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Week 21: January 24th-28th, 2022

Math: We had a very busy math week this week! We solved story problems with three addends in a way that makes sense to us. In each of the problems, two of the addends make a ten. It was suggested that we apply the commutative and associative properties in order to make the problem easier to solve (10 + n). Then we were asked to write equations to represent the story problem, and draw a box around the answer to the problem. We were encouraged to make sense of the methods our classmates shared. The problems in this lesson were written around the context of birds. The inspiration for including the context of birds was Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Louis Agassiz Fuertes was a painter of birds in the early nineteen-hundreds. He was the first bird artist who painted live birds. He did not want to kill the birds in order to paint them, so he challenged himself to learn how to paint quickly. He is responsible for painting most of the bird books in his era and he painted murals at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. We read the book, The Sky Painter by Margarita Engle before the lesson. Our next challenge was to make sense of equations with addition expressions on both sides of the equal sign. One of the expressions had three addends, two of which made 10. We applied what we learned about the commutative and associative properties to match these expressions to an expression, and determined whether equations were true or false. Another challenge was to use the structure of the 10-frame to find the sum of two addends when one addend is 9. We noticed that when we find the sum of two addends, we can decompose one addend to make 10 with the other addend (associative property). When we identified and use equivalent expressions, we looked for and made use of structure, and here we repeatedly made a 10 to find the value of expressions. We continued to add two addends within 20, focusing on how making a ten can help them add. In the first activity, we matched addition expressions to our equivalent expression. In the second activity, we presented our representations, noticing patterns between expressions that represent a sum.

Language Arts: We reviewed “try it 2 ways” and other habits for solving hard words. We even related and connected writing and reading together to demonstrate that our habits are useful in both! We started to write a "class story" together about what we do, and even noticed that our Griffin Gazette is a great way to practice writing and reading tricky words. We learned a few new habits. We learned that readers check that the words they read look right and make sense: “do a slow check.” Readers learn new words as they read, and they make sure to read all the words on a page. In nonfiction books, there are lots of text boxes, diagrams, bolded new words, and tools to learn more! We learned about a table of contents, index, glossary, and how to use those tools in print books and on Epic Books! In writing, we reviewed our story helpers, reminded each other about our word wall as a tool to help us spell those tricky words. We also learned that writers are like photographers and zoom in close to what they want to focus on. We practiced this new skill by looking back over some of our older stories to see if we could zoom in closer to our small moments and really stretch out those details!

Integrated Unit: The study of wind continued as we created our own sailboats and paper airplanes. It was fun to see how quickly problems were solved after working on our wind powered tractor for so long. We learned that thrust, wingspan and wing type mattered when testing our planes. We also learned that the type of sail, the weight of the materials and balance of the boat's body mattered when building our sailboats. We shared many laughs and problem solved as a team.

Show and Tell: We earned enough Bo Bucks again, so we could celebrate with a show and tell!!

Lego Club: In order to continue our integrated unit, we read the book Tornadoes by Gail Gibbons. We were then invited to engage with the challenge of building our own tornado. It was especially perplexing to use the rectangular pieces to build a curved spiral and to include the path of destruction that follows a tornado. We were creative and put our problem-solving minds together to make some amazing pieces!

P.E.: Bowling Unit!

More Fun in First Grade!

Week 20: January 18th-21st, 2022

Math: In math this week, we used our understanding of the structure of teen numbers to add and subtract from a teen number, without composing or decomposing a ten. We used methods from a previous section such as counting on, taking away, or relating addition and subtraction to help us solve. The purpose of this lesson was for us to solve a new type of story problem--"Take From," or "Change Unknown." We also solved a familiar problem type: "Take From", "Result Unknown." Methods that made sense to us were used, and then we had the challenge to find connections between methods. We learned a new stage in the Number Puzzles center and then chose from previously introduced centers, focusing on adding and subtracting within 20. We ended the week with a checkpoint assessment to reflect on our understanding and even caught Ms. Hilton making some mistakes and supported her to find the right answer!

Language Arts: So much was covered this week and so many connections across domains were discovered!! We focused on learning Good Habits for Solving Hard Words. As we are reading nonfiction books, we noticed that many of these books have lots of scientific words that need to be decomposed. One first-grader noticed that we break up words just like we break up numbers in math! Wow! What a great connection. When a tricky word comes across our reading, we can check the picture, look at all the parts of a word, get a running start, check it and then double check it, try the vowel sounds two ways, and crash word parts together to get the whole word! In writing workshop we continued our small moments, but realized how hard it is sometimes to think of one to write about. So we practiced catching small moments, putting them in our pockets for later and using our fingers as story helpers to remember the story!

Integrated Unit: The tractor was completed! Way to go, first grade engineers! We started the project with exploring Theo Jansen's wind machines. We were inspired and learned that many people across the world use wind to power various machinery. We were introduced to an incredible project idea from a first-grader. Predictions were made about what would happen if we tried to build a tractor using the wind to move it. We then were challenged to build a cardboard tractor using recycled cardboard. The tractor includes working gears (using cardboard and toothpicks), and a turbine on top (paper cups glued to chopsticks atop a cardboard gear). We worked through our integrated unit time, we read about wind during reading, we built during free choice and recess, we practiced and revised if we finished other projects early, we measured and discussed. Whew! It was a BIG project and first-graders should feel very proud. When we tested it out, it does not move perfectly. It actually drove backward, and the turbine is a little wobbly (we think it is because the cups are not perfectly aligned), so we will continue to tinker. And please, if you are engineering inclined, we would love some help! We will be using this knowledge to venture to more work with wind and give us a chance to build something of our own to take home (bottle cap sail boats).

Show and Tell: We earned another show and tell this week because we are leaders who strive to be appropriate, safe, and kind!

Lego Club: Wahoo! Our Lego Club resumed. This week, we read The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler and were challenged to build a snowman. We examined the blocks and noticed that there are mostly rectangular shapes. So we had to think about the placement of the blocks, the number of blocks, and work as a team to create rounded shapes and build a recognizable snowman! Lots of perseverance and teamwork lead to great successes.

Week 19: January 10th-14th, 2022

Math: We composed and decomposed teen numbers, with ten ones and some more ones. We learned that 10 ones is equivalent to a unit called a ten. We counted a collection of 16 objects and represented our count. We moved from using connecting cube towers to filled-in 10-frames to represent teen numbers. Students also relate their composition work and the relationship between addition and subtraction to find values that make equations true. We found the missing value in story problems and addition and subtraction equations in any way that makes sense. In the syntheses, we discussed how the relationship between addition and subtraction is helpful when finding missing values. Next, we solved addition story problems within 20 in which one addend is a teen number. Sequentially, we found the missing value in addition equations where one addend is a teen number. There were several ways that were used: count all, count on, or some recognized that we can add the ones and then add the ten. This lesson prepared us for future work, when we add within 100, using methods involving place value.

Language Arts: We read more nonfiction, celebrated our accomplishments, and set new goals. A highlight this week was having a pretend pizza party where we pretended to be adults talking about our books. We got a little silly, but had fun sharing all the things we learned. Our goals are posted at the front of the classroom ready for next week! We also spent a couple of days reading and writing about Martin Luther King Jr. We learned about his life's work, about how he struggled, and even learned that he died tragically by someone who did not agree with his dream. We wrote about why it is important to honor his dream and how we might try to do that. In writing workshop, we continued to stretch out our small moments and highlighted the importance of making a plan. We wrote a story together as a class about the day a parent came to our classroom to share a fun storytelling activity. Overall, it has been a productive week with all kinds of activities, goals, and plans.

Integrated Unit: Creating the materials for the wind-powered tractor has been very challenging! We are working hard at reading and understanding instruction. We did not get to assemble the tractor yet, but we will continue to persevere!

More Fun in First Grade!

Week 18: January 3rd-7th, 2022

Math: We focused on tens this week, beginning the process of understanding two-digit place value. We were asked to find differences within 10. There are many strategies to solve problems, and we were invited to explore the ways that made sense to us, like, "take away," "count on," or use addition facts to help them find the value of the difference between two numbers. We focused on the relationship between addition and subtraction. "Add To" and "Start Unknown" story problems were also introduced. We were asked to make sense of a variety of types of story problems, solve the problems, and write equations to represent each, applying what we have learned about the structure of adding within 10 to solve these problems. We learned a new game called, Compare, very similar to the card game "war" many of us grew up with, however, we had to find and compare sums and differences within 10. We learned that 10 ones is equivalent to a unit called a ten. To practice this, we counted a collection of 16 objects and represented our count. Laying the groundwork for a later unit, in which we will compose and decompose 2-digit numbers into tens and ones.

Language Arts: Nonfiction text is still our focus. We are learning how to get the most out of reading nonfiction, and noticed that it is sometimes hard to tell what it is about without a story line. To help us remember, we are practicing reading with expression to highlight the important parts, we also make our words sound super exciting! This is something to practice at home. We participated in a lot of partner reading, so we could learn more about other topics too. We also learned that in nonfiction books there are lots of labels, lots of text boxes, that provide even more information, so it is essential to read all the words on a page, and reread pages to make sure we scooped up everything. In writing, we have focused on stretching out our small moments and used a great template of a story train to include a beginning, middle, and end. We are practicing on zooming into an even smaller moment and writing out all the details of what we smelled, thought about, and felt across several pages. We were inspired by Audrey Penn in her book, The Kissing Hand, where she stretched a small moment of being nervous about going to school across several pages and visited so many feelings.

Integrated Unit: We are continuing our Wild Weather unit and are now exploring wind. We started talking about all the things we already know about wind. We even got into a debate about whether we can see wind, and will revisit that question later on. Furthermore, we found inspiration from Theo Jansen and his walking machines and wondered how he got them to move. After much discussion, we decided that it must be from wind! One first-grader, asked if we could build a wind powered tractor and provided many of the materials and instructions. So this week we started to build! We are working on preparing the various materials, and next week we will work on assembling the tractor. It has been quite an experience to be part of a group of such talented problem-solver and critical thinkers!

Inside recess all week this week!