Dear Santa,

I don't have a newsletter for you yet, but I do have this!

We worked on a little persuasive writing yesterday.  The quality of work that I can get when children know that Santa will be reading their writing is AMAZING! :)

We were trying to convince Santa that we would make good reindeer for his team.  We thought of lots of reason that would persuade Santa to let us be one of his reindeer.

Then we used ALL the things that we know about writing to make sure that our letters to Santa were easy for him to read.

1. Use spaces between words.
2. Use neat handwriting.
3. Make sure there are enough letters in each word.
4. Make sure that word wall words are spelled correctly.
5. Make sure to use punctuation.

It turns out that your little ones are pretty clever!

Here are a couple of examples. The rest are hanging in the hallway for now.  They will come home before break.
Let me just say, if I were Santa, I'd take the massage!

Dear Santa,

I would make a good reindeer because I would look at the lists.  I would wear a light bulb on my nose.  I won't wake the children.  I will follow your directions.  I will massage your feet.  I will wake you up when it's time to go.  I will give you the lists of presents.  I will sing for you.

Love,
Alex

Dear Santa,

I would be a great reindeer because I would be strong and I would be quiet. And I would be fast when we're late.  And when I saw somebody I would run and I would be a lookout in case there was somebody on the naughty list.

Love,
Cooper

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, this week we spent some time learning about the Mayflower, pilgrims, and Native Americans. We reflected a bit about those things for which we are thankful and what it means to be a friend.

 I think it is safe to say, as parents, there is nothing in the world that we are more thankful for than our children. I hope that you enjoy the long break with your kiddos.

I sent no newsletter for this short week, so I thought I'd give you a glimpse into our classroom. I am thankful for your children (and I couldn't help but include a snapshot of my own Turkey Lurkey)!

Enjoy these sweet smiles, innocent hearts, and the gratitude that they bring to your Thanksgiving table.

Partner Sharing

Today in Writer's Workshop we learned about something important we need as writers. 

It is a partner!  Writing partners help us plan, write, revise, and edit!  Also, sharing with a partner is fun! 

Evan and Ali modeled what good partner sharing looks like.  Enjoy this first grade fun!

Making Numbers

Today we launched Topic 2: Making Numbers 6, 7, 8, 9.

Each Envisions Topic is introduced to the students with an interactive story and a game.

We played: Making Numbers today!  This game focuses on joining two numbers to find a sum.  It gives students practice with: counting, counting on, adding, and recognizing combinations.  Incidentally, when students play a game they are also learning social and cooperative skills.  

Here are a few photos of our kiddos at work (and play). They used dice and cubes to play this game.  You will see them building towers with two colors of cubes.  Then they join the towers and count to find a sum.

Ali and Alexandra

Alex, Evan, and Cody

Owen and James

Chase

Enjoy our smiles from our first few days of school! :)We've had a lot of fun getting to know each other.  I look forward to meeting you tonight at Open House! 6:30-8:30p at McKean!

Letter Fun In First Grade

Hello families!

We've had some very fun first days of first grade. Hopefully you're all settling back into the routines of the school year. I thought I'd make our first blog post about one of the student's favorite activities throughout our first week.

We've been working on handwriting. 

 At the same time we are reviewing letters and letter sounds. I thought I could share a couple of the resources that we are using in case you want to use them at home too! The kiddos seem to love them and are interested in trying it at home. I assured them that I would get the information to you!

YouTube:
On YouTube we've been using The Alphabet Videos by Have Fun Teaching. I have imbedded one of the videos below. In order to find them on your own, go to: www.youtube.com. Search for: 'letter b song' or 'letter c song' etc.

App Store: 
The real hit is an App called LetterSchool. This is a $2.99 App that allows students to practice proper letter formation. It is important to note that handwriting and proper letter formation is important for more reasons than one.  Yes, we like to teach children how to make letters that are neat and legible.  More importantly, though, proper letter formation allows for fluent composition.  When reading, we teach children fluent decoding skills so that they will establish good reading comprehension.  Similarly, when writing, fluent handwriting is important so students can easily get their thoughts onto paper.

When using this App have your child focus on lowercase letters.  Lowercase letters are used most often and they are more readily formed incorrectly!
 Definitely worth the $2.99 (especially if you also have pre-schoolers at home)!

For more information about the App check out this link.  Letter School


"If your child has to think about how to form individual letters, at school, when writing in his journal and in completing other written exercises, he won’t be able to keep up with peers who have automatic recall and efficient fine-motor skills. Speed of printing will slow down because of it." -http://www.kindergarten-tips-and-skill-lessons.com


Happy learning. :)

~ Mrs. Monaco

Welcome to First Grade!

I'm very excited about this new school year!

There's just NOTHING like starting anew each Aug/Sept.

A blog is like an online journal.
I will keep this blog as a way to update you about what is happening in first grade.

I can warn you now that sometimes I will be very good at keeping up with the blog, and SOMETIMES it will have to take the back burner so other priorities.   However,  I sure hope you enjoy this glimpse into the classroom when my blogging is at its best.

Similar to our website, some content will be available on a mobile device.  To see all videos, links, documents, etc. I recommend reading our blog from your personal computer. 

Please leave us comments so that I know you're reading!