Sept 12, 2011

First Grade News
Curriculum Highlights

September 12, 2011
Math Time, complements of 10, number grids Student Learning Results - Think Creatively, Reason Critically, Learn Enthusiastically, Live Ethically, Communicate Effectively, Collaborate Constructively Word Study - Short Vowel Review Writing Workshop Writing Cycle/ Narratives (stories) Reading Workshop Decoding strategies
Reminders
Monday, September 12 After School Activities begin please remind your child in the morning if they have an activity, if so, what it is, and what their bus letter will be for dismissal after the activity. Monday, September 12 Individual Photos Free choice dress Wednesday, September 14 - Class Photo School Uniform Friday, September 16 No school One Malaysia Day Holiday Parent/ teacher conferences October 13th & 14th - no classes for students. These days have been set aside especially to cater for conferences as meeting during the normal busy school week is not possible. Please plan to be available for these conferences as a lot of preparation goes into planning between teachers and admin to ensure that siblings are scheduled around the same time and support teachers such as ESL can be in attendance too. Next week Ill be asking if you have requests for a particular day or time as we will soon begin the scheduling process.
Word Study had off
them but
this will
just went
from that
News From Ms. Tindalls Class Some of you have been talking with your children about Writing Workshop. Thank you. Im finding the students are very excited about writing and it is one of the things they are asking for (along with, When is it lunch time?) they are also asking When is it writing time? Yippee! Weve reached the first thing needed to become a successful writer intrinsic motivation. At home when your child is telling stories and personal narratives, make it a point of saying, THAT would be a great story to write about. Lets see what the beginning, middle and end is (or problem and solution). EG Today I was feeling sad. That sounds like the beginning. I had a fight with my friend. That sounds like the problem. We talked about it and we both said we were sorry. That sounds like the solution. We are friends again now. I hope he can come to my house tomorrow. That sounds like a happy ending. We have studied the habits of a good writer noting that one of the things they do is write about what is important to them. So please take advantage of your childs many stories and let him/her know that they are worth recording. We have done a lot of work in school on friendships and the Melawati Way. First grade can be a difficult time for students as there is a huge growth in social skills during the year. This means testing boundaries of friendships and coming up with all sorts of rules for being (or not being a friend.) Please encourage growth in this area by talking through situations with your child and sharing stories of how you have felt in similar situations and what you did to work things out. At school we advocate the number one thing to do is to talk about the problem directly with the person who is bothering you and on the other side being a good listener and trying to work out a solution together so that both sides win. In partnership, Ms. Tindall
Monday Reading: Talk about how your selection of Just Right books is progressing. Are you taking home more Just Right books than before? Are there any patterns? Are you often bringing books that are too easy or too hard? How do you know? What will you do to keep improving with your book selections? Have you been using the Goldilocks test at home? Word study: Ask an adult to call out the words. Try writing down all of the sounds you hear. Listen carefully for the vowel sound. Make a note of any vowels you are finding tricky and get an adult to help you practice. *** Remember extend, support as you see necessary. It is impossible for me to send individualized homework to every student. Please use the individualized word list and word study sheet I sent home to help you make homework match your childs needs. If your child is 100% successful with short vowels, start looking at long vowel combinations such ee and ea. Math: Homelink 2.1 Tuesday Reading: Talk about what do you do when you come to a word you dont know. Word study: Find words with short vowels in your reading books. /a/ as in <apple>, /e/ as in <egg>, /i/ as in <insect>, /o/ as in <octopus>, /u/ as in <umbrella> Math: Homelink 2.2 Wednesday Reading: How can looking at the pictures help you to decode words and to understand the story? (*** Parents! Dont be fooled by thinking this a beginner reader strategy! This is a vital part of activating background knowledge for all readers. A key strategy that strong adult readers do (even if subconsciously) is think about what they already know about a topic and start making connections and asking questions before they begin reading. Of course for early readers, looking at the pictures aids both with comprehension and also decoding.) Word study: On a whiteboard make two columns. Label one with the letter a and the other with the letter e. Record words under each column that contain the short sound of each letter. EG at, an, bag, banana, bet, egg, education, entertainment Math: Homelink 2.3 Thursday Reading: Based on the title and book cover make a prediction about what the text will be about. What do you already know about this topic? Word study: If you can spell... (attached). When writing remember pencil, posture and correct letter formation. Math: Homelink 2.4 Friday Reading: How does looking at the cover of a book and thinking about what the book might be about help you get ready to read/ improve your comprehension/ help you figure out words? Poem collection: Recite and sing poems and songs from your poem collection to family, friends and neighbours. Put your finger on each word as you read. Return poem collection to school on Monday. Science optional: Look up the daily weather forecast for KL and/or another place youre interested in: www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0153
Use the letters in this box to make new words by adding them to the word endings below.
b p
c r
d s
f t v
g y
h z
j qu
l sh
m th
n ch
If you can spell You can also spell
hit _____ _____
_____
_____
______ _____ _____ tell _____ _____
_____
_____
______ _____ _____ rug _____ _____
_____
_____
______ _____ _____

Sept 12, 2011

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First Grade News

September 12, 2011

Word Study had off

If you can spell You can also spell

hit _ _

____ _ _ tell _ ___

If you can spell You can also spell

____ _ _ rug _ ___

If you can spell You can also spell

____ _ ___

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