1G News 11/5-12/7
Happy December! We are officially 1/3 of the way through the year!
Winter is here!
The cold winter weather has arrived, it is important that students come to school properly attired for outdoor recess every day. Students should be wearing winter jackets and items that properly cover their heads, necks, and hands. When there is snow on the ground, other items such as boots and snow pants are also necessary. Lets hope it's a while before those are needed :) At home, students should be practicing how to independently put on their winter clothing items; for example, zippering their own jackets. PLEASE label all of your student's belongings. If you have questions, please let me know.
Scholastic Book Order
The December Scholastic Book orders are due Monday, December 10th. If you are interested in ordering please visit the following website: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs and enter our Class Code: MWNWC
If you are ordering from the printed flyers, please return your order form along with a check made payable to Scholastic Book Clubs to school.
Your orders should arrive before the December break.
Classroom Community
In Morning Meeting, we have practiced many new greetings such as a Pumpkin Name Card, Ball Roll, and in celebration of Thanksgiving, Turkey Name Card. The last couple of weeks, we practiced the Dice-Skip and Double-Dice-Skip greetings. For the Dice-Skip greeting, students rolled a large die. The number on the die represented how many 1st graders they would skip and who they would greet. For example, if a student rolled a 4, they would greet the 4th person around the circle. In the Double-Dice Skip greeting, the greeter rolls two large dice. They say and solve the addition equation the dice show. For example, if they rolled a 2 and 3, they would say "2 + 3 = 5." The greeter would then greet the 5th person around the circle. We continue to work on making eye contact and using each other's names when we say "Good Morning."
We have been learning more about one another by sharing various topics such as favorite restaurant, one thing we're good at, one thing we're working to get better at, what we want to be when we grow up, and favorite sport...just to name a few.
We have also learned new songs and games. One of our new favorites is Trick Word Melting Pot. In Trick Word Melting Pot, students start by standing in a circle. One student picks a trick word that we have been learning (i.e. said, does, have). Students go around the circle and take turns spelling the trick word. For example if the trick word is said, one student will say 's', the 2nd student will say 'a', the 3rd student will say 'i', the 4th student will say 'd,' and the 5th student will say the word and 'melt' (sit down in their meeting spot). Students continue to spell the trick word until only one person is left standing. Have your child teach it to you and practice with the family around the dinner table.
Literacy
In Literacy, we began studying a new genre: Fairytales. We explored the elements of Fairytales:
- Begin with phrases such as “Once upon a time” or “Long ago”
- Take place in faraway lands
- Sometimes have magic
- Sometimes there are princes, princesses, kings, and queens
- Usually have heroes and heroines
- Characters with unusual names
- There is a good character and a bad character
- Animals act like humans
- There is a lesson to be learned
- Magic numbers such as 3 and 7 occur throughout the text
- Have happy endings such as “Live happily ever after”
We discussed how a text needs to contain most of these elements to be considered a Fairytale and that some Fairytales may not contain all of these elements. As an introduction to the unit, we discussed how Fairytales were once told orally and passed down through storytelling. We watched a video of Tony Wilson's storytelling of The Gingerbread Man and noticed the ways he kept the story interesting and engaging. Some of the things students noticed were that he changed his voice for different characters, he used his body and sign language to show actions, and used repetition. Then we began reading some classic fairytales like The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, The Little Red Hen, The Gingerbread Baby, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Little Red Riding Hood. As we read each story we identified its many fairytale elements. As we continue to read Fairytales, we will revisit comprehension strategies such as Retelling. When students are asked to retell, they should identify the characters, setting, problem/solution, and events that happened in the beginning, middle, and end. As you read with your child, continue to encourage and prompt them to retell and discuss stories they are reading or listening to.
Math
We recently finished Unit 2: Comparing and Combining Shapes before the Thanksgiving break. The focus of this unit was on observing and describing defining attributes of 2-D shapes, using those attributes to build, compare, and sort 2-D shapes, and composing and decomposing 2-D shapes.
Students spent some time on identifying and describing shapes. In this unit, students looked for shapes in their own environment. Students looked carefully at shapes and their definining attributes (e.g. the number of sides, whether the shape is closed) rather than nondefining attributes such as color, size, and orientation. As students describe, draw, compare, and create triangles and quadrilaterals, they begin to think about such questions as: What makes a triangle a triangle? How are triangles different from squares?
Students also learned how to make and take apart shapes. Students used pattern blocks to fill the same puzzle outline in different ways by finding different combinations of shapes that fill a section by combining smaller shapes to make larger shapes.
Here are our 1st Grade Mathematicians at work with some of the activities from Unit 2:
Filling, Sorting, and Making Shapes
Students worked on the following goals:
Writing
In writing, we continue to work on our "Small Moment" stories. In these “Small Moments” stories, students have learned to “stretch out” a small moment from their life across several pages by adding rich details including the characters' thoughts and feelings, dialogue, and exact actions. We also continue to work on writing mechanics such as adding finger spaces between words, using the word wall to spell trick words correctly, recording all of the sounds for other difficult to spell words, capitalization, and punctuation. Over the next couple of weeks, we will pick a piece to publish and begin the revising and editing process to make our story ready for readers.
Fundations (Phonics)
We have been very busy in Fundations! In Unit 5, students have learned several glued sounds including an, am, and all. Glued sounds are letters that keep their individual sound but are glued together. To tap a glued sound, use two or three fingers “glued” together to represent the number of sounds working together. For example, the word fall has four letters but because it contains the glued sound all, it would require just two taps: /f/ + /all/.
In Unit 6, we introduced the concept of a baseword and suffix. We learned that when the suffix -s is added to a word it sometimes says /s/ as in the word shops or it sometimes says /z/ as in the word bugs. We also discussed how the suffix -s changes the word. The suffix -s can change the word and make it plural as in pens or it can change the verb as in runs. It is important that your child recognizes the suffix. As an exercise in order to train the brain to separate the suffix from the baseword, have your child read the baseword and then say it with the suffix as follows:
map - maps
To spell a word with a suffix ending, your child hears the entire word, maps, but then must be able to separate map from the suffix s. After repeating the word maps you may ask, "what is the baseword?" Your child should answer map. Then tap out /m/ /a/ /p/, say the letters m - a - p, then add the suffix s.
We also practiced trick words with a partner using salt and rice trays. One partner picked and read a trick word. The second partner used their finger to spell the trick word in salt or rice. Check us out in action: Trick Word Practice: Salt and Rice Trays
Here is a list of 'tapping' words that reinforce the concept of baseword and suffix -s. Other 'tapping' word lists can be found on our class website as well as a list of trick words.
Other News
Family Celebrations and Traditions
It's that time of year when many of us partake in family celebrations and traditions that are special to us. I would like to extend an invitation for you to come into 1G to teach us about a family celebration, tradition, or holiday if you would like. It could be anything from reading a picture book, singing a song, teaching a craft, or teaching a game. If you would like to come in please let me know.
Wanted: Classroom Supplies
We are running low on the following classroom supplies:
- Clorox/Disinfecting Wipes
- Paper Towels
Thank you for any contribution you can make!
December Break
Monday, December 24th - Tuesday, January 1st: No School
Wednesday, January 2nd: BACK to SCHOOL!