Weekly Update- explained

Each Sunday, I will send a little information your way about our upcoming week. Here, you will be able to see what we are focusing on, what types of literature we will be reading, and what skills I will be teaching. In this first update, I will explain each area in detail, but in the future, explanations will be brief. Please contact me if you have any questions! Remember, first grade is very cyclical, so I am not expecting mastery of any of these skills by the end of this week. We will revisit these topics again and again throughout the year! Thanks for your support at home!

Theme:
I like to center my week around a theme of some sort, as I love to use a common thread to tie all subject areas together when possible!
Literature:
I love to read and I make it a goal to pass that love of literature on to my students. One way of doing that is to use literature to introduce lessons. I also do several author studies throughout the year!
Language Arts Focus:
In what we call 'shared reading,' we touch on a number of Language Arts skills, but there are usually 1-2 per week that we really focus on.
Phonics Focus:
Phonics study is a big part of "Balanced Literacy," which is the reading philosophy practiced in CSISD. We will focus on numerous phonics skills weekly, but there will be a handful that make up our primary focus for the week.
Writing Focus:
Teaching writing separate from my Language Arts/ Literacy block is something I am passionate about for a few reasons... For one, I was a very good writer in elementary school, but I absolutely hated it. I now love it and our writing lessons will be full of energy and life. I hope you will be excited to read what your children are publishing in our classroom!
Math:
In CSISD, Math is something we teach in cycles, so even though we may have a specific focus for the week, your child will be practicing and applying all strands of mathematics each week in our classroom through our class math meetings, lessons, small group learning, and math stations and games.
Science and/or Social Studies Focus:
Science and Social Studies are such fun subjects in first grade. We will get to learn about real people and real things, we will get our hands dirty and truly experience many different things throughout the year.

Extra Information?
If there is additional information for the week I feel you need to be made aware of, I will post it here.

Now you know a bit about how our weekly updates will work. Please be looking for our first Weekly Update in a few minutes!