Thirty-First Day of School

No homework tonight.

Change of plans: After speaking with parents this week, it seems that expectations regarding the writing are clearer and some students could use a bit more time to develop narrative skills. So, let's continue with the first narrative unit for another week and have our assessment on Oct. 7th.

Thirtieth Day of School

In writing today, we worked on our last spelling strategy: stretching. We used the remaining time to work on pieces in our folder.

Twenty-Ninth Day of School

Today we reviewed the entire writing process in preparation for our Writing assessment on Friday.

Reminder: Reading Logs are due Friday.

Reminder: There is no school on Monday.

Twenty-Seventh Day of School

In Writing today, we learned how to use a checklist in order to make sure our writing meets standards and has all of the necessary elements for a narrative. Checklists will also be available to writers on the day of their test.

Math Test Results

Of 24 students taking the chapter 1 Math test 23 students passed with an adjusted score of 15 or better. The modal average score was 18.

Unit 1 Week 4 Preview

During week 4 we will tread lightly on the subject of pets. We will read/listen to various selections about pets including a non-fiction selection about White House Pets. Our oral vocabulary words are adorable, dear, needs, sensible, and train. We will continue the comprehension strategy of analyzing story structure using the skill of recognizing parts of the plot. Our sight words will be come, down, good, pull. In spelling we will focus on words having an initial consonant blend with the letter 'l' (fl-, pl-, cl-).

In Social Science we will discuss traditions in a variety of contexts, for example, the classroom, community, and family. (HSS 1.5.1) We will also begin comparing the past with the present (tested) reading a nonfiction selection titled Learn About the Past. 

In P.E. we will be learning to cooperate as a team to accomplish a goal.

Twenty-Sixth Day of School

In Writing today, we revised by adding a descriptive sentence to our setting.

We also retold a non-fiction selection using our oral language vocabulary.

It was decided to hold off on the Math test until tomorrow.

Twenty-Fifth Day of School

In Writing today, we transformed speech balloons into quotations in the body of our narrative text as part of the revision process. We also learned to incorporate thoughts into the text.

In Social Science, we discussed rights and responsibilities.

We read a non-fiction selection about growing up. We also deconstructed a realistic fiction piece which used dialogue in its narrative. We also practiced note taking while reading a non-fiction article about author Kevin Henkes's writing process.

Reminder: students are to wear socks everyday to school. Shoes she be secured with laces or Velcro straps.

We are scheduled for our next writing assessment on September 30.

Twenty-Fourth Day of School

In Writing, we revised by adding thoughts of story characters in the form of thought balloons.

We will likely have a Math Test either Thursday or Friday of this week.

Unsatisfactory Notices

Unsatisfactory Notices were sent home today. Please remember from our discussion that Unsatisfactory Notices do not mean a child is "failing" a subject or any indication that they will be retained in 1st grade. They are just an indicator that measurements taken so far show your child performing below the expected standard in 1 or more of the areas of Reading, Writing, or Math. If growth is not shown in the next 6 weeks to meet the expected standard at that time, a grade of a 2 could be possible on the 1st progress report.

It is not necessary for the contents of the Unsatisfactory Notice to be discussed with your child. The measurements of your child's performance and their meaning will be discussed with parents at conferences on the last week of this month.

Twenty-Third Day of School

Thank you to those parents who returned their conference confirmation forms.

In Writing today, we revised our writing plans today in blue ink by adding quotations in the form of speech bubbles. In a future activity we will attempt to transfer those ideas to the draft or text of our work.

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.

In Writing, we will continue with the revision portion of our process.

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 continue our work with chapter 1.

In Health we will continue our overview of the concept of "good health."

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

In Drama we will begin our work on tableau.

In PE we will begin to work with team members to accomplish goals.

Math Quiz

All students taking the Math Quiz on Friday passed, 11 with a perfect score. The modal average was a score of 15.

Twenty-Second Day of School

Yesterday, the student writers' personal narratives were collected and checked for having a setting and a closure (CCSS.W.1.3). In Writing today, student writers returned to pieces that were missing elements to add those elements. Others who were ready, continued with revision.

We retold the Great Rope Tug using our oral language vocabulary.

In Math, we took a quiz.

Twenty-First Day of School

In Writing we took our blue pens and began the revision process. Today we added to details for completeness. Our process is as follows:

1. Reread
2. Ask:
• Is this clear?
• Is it interesting?
• Is it complete?
3. If the answer is 'No', add information/details.

In Social Science we discussed indigenous cultures and traditions.

Tomorrow we will likely have a quiz in Math.

Twentieth Day of School

In Writing we had our last day of drafting where we reviewed the entire drafting process. Tomorrow we will begin the revision process.

We also listened to the African tale The Great Rope Tug.

In Health we discussed good character.

Nineteenth Day of School

In Writing today, we reviewed the process for brainstorming, talking, and planning a personal narrative. The idea here is that students will get multiple attempts at the drafting process before working on revision. It may be that some students will only revise their one best piece bringing it closer to completion than any  of their pieces.

Eighteenth Day of School

In Writing today, we learned how to add transitions as the final component of drafting. We learned that we should have at least 2 transitions per story. With the Writer's Workshop 3 page structure, there should be a transition connecting each page.

In Math, we completed a Math report which is graded b a rubric and displayed in the classroom.

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 addition.

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

In Drama we explore pantomime.

In PE we will continue with balance, cooperation, and tossing and throwing.

Seventeenth Day of School

The list of questions we came up with regarding the life of Alexander Graham Bell:

• What did Alexander Graham Bell (AGB) teach?
• Where was he born?
• What did AGB invent (What was he known for)?
• How did he learn music?
• What was he interested in as a boy? Why?

Sixteenth Day of School

Today we drafted the basic sentences of our personal narrative. Our first sentence told the reader who our story was about (including ourselves) and where and when it took place. The next sentence (2nd page) told what happened. The next sentence (3rd page) told what happened next. Tomorrow we will learn how to close a story.

For oral language, we helped to retell the story, The Princess and the Pea using our oral language vocabulary.

In Science, we learned needs of survival for people.

Fifteenth Day of School

Unfortunately, we did not get to Writing today as our Reading Lesson and subsequent group work took much longer than expected. We learned how to identify the main character of a literary selection and make a main character statement (tested) Later we will describe the characters using details from the story (tested) (CCSS R.1.3).

We listened to the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. Tomorrow we will have our first narrative retell lesson using the oral vocabulary words of the week.

Fourteenth Day of School

Today we had our second Drama lesson. We discussed respect at length. Then we practiced showing a variety of emotions while attempting to maintain focus.

For Writing we deconstructed the reading selection That Big Cat. We began to reconstruct it as a personal narrative. Then we learned how to talk our own personal narrative. Then make a plan for our personal narrative across 3 pages. The first page answers the question: who? where? and when? The second page tells an event. The third page tells what happened next. Tomorrow we will begin to construct the sentences which coordinate with our plan.

In Math we worked on story problems using the strategy of making a math sentence.

Thank you to the parents who remembered to send a flash drive with their child. The labeling on the outside is a big help.

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 oral 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. 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 Math we will continue with strategies for addition and model making (CCSS 1.OA.1 & 2)

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. We will also begin our first Science unit on matter.

In Writing we will learn to plan a personal narrative.

In P.E. we will work on balance and cooperation.

For discussion:

• 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?