First Grade News

March 4, 2013

Curriculum Highlights Math Facts Spelling Long o <o> by itself, <ow> Writing The parts of a paragraph/ information report Science adaptation to habitat Learning reflections Reminders Thurs & Fri March 7 & 8 Parent teacher conferences - Please be on

time.

Be prepared to share how you perceive your childs growth so far this year and what you think your childs next steps should be. Please return the conference questionnaire to me by email if you are yet to do so.

Word Study no most

so know

go slow

open grow

over flow

News From Ms. Tindalls Class Thanks for your awesome support of our first grade show! This week we will take some time to review progress through some informal assessments and also allow time for students to reflect on their own learning, progress and next steps. I look forward to sharing information with you in this weeks conferences and hearing your perspectives on your childs learning too. A note about word study: The study of vocabulary and spelling in Gr. One is taught through the process of structured word inquiry. This means that the children are learning to not only spell words correctly, but to understand that English spelling is based on meaning, and be able to explain the spelling of common words. The students are encouraged to become Word Detectives and follow a specific process of investigation using the following questions: 1. What does the word mean? 2. How is the word built? (prefixes and suffixes) 3. What words are in its family? (related by meaning) 4. What is the origin of the word? 5. What do you hear? Word study may be a distinct lesson but is very often integrated throughout the day and in a variety of subjects. In partnership, Ms. Tindall

Monday Reading: How have you grown as a reader this year? What do you do to make sure you understand what you are reading? Word Study: Highlight patterns. Find long o words while reading at home. Math: Review time. Tell an adult all you know about clocks. Here are some prompts: Show an adult which direction the hands on a clock go. Show an adult what the big numbers on the inner circle of the clock mean and what the little marks on the outer circle mean. (Big numbers represent hours, little marks represent minutes). Tell an adult which hand is the hour and which is the minute. How many minutes in an hour? How can you check? How long does it take for the hour hand to move once around the clock? How long does it take for the minute hand to move once around the clock? How long does it take the hour hand to move from one number to the next? How long does it take the minute hand to move from one mark to the next? What do an analog clock and a digital clock have in common? How are they different? Tuesday Reading: How have you grown as a reader this year? What are your favourite types of books to read? How do you choose texts? Word Study: Word sort (attached think before you print perhaps you could use a whiteboard or scrap paper to complete this practice) Math: Practice counting mixed piles of coins and writing the amount in both dollar and cent notation. EG 24 C and $0.24

Wednesday Reading: How have you grown as a reader this year? What are your plans for further growth? Word Study: What letter combinations can you use to make the long <o >sound? Name some words with the long <o> sound. Learning Reflection: Talk with an adult about things that you do that help you to learn. What are some things that distract you from learning? How do you manage those things? Ask an adult how they learn best?

Thursday Reading: How have you grown as a reader this year? What styles of text might you like to explore next? Word Study: Review your high frequency words. Make a plan for how you will continue to grow. Math: What are you doing well at in math? What would you like to improve on? What is your plan to continue growing?

Friday Reading Share your portfolio with your family. Talk about how you have grown this year. What have you learned about yourself as a learner? What do you do to help yourself learn?

Find words in books or think of your own words that use these different ways to make the long o sound.

o_e

oa

ow

Sort these words according to the sound <ow> makes. You could colour the words with two different colours to show your groups.

ow

ow

cow now clown pillow show

grow know blow bow slow tower crowd shower follow glow flow arrow

how brown flower window low