For the past week we have been focusing a lot on reading. The kids have been able to pick from their just right book bin and find books that interest them. Each day we try to build up our stamina on how long we can read on our own for. We are up to about 5 minutes of good independent reading! As a group, we talking about how independent reading is reading by yourself, staying in one spot, reading the whole time and using a quiet voice. We have also been partner reading with others in our class. The kids really enjoy getting to share their skills with their classmates and also enjoy hearing stories from their classmates. We have also been reading with Mrs. Flaherty's 5th grade class. The 5th graders come in every other week to read to our class. The kids really enjoy making that connection with the older students. Book bags have been going home every day. My hope is that each child read their book bag books every night and practice their sight words. Reading should be enjoyable for the kids. Sometimes, it can become a fight. This can be due to fatigue from school or sometimes when a child picks a book that is too hard for them. Reading to your child is just a beneficial as them reading themselves! Check out some pictures of the kids reading and working on sight words on our Snap Shot page! |
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Along with lighthouses, we have started a unit on fractions. The kids are learning more about parts of a whole and mainly focusing on halves and fourths. We have also started learning more about American symbols. We will start with diving deep into the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance and then move on the learning more about the American flag! There are a lot of fun things happening in first grade! Mrs. Rodenbaugh (Mrs. R)
This week we finished up our unit on shapes! The kids worked hard to learn the properties of plane shapes as well as 3D or solid figures. They learned the difference between plane and solid figures. The kids also had fun using shapes to make new shapes and designs. We will be moving on to a quick introduction of fractions. Next week we will get a visit from Ann Ducharme from the Martha's Vineyard Museum. She will give the kids and introduction to lighthouses and teach us a little bit of history about the East Chop Lighthouse. We will be visiting the East Chop Lighthouse and West Chop Lighthouse on Thursday! It was so wonderful getting to see you all at the open house. The kids really enjoyed showing you all of their hard work they have done so far! Mrs. Rodenbaugh (Mrs. R)
We have also been writing a lot about rules and why we have them in school, at home and in the classroom. Together, we came up with our "Keys for Success" in the classroom. These are our rules that will help us in being successful in the classroom throughout the year. The kids generated a list of their own ideas for rules in the classroom and decided, as a group, which rules we would have in our classroom. Of course in first grade we get silly. Someone had the great idea of using some of the parts of Perrywink's treat to make mustaches. We will be having an open house for grade K-3rd grade on Tuesday, September 29th from 5:30pm to 6:15pm. Please join us in our class and have the kids show you everything we have been working on so far! Mrs. Rodenbaugh (Mrs. R) I can't believe that we are almost done with the first week of school! The kids have done a great job withstanding the heat of the classroom. They have been working on getting to know each other a little better through games, sharing a little bit about themselves and playing with one another. The kids have been writing about Kindergarten and what they loved about last year, as well as writing about what they want to learn in first grade.
Typically the students will have a take home folder where all of the notices and their work will come home in. I have been waiting for them to come in the mail but they haven't yet! I hope to have them in by next Monday so keep an eye out! If you need to send a message into school, calling the school, emailing me or sending a note in the child's backpack are great ways for us to get the message! I am not always able to check my email, so if it is a last minute dismissal change, calling the office is the best way to reach us in the classroom! Ms. Karen and I are excited for a great year! Please call (508.693.0951) or email me ([email protected]) if you have any questions! Mrs. Rodenbaugh (Mrs. R) As summer comes to a close, I have sent everyone a welcoming letter! Time is flying by and I have been working in the classroom getting it ready for all the kids to come back in just two short weeks! Please don't forget to email me with how your child will get home each day! I will mainly communicate with you through email and through the website so it is important that I get everyone's emails! Happy last few days of summer vacation!
~Mrs. R |