The week of November 28th

This week in Language Arts we will...

• study how patterns help writers elaborate
• Use writing superpowers to work with greater independence
• revise stories, including punctuation
• use illustrations in important ways
• write and revise a friendly letter
• remember to write and spell words we know correctly
• spell check our own writing
• make meaninful connections when reading to increase comprehension
• recognize spelling patters in our current sort

This week in Math we will...

• create winter themed art using geometric shapes
• write two digit numbers using expanded notation, words, rods and cubes, tens and ones
• practice addition and subtraction strategies

This week in Science we will...

• study relevant vocabulary related to weather
• compare different types of storms
• study different types of weather conditions

The Week of November 14th...

This week in Language Arts we will...

• write so that readers can read our writing
• stretch out words in writing to strengthen our spelling skills
• reinforce sight words
• analyze current stories or correct spacing
• extend current use of new vocabulary by finding newly acquired words in additional books as well as apply to new writing
• continue studying characters in literature by showing character's feelings by adapting our voice while reading, using clues from the author to bring characters to live, reread to make our voices smooth to show character's big feelings
• recognize spelling patterns with our current sort

This week in Math we will...

• reinforce all addition strategies (count on, doubles, doubles plus one, etc) when working with number models
• recognizing patterns when adding or subtracting 10 from numbers

This week in Social Studies we will...

• describe how technology has changed our lives
• learn about the importance of Thanksgiving
• compare Thanksgiving celebrations both past and present

This week in Science we will...

• wrap up our unit on weather

The Week of November 7th...

In Language Arts we will....

• start our until on writing Realistic Fiction
• reread our stories and write them so others can read them
• work with writing partners to peer edit stories
• edit stories for spelling
• check for correct punctuation in our stories
• recognize new vocabulary in our reading
• retell their story in their head using the characters' names
• find certain words in their story that signifies the setting
• add the setting words in their story retell
• read for meaning by questioning things in our stories
• use our one breath boxes to work on fluency with sight words
• recognize patterns in our spelling sorts

In Math we will...

• be introduced to the addition strategies of Doubles and Doubles Plus One
• represent a number, sort that number into 2 groups, and write a double fact number sentence
• write a number sentences showing  double plus one facts

In Science we will...

• record weather information including relative temperature using appropriate vocabulary including but not limited to hot, cold, clear, cloudy, calm, windy, rainy, icy, etc.
• Discuss patterns we see in weather

In Social Studies we will...

• discuss the procedures of voting
• discuss the meaning of Veteran's Day

The Week of October 31st

This week in Language Arts we will...

• write focused narratives
• use a bank of tools to help with spelling in our stories
• try to improve productivity by trying to write an entire story in one writing session
• learn how to preview stories to get minds ready for reading
• use what is happening in a story to predict what will come next
• mark important parts in our books to retell and retain
• learn the importance of rereading and to notice new details in our stories
• sort words according to our spelling patterns

This week in Math we will...

• find the sum of two numbers and then three numbers
• establish patterns with skip counting
• work with creating addition and subtraction sentences
• work with adding to or joining a group
• problem solve during cooperative BUILD learning

This week in Science we will...

• observe and describe how soil is formed

Week of October 24th

This Week in Language Arts we will...

• work on our stories so that readers can understand and read our writing
• hear and record sounds in the words they write
• work on writing sight words with automaticity
• double check that we are spacing between words 
• draw from our repertoire of word-solving strategies to tackle challenges with greater automaticity
• work on improving our fluency
• work in partners to use strategies to read hard words
• strengthen our knowledge of spelling patterns through our sorts

This Week in Math we will...

• make connections between addition and subtraction facts
• use related addition and subtraction facts
• participate in measurement activities with pumpkins

This week in Social Studies we will...

• learn about the importance of recycling
• learn about natural resources and how we use them
• identify examples and uses for natural resources
• identify goods and service
• analyze the importance of having both goods and services and how they impact our communities

Week of October 17th

This week in Language Arts we will ...

• Work with partners to revise and edit our small moment stories
• Work on adding new vocabulary into our schema for reading and writing
• Use the sequence of events to retell a story with a simple narrative structure
• Monitor for meaning in our reading not only when problem solving harder words but also reading across whole parts of longer, more challenging books
• Checking to make sure we understand what we are reading
• Work on envisioning the scene of the story we are reading
• Use clues in illustrations and text to infer the meanings of unfamiliar vocabulary 
• Continue practicing our automaticity of high frequency words
• Master our current spelling sort and apply it to our reading and writing

This week in Math we will ...

• Subtract from a given number and finde the difference
• Create addition and subtraction equations
• Represent numbers in a variety of ways

This week in Science we will...

• Identify forms of energy using light as our model
• Identify and discuss how different forms of energy are important to everyday life
• Work on science specific vocabulary in relation to energy

The Week of October 10th

This week in Language Arts we will...

• Separate out the may sounds we hear in words and write down the letters that correspond to those sounds.
• Plan detailed stories with our writing partners by saying detailed stories aloud before beginning to write.
• Learn the strategy of telling a story across our fingers to help produce stories that have a beginning, middle, and end.
• Use familiar letter combinations to solve unknown/new words
• Continue to strengthen our sight word knowledge base
• Strengthen reading and writing skills with spelling sort patterns
• Be introduced to various types of nouns including common, proper, and pronoun

This week in Math we will...

• Continue to model, draw, share, and problem solve while working through the subtraction problems
• Generate addition word problems
• Generate subtraction word problems
• Use strategies to solve multi step problems
• Problem solve using the strategy of CUBES

This week in Social Studies we will...

• Identify and describe the physical characteristics of land forms, bodies of water, and natural resources (including valleys, mountains, lakes, hills, etc.)

The Week of October 3rd

This week in Language Arts students will...

• Continue working on small moment stories
• Practice stretching out tiny moments using transition words and details
• Plan detailed stories by telling stories aloud before writing them
• Work on strategies to reinforce that stories have a beginning, middle, and end
• Be introduced to new vocabulary and challenge selves to find words in other readings
• Make text-to-self connections with literacy
• Recognize long and short vowel sounds
• Reinforce spelling patterns through spelling sorts
• Continue building bank of tools to use when coming across hard words in reading

This week in Math students will...

• Mork on subtraction facts using subtraction tables
• Graph numbers and draw conclusions
• Find pattern with odd and even numbers
• Model and solve word problems
• Work on Reflex Math
• Facilitate hands on math practice using our BUILD program

This week in Science students will...

• Continue our unit on matter but specifically in regards to heat, such as
• how does matter change with heat
• predicting and observing changes caused by heat
• enriching our 'matter' vocabulary
• identifying changes causes by heat and by cooling

Week of September 26th

The Week of September 26th

This week in Language Arts we will...

• Work on stretching out thoughts in our writing
• Separate out the many sounds we hear in words and figure out corresponding letters
• Reinforce new vocabulary
• Look for patterns of spelling and sounds through poetry
• Learning the important jobs we have to know and facilitate during reading
• Continue working on learning our top 100 High Frequency words
• Continue working on recognizing beginning sounds in words through spelling

This week in Math we will...

• Use pictures to and subtraction to compare
• Understand the concept subtract all or zero
• Deconstruct numbers
• Add and subtract within 10
• Be assessed on our knowledge these skills
• Model and solve word problems

This week in Science we will...

• Continue our unit on matter but specifically in regards to heat, such as
• how does matter change with heat
• predicting and observing changes caused by heat
• enriching our 'matter' vocabulary
• identifying changes causes by heat and by cooling

The Week of September 19th

This week in Language Arts, we will...

• Fancy and fix up a piece of writing
• Read and edit our stories by checking correct usage of capitalization and punctuation
• Practice writing CVC words
• Discover new vocabulary through read alouds
• Practice sorting words that will get us ready for the spelling program
• Continue working on good habits for strong reading

This week in Math, we will...

• Review addition strategies
• Model and create addition sentences
• Be introduced to subtraction using the vocabular "take away from"
• Model taking away from
• Use subtraction and pictures to compare values
• Solve problems of the independently, then as a class
• Participate in our math stations

This week in Science, we will...

• Learn about matter through various experiments and observations

Week of September 12th

Language Arts

In writing this week we will continue working on our Small Moment stories. Small moment stories are personal reflections about our daily life...of something that has happened (going to the grocery store, walking to school, climbing a tree) that we turn into a story with a beginning, middle, and end. We also work on correct sentence constructions (capital, periods, etc.) In addition, we are encouraging the students to include details in descriptions through words, pictures, and labels. Next week we will focus on extending our stories across multiple pages to give it the feel of an actual story modeled by our read-alouds. By stretching out these moments across pages, it works on visualization as well as detailing. In reading, now that we have established the routine of our workshop, we are focusing on 'Building Good Reading Habits.' Your child should be able to tell you about some of the objectives such as: taking a sneak peek before reading, setting goals, rereading to smooth out our voice for fluency, scooping words together for comprehension, etc.  Finally, remember that we are always working on sight words and blends in terms of reading and writing. Knowing sight words and being able to pronounce common blends helps in both areas of study! 

Math - This week students will continue working on addition. We will focus on solving problems horizontally and vertically as well as recognizing patterns with skip counting. Our BUILD program will also begin which allows students a time to facilitate hands on math practice into a cooperative learning environment. 

Social Studies - Students will wrap up our unit on Authority Figures/Community Helpers. Next we begin discussions on maps - what they are, what they are used for, as well as the important components (legend, compass rose, etc.).  

The Week of September 5th

Our Curriculum for Next Week:

Language Arts - This week we will continue focusing on the routines and procedures of our Reading and Writing Workshops. In writing, students will spend time including pictures that correspond with their personal stories. In addition, students will be encouraged to work on spelling strategies in their writing by analyzing beginning (initial) sounds. When challenging words appear in stories, students will also be encouraged to seek out methods of support (alphabet charts, spelling dictionary, high frequency word lists). In reading, students will continue focusing on establishing good reading habits during workshop. Later in the week they will evaluate the differences between good reading habits and bad reading habits and challenge themselves to continue with habits that promote strong reading. 

Math - This week students will continue working on putting numbers together. Specifically, we will focus on modeling our addition problems with objects, moving on to picture representations of our problems, and finally working on the actual number sentences. By bridging these different methods we solidify our number awareness.

Science - Students will continue working on learning safety features when working in the lab as well as conducting experiments in the classroom. 

Social Studies - Students will work on a unit including Community Helpers and Authority Figures. We will discuss the various roles and duties not only in our schools but in our community. Finally, we will challenge ourselves by investigating how life would differ without leaders and authority figures as well as determine what role we would prefer to have ourselves. 

Our First Grade Encore Schedule:

Additional Items for your Calendar!

September Dates 

5^th       Labor Day-No School

9^th       Evacuation Drill (if you see our campus walking to the neighboring church, it’s okay! It’s just a drill!)

10^th     CEF Event at Hilton Town Square

16^th     OUES Family Picnic (4:00-7:00)

21^st      Picture Day (Preschool, 3rd and 4th)

22^nd    Picture Day (Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd)

29^th     Dragon Dash Pep Rally in the Cafeteria (2:00-2:45)

30^th     Dragon Football vs. Trinity-Pink Out (7:30 kickoff)

The week of August 29th...

Coming Up in our Curriculum!

Language Arts - Students will begin learning and establishing the routines of our Language Arts Reading and Writing Workshop. In Reading, students will begin choosing books on their independent level to help build comprehension and fluency while we work on providing the guidelines for becoming strong readers. In Writing, we will begin the task of cultivating thoughts to create original works based on real experiences. We will also begin word work that focuses on creating rhyming patterns.

Math - Students will apply the strategy of beginning with the largest number and then "counting on."

Social Studies - students will continue learning about rules - in our school as well as in our community. In addition, we will challenge them to reflect on why rules are important to our society. 

ALSO, please join us this Thursday, September 1st for Curriculum Night at 5:00!

Additional Information:

• Students will get to visit the library and our new librarian, Mrs. Pitts!
• First Grade is planning on attending Computer Lab as well, so please make sure you have sent headphones with your child.
• Please have your children wear tennis shoes on PE days. Not only is it safer but it improves their athletic performance. 
• Lunch and recess!!! Students were asking when they would get to go to lunch and recess. It's here! Lunch is from 11:10 - 11:40. Recess immediately follows from 11:40 - 12:10. A new school policy you will notice is that when you have lunch with your child, there will be a designated guest table. For the safety and security of all our students, friends are not permitted to eat at the guest table. In addition, if you would like to access the lunch menu online, follow this link:
  
  
  http://southlakecarroll.nutrislice.com/menu/old-union-elementary/lunch/
  
• PTO registration is under way. It's a wonderful and vital way to support our kids and school. To sign up visit  www.ouespto.com.

• 
  

We are SO excited to start the school year!!!

• 
  
• 
  
•          We ARE having snacks this week even with early dismissal. If you would like to send a snack with your child, we encourage you to do so. We do have nut free classrooms so please make sure that your snack is a healthy one (no candy or cookies) that does not include nuts.  You may also send in a spill-proof water bottle to keep your dragon hydrated!
• 
  
•             Please make sure that you send all forms from Meet the Teacher back to school as well as your $10.00 Supply Fee. The front office is anxiously anticipating the forms as soon as possible.
• 
  
•            One of the documents in your packet that went home mentioned that we like to have a framed picture of your family/families to display in the classroom. We like to place these above the cubbies. Our students love for their friends to see their family and it’s also a nice little thing to have when they may be feeling a little homesick. We promise to return all frames at the end of the year!
• 
  
•      We will be asking for a set of headphones (for computer lab and iPad use) for your child to keep at school.  You may send them now in a labeled large ziplock.
• 
  
•       Literacy assessments are this week!  You signed up your child for a 30 minute time slot.  During this time, the teacher will work one on one with your child with a variety of reading activities.  This helps us SO much start our reader's workshop get to a strong start!

•        If you were unable to attend Meet the Teacher – no fear! We have all your forms saved for you and we will catch you up Monday morning! We look forward to meeting you and your sweet one then! 

S    We can't wait to see your dragon tomorrow!!!

The Week of May 23rd

This week in language arts, we will…

·      Enjoy free choice writing

·      Learn about fables and their lessons

·      Practice using proper capitalization and punctuation on paragraphs that have none.

·      Work on iStation while in computer lab.  

This week in math, we will…

·      Add two digit numbers

·      Review place value

·      Solve problems of the day independently, then as a class

·      Participate in our math stations

·      Work on Reflex Math and Think Central while in computer lab

This week in Science, we will...

·      Learn about motion

Get Your Calendars Out!

 May Events

25^th      May Birthday Lunches on the Stage

26^th      Field Day at Dragon Stadium

27^th      Bad Weather Day

30^th      Memorial Day

31^st      April/May Ticket Winner Party

June Events

1^st        Kindergarten Graduation

4th Grade Sleepover

2^nd       Last Day of School/Early Release

Week of May 16th

This week in language arts, we will…

·      Work on revising and editing our writing

·      Continue reading fairy tales

·      Discover new vocabulary through a weekly read aloud

·      Categorize words to learn spelling patterns

·      Practice using proper capitalization and punctuation on exiting paragraphs

·      Work on IStation while in computer lab

This week in math, we will…

·      Review fact families

·      Add or subtract 10 and discover patterns

·      Add two digit numbers without regrouping

·      Solve problems of the day independently, then as a class

·      Participate in our math stations

·      Work on Reflex Math and Think Central while in computer lab

This week in Science, we will... 

·      research animals of our choice

Mark Your Calendar!

May Events

16^th      EIS Tour for 4th Grade Students

17^th      Choir Field Trip         

18^th      Walk a Mile for 3rd & 4th Grade

18^th      Morris Brothers Program

19^th      4th Grade Recorder and Choir Performance (8:30am and 6:00pm)

25^th      May Birthday Lunches on the Stage

26^th      Field Day at Dragon Stadium

27^th      Bad Weather Day

30^th      Memorial Day

31^st      April/May Ticket Winner Party

June Events

1^st        Kindergarten Graduation

4th Grade Sleepover

2^nd       Last Day of School/Early Release

This week in language arts, we will…

·      Work on adding detail and dialogue to our writing

·      Compare and contrast different versions of fairy tales

·      Discover new vocabulary through a weekly read aloud

·      Categorize words to learn spelling patterns

·      Practice using proper capitalization and punctuation in existing writing

·      Work on IStation while in computer lab

This week in math, we will…

·      Learn about the responsibilities attached to money such as saving and spending on the things we need

·      Review fractions

·      Solve problems of the day independently, then as a class

·      Participate in our math stations

·      Work on Reflex Math and Think Central while in computer lab

In Social Studies, we will...

·      Learn that legends reflect beliefs, customs, language and traditions

Additional Announcements

- Our field trip in Monday, May 9th. Please make sure your child is wearing tennis shoes with either shorts or pants. In addition, please send a disposable lunch.

- STAAR testing will be held Monday, May 9th an Tuesday, May 10th. This means our campus will be a closed campus. Please reschedule any volunteering responsibilities and/or lunch with your child on that day. In addition, recess on Tuesday will be in the field across the bridge. Your child is welcome to bring outside play equipment such as jump ropes, soccer ball, kick ball, football, etc.

Get Your Calendar Out!

May Events

9^th        STAAR Math Testing for 3rd & 4th Grade (Closed Campus)

9^th        National SRO Week

10^th      STAAR Reading Testing for 3rd & 4th Grade (Closed Campus)

11^th      National School Nurse Day

16^th      EIS Tour for 4th Grade Students

17^th      Choir Field Trip         

18^th      Walk a Mile for 3rd & 4th Grade

18^th      Morris Brothers Program

19^th      4th Grade Recorder and Choir Performance (8:30am and 6:00pm)

25^th      May Birthday Lunches on the Stage

26^th      Field Day at Dragon Stadium

27^th      Bad Weather Day

30^th      Memorial Day

31^st      April/May Ticket Winner Party

June Events

1^st        Kindergarten Graduation

4th Grade Sleepover

2^nd       Last Day of School/Early Release