-On Monday, students from Robert Morris University presented Junior Achievement lessons to our students. The first graders participated in a unit called, Our Families. The lessons which were taught mirrored our social studies curriculum, focusing on families, jobs, needs and wants, and map keys and symbols. The children thoroughly enjoyed the engaging, hands-on activities Miss Casey and Miss Erika led throughout the school day.
-On Tuesday, all parents and guardians were invited to join us for our storybook pumpkin character share. We hope that you enjoyed your time in the classroom! The link for the pumpkin video is attached below. The children were very excited about the project, and quickly became familiar with many storybook characters!
-On Thursday, we had a visitor, Mrs. Brecosky, Curriculum and Reading Coordinator from the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. Mrs. Brecosky is a leader of the AIU Reading Achievement Center, and is working with Moon Area School District teachers on research-based reading instruction theories and practices. Mrs. Brecosky modeled various word building activities, which we will continue to practice in our classroom throughout the school year.
-On Friday, the students participated in the McCormick Jog-a-thon, which was organized by the PTC. The children ran laps and participated in wellness activities at different stations in the gym. Afterwards, we enjoyed a healthy snack! Thank you to all involved in this wonderful fundraiser. Because of you, McCormick is an awesome place to teach and learn!
-The students also filled our “jar of warm fuzzies”, earning a classroom celebration! As part of our celebration, we played educational games such as Alphabet and Sight Word Bingo, Pop for Sight Words, Word Detectives, and word building games. We also joined our first grade friends in Mrs. Myers’ class for a Magic School Bus video and a treat! I am so proud of the students’ excellent behavior these first two months of school! Keep up the excellent behavior!
-In math, we continued to work on subtraction. The students practiced taking apart the numbers 7 and 8, and 9 and 10. At this stage, some students still need manipulatives to help visualize the “taking away” subtraction strategy. If your child is experiencing difficulty completing math problems independently, you may want to try using pennies, cereal, m&m’s, buttons, etc. when completing math homework. Please continue to work on math facts each night!
-Our spelling unit focused on blends this week. We introduced the following blends: cl-, pl-, fl-, bl-.
-In reading, we read and discussed fantasy stories. Our main selection story, Flip, made us wish we had a pet dinosaur too! We discussed plot this week, and practiced sequencing events from beginning, middle, and end. When you read with your child, have them practice retelling the main events of the story.
-Our grammar lessons were focused on types of sentences this week. We have been learning about questions, statements, and exclamations, and practice reading each with the proper voice. Ask your child to read and identify the following sentences:
I have a pet dog.
My dog is very fast!
Do you have a pet, too?
Now challenge your child to correct the following sentences by adding capital letters and the correct punctuation.
is the cat little
my big cat is black and white
look at that fast cat
what is your favorite color
we have a blue leash for the dog
he loves to run outside in the grass
-Because of the many special events and visitors we had this week, we will NOT move on to a new story in our reading book or receive a new spelling list during the upcoming short week. We will continue to review Unit 1 Lesson 4 skills.
REMINDER:
Tuesday- Red Day
Wednesday- Favorite Team Shirt Day
Thursday- Slipper Day
Friday- McCormick Rocks Bully Free T-shirt Day!
*Thank you to those who have donated backpacks and school supplies for the West Hills Food Pantry. Our school district has already donated over 190 backpacks!
