Week of Nov. 9th

 ELA

New Heart Words: who, by, my

Continue to work on any from previous weeks that the students are still having trouble with in reading.   

-This week we will learn to read and write words with the long a and i sound made with a silent e at the end of the word. We will also be identifying and writing commands and learning homophones.      

-The class is working on narrative writing this quarter. Last week we wrote a narrative as a class. This week students will begin writing their own with support. 

MATH

-Our topics in math this week are even and odd numbers, symmetry, and writing and telling time to the hour.  

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-This week we will finish up our unit on motion and will also learn about Veteran's Day. 

RELIGION

-This week we will continue to learn about vocations and also will have the Safe Touch lessons. 

Week of Nov. 2nd

 Remember-no shorts until Spring time change.

 ELA

Heart Words:  there, where

Review: could, would, should, or, for

  

-This week we will learn the digraph nk as in link and also review all the consonant digraphs we have been working on. We will also work on identifying and writing proper nouns correctly. For second quarter, we will focus on narrative writing. We will begin this week by writing a narrative together about our Halloween party last week. 

MATH

-Our topics in math this week are even and odd numbers,  telling time to the hour, counting by two, and subtracting zero from a number.

- Keep an eye out for new fact cards. Students should be able to fluently answer each fact.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-This week we will begin a unit on motion. We will talk about how things move and in what directions and speed. 

RELIGION

-We will learn about vocations this week.   

Week of October 26th

  ELA

Heart words: could, would, should, or, for

Continue to work on any words from the past that the students are still having trouble with in reading. If you need a list, please let me know.  

-This week we will learn about the digraph ph and wh. We will also work on reading words ng, like in the word wing, and we will learn about using the articles a and an. In writing we will write about Halloween activities and make sure to include details. We will continue to work on some computer skills as well this week to help prepare us for taking AR quizzes independently. 

MATH

-Our topics in math this week are counting by tens, counting dimes, and subtracting 1.   

- Keep working on math facts at home. A new set will be sent home this week. Students should be able to fluently answer each fact.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-This week in science we are learning about bats. 

RELIGION

-This week we will finish with the last Joyful Mystery, and discuss the Holy Trinity by using candy corn. We will also discuss All Saints Day.

Week of October 19th

  I look forward to meeting with you at conferences this week! Remember we have an early dismissal on Thursday and no school on Friday. 

 ELA

High Frequency Words:  talk, walk, goes, says, she, we, they, their, were

Words in red are new this week, the others are review. 

-We will work on the digraph ch and review other consonant digraphs we have learned. ck, sh, th (voiced and unvoiced)

-We will learn to identify text features in a non fiction text and also determine singular and plural nouns. We will write a Halloween themed paragraph.

MATH

-Our topics in math this week are weighing in non standard units, counting on, creating bar graphs, and adding 0 math facts. 

- Keep working on all the math facts. Students received a new set last week and will have another new set this week. They should be about to write/say the answer fluently. 

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-This week we will work on learning the states of matter.

RELIGION

-We will continue to take time during religion class to learn about each of the joyful mysteries.  

Week of October 12th

 Heart Words:  they, their, were

Continue to work on words from previous weeks. 

-This week's phonics focus will be on the voiced and unvoiced th sound like in the words that and thin. We will also work on identifying and writing statements. Students will continue to work on and improve their sentence writing. This week they will work on putting those sentences together to write a short paragraph. 

MATH

-We will  begin working on adding 1 facts. Those fact cards will be added to the bags this week. We will also working with weighing objects with non standard units and making and reading graphs. 

Students are to practice  fact cards each night so that they are known fluently. 

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-This week our class will be learning about rocks and soil. We will observe the differences in types of soil and characteristics of rocks. Students should bring a rock to school for Tuesday. 

RELIGION

-This week we will discuss the rosary and learn the Joyful Mysteries. 

Week of October 5th

  Heart Words:  goes, says, she, we

Continue to work on words from previous weeks. 

-This week's phonics focus will be on the digraph ck at the end of words as well as sh.  We will also work on putting commas in a series of things in a sentence. 

-Students will continue to work on and improve their sentence writing. This week they will work on writing a short paragraph about a topic. 

MATH

-We will work on covering designs with shapes in multiple ways, adding one to a number, and writing subtraction sentences.

Students are to practice  fact cards each night so that they are known fluently. 

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-This week our class will be learning all about the sun and  moon.

RELIGION

-This week we will begin learning about Creation.

Week of September 28th

 ELA

Heart Words: go, no, so, your, want

-We will focus on words with -all, -oll, and -ull spelling patterns as well as words that end with ff, ss, ll, zz. Please use the UFLI home practice sheet to review and practice these skills at home. 

-Students will find the moral of the story after reading this week. 

MATH

-We will work on doubles facts. Students will get their first set of fact cards. These cards will stay in their take home folder to use at school and home. Please practice these each night with your child so they can become fluent with them.  We will also find objects that are lighter and heavier. 

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-This week we will be completing a short Apple unit. We will learn about Johnny Appleseed, the life cycle of an apple, and parts of an apple. 

RELIGION

-Students will learn about the archangels, guardian angels, and St. Therese the Little Flower this week in honor of their feast days. 

Week of September 22nd

  ELA

Heart Words review: you, what, have,  look, book, are, was

-We will focus on the short e sound in words and we will also review all of the short vowels. We will continue to identify adjectives and the parts of a story.

-Students will continue writing  complete sentences and will begin adding more detail with adjectives.

MATH

-We will work on writing addition number sentences, naming ordinal numbers to the sixth position, and begin working on learning doubles facts to 10. Look for fact cards to come home to begin practicing each night. 

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-This week we will discuss season and weather in Science.

RELIGION

-We will discuss types of prayers and focus on the words of the Glory Be prayer. The students will be assessed on this prayer during first quarter. 

Week of September 14th

  ELA

Heart Word review:  be, me, he, from, look, book, are

-We will focus on short o and u sounds this week. Look for the UFLI home practice page to help your student at home. This week we will also focus on adjectives and finding text features in non fiction texts.

-In writing we will be working writing up to three sentences about a picture. We are focusing on using correct punctuation and capitalization as well as spaces between words with neat handwriting. 

MATH

-This week we will practice finding the numbers in between two numbers, divide solids in half, and write addition number sentences. 

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-Students will finish our work on American symbols with focusing on the flag and the pledge of allegiance. 

RELIGION

-This week we will work on the correct way to say the sign of the cross and begin discussing what prayer.

Week of September 8th

 ELA

Heart Words:  the, I, a, said

-We will focus on the nasalized a sound as in an and am. We will also practice words with a short i sound. Look for the UFLI home practice page to help your student at home. This week we will also focus on actions words and sequence of events in a story.

-In writing we will be working on writing a complete and correct sentence with punctuation, capital letters, and spaces between words. We will write sentences as a caption for different pictures. 

MATH

-This week we will begin sorting by one attribute. We will also begin some, some more stories (addition) as well as work with geoboards and count pennies. 

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-Students will work on learning about being a good citizen and begin learning about American symbols and the pledge. We will also learn about Patriot Day. 

RELIGION

-We will continue to work on parts of mass and appropriate responses during mass.  We will also begin practicing correctly the Sign of the Cross.

Week of August 31

 Remember: No School next Monday Sept. 7

                    Early Dismissal next Tuesday Sept. 8

 ELA

-We will continue to go over the sound wall and how to make consonants and vowel sounds. We will also begin our first UFLI lesson review the short a sound. In the stories we read this week, we will identify the characters and discuss their feelings based on clues in the text. We will also learn and practice possessive nouns.

-Our writing lessons this week will focus on using finger spaces between words, stretching words to help with spelling, using capital letters, and punctuation, as well as writing complete sentences. We will practice these skills while writing captions for pictures.   

MATH

-This week we will continue to practice writing numbers correctly, discuss right and left, most and fewest in groups, collecting data, and steps in a process.   

Our math program does a great job spiraling topics so we will discuss many things throughout the week but it will always be reviewed on our math practice pages and we will build on the skills in future lessons.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

-This week we will be discussing rules and laws and begin a unit on citizenship. We will also learn about Labor Day.

RELIGION

-Students will work on learning the names of items found in a church and those used during mass. We will also be learning the parts of mass and correct responses. Please practice responses and appropriate participation during mass with your child while at weekend masses. 

Week of August 24th

   We are off to a great start in first grade! We have spent a lot of time learning routines and procedures and will continue the next few weeks.  

Picture Day is Thursday! Regular uniforms must be worn.

ELA

-This week we will begin learning strategies for sounding out simple words for reading and writing.  We will also be reviewing and naming parts of a book and learning about nouns. We will also be learning routines and procedures for UFLI phonics lessons.

-We will focus on a genre of writing each quarter and spend time each day writing. This week we will complete sentences about the important things about each of us after brainstorming ideas together in class.

MATH

We will begin working with some of our math tools this week and review writing numbers correctly and counting using one to one correspondence. We will also review some basic shapes. 

Homework will begin this week! Most nights students will have a math practice page to complete for homework and return the next day. Soon, we will also begin math facts and have a math practice page for homework.  If there is homework, it should always be in their right back to school side of their take home folder. Homework is practice of skills and shouldn’t take a lot of time.

Students can receive THREE OOPS slips throughout the year in case they forget their homework. After the third time they receive a green slip and miss one recess for each missed assignment.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

This week for social studies we are spending some time reviewing table/cafeteria manners.  Please help remind students of this at home during dinner time.

We will also continue to work on rules and expectations at our school.

RELIGION

This week we will be discussing differences and similarities of God’s people. We will also begin learning the parts of mass and responses during mass.

Welcome to first grade!

  I look forward to starting another school year with my first graders! I'm excited to get to know my students and see all they will learn this year!

You will find weekly updates here on our learning standards/topics or any other special information. I will also update pictures of different activities from the classroom.

Please always feel free to email me with questions or concerns throughout the year.

Mrs. Dunn