Parents,
Holy cow! I can't believe it's the last day of February! That means less than 3 months left of 1st grade. Again, holy cow.
To give you an idea of the progress your kiddo is making towards the end-of-year reading fluency goal of 47 words per minute, I'm sending home a letter today in Thursday folders with your kiddo's current fluency progress. The letter outlines the goals, your kiddo's current reading fluency speed, whether or not they're on track to meet the end-of-year target, and some general tips to help your kiddo increase his/her reading fluency. Please let me know if you'd like help processing this info or if you'd like to chat about it before conferences.
Speaking of conferences, they will be held on Tuesday, 3/19 (same day as our field trip), and Wednesday, 3/20. The 1st grade team has decided to do student-led conferences this go-around instead of the typical teacher-led conferences. Look for more info & a sign-up coming home next Wednesday.
Your 1st grader might have mentioned to you that I made some pretty significant shifts to their reading/writing groups. The kiddos in each of the groups have stayed mostly the same for the past couple of months, but since we're nearing the home stretch of 1st grade, I'm attempting to be even more strategic with grouping to make sure kids are getting exactly what they need before they move on to 2nd grade. A big component of the shift in groups was the kids' results of their Superkids Unit 12 Progress Test which will be coming home today in Thursday folders. This assessment included decoding, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing.
This week we started a new geometry unit in math. Kids will be reasoning with 2D and 3D shapes and their attributes. As you saw in their homework for this week, I want to encourage kids to know geometry in school but to also recognize geometry in the real world.
In writing/science, kids are researching 2 different animals and will eventually combine what they know about each animal to invent a new, fake animal. For example, I modeled with the kids my research on kangaroos and gorillas. Then, I created a fake, morphed animal called a "kangarilla". The kids think this project is so much fun! Look for info coming home tomorrow about the "at home" portion of the project that will take the place of the majority of the usual weekly homework for this coming week.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Amy
