Important Upcoming Dates:

Friday, May 22nd - First Grade Field Trip to the Denver Botanic Gardens!

Bus departs GRE at 9:30 and will return no later than 2:00 pm

*Your child will need a sack lunch labeled clearly with their name.

*Wear sturdy shoes, good for walking!

*Dress appropriately for the weather!  Wear sunscreen!

How do I register my child?

*In order for your child to participate in this field trip, you must register (includes online permission form) and pre-pay online by going to:

RevTrak > Elementary Schools > Elementary Schools E-L > Gold Rush > Field Trips.  The RevTrak link can be found on GRE's website under Parent Info, or click here. 

*Please send in your RevTrak receipt to give to his/her teacher.  Online registration is for your child only - please do not register yourself or younger siblings.

*Free/reduced lunch students will have the option of selecting "no payment" but must still register.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Monday, May 25th - No School 

Memorial Day

Thursday, June 4th - Last day of First Grade!

Dear First Grade Families, 

How is it possible that it is already May?  Where has the time gone?  I haven't checked in with you for a while... We've been very busy, so I apologize! Please read on to learn about all the amazing things your first grader has been up to! 

Reading:
We have continued our focus on "Reading is Thinking," practicing the comprehension strategies of inferring, determining importance, paraphrasing information, summarizing and synthesizing.  

When making inferences, readers connect what they read - the text - with what they know - their background knowledge, or "B.K."  We began our study of making inferences by reading poetry.  One poem we read was called "Things" where a person walks into a store and buys some candy, but then the poem states that she "ain't got it no more."  We used our B.K. - what we know about candy - to infer what happened.  We know that you eat candy, so we can infer that the person in the poem ate her candy.  This was a fun unit!  I hope you saw the snowflake poems that came home before Spring Break.  This was just one way we practiced the skill of inferring.  The kids wrote a poem about a winter activity, but couldn't say what the activity was.  They gave clues and asked their readers to infer what was happening in their poem.  They did a wonderful job!  As you read with your child, stop and discuss what you can infer from the text! 

We've also practiced the skill of determining importance. This is a strategy that readers use to distinguish between what information in text is most important verses what information is interesting, but not necessary for understanding. This can be hard for kids of all ages, but especially for first graders!  However, the kids did a great job!  I've told them to think about what information would be most important to teach or tell someone else - what is the big (or main) idea. One article we read was about Helen Keller.  Big ideas included the fact that Helen was blind and deaf, but still able to do things for herself.  An interesting fact was that she liked to ride horses.  As we read nonfiction texts we wrote down important facts in our own words, by paraphrasing what we read.  This, too, can be a difficult skill!  I told the kids to read the words once or twice, then cover them up and write down what they remembered - what was most important.  This seemed to help.  Of course they can look back at the text to see how to spell a word they need.  We also used a think sheet to write down questions we had while reading, and our reactions to the text.  Reactions include our feelings, things that surprised us, a connection, or even our background knowledge (they love to tell us what they already know about a topic!).  They did one of these think sheets for homework a couple of weeks ago.  At times we've done this work with partners (which they love), and at times on our own.  We share what we learn each day.

So, now we've moved on to summarizing and synthesizing.  We are taking notes on sticky notes as we read - being sure to try and paraphrase the information we determine to be most important.  Then, we've organized our notes and used them to write a summary about the topic we are studying.  We are synthesizing all of the information by making a poster about our topic which we will share with the class to teach them all about what we've learned!  Some kids have chosen to do this work with a partner, while some have worked alone. I am so impressed with everyone!  We will be sharing these in class soon, then bringing them home to share.  As you can see, we've been very busy doing some really smart work!  Aren't first graders amazing?!!!

Writing
Before Spring Break we finished our unit on Information Writing - or "Teaching Books."  I'm sure you saw the work the kids brought home to share with you!  I hope you enjoyed reading and learning from your child!  We've now begun our Opinion Writing unit.  Thank you for letting your child bring in a collection! We've been acting as judges, judging our collection and deciding on our Blue Ribbon, or First Place, Winner.  I've shared that good opinion writers give lots of reasons for their opinion.  They are trying to convince others to agree with them.  We talked about using the phrase "I think this because..." in our writing; and transition words like first, and, or another reason I think...  We continue to think about having a beginning that catches the reader's attention, and an ending that restates our opinion.  We've also tried to remember other tools or "craft moves" we learned when we were writing small moments and our teaching books, and see if we can use these in our opinion writing. This week we are learning to disagree politely with another's opinion by writing about someone else's collection - one in which we disagree with their choice for first place.  The kids' collections will be coming home this week.  We will move on to write opinions about other topics such as favorite books, movies, or even fictional characters.  For example, we've been reading various versions of Jack and the Beanstalk and sharing our opinions about weather we think Jack is a hero or a thief. Try asking your child's opinion at home and have them practice giving multiple reasons to back up their thinking!  

Math
We finished a unit on addition and subtraction after Spring Break (their assessment came home in Thursday Folders) and have been working on a unit that focuses on patterns.  Mathematics is especially useful when it helps you predict, and number patterns are all about prediction.  One of the purposes of our pattern unit is to raise awareness of pattern and regularity and to introduce students to some common number sequences.  Once students begin looking for and expecting patterns in mathematics, they become alert to regularities that can help them understand important mathematical relationships.  Some of the work in this unit is related to the beginnings of multiplication - adding equal groups.  Even more central to this unit, however, is the idea of developing a rule to describe how one quantity changes in relation to another.  

Next week we will begin another unit focusing on numbers, counting and quantity, the composition of numbers, and the operations of addition and subtraction.  Students will encounter situations that provide concrete models for counting by numbers other than 1.  As students solve such problems and think about ways to organize objects so they are easier to count and combine, they begin to make sense of what it means to count by groups.  Finally, this unit focuses on achieving fluency with the 2-addend combinations of 10 and introduces students to ideas about equivalence (e.g., 8+5=10+3).  

We will finish our year with a another look at shapes.  This time we will discover the attributes of three-dimensional shapes and use them to create a model of a city.  We combine this with a social studies unit on maps, creating a map of the city we build.  The kids love this project!  It is a fun way to end our year!

Social Studies
After Spring Break we finished up our study of American Symbols and Landmarks.  The kids worked in their Book Clubs researching one of our American Symbols.  They created a poster to help them teach the class about what they learned.  The class took notes about each symbol as it was presented.  Along the way we discussed the importance of collaboration and working together.  The kids love working in groups!  They did a wonderful job!

Science
We are completing our study of solids and liquids and beginning a unit on life cycles, observing the life cycle of plants and insects.  We just received some caterpillars and will watch with scientific eyes as these insects transform.  We are taking notes and drawing pictures of what we notice in our "field notebooks."  We will be planting seeds this week and watching the stages our plants go through as well.  This is a fun, interactive science unit!  



Well, that should take us to the end of the year, which is just a short month away!  Wow!  It will be here before we know it!  I will be sending home information about end-of-the-year activities in the next couple of weeks. 

Thank you for taking the time to read through this, and for all you do to support your child at home!  I feel so blessed to be working with such wonderful families!  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Stacie Martino

Dear First Grade Families, 

I can't believe it is already February and that we've been in school for 100 days!  Yes, last week we celebrated our 100th day of school!  As always, we've been very busy first graders!  I would like to update you on all we've been doing.  Let me begin by telling you about some important upcoming dates:

Important Upcoming Dates:

This week we will be participating in The Great Kindness Challenge.  
This event is a time when students can focus on being kind to everyone they see - just because it's the right thing to do. To help celebrate being kind, we are also having a spirit week.  Here are the themes for each day:

Monday, February 9th: "Kindness is the Gold Rush Way" - Wear your school spirit gear!

Tuesday, February 10th: "Team Kindness" - Wear sports gear!

Wednesday, February 11th: "Happy Hats" - Wear a hat to school!

Thursday, February 12th: "Dream of Kindness" - PJ day!  

**Friday - no school! 

Thursday, February 12th:  Valentine's Day Party!

Please join us in our classroom from 1:45-2:45.  

The kids will be making a craft, opening valentines, 

and enjoying an ice cream sundae.

*Everyone should bring in a decorated box to hold valentines, and addressed valentines for everyone in our class on Thursday. This has been their homework for the last two weeks.

No school Friday, February 13th - Professional Development Day
No school Monday, February 16th - President's Day

Parent-Teacher Conferences:
Please sign up for our conferences that are scheduled for
Wednesday, February 18th and Thursday, February 26th
You can click here to sign up.  Or, if the link doesn't work, there is a link on the Gold Rush Website.
The password is: digger

Here are some highlights from the work we are doing in class:

Reading:

Before our winter break we enjoyed reading and discussing a Jr. Great Books story, The Elves and the Shoemaker.  Jr. Great Books provides an opportunity to read wonderful literature while developing comprehension, critical thinking, and oral and written language skills.  I really enjoyed our class discussions and was so impressed by the deep thinking and insights from your children!  We will be reading and discussing more Jr. Great Books stories soon.

We have been connecting our Information Writing Unit with some work in reading by focusing on nonfiction books.  We've talked about the difference between fiction and nonfiction books and looked at nonfiction text features. These include things like photographs and illustrations, captions, headings, labels, diagrams, and charts.  We made a book about ourselves, showing examples of each type of text feature.  This came home last week. We've talked about how authors use these features to teach their readers.  As readers we need to pay attention to all of these features, look at them carefully, and learn from them when reading nonfiction.  We've also tried using these features when writing our own "teaching books" during writing to help teach our readers. As you read books at home, point out these features and discuss their purpose... Why did the author choose to include that feature?  What does it help teach?

We've continued our focus that "Reading is Thinking" - that readers don't just read the words, they must pay attention and think as they read.  We leave tracks of our thinking on sticky notes or on think sheets, which we share with the class. Earlier this year we've talked about Making Connections... Monitoring our Comprehension by paying attention to our thinking and asking, "Does this make sense?" We also pay attention to what we've learned and how our thinking might change. We've also practiced Asking Questions. Recently we've learned that sometimes readers have to Make Inferences. We have to think about the clues in the text and infer meaning, such as how a character might feel, or what is happening.  We practiced this when reading poetry. We then wrote our own poems with a winter theme where our readers have to infer what the poem is about.  These will be hanging in our hall soon!

*Please continue to read nightly with your child!  Many kids have been forgetting to return their Book Bag each day.  These should travel home and back to school daily.  Remember, your child can also read from the Raz-Kids program online.  There are great books on their level.. and the kids take quizzes to test them on their comprehension.  This is wonderful practice! Please take advantage of this program!

Writing:

We have been working hard on our Information Writing Unit.  This unit focuses on writing text to teach our readers about a subject we are "experts" on... and writing nonfiction "teaching" books.  Some of our topics include animals they know a lot about, holidays, super heroes, seasons, or how to take care of a pet. We began by writing books on various topics, and have moved on to writing chapter books!  Yes... chapter books!  The kids are so excited and motivated! They love writing time!

We've studied various nonfiction texts, looking at these "mentor authors" and discussing what they do and use to teach their writers, then trying this in our own writing to create meaning strategically. We've made a list of things we can do to teach our readers. 

As writers we can...

...write in "twin sentences" (add details by writing 2 sentences, such as "Dogs like to eat biscuits.  Biscuits are little treats, like cookies."

...think of questions our readers might have that we should try and answer.

...include pictures that teach by using labels, captions, or other features we've noticed in mentor texts, like "fast facts" next to our picture.

...think about adding details about color, shape, or size.

...try using a comparison, like "A shark's teeth are as sharp as a knife."

...try including examples, like "When you go hiking you should bring a healthy snack. Good examples are fruit, a granola bar, or a sandwich."

We've also talked about having a beginning that captures the reader's attention, and an ending that wraps up our book, all while focusing on being sure to go through all of the stages of the writing process:  Think of an idea, make a plan, write, revise (we say, "When you're done, you've just begun!" - kids add to or change their writing to make it better), edit (the hardest part for first graders... edit spelling - some, not all - and check for punctuation), and publish!  

WOW!  Aren't your kids amazing?!!  As I mentioned, the kids are so engaged during writing and really love to write their books.  It is a favorite part of our day!

Math:

We finished our unit on addition and subtraction a while ago.  We will focus on this again in a month or so.  We worked through a unit on data collection and analysis.  The kids were interpreting data, reading charts and graphs, collecting data, and creating representations of their data. We are beginning a unit on measurement. During this unit we will also learn about time and practice reading a clock to the hour and half hour. Practice telling time at home!

Another math focus includes learning how to count to 120 (and beyond) by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s.  Most of the kids could use some practice with counting by 2s at home.  Also, we've been trying to memorize our doubles facts, and facts with a sum of 10.  It is wonderful to practice all basic math facts.  When we know these facts we can "use what we know" - a math strategy - when adding and subtracting.  We can compose and decompose numbers - take them apart and put them back together - when computing.  For example, if we know 6+6=12, then 6+7=13.  Or, when adding 16+14 we know that 16 is 10+6 and 14 is 10+4.  We know 10+10 is 20 and 6+4 is another 10, so this equals 30. Our goal is for kids to see these relationships and patterns quickly when looking at a problem and be able to do this math mentally.  This may not happen in first grade (it already has for some kids), but working with basic number facts and memorizing them will help them get there!  There are a lot of math fact games and apps you can download to various devices you may have at home.  I encourage the kids to practice their math facts daily.  

Most of the kids have been completing the Sunshine Math sheets that have been coming home for homework.  I encourage everyone to try these problems!  You may need to help them read the problem... we talk about how important it is to read the problem more than once.  If they are not sure how to solve the problem you can offer some ideas, or even show them how you would figure it out.  But encourage them to do the thinking by asking questions, like, "What can we try?" or "What if we did this __.  Can you do the rest?"  Have fun with this!

Science and Social Studies:

We finished our unit on rocks by taking about things that are made from rock. We even made items out of clay, the smallest rock particle we observed. We will begin a science unit on Solids and Liquids soon.  

We've been focusing on social studies.  Before our winter break we talked about customs around the world.  Recently we've talked about Martin Luther Kind Jr. and the changes he made with the help of people like Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks.  We will also discuss other historical figures like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as President's day approaches.  Our Book Clubs are working on Reader's Theaters plays about these historical figures, and others who have had an impact on our country. 

As you can see, we've been very busy first graders!  I've enjoyed sharing some of our learning with you!  I hope you enjoy talking with your child about all of their hard work!  I will look forward to sharing more with you during our upcoming conferences!

I have such a wonderful class!  They make me smile everyday!  I can't thank you enough for all of your help and support!  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know!

Sincerely,

Stacie Martino