PBIS Pompom Celebration: Autumn Craft and Contributing to the Schoolwide Goal

 

Math: Representing and Solving Story Problems

First graders began a new unit of study in math this week focused on addition and subtraction story problems. As students makes sense of problems and share the ways to solve them, this unit will help them deepen their understanding of addition, subtraction, and the relationship between these operations. Currently, first graders are exploring add-to, put together, and take apart problems with a result unknown. They use their bodies, objects, and drawings to act out stories in which an amount is added or taken away. Later in the unit students will work with problem in which they have to figure out how much is being added: 

Diego had 7 pencils.

His sister gave him some pencils

Now, Diego has 9 pencils.

How many pencils did Diego's sister add? 

Story  problems require mathematicians to apply computation strategies, such as counting on, that they will use throughout the year as they add and subtract within 20 and develop computational fluency within 10. 

WIN Cycle 1: What I Need

The first school-wide WIN (What I Need) cycle began this week. WIN is an all-school intervention, extra practice, or enrichment block that meets for 30 minutes four times per week.  During this cycle, students will work in small and large groups to receive data-driven instruction in content and skill areas that will most benefit them as learners. Currently, first graders are participating in foundational early literacy groups with Ms. Bahlenhorst or Mrs. Hubbell, reading fluency and grade level reading comprehension groups with Mrs. MacMaster, Mrs. Underwood, and Ms. Morse, a foundational early math group with Ms. Sleeper, or a social emotional learning group with Mrs. Klocek.

Literacy: Tools and Work and Heart Words

This week we launched our literacy program, EL. EL is a comprehensive literacy program developed with an equity focus built around theme-based modules in which students learn reading and writing skills. First graders are building their literacy and citizenship skills as they engage in the study of tools and work. Students are exploring how tools help do a job. The G\guiding question and big idea for our first literacy unit is: Why do we need tools? Tools make our lives easier by helping us do work and tools help us create things.

In word study, first graders have been working on blending and reading CVC (consonant-short vowel-consonant) words as well as how to segment and spell them. They are also focusing on capitalization, punctuation and word spacing when writing sentences. The first, first grade heart words have also been introduced: the, a, of, his, and is. A heart word is a high-frequency word with an irregular spelling that includes parts that are difficult to sound out or spell using typical letter/sound patterns.The term “heart word” comes from the idea that some parts of the word need to be “learned by heart.” These words were sent home in orange Thursday folders. The parts of the word that are labeled with a blue square are phonetically spelled, the parts that are labeled with a heart are the tricky parts and need to be memorized.

Second Step: Focusing Attention

Building on taught strategies for listening to learn, our current Second Step social emotional learning lessons helped first graders understand that focusing attention and following directions involves using your eyes, ears, and brain and that the more we practice focusing attention the better we get at it. Strategies to avoid distraction include using self talk and putting on our "attent-o-scopes"!

Picture Day!

 

Fire Drill

Woodstock Elementary School had its first emergency drill of the school year this week. First graders did a fabulous job being safe (quiet and attentive in our designated space) while participating in a fire drill during Spanish.