Favorites of Fall!

Austin displaying his rainbow.

We have been working on addition strategies in math this week.  We have learned to count on with 1, 2, and 3 starting from the bigger number.  We also will be working with combinations of numbers that make 10.  You will have seen the lovely 10's rainbow that they painted earlier in the week.  This will help them learn their ten's facts.  Hang it somewhere that you can reference it.  10 is such an important number in math!  If they can remember the numbers that make 10, it will make adding a lot easier for them.

Every morning we have a morning meeting.  Today Makayla and Ellie wrote the morning message.  On Fridays and Mondays we share something new or exciting in our lives.  Mason is sharing what his family plans are for the weekend.  

Today we are going to start homework bags.  These bags will come home once and a while.  Keep them for a week.  Do what fits your family's needs and then send it back.  If you could replace any damaged or lost items I would greatly appreciate it.  I put a LOT of time and money into these and want to continue to use them.  Research shows that family involvement makes a significant difference in a child's education!  This is a fun way for you to get involved at home.  Remember, you do not need to do every activity.  Some bags have a lot of activities and some have less.  Have fun with them!

Next week we will be starting to get the laptop carts if things are up and running (they had to update all of the computers).   During small group time the students will be using RAZ-Kids.  Here is the website: raz-kids.com

We would like to share our favorite things about fall (we are working on complete sentences)

Vincent: I like jumping into the leaves!

Leah: I like to rake and jump into the leaves.  

Jason:  I like to help my grandma make a campfire.

Daniel:  I like jumping into the leaves.

Emme: I like to jump in the leaves at my grandma's house.  My grandpa makes it into a slip and slide!

Audrey:  I like trick or treating.

Jada: We get to go trick or treating tonight!

Will:  I am going to get my costume TODAY!!!

Makayla: I like climbing the trees!

Summer: I like to jump in the leaves and climb the trees.

Ellie:  I like to run and jump in the leaves!

Ava:  I like to make leaf piles so I can jump in them. 

Jack:  I like football!

Mason:  I like to drive my four wheeler.

Major:  I like going trick or treating.

Kal:  I like the leaves falling down and making big piles.

Lilly:  I like the colorful leaves.

Joey:  I like to pick out our Halloween costumes.

Deborah:  I like making leaf piles and picking out my costume.

Austin:  I like my new costume and trick or treating.

Anika: I like trick or treating!

Abigal: I love climbing the trees!

My husband, Will, figured out how to add a comment to the blog.  (Remember this is a new adventure for me too).  If you would like to comment on your favorite family activity for the fall, we would love to hear them.  Encourage grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends.  It would make the kids so proud to share that with the class.   You have to use a gmail account to do so.  It walks you through the process when you click on comment.  Enjoy the warm weekend!  Sara

September 21

Daniel working with number bonds with M&M's. 

 We had the fire department come to our classroom this week and talk about fire safety.  We got to see the fire engine.  Fireman Jeff talked about making a book with your hands when you stop, drop and roll to protect your face and he reminded families to have an emergency exit plan in your house in case of a fire. 

Our math has quickly picked up the pace!  We are learning number bonds and the kids have been doing great with this.  Today a sheet will come home with a large blank number bond on it.  Feel free to use crackers, marshmallows, or cotton balls.  Take a deck of cards and have your child draw 2.  Place the counters (we used M&M's) in the circles.   Joey drew 5 and 9.  He put 9 in one circle, 5 in the other.  Then he counts them to see how many there are all together. 






This year we have decided to have a bug theme in our first grade hallway.  Our class is the ladybugs.  We created some artwork this week to hang in the hallway.  They worked VERY hard on this. 

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I am sending home our first book order today.  I will send home one every other month.  Please send it back by next Friday and make the checks payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.  Here is the link to the site:https://orders.scholastic.com/H9BYT   If you order online both the class and yourself can get a free book.  Here's the class code: H9BYT. 

Have a great weekend! 

First Two Weeks Of School

We have been busy this week learning our routines and making friends.  We have learned how to make words using play-doh, our white boards, writing on backs, using bingo dabbers, markers, and by writing on our desks with a whiteboard marker.  The students were very surprised to learn that it takes your brain 5-40 times of writing a word to learn it.  We practiced our words over and over to put them in our brains.

Will practiced making his name to get used to making words with play-doh.

Ellie made the word we with her play-doh.

We also learned how to sit and read a book by ourselves.  We learned that there are three ways to read a book:
1.  read the words
2. read the pictures
3. retell     



It is really important to have your child read for at least 10 minutes each night.  We talked about practicing for basketball and how you do not become a better player unless you practice- reading is the same thing.  We have to read to become better readers.

Major on the first day!

Makayla on the first day.

Deborah reading to herself.

Summer reading to herself.

We had a really great two weeks of school!  I can tell that this is a class full of amazing kids! Here is what they say they have learned so far:


Jada- I love to read!

Emme-I like to learn math in first grade!

Anika-I made  a new friend named Audrey.

Ryan- I like reading

Will-  I love Fun Friday!  (They get free time on Fridays after we clean our desks.)

Vincent- I like reading and math.

Austin- I made a new friend named Abigail.

Ellie- I made a new friend named Lilly.

Ava-  I love to read and I got a principal tag!

Jack- My favorite thing is handwriting.  I changed my mind :).

Jason- I like playing with Major, my new best friend.

Daniel- I love to read and learn math.

Kal- I like recess the best.

Summer-  We went the library and got two books.  (library day is on Wednesday)

Deborah- I made a new friend, Ava.

Makayla- I learned about how to count backwards.

Major- I like to play with Vincent, Jack, and Jason.

Abigail- I loved going to the library.

Audrey- I like reading with a friend.

Leah- I like to run in gym.  


We will be having a great year!   Love, Mrs. Frater's Class