Persuasive Writing

Our students did an awesome job this past week discussing the word persuasion.  As a class, we chose a topic that was near and dear to our hearts....recess!!  Students decided they needed to convince Mr. Parrott that an extra recess in our school day would be beneficial to them.  Each class, together, wrote a very convincing letter to Mr. Parrott, and he agreed to give each first grade one extra recess for one day.  This was definitely a highlight to the friends of 1A and 1B!  We hope you enjoy their convincing letters!

Dear Mr. Parrott,

    We would like an extra recess.  We will get more exercise in the day.  It will give us energy to get stronger and smarter.  The exercise will keep us healthy at school and the sun will give us vitamins.  Our playtime helps us be nice to each other!  Thank you!

                                                                                                        Love,

                                                                                                        1A Friends

Dear Mr. Parrott,

     Could we please have an extra recess?  An extra recess would give us exercise and make us healthier.  This week is sunny, so we would like an extra recess before winter.  Thank you for reading our letter.

                                                                                                       Love, 

                                                                                                       1B Friends

Reading Skills

The end of the first quarter is upon us and our first graders have made great growth in their reading skills! At this point in the school year, we have reviewed all the short vowel sounds students were introduced to in kindergarten. Your child should now be easily sounding and blending three letter words with a vowel in the middle (cat, rug, van, etc.) In addition to phonics skills, we have also been working on boosting students' reading comprehension. Great readers need to understand and make sense out of what they read. Following are the comprehension strategies students have been introduced to already this year.

• Sequencing
• Making Predictions
• Summarizing
• Compare and Contrast
• Cause and Effect
• Noting Details
• Questioning
• Fantasy vs. Realism
• Story Structure
• Topic and Main Idea
• Categorizing and Classifying

These skills have been taught and reinforced through a variety of literacy activities in the classroom. Whole group reading instruction allows for new concepts to be introduced to students. Guided reading in small groups and independent work during centers provide students time for practice new skills! All three settings are a part of our daily reading instruction. 

Math in First Grade!

Over the past week in math, students have been working hard continuing visual patterns, skip counting on a number grid/line and working with numbers that come before and after.  Students are seen working on a fun card game called Before-and-After.  In this game, students are challenged to get rid of all of their cards by playing a number that comes before/after on the stacked number card.  Last, with the help of a little candy corn, we solved number sentences to sums of 10.

Important Papers!!

Your child's Friday Folder will be bursting with papers when they arrive home this afternoon! Here is a quick explanation of some of the information coming home with your student today.

Conference Slips-Please be sure to fill out and return the bottom of the this tan paper to help schedule our upcoming parent-teacher conferences!

Spelling-Your child should be bringing home their spelling test from today, as well as a new list for next week.

50th Day-We are very excited to be celebrating this special day in first grade this year! Please read through the paper to get an idea of how you can help your child to participate in this fun filled day!

Homework-Math homework looks a little different this week! There are two pages stapled together and both need to be completed and returned to school on Monday. One page is practice on your home address and the other page provides review with even and odd numbers.

Curriculum Night Papers-Families who were unable to attend last night's curriculum night will find several papers outlining some first grade expectations. Please be sure to let Mrs. Hunter or Mrs. Droll know if you have any questions about these papers!  

Fire Safety Week

During our Fire Prevention Week, students worked hard learning fire safety tips, practicing Stop, Drop and roll and enjoying a visit from firefighter, Kenny.  The week's highlight was definitely our visit from Kenny, along with one of the Wellman Fire Department firetrucks.  Our first grade students were super excited as they worked hard on helping Kenny shoot water from the firehose.

Spirit Week!

First grade friends at Wellman Elementary had a blast showing off their school spirit this past week in honor of homecoming! Pictured above is the whole Wellman Elementary first grade crew showing off their black and gold!

1B on tie-dye day

1A on hat day

Spelling Lists

Next week we will begin our spelling routines in first grade! Each Friday your child will be bringing home a new spelling list for the following week.These lists will include words that follow the weekly spelling patterns as well as the focus sight words. Please be sure to help your child review and practice the spelling words for each week, as a spelling test will be given every Friday. Along with the paper list that comes home with your child on Friday, the current spelling list can also be found on the sidebar of the blog! 

Check out this link for Ideas for Spelling Practice at Home