Shoe Tying
In a recent survey of our 1st graders, I confirmed that over half of our class does not yet know how to tie their shoes! Not only can that be unsafe, but as you can imagine, this also takes teacher time that might be spent in other ways. If your child wears laced shoes, you may want to watch a video of easy ways to teach this important skill! There are a surprising number of methods, but here is a link to one of my favorites. How to tie your shoes.
In a recent survey of our 1st graders, I confirmed that over half of our class does not yet know how to tie their shoes! Not only can that be unsafe, but as you can imagine, this also takes teacher time that might be spent in other ways. If your child wears laced shoes, you may want to watch a video of easy ways to teach this important skill! There are a surprising number of methods, but here is a link to one of my favorites. How to tie your shoes.
Homework Expectations
Getting Started....
*Learn how to tie shoes and keep them tied!
*Read with an adult for 20 minutes each day.
*Practice counting and writing numbers to 120.
*Practice writing lists, notes and complete sentences.
*Review skills learned in class.
Beginning September 29th...
Homework packets will be sent home on Tuesdays, and are due the following Monday.
In addition to the 20 or more minutes of reading at home each day, we believe that 10 minutes of nightly homework in a combination of math, spelling, or writing is appropriate for first graders. A packet that contains reading, a small amount of writing, the week's spelling practice, and math, will come home each Tuesday, and is due the following Monday (or next regular school day when there is no school.) Please encourage your child to put his/her name on each piece of homework so I can make sure to give him/her credit!
Read-at-Home Book Bags
In addition to the weekly homework packet, a Read-at-Home Book Bag will be sent home daily. Students will bring a book home to practice each day. The goal is for your child to read and re-read the book at home to an adult multiple times until the reading is natural and fluent, and return the book to school the following day. After your child has read 15 of these book bag stories (1 per night) he/she will earn a small prize!
1. Listen to your child read the story until he/she is fluent each night.
2. Record the story title on the Reading Log enclosed in the book bag, and initial it to indicate you have listened to your child read the story.
3. On days your child brings home the anthology, please read only the story I've bookmarked. I'd prefer that your child resist the temptation to read ahead in that book. It would be better to re-read, so that his/her reading sounds more like talking. This also allows me to introduce the concepts we're working on before students read a new story.
4. Please remember to return the book in the Read-at-Home Book Bag with the Book Log each day, even if there's a day that you just can't get to the homework. Since your child will again re-read the previous day's story in class, it is very important to bring that book back to school each day!
5. Since most of the stories are short, this reading will likely not take more than 10 or 15 minutes. After the assigned reading, please feel free to have your child read from your home library, or other library books.
Reading Online with Kids A-Z
I highly recommend having your first grader take advantage of the (free to you) reading online at home on the Kids A-Z website. You can also access from the Kids A-Z app on any mobile device. Students get reading practice, and I get valuable information about their reading strategies from listening to recordings they can make at this site. You can access this site at kidsa-z.com or on the Reading Tab on this webpage.
*Learn how to tie shoes and keep them tied!
*Read with an adult for 20 minutes each day.
*Practice counting and writing numbers to 120.
*Practice writing lists, notes and complete sentences.
*Review skills learned in class.
Beginning September 29th...
Homework packets will be sent home on Tuesdays, and are due the following Monday.
In addition to the 20 or more minutes of reading at home each day, we believe that 10 minutes of nightly homework in a combination of math, spelling, or writing is appropriate for first graders. A packet that contains reading, a small amount of writing, the week's spelling practice, and math, will come home each Tuesday, and is due the following Monday (or next regular school day when there is no school.) Please encourage your child to put his/her name on each piece of homework so I can make sure to give him/her credit!
Read-at-Home Book Bags
In addition to the weekly homework packet, a Read-at-Home Book Bag will be sent home daily. Students will bring a book home to practice each day. The goal is for your child to read and re-read the book at home to an adult multiple times until the reading is natural and fluent, and return the book to school the following day. After your child has read 15 of these book bag stories (1 per night) he/she will earn a small prize!
1. Listen to your child read the story until he/she is fluent each night.
2. Record the story title on the Reading Log enclosed in the book bag, and initial it to indicate you have listened to your child read the story.
3. On days your child brings home the anthology, please read only the story I've bookmarked. I'd prefer that your child resist the temptation to read ahead in that book. It would be better to re-read, so that his/her reading sounds more like talking. This also allows me to introduce the concepts we're working on before students read a new story.
4. Please remember to return the book in the Read-at-Home Book Bag with the Book Log each day, even if there's a day that you just can't get to the homework. Since your child will again re-read the previous day's story in class, it is very important to bring that book back to school each day!
5. Since most of the stories are short, this reading will likely not take more than 10 or 15 minutes. After the assigned reading, please feel free to have your child read from your home library, or other library books.
Reading Online with Kids A-Z
I highly recommend having your first grader take advantage of the (free to you) reading online at home on the Kids A-Z website. You can also access from the Kids A-Z app on any mobile device. Students get reading practice, and I get valuable information about their reading strategies from listening to recordings they can make at this site. You can access this site at kidsa-z.com or on the Reading Tab on this webpage.