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.

Sixty-Ninth Day of School

Students will have the 3rd stanza of their poem (the 2nd will come later) in their possession today.

Today we made predictions based on the style and characterization of this week's main selection Smile, Mike! We then confirmed, or rather invalidated, our predictions. By making predictions, it makes us active readers more likely to comprehend and build greater understand of the material we read.

Earlier this week we experimented with rhythm and movement in PE and today we practiced throwing, catching and bounce passing to a partner.

In Art, we explored the element of line by practicing different types of lines and then seeing how various artists used line in their compositions.

For discussion:

What are some different types of lines which artists might incorporate into a drawing? (straight, curved, wavy, zigzagged, horizontal, vertical, broken, thick, thin, diagonal)

Reminder:

Although it doesn't show up on today's classwork or homework, based on the Common Core standards, 1st grade students are responsible for understanding and manipulating the equal sign to generate 8 balanced equations for a given set of related numbers.

• 5 + 6 = 11
• 6 + 5 = 11
• 11 - 5 = 6
• 11 - 6 = 5
• 11 = 5 + 6
• 11 = 5 + 5
• 5 = 11 - 6
• 6 = 11 - 5 

 

 

 

Unit 3 Week 2 Preview

This week we ask the question: What do family members do with one another to have fun? Our comprehension skill focus will be to make and confirm predictions using the strategy of analyzing story structure. We will take a brief look at alliteration (consonance). We will continue our exploration with long vowel spellings in particular: long vowel-u spelled 'u_e' (cube, fuse) and 'open syllable with u' (future, amusing). In grammar we will examine present-tense verbs.

Our oral vocabulary words are typical, possessions, connections, relief, and support. Our high-frequency words are call, funny, how, more, so, there.

As you read with your child at home, please continue to predict and confirm as you read (What do you think will happen? Do you think Goldilocks will get caught?). When finishing a fiction selection or chapter, ask your child to confirm predictions and summarize what happened. When reading a nonfiction selection, have your child state the main idea and details.

As some students continue to complete last unit's projects, some students are beginning this unit's projects. Some students will be working together to create a game and write directions on how to play. Additionally, some students may choose to author a joke book and get filmed telling their favorite funny story.

We will learn another of the five stanzas of our vowel poem this week.

In Social Science we will continue to compare the past and the present. We will also work towards understanding our location in the world while learning the continents and the oceans (tested). We will compare globes and maps.

In Visual Art, we will begin our exploration of the basic elements of art beginning with line.

We are continuing to introduce ourselves to the basics of drag-and-drop Java programming.

In Drama, we are combining all the skills we have learned so far to tell a story using dialogue.

For one of our PE lessons we will explore rhythm and movement.

Unit 2 Week 1 Preview

Our weekly themes in this second unit will center around our families and our neighbors having already examined ourselves, our abilities, and our growth. Our last idea about teams was that families are the most important kind of team. This week, we will explore the idea of families taking care of each other. For a Unit Project students will focus on a worker of their choice and write an expository piece about them. Our oral vocabulary words are guide, protect, provide, separate, wild. Our sight words are her, our, they, two. Our comprehension strategy this week will be to focus on summarizing a selection. We learn to summarize by developing the skill of distinguishing main ideas from details. Summarizing a selection is a different skill than a retell. Where a retell would be to tell a story in our own words with as much interesting detail as possible, a summary isolates only the most important ideas answering the basic questions of who? what? where? when? why? and perhaps how? This story is about a girl walking in the forest who seeks food and rest in the home of 3 bears. In phonics and spelling, will take a more detailed look at some long vowel spellings this week beginning with 'a_e'  (cane) and 'i_e' (ride) along with inflectional ending '-ed'. In grammar we will discuss sentence subjects and nouns.

For Social Science we will continue comparing and contrasting the past with the present (HSS 1.1.4) (tested). We will examine photos of schools long ago.

In Science we will explore a liquid which seems to possess some properties of a solid.

In PE we will combine several skills practiced so far to play a fast-paced, high-energy game of sockball.

Thirty-Third Day of School

Homework due today turned out to be bonus homework. Only half the class turned it in completed correctly so a new assignment on the same concept was assigned today for reinforcement for the test. We will review for the test tomorrow and take Topic 3 test on Thursday.

Today we learned about American Hero Roberto Clemente as our second notable American from the past. Tomorrow we will generate and post questions for oral language practice.

Please continue to retell "small moment" memorable stories (from their list) with your child to facilitate writing during workshop at school. Some students are having some difficulty articulating a memorable story fluently.

Please remember that school shoes should have some type of fastener for safety. Slip on style shoes are really not adequate for our purposes. 

Thank you to those parents that signed and returned their Unsatisfactory Notices. Some parents have come in for a conference already. Please remember that any day but Tuesdays are available for meeting. If you have any concerns about your child's progress, it may be a better time to come in for a conference now rather than at the October conference time.

At home practice activity: practice spelling words which have final consonant blend spelling patterns like, -nk, -nd, -nt, -st, -ft, etc. 

Unit 1 Week 5 Preview

We close out the unit discussing what we like to do with our friends and what we can accomplish with teamwork. Our oral vocabulary words are challenging, charity, admire, focus, offer. We will read, discuss, and generate question for a non-fiction selection about baseball and humanitarian great, Roberto Clemente. We will use our generated questions to conduct expert interviews about Roberto Clemente. Our sight words are help, now, use, very. We will develop our skill of identifying the author's purpose to develop the comprehension strategy of analyzing text structure. We will analyze texts where authors use description to give information. We will focus on final consonant blends (eg. -nk, -nt, -sk, -st, etc.) for decoding, and spelling.

For Social Science we will discuss the significance of Independence Day (HSS 1.3.2) and some national iconic symbols (HSS 1.3.3) (tested).

In P.E. we will be using teamwork to accomplish various goals as well as chasing and learning base running.

In Science we continue our exploration of matter with our second investigation of liquids.

For our upcoming unit it will be necessary for students to focus on a particular occupation of their choosing. Parents should be aware of their child's choice and possibly help their child research information about that occupation. Your child will need to know and be able to articulate where a person in the selected profession works, what they they wear, what tools they use, and what task they perform for an informational writing unit project.

Unit 1 Week 3 Preview

In this week's instruction we focus on  how we will change and how we have changed as we grow. If your child would like to bring in a photo showing themselves as a baby, we could display these and guess who they grew into. We will also explore how animals change as they grow. We will draw conclusions about animals that change greatly and those that may only change in size as they mature. We will analyze text for character, setting, and plot. We will focus on spelling patterns: -in, -it, -iss. Our oral vocabulary words will be change, adult, learn, imitate, and practice. Our reading sight words will be be, ride, and run. In grammar we will distinguish between statements and questions. We will continue with digitization of our personal informational piece and begin on personal narrative.

In Social Science, we will discuss the difference between rights and responsibilities and what they mean for United States citizenship (HSS 1.1).

In Math we will finish up work on topic 2.

In Health we discuss how our relationship with our friends can affect our health.

In Science we continue comparing properties of various solids. We use our insight into these properties to perform an investigation.

In PE we continue to work with team members to accomplish goals. Due to weather considerations we may have indoor PE on Monday and Tuesday.

Unit 1 Week 2 Preview

During week 2 we discuss how physical activity is an important part of our lives. We learn how activity keeps our bodies healthy and strong. Our oral vocabulary words are movement, energy, express, exhausted, and stretch. Our sight words are: it, over, too. We will analyze story structure to discover selections with patterned text. Examples of famous patterned text are Monday, Monday, I like Monday (Bill Martin Jr.), and The Important Book (Margaret Wise Brown). Ask your librarian for other examples. Patterned texts often become bedtime favorites and re-reading them is a good way to build fluency. We will not often use a patterned text for retelling purposes. We will read the West African folktale The Great Rope Tug and diagram the story together using a Flow Map to highlight the beginning, middle, and end. We will continue to encode and decode single syllable words with short vowels (a, e, i). We will listen to rhyme, movement, and rhythm in poetry.

In Social Science we will look briefly to the original people of Australia and learn that a tradition is a special way of doing something. often repeated annually that becomes part of a people's culture.

For discussion: What is a tradition? What traditions does your family share?

For Math we will continue our exploration of subtraction.

In Science, we will continue our exploration of matter. We will focus on solids by identifying various properties of solids.

In PE we will continues with tossing and passing balls and other objects.

Unit 1 Week 1 Preview

As a part of our theme: What Makes Us Special, our focus questions are: What do we like to do, and how do the things we like to do make us special? We will discover that the things we like to do help to make us who we are. Our vocabulary words for the week are cheerful, interest, unique, prefer, and genuine. We will analyze story structure for the beginning, middle, and end (comprehension strategy). We learn that this is the way that most realistic fiction stories are structured and that good readers pay attention to these parts (R 1.3.1). We will also pay special attention to the characters and setting of stories (comprehension skill). In phonics we will blend words and identify rhymes with short 'a' and short 'i'. Our reading sight words for the week are jump, not, up. In grammar we will discuss how a sentence tells a whole idea. We will continue with our Unit Project while referring to our 2 previously constructed Thinking Maps. We will analyze the structure of the fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. We will analyze how an author develops character by what they say and do. In writing we discuss and practice how using describing words adds detail and interest. We will listen to the fable, Town Mouse and Country Mouse, and discover how preferences make characters unique. We will read an informational text and use structure to deduce main idea.

In Science we will make a connection between what we have been learning in music and what we know about Alexander Graham Bell and discuss the discipline of acoustical science and engineering. In life science we discuss basic needs of people and animals using the vocabulary: shelter, energy.

In Math we will begin Topic 2 exploring subtraction.

In P.E. we will work on balance, catch and toss to ourselves and to a partner.

• How are you different than other people in your family/class? How is your family different than other families?
• What are the states of matter?
• What does an animal need in order to survive? 

Smart Start Week 3 Preview

Our third and final review week will reintroduce us to non-fiction texts with information organized in two ways, chronologically in a biography of Alexander Graham Bell and geographically in a survey of traditions regarding lost tooth lore around the world (CCSS R.1.5). We will generate questions (CCSS R.1.1) about a non-fiction text to be answered in an interview style retelling. We will use visualization as a tool to recall words and phrases in a poem which appeal to the senses (CCSS R.1.4).

We will review the the high-frequency sight words what, for, here, little, was, my, look, has, where, with , me. We will also continue and complete our review of letter formation and sound. We will take our first personal narrative writing test.

In music, we will explore the science of sound that fascinated A.G. Bell and discover differences in high and low-pitched sounds (tested) and how they are produced. Later we will explore the important element of rhythm (tested).

In Math we continue to see numbers as a whole made up of two smaller parts and create models to illustrate this idea (CCSS 1.OA.1, 1.OA.4, 1.OA.7) (tested).

In PE we will continue with different forms of locomotion.

Smart Start Week 2 Preview

We will continue reviewing letter sounds, proper writing formation, rhyme, and syllabication. We are analyzing narrative structure for plot (tested CCSS R.1.3).

By the end of the 3rd  Smart Start week we will have reviewed the following high-frequency sight words: a, I, can, we, like, see, the, go , to have, play, you, he, is, and, she, are, said, do, this, for, what, here, little, my, was.

We are practicing sequencing and retelling (tested CCSS R.1.1) important events of a narrative.

We will continue our personal information project piece.

We will continue with balance in PE as well as practicing moving while maintaining personal space.

Smart Start Week 1 Preview

For the first 3 weeks in Language Arts, we will review many of the concepts learned in Kindergarten. We will review the Kindergarten sight words as well as letter sounds and proper writing formation. We will also review rhyme and syllable segmentation.  We will learn how to describe ourselves in order to begin our first theme project: a personal informational book about ourselves.

In Math we will review number sense concepts emphasizing visual patterns and ideas for the numbers 0-12. We will begin our first topic: Understanding Addition (1.OA.1). We will be representing and solving problems using addition and subtraction.

In PE we will focus on balance and cooperation.