Final Celebration

Our end of the year celebration will be on Thursday, June 4th at 10a.m. Treats to be shared are welcomed. Set-up will begin promptly at 9:30 a.m.

District policy states that all treats shared in the classroom be store purchased.

Math Topic Quizzes

The following chart shows scoring statistics for the last 3 topic quizzes which are to be returned tomorrow.

	Topic 14	Topic 15	Topic 16
Passing Score	8	9	8
Number Passing	13	19	17
Students scoring 100%	4	1	2

Spring Dance

The first grade team has decided that all first graders should wear a brightly colored solid T-shirt with blue jeans for the Spring Dance.

Enjoy your Memorial Day holiday.

One Hundred Sixty-First Day of School

This week we will begin final assessments in reading. Writing and all other subjects will come up shortly. Please make sure that if your child wears glasses, they take them to school everyday.

One Hundred Thirty-Fifth Day of School

Math quiz tomorrow.

Reading Logs due Friday.

We are planning our first opinion piece. Many students will begin the script portion of their PSA's as well as write creative plays for performance.

One Hundred Thirty-Third Day of School

In Science today we learned about air propulsion and experimented with our ideas on how to put it to use. Be advised, students will be sent home with an untied balloon in their backpacks. they have been instructed to not put the balloon to their mouth.

One Hundred Thirty-First Day of School

We will be working on our final writing unit and our final project in these last weeks of 1st grade before Open House.

Our final official writing genre will be persuasive/opinion writing. We will begin the unit forming and supporting opinions. Next we will write reviews (books, restaurants, games, etc.). Finally, we will write letters of appeal (time permitting). Today we learned the meaning of argument as it pertains to persuasive writing. Our final writing assessment will be to produce one of these products of  persuasion.

For our final project, the students will be producing a public service announcement which will be saved to their electronic portfolio. The area of study will be either health or environmental science. Students will choose from among the following topics:

• Recycling
• Composting
• Smoking
• Exercise
• Nutrition
• Bullying
• Candy Surplus

Most students have already chosen a topic and have been provided research which they will take notes from and develop into an informative piece. They will repurpose their informative piece into a script which will be taped. It has been suggested to students that they may provide their own additional research on their topic (most likely with parent assistance) to be brought into class (preferably in a note taking format).

If parents have any questions regarding any of this material, simply post questions to this post in the comments section.

One Hundred Fifteenth Day of School

Quite a few Reading Logs have not been turned in for the second reporting period. Please make sure that your child has turned in a signed Reading Log for November, December, and January by this Friday.

Topic 10 Math Test tomorrow.

Science Test tomorrow. Students brought home notes for studying yesterday. Concepts for Science:

• Elements of weather
• Sleet, freezing rain, snow
• Air

One Hundred Thirteenth Day of School

Today we took our Social Science Test.

We made parachutes in Science to demonstrate air's useful ability to push on a surface. Look for notes to be brought home next week for a Science test.

One Hundred Seventh Day of School

Due to scheduling conflicts we had to move our Science lesson to today. We asked the questions: What can air do? and How can we use air? (tested). We learned, observed, and discovered that air can push, pull, suck, and cause things to float.

We took notes on an article about George Washington.

The due date for citizenship speeches was extended to Thursday (tomorrow).

One Hundred Sixth Day of School

Tomorrow is likely the last day to review math responses and get them returned in time for the test.

Speeches are due tomorrow.

Time Sensitive Math Information #2

Find the missing number which makes this number sentence correct.

   48 + __ = 55

Show how you know the answer using pictures (hint: showing the correct amount of numbered counters for the difference is possible *49 *50 *51 etc), words (hint: if you use words to explain there is a difference between these two numbers which can be found in a variety of ways.) or numbers (hint: It is also possible to show a section of a number line with the numbers between the two in the example).

Again, do not teach or show your child how to do this problem. Watch their process. Some explanations may include references to place value. If you would like feedback about your child's response to these questions, either see your child's teacher very soon or send your child's work to school ASAP.

Time Sensitive Math Information

Dora has 3 cards each with a single digit printed on the face. The cards read 3, 5, and 7.

1. What is the largest two-digit number (the number of greatest value) Dora can make with her cards?
2. Show how you figured it out using pictures (hint: tens and ones model) words or numbers.
3. With the same cards what two-digit number can Dora make that is closest to 66 (note: in order to get credit for this answer a child has to be able to compare the difference between all of the possible numbers to 66 and then explain how they arrived at their conclusion). 
4. Show how you found your answer using pictures, words, or numbers.

Rather than showing your child how to solve this problem, provide a variety of tools (e.g. number line, hundred chart, counters) and observe their strategy. Assist them in articulating their explanation.

If you would like feedback about your child's response to these questions, either see your child's teacher very soon or send your child's work to school ASAP.

One Hundred Second Day of School

No homework today.

Point of clarification: Students will not have to outline the continents on their map test. They will only need to place the name over its location.

One Hundred First Day of School

Yesterday we had a quick 100th day celebration.

Today many students added a conclusion to their procedural writing. Tomorrow we will choose one of our pieces to quick publish. We will begin our larger informational instruction and work on Thursday.

We will either have a quiz or a test in math Thursday or Friday.

At-Home Project

The 1st grade will be hosting the Citizen of the Month Assembly at the end of February. One child from the 1st grade classes will be chosen to read an essay they have written on the subject of sportsmanship. All students wishing to be considered for reading a speech to the student body at the end of the February need to submit an essay to their teacher by Wednesday, February 11th. A winning essay/student will be chosen by the 1st grade teachers. Parents of that child will be notified so they can make plans to be at the assembly. This is good public speaking experience and an excellent opportunity for video memories.

Unit 4 Week 1 Preview

In our new unit we will take a look at teamwork and what is necessary for teammates to work together. This week we will read folk tales and fables as well as a selection on bees working as a team. We will practice the comprehension strategy of generating questions to improve our comprehension skill of making predictions. Our oral vocabulary words are encourage, friendship, relationship, rely, suggest. Our sight words are across, carry, eight, once, saw, upon, walked. We will focus on various spellings of the 'long-a' vowel sound specifically 'ai_' (paid) and '_ay' (pay).

Ninety-Ninth day of School

There is math homework tonight (comparing numbers).

Today we used the "human microphone" and judged with criteria (critical thinking skill) an oral reporting (assessed skill) (CCCS SL.1.4) of what we learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In our belongings you should find:

• Notes about Dr. Martin Luther King's "March"
• Scholastic News Article about the "March"
• A World Map with notes to study for a map test

Also, some students began editing their procedural writing for spelling and punctuation.

Ninety-Seventh Day of School

This week we have been comparing and contrasting cultures and customs from all over the world. We examined the reason for several U.S. holidays and began exploring in depth the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We will soon be bringing home our world map to study for our next Social Science test.

Also this week we have been learning to revise and add hints and tips to our procedural writing pieces.

For discussion:

• What is segregation?
• What is integration?
• How are schools around the world similar? How are they different?

You should find a Parent Conference Notification in your child's backpack along with a schedule for next week's dismissal times.

Reminder: Shoes worn to school should be of a type which allows for securing with a lace or strap. Boots or other foot wear without a securing feature are insufficient for 1st grade daily physical activities (P.E.) and safety. Thank you for your cooperation.

Unit 3 Week 5 Preview

This final week of the Having Fun Unit we compare children in different parts of the world to ourselves. We analyze text structure for our comprehension strategy and compare and contrast for the comprehension skill. Our oral vocabulary words are culture, custom, language, similar, skill. Our sight words are any, boy, by, does, friend, girl, water. We will also focus (review) triple consonant blend spelling patterns (scrap, splat, stretch).

In Science over the next few weeks we will observe and conduct experiments on air and water. We will observe how the affect and interact with each other.

In Social Studies we expand our map making skills beyond our classrooms walls and to outside neighborhoods.

We will have our test in Math on decomposing numbers with tens.

In writing we will learn how to include "tips" and "hints" in our procedural writing. And soon we will add our introduction and closing statement.

Optional Home Project

For social studies we have been working on neighborhood maps. At this point in the year it is suggested that parents direct students to a mapping program (Google Maps) on the Internet and locate their home's satellite photograph. Magnify the view to 100ft/inch. Size to show their block and a portion of surrounding blocks. Have your child make a simple map (a sample is available in the classroom) with legend (key) under your direction but in their hand. On your child's map, buildings could be shown as simple rectangles. Print a view of the satellite picture (preferably w/o address and real estate information, which can be blackened out if necessary) and attach to the hand-drawn map and send with your child to class.

Article

This article may be of interest to parents of young children.

Unsatisfactory Notices

You may find a Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance with your child today. Please sign and remove bottom portion of the notice and return with your child to verify receipt. It is not necessary to discuss the contents of the notice with your child. I am available for after school conferences any day except Tuesdays after school.

Official parent conferences will be scheduled very soon.

Topic 7 Math Quiz

Four students scored perfectly on the Topic 7 quiz, while 19 students passed with a score of 9 or better.

Eighty-Ninth Day of School

This week we combined our knowledge of 2 elements of visual art: line and color.

We were exposed to and analysed procedural writing in immersion lessons. Next week we will begin our own procedural pieces.

Our high frequency words were first, next, then, last, finally.

We learned the 4 basic elements of weather (tested): heat, air, water, and land (geography).

Expository Writing Unit

Our new writing unit will focus on the skill of informative/explanatory writing (CCSS W.1.2). We will focus on two types/purposes of informative writing.

The first purpose will be to explain "how to" to do something. For this part of the unit, it would be beneficial for your child to brainstorm with an adult a list of things they are good at and can confidently explain in about three steps. "How to" writing will begin with an introductory sentence (e.g. Baking cookies is not only easy, it's fun!). The introductory sentence will be followed by sentences beginning with "time order words" (e.g. first, next, last, finally, etc.). Each step of the instructions will be accompanied by a simple plan/illustration/diagram of that particular step. Illustrations will be clarified by the use of writing features such as captions and labels. The "time order" sentences will be followed by a sentence of closure (e.g. Soon you will smell the delicious aroma of homemade cookies).

The second purpose of informative writing will be to "tell all about" a particular topic. For this part of the unit, it would be beneficial for your child to brainstorm with an adult a list of things they are interested in or know a good deal about. This type of writing will begin with a general statement (introduction) about the topic (e.g. Elephants are interesting animals). Subsequent sentences will support the general statement made about the topic. Subsequent information should be presented in an organized fashion or by subtopics. In this way, the informational writing could be indexed with a table of contents or an outline:

Asian Elephants (Title)

• Introduction
• Subtopic: Physical description
• Detail: size
• Detail: weight
• Detail: lifespan
• Subtopic: Habitat and diet
• Subtopic: Behavior
• Conclusion

Subtopics will be presented with a plan/diagram/illustration to clarify each main idea (or if necessary, a detail).