1st Grade Blog

Learning Objective: Students can be a GREAT reading partner.    

Summary:  We spent 3 entire classes this week reading with a partner.  Partner reading is a great way to help our young readers improve their reading skills, improve their critical thinking skills, and have fun reading with someone else.  We had the following goals this week when partner reading:

• Find our spot and partner quickly and start reading within 1 minute 
• Find books both partners can read 
• Give reminders and don’t tell, but help your partner 
• Grow ideas about and within the book together 
• Work together to solve problems
• Do something at the end 

We had a successful week of Partner Reading.  Please use these good habits at home as you read together with your child. 

Learning Objective: Students can write their best Teaching Book.      

Summary:  The start of the week we reviewed some old tricks we learned from our fiction writing – use bold words and speech bubbles.  These are great ways to make words pop and point out important information.  We also learned we should be using examples to help teach our writers.  We learned to edit on the fly and also reviewed all the ways we can teach writers:

• Think about questions readers might have 
• Include pictures 
• Use size and color words 
• Use comparisons 
• Use bold words and speech bubbles
• Provide examples 

On Friday we started our FINAL Teaching Book of the year which we will read to K5 next Friday in the library.  

Learning Objective: Students can use quick 10 drawings, number bonds, and the arrow method to add tens and ones.  

Summary:  We continue to reinforce the strategies we have learned to solve 2 digit addition problems.  These include quick 10 drawings, number bonds, and the arrow method.  Students were also tasked with finding incorrect work and making changes.  We also started working on word problems, using the Read. Draw. Write. method to help us solve.  

Learning Objective: Students can describe the different techniques used to make books.        

Summary:  As we continue learning about techniques, this week we focused on how books were made as well as how communication has changed.  We learned a long time ago that books were written by hand – EVERY. SINGLE. PAGE.  Then came the printing press.  Now we have computers and printers.  Writing books by hand took a long time which made them more expensive, meaning less people had access to information.  The printing press allowed more people to have access to information and improve their knowledge.  The printing press also lowered the cost of books.  

In terms of communication, we learned a long time ago if you wanted to send a message, you had to walk to if they wanted to send a message.  Then came animals and signals to relay message.  Next there were different modes of transportation.  Nowadays, we can use a phone to call someone anywhere in the world.

Please see HW Checklist

Please remember students should wear their PE clothes and PE appropriate shoes on PE days. Even if PE is on a Friday (which is normally casual dress day) students still need to wear their PE uniform.

Snacktime Reminder

Students perform better when they have good food in their bodies. Please try to send your student with a simple, healthy snack that they can enjoy in the afternoon.  This extra nutrition can help their brains and bodies do their best in the late afternoon and during after school activities.

Picking good fit books

Students will use this strategy for picking good fit books from our classroom library or “Book Nook”. This will ensure that they are reading a book that will challenge them, but not to the point of frustration.

I PICK:

I look over the book inside and out

Purpose – Students should ask themselves why they are reading a book.

Interest- Students should ask themselves whether they are interested in a topic, author, or theme.

Comprehension – Students should ask themselves if they can understand the meaning of the text.

Know – Students should ask themselves if they know MOST (95%+) of the words.

Bloomz  is where I will update parents on what’s going on in the classroom.  It’s a great place to see many photos and videos throughout the year so you can get a look inside our classroom.

Raz-Kids is where students will be reading each night. Students can read a story, listen to a story and answer questions about a story. Ideally students should do all 3 for at least one story a night.

Log in information coming soon.

Sumdog is a fun math game site. Students can practice their math skills while playing games, earning points, and competing against friends.

Log in information coming soon.

Counting by 1’s

Common core standard: Extend the counting sequence (Count to 120, starting at any number less than 120).

Counting down

We’ve been practicing counting down in preparation for subtraction.

Counting by 2’s

Common core standard: Add and subtract within 20 (e.g., by counting on 2 to add 2).

Adding

Common core standard: Add and subtract within 20.

Place Value

Common Core Standard: Understand place value

Phonics

Phonics are the building blocks for literacy so we like to review with these videos.

Common core standard: Phonological Awareness

English Language Learners

These videos are for students that are just beginning to learn English.