Friday, September 26, 2014

September Newsletter



September 2014


First graders have been very busy this first month of school!

This week, we started reading groups. Each child has been assigned to a teacher and group based on their level of reading that we assessed at the beginning of the year. Groups will be reading a new book almost every time they meet and they will be doing comprehension and writing activities related to the book.  In addition, they will also be doing word work.

We continue to write in our journals as and we’re working on stretching out words to find out the sounds in words we don’t know.

In math, we have been sorting and counting a variety of objects.  We’ve also been working on a data collection book and practicing making bar graphs.  We have just started an addition unit where we are taking numbers apart and finding the different ways to come up with the same total.

In science, we are learning about plants and plant life cycles. We are conducting a seed experiment to learn what seeds need to grow. Each seed is missing one of its necessary requirements to survive; one is missing water, one is missing soil, and one is missing sunlight. We will compare these seeds to our seeds that have everything they need.

We have started our Second Step lessons and we appreciate those of you who have taken the time to work on these activities at home with your children.

Next month, we will be learning about the fall season and starting an author’s study about Kevin Henkes.

Awesome job first grade!
Mrs. Burriss, Mr. Tobin, and Ms. François


Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Science: Living vs Non-Living

Today we began the discussion of what is a living thing and what is a non-living thing. We went outside to find living things. Next, we had a science discussion about what made each thing living and came up with the following ideas:

Each item needed water, sun, food and air in order to grow and change. We decided this was the definition of a living thing.

Next, we looked around the classroom and collected non-living things. We had to decide why these things were non-living instead of living things. They came up with the idea that these things did not need water, sun, food or air to be what they were; they could not change or grow without someone or something making them change.

We will continue to have this discussion about living vs non-living things. Please feel free to continue this discussion at home.









Around the Room






Monday, September 8, 2014

Field Trip Reminder: This Thursday, September 11th

Reminder: We will be going to the Tunbridge Fair's Agricultural Day this Thursday, September 11th. We will be going rain-or-shine, so please dress your child appropriately. Boots or sneakers are the preferred shoe. Every child should bring a backpack to carry their things with them for the day, along with a home lunch and water bottle. We will be leaving DBS by 8:30 and returning to school around 1pm.

If you are a volunteer, and have not heard from me, please contact me via email raneyn@hartfordschools.net to discuss the specifics of the day.

OPEN HOUSE: TOMORROW, SEPT 9th

I hope to see you all at Open House tomorrow night, from 6-7pm. 1st grade will host a short presentation from 6:05-6:15. Afterwards, we encourage you to take a look at all of the hard work your child has done these first few weeks of school!

Friday, September 5, 2014

iPads in the Classroom!

Today we used the iPads for the first time this year. The students did a wonderful job working together to use these devices and handled them with care. They worked together to design a video clip that displayed various classroom expectations we wrote last week. We will compile these short video clips together to create a movie about our classroom expectations.





Open House: Next Tuesday, September 9th

Please be sure to join us next Tuesday, September 9th from 6-7pm! Hope to see you there!

Math Word Problems

We've been working on solving math word problems this week. We have been making sure each problem solved includes an equation, a picture and a labeled answer. Today, students were able to create their own word problems and pictures to go along with them. Next week, we will take the time to solve each other's problems and they will be on display for open house!





Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Science Notebooks

Today we took a look at our school garden. Each student made a claim about what they might see out in the garden. Next, they had to document their observations using their five senses. Finally, they needed to write evidence to support their claims. It was a great first day of science for our class.