Now that we are familiar with first grade rules and procedures, reading groups will begin this week!  We've been practicing what Reader's Workshop looks like and sounds like during Guided Reading groups.  We will have four literacy stations up and running beginning on Monday.  Students will work on comprehension skills in one station by working independently to read and respond about their reading in their Reader Response Notebook.  Another center will involve auditory comprehension using technology.  The third center will focus on fluency and repeated timed readings.  Finally, the fourth center will contain word work, focusing on Letterland phonics.  Students will rotate through these stations in a weeks' time with a partner.  They will have a guided reading group and one station each day unless they are assigned two reading groups.  On Friday, we review Letterland words with the game, "Sparkle", complete the Letterland assessment, and do buddy reading where students get to practice reading aloud to a partner and also listening intently as their partner reads to them. 

In Math, we will begin a more varied approach to instruction the following week.  Some days the lesson will be taught to the whole group and then we will split into smaller groups to practice the skill.  Other days, we will rotate through stations.  One of them will be teacher led, the other stations will be small groups working cooperatively.  Students will rotate through all of these stations in one day.  This method will help students get small group instruction and the lesson differentiated for different types of learners.

Exciting times are here in Science!  We have planted seeds which we will water and observe daily.  We will be observing our aquarium flora and fauna and also our terrarium plants and animals.  Hands on experimentation and Science Notebook documentation have us off and running.  Organisms will be everywhere!

Home Reading Packets will be coming home on Monday.  Be on the lookout for the volunteer sign up sheet sometime this week.

Have a great week, and remember to think Win-Win!