Mrs. DeGroot's First Grade Class: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween Fun

We had a lot of fun celebrating Halloween!
Thank you to all the moms for throwing a great party:)

We have been singing a Halloween spelling song.
We learned the sounds that "ll (double l)" and "ee (double e)" make.
We brainstormed some words that had double L and double E.

Friday, October 14, 2011

In first grade we are working hard on our reading skills. Along with our reading we need to work on sight words or high frequency words. These are words that cannot be sounded out phonetically; but rather must be recognized at first sight. Research shows that 60-75% of words in children’s literature are these sight words or high frequency words.In order for your child to recognize these words automatically, they must practice them at home as well as at school.

So...I am beginning a program for sight words. One day a week (Tuesday) I will have your child read the sight words on his/her list. I will move your child to the next level when he/she has mastered that level (within 45 seconds & with 90% or better accuracy). Please find the first list of words in your child's Friday folder.

There are nine levels of words. I have linked all the words under "sight words" on the right. I also posted some ideas for fun activities that you can do at home.

I realize this will take a few minutes of time every evening, but the effects will be phenomenal! Also, do not forget to read to your child and have them read to you regularly. This program will help them to develop a love for reading as they become more successful. Thank you for your cooperation!

Also, here are the photos from our trip to Ferguson Garden Center.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Flowers for Kids

I hope you enjoyed the flowers that your child brought home last week. HyVee’s Flowers for Kids program was very educational and exciting for all of us. What a generous gift they have given to us!

In science, we have been learning many facts about plants.

We looked at the seed collections and made a poster.
We learned about the parts of plants and their jobs.
After an experiment, we concluded that plants need air, light, and water to live.
Inside a bean, we found a part called embryo which will grow to be a plant.
We planted a soy bean. We will take care of it and record its growth in our journal.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

What is the Daily 5?

The Daily 5 is a management system of five literacy tasks that give students opportunities to practice their reading and writing independently.

The five tasks are

Read to self
Read to someone
Listen to reading
Word work
Work on writing

While students work on these tasks, I work with a small group of students or individually with a student on reading skills and strategies.

To launch the Daily 5 and carry on successful reading time, we practice each task explicitly and “build stamina.” All students are expected to be independent workers and problem solvers.

Here are some of us working on "Read to Self" "Word Work" and "Listen to Reading."

Listen to Reading