Valentine Exchange

Literacy: Vowel Teams and Finishing Magnificent Things

 In our new Word Study unit,  First Graders will be introduced to two more common suffixes: -ed and -ing. They will learn to add these suffixes to words that do not change when a suffix is added. New vowel teams for this unit include: oa, oe, ow, ou, oo, ue, ew, au, aw. Please practice the following heart words at home: any, many, how, now, down, out, about, our. Students should be able to read and write these words.

During Literacy students put finishing touches on their “Magnificent Things.” They wrote informative/explanatory texts in which they named their “Magnificent Thing,” wrote facts about their topic and provided a conclusion (BIG work for first graders!)

Finished and Unfinished Work Holders

Cap for the PomPom Jar

First Grade Art Gallery Display Sign

Math Workshop: Combinations of 10

First graders began a new unit in math this week called Number Games and Crayon Puzzles, the third of four units in the Investigations program that focus on addition, subtraction, and the number system.  Number Games and Crayon Puzzles contains a series of investigations that guide student development of fluency with two-addend addition and subtraction within 10, examine the meaning of the equal sign as a symbol of equivalence, and deepens students’ understanding of addition and subtraction through problems and games that involve finding an unknown addend or an unknown change (10 =___+ 8).

Second Step: Showing Care and Concern

We wrapped up our Second Step unit focused on empathy this week thinking and talking about compassion by thinking and talking about showing care and concern about others. Being able to show compassion helps children get along with others and to feel valued in our learning community. Compassion is empathy in action!

February 14th

We will be having a low-key valentine exchange on Wednesday, February 14th.  If your child wishes to participate in the exchange, please make sure he or she includes a card for everyone. A 1M class list was sent home in Thursday folders last week.

Math: Halves and Fourths

First graders are extending their knowledge of measurement by currently investigating fractions, partitioning a whole into two equal parts first, then moving on to four equal parts next week. Exploration activities include coloring circle, square, and fraction "rugs"with two or four equal parts of different color and discussions involve conversations about what it would look like to "fairly" share cookies, pancakes, or sandwiches with two or four people.  Want to continue these conversations at home? Math vocabulary includes half, half of, one half, halves, fourth, one fourth, a fourth of, fourths, and quarter.  

Reading Fluency

A fluent reader reads at a conversational rate with accuracy and expression. At the end of each daily Fundations (phonics) lesson, students read a story or passage that is directly connected to the words (skills and spelling patterns) that were taught and practiced that day. Students spend time reading and REREADING these stories because studies show rereading familiar passages supports the development of automatic, proficient word recognition which, in turn, allows readers to exert more brain power on understanding and enjoying a text (reading comprehension). A collection of stories is sent home in orange folders at the end of each unit. Please encourage your child to save and practice these collections frequently, accurately, and out loud! This week, some students spent time presenting a choral reading of one of these stories with a partner or two.

Literacy: Magnificent Things and Vowel Teams

Students have completed their work in groups on crafting their magnificent things.  Groups will meet next week to identify revisions for their creations.  They will think about the question, “Does my magnificent thing do its job?”  They think about ways they can make their magnificent things even better.  Then students will document changes in their notebooks.

In Word Study we have moved on to a new unit that focuses on understanding syllable types: closed vs. open.  Additionally, students are learning vowel team sounds for: ai, ay, ee, ea, ey, oi, oy.  In first grade students are expected to read words with these vowel sounds (the spelling of words with these vowel teams will be learned in depth in second grade.)  Heart words for this unit include: say, says, see, between, each.

Second Step: Accidents Happen

Our Second Step social and emotional learning program lesson focused on accidents this week.  Building on previous empathy lessons regarding identifying and caring about one another's feelings and how feelings change in different situations, activities and discussions used positive and negative if-then scenarios and role playing to define an accident as something that happens to cause an unintended problem and to practice appropriate responses when an accident happens.  Students took turns modeling language for solving the problem when they are the cause of an accident (such as spilling milk on a friend's lunch or throwing a ball that bounces and splashes someone with muddy water): "I'm sorry.  It was an accident.  Are you okay?" or if they are impacted by the result of an accident: "Thank you for apologizing".