Returning for our first full week of school, first graders are readily learning classroom expectations and routines as we work toward increased levels of independence. Centers are in full swing, technology is up and running, academic skills are being reviewed, and new concepts are being introduced. This week, center work is mainly focused on three things: accessing web-based classroom subscriptions and Google Docs, reviewing and practicing short vowels, and reviewing and building number sense. Thus far, students have logged into IXL and Headsprout. We will be using these programs in class throughout the school year, and students are welcome to access them at home. Look for more information in this week’s Friday folder. We have logged into GoogleDocs and created our first document. Students learned how to title their document (Spelling CVC), create a numbered list, and type their spelling words. We will attempt to make this our Tuesday routine so as to have an electronic copy of our weekly spelling lists. Morning work and centers have provided the opportunity to practice working with short vowels as students have completed and read poems, sorted words based on their vowel sound, built short vowel words, played short vowel games, and completed rhyming books. Building number sense, we are practicing a variety of counting skills including skip counting by 5s and 10s (to 100 and beyond), counting on and counting back from a given number, and determining a small quantity more or less than a given number.
