Mrs. Adlers and Ms.

Zimmermanns First Grade

Weekly Review
October 27, 2017

Past Weeks Review

WELCOME TO THE FIRST GRADE!
This week we had the opportunity to form an ongoing friendship with a school in Israel. It is a little
like having pen pals. We wanted them to learn more about our state. So we made an ABC book
on Texas. Each child received a letter and wrote and illustrated what items one can find in Texas
beginning with that letter. For example, A is for Austin and Armadillo, B is for boots, bandanas and
bluebonnets etc. The children had a great time working on this project. The book was given to a
representative from the Jewish Federation. She will personally deliver our book to Kibbutz Galuyot
School in Petach, Tikvah. They will be our sister community in Israel. We received from them well
wishes and new year greetings. We cannot wait until they respond back to us.

In Language Arts, in Readers Workshop we are continuing learning about nonfiction

books! We know that a nonfiction book is informational; it tells us facts and information about a
particular topic. We have been reading many nonfiction books. Our strategies this week focused
on fluency and figuring out how to read difficult words. In Writers Workshop, we are in the midst of
writing our own nonfiction expert books. We worked on writing a table of contents, planning and
writing chapters and self-assessing. Furthermore, the children picked partners and interviewed
one another. Once he/she gathered all of their information they wrote and illustrated about their
partner. The children loved working on this assignment and were so excited to present their
writings. We learned so many interesting things about one another. Also, we are continuing to
work hard in our Handwriting books as we are learning how to form properly our letters and
numbers using the Handwriting Without Tears program. Our phonics activities focused on
learning consonant clusters and high frequency words. Last but not least, we have completed our
second spelling test! Our patterns contained ad, ap, and ag words. The two bonus words were:
because and first. The three sight words this week were: was, what and had. Please make sure
that you are continuing to review these words with your children.

In Math, we focused this week on the concept of ordinal numbers, such as first, second,
third etc. Then we reviewed subtraction equations, story problems, counting back, fact families and
number sentences. After we had a math test to assess all that we have learned thus far! We will
continue working on all these concepts throughout the year! Lastly, please continue to practice
addition and subtraction MATH FACTS with your child every night! Flash cards are a great
way to reinforce the skill!

In Social Studies, this week in our Weekly Reader titled, I am A Leaf Peeper. We learned
that leaves change colors in autumn. This occurs because when the chlorophyll breaks down, the
green color disappears. Then the yellow and orange colors become visible giving the leaves the
fall splendor. We also learned about different autumn leaves like orange oak, red maple, yellow
ginkgo and purple dogwood. The children had an opportunity to make leaf rubbings and loved
doing it. In our Texas Studies Weekly, we read, Rules. We learned that rules are important to
help keep us safe and to help us learn. Adults and children have responsibilities and must follow
rules as well.

In Science, this week we continued learning about light. So far we have learned that light
travels in a straight line and it travels faster than sound. We have learned about objects that are
transparent, translucent, and opaque. This week we learned about light sources and reflection of
light. On Monday, we learned that sources of light are things that produce light. We came up with
a list of things that produce light and do not produce light. Some can be artificial such as a light
bulb and some can be natural such as fire. Then we completed a picture sort of light sources. On
Wednesday, we learned about reflection. We predicted what would happen when we shine a
flashlight onto a mirror. We tested our hypothesis and learned that the light bounces off a mirror
and onto the wall, which is called reflection. We can see all things because light reflects or
bounces off of them. Then we used the mirrors to read secret messages that were backwards
words. The students had to figure out how to place the mirror to read the message and then try to
create their own backwards secret message. We had a lot of fun exploring light this week!

In Art, this week the first graders finished their clown drawings. They practiced drawing lines,
shapes, and patterns to create their clowns and then added color to them using pastels and
watercolors.

Last but not least, if there is one thing we can suggest or encourage for you to be doing at
home is to read with your child every night. It is a wonderful bonding time for you and your child.
Please make sure that you are also recording in the daily reading log what your child is reading at
home and returning the reading logs to school on Mondays. Please make sure that your child is
reading for at least 15 minutes every day.
 Important Dates Ask Your Child

Monday, November 7th is our classroom
spelling bee.
What is the difference between fact and
fiction?
Name three words that have the
consonant cluster gr, tr and dr.
If Mark is 5th in line and Daniel is 9th in
line. How many children are between
Mark and Daniel?
What are some rules at your home?

Important Info

Please remember to send snacks with your child every day! They get very hungry and a
mid-morning, as well as mid-afternoon, snack helps out! These should be healthy snacks
that can be eaten in a 5 minute time frame!

Every Monday is Spirit Dress Day! Students may come dressed in a spirit dress shirt and
jeans! If there is no school on a Monday, Tuesday becomes Spirit Dress Day.

We love school!