Ask me how I did!

WIN: Ms.Connor's WIN group is working on "Bossy R" words.

Writing/ Reading: We are reading Alice the Fairy, by David Shannon and writing to answer questions from the reading, and creating wands.

Spelling: We continue to work with Spelling City to practice our spelling words.

Social Studies: We are learning about Earth Day and what we can do to help protect our planet.

Spring Concert

Look how fancy we looked for our Spring Concert!

Famous People Presentations

We learned about Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, Jackie Robinson and Helen Keller. Ask us to tell you about our famous person!

Week of March 14-18

Welcome to Spring!!

Reminders:

Curriculum Fair is Wednesday night from 5:30-7.

This Week:

Math: This week we begin Topic 10, which is adding by tens and ones. Students will be looking to make connections between adding tens and adding ones.

WIN: My win group continues to work on recognizing sight words.

Reading: Please help your child read their reading book each night at home. Please also make sure this book makes it back to school the next day.

Writing: We will be writing about what we can do to help keep our Earth healthy, from what we learn from Dr. Suess's the Lorax.

Author of the Month: This month we are exploring Dr. Suess books.

Social Studies: We are learning about famous people and how to write biographies.

Week of February 8-12

Happy Snowy Week!

Reminders:

Blizzard Bag's are due the day after a BB Day.
Online options are linked to this blog. --->

Scholastic Book Orders are due on Friday, don't miss out on the opportunity to use the free book coupon!

This Week:

Math: We have started Topic 8: Groups of Tens and Ones.

Win: We have switched up WIN groups for the next couple of weeks. Students are either working on understanding money in a math group, researching and writing about penguins in a writing group, or reading Charlotte's Web in a reading group.

Reading: Students have new books to bring home this week! Please review these books each night with your student. We will also be talking about "Magic E" and learning about contractions.

Spelling: Students did very well on their spelling words last week, I hope this is a sign of things to come! We have been practicing our words every day at school too.

Writing: This week we are talking about inventions in honor of Thomas Edison and the lightbulb.

Science: This week we start talking about the rock cycle.

Have a great week, and stay safe in the snowy weather!

Week of February 1-5, 2016

Reminders:

Report Cards go home Friday, if you would like to set up a time to meet, please feel free to email me.

Vacation is the week of February 22nd-26th.

Jump Rope for Heart fundraising packets went home last Thursday.

This Week:

Math: We are working on skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's.

Reading: We are working in small groups to read at our levels, we are working on new centers that focus on vowel sounds.

Writing: Our writing topic this week is on what it means to have a heart of gold.

Spelling: We had a big change in spelling this week, students are only going to have one week to study their words.

Author of the Month: Our new author is Maurice Sendak.

Social Studies: This week we are focusing on Sedimentary Rocks and will begin discussing Metamorphic Rocks by the end of the week.

Week of January 25-29

Reminders:

Please read the book in your child's backpack with them tonight, and return tomorrow.
Sight word cards need to be returned every Monday.

This Week:

Math: We have started Topic 7: Making 20. If this weeks homework is too overwhelming, students are welcome to choose 7 problems from each page to do. They do not have to do them all.

Win: Students are either working on math, reading, or writing, in small groups with one of the three of us. Students are grouped based on what we think they need help on the most.

Reading: We are working in centers and small reading groups. Students have books that are going home each night. Please make sure your child reads these each night.

Writing: We have our District writing prompt this week. Students will be expected to recall information and write a paragraph.

Spelling: Our spelling test will be this week. It is imperative that students practice their spelling words at home.

Science: We are learning all about ROCKS! Ask your child about Igneous Rocks. We will begin talking about Metamorphic Rocks later this week.

Week of January 19-22

Happy Winter! 

As the snow is finally falling... Please remember that the first snow day will be a regular snowday, but any after that will be Blizzard Bag Days. If you need extra copies or would prefer to do the online options- please click on the link to the right of this post. Remember- you can do Blizzard Bags ahead of time, but 80% of the school must complete their bags in order for the day to count!

Reminders:

Lego Club is this Friday- please be sure to pick up your child by 4:00.
Students must have hats, mittens, boots, winter coats, and snowpants to play out in the snow.

This Week:

Math: We are finishing up Topic Six on Subtraction and will be having our test by the end of the week.

Reading: Students are participating in reading centers and will be taking their books home to practice at night. Please be sure to send your child back in with his/her book each day. Please also remember to practice sight words at home and bring them in on Monday's.

Writing: Students are writing an argumentative piece on whether or not a polar bear would make a good pet. They will also be participating in the district wide writing prompt on Thursday.

Spelling: Words went home yesterday for our test next Friday. Please help your student practice their words at home. Starting next time, they will get their words on Friday for a test the following Friday. It is important that they practice at home.

Science: We have started our new unit on rocks and minerals. Focusing this week on Igneous Rocks.

Week of January 11-15

Reminders:

Lego Club permission slips are due this Friday. Lego Club will be held on Friday, January 22nd.

Please remember to send students with sneakers to wear during the day. These can stay at school if that is easier.

Students MUST have hats, mittens, snowpants, boots, and winter jackets to play outside at recess.
There will not be school on Monday, January 18th to observe Martin Luther King JR Day.

This Week:

Math: We will be beginning Topic 6: Subtraction Facts to 20.

Reading:We will continue working in small groups. If you would like to practice reading with different books at home, have your child show you how to login to Big Universe. We have a school subscription and it is a wonderful resource.

Writing: We will be working on a creative writing piece about what Snowmen do at Night.

Spelling: Our spelling test will be this Friday, please continue to practice your words!

Author of the Month: We are celebrating Tommie DePaola this month.

Social Studies: We are learning about Martin Luther King JR and what he dreamed about and fought for.

Foreign Language: As a part of a Foreign Language Initiative, first grade students will be learning French. Last week we worked on the colors, and will continue to work on them this week.

We will have HEALTH this week.

The Newmarket Hot Shots

We had a great time with the Newmarket Hot Shot's yesterday! They showed us a bunch of really cool tricks to practice during P.E. 

Thanks to Mr. Vozzolo for bringing them in.

Week of January 4-8

Welcome Back!

A few reminders...

All students must have hats, boots, mittens, winter jackets, and snowpants to play outside.

Please remember to bring in sneakers to wear during the day- they can stay here if you would like.

I sent home new sight word cards, please be practicing these each night, and returning them on Monday's.

The Ski Program starts on Thursday! I will be chaperoning this year and look forward to seeing you all on the mountain!

This Week:

Math: Students continue to work on adding with doubles, and doubles plus one.

Reading: Students in my group are working in small groups on close reading questions.

Writing: This week students will be writing about how they are unique, much like how each
snowflake is unique.

Spelling: Students have new lists, please help them study for their test next Friday.

Social Studies: We have started learning about Martin Luther King JR.