Thursday, March 6, 2025
Math: Comparing Numbers to 99
First graders continue to develop their understanding of place value and our base-ten number system. This week, they are working to compare and order 2 two-digit numbers based on the values of the tens and ones digits and to record the results of these comparisons with the symbols >, <, or =. They are noticing that if a two-digit number has more tens it will be greater than a number with fewer tens, no matter how many ones there are. This is true because we know that the value of the digit in the ones place will always be less than 1 ten because the place value system only allows up to 9 ones.
Literacy: More Vowel Teams and Suffixes
During word study, Ffrst graders are learning to segment, blend, and spell words with five sounds and continuing to read words that contain vowel teams including oa, oe, ow, ou, oo, ue, ew, au, and aw. Soon, they will be adding suffixes -ed and -ing to closed syllable base words. Heart words for our current unit include: any, many, how, now, down, out, about, our. Please practice reading and spelling these words at home.
In our new unit in Literacy, students launched their learning about birds by focusing on their physical features. Students are considering the guiding question, “What makes a bird a bird?" as they begin to grow their research skills investigating the different physical characteristics of birds through texts, photographs, and videos During the first part of this unit, students read an engaging mystery riddle and explore mystery pictures to stir their inquiries about the topic of birds.
Health Series: Zones of Regulation
First graders are excited to welcome Mrs. Klocek back into the classroom for another series of first grade Health lessons. They have been introduced to the Zones of Regulation, a curriculum that builds self-awareness of and strategies for emotion management and positive behavior. Information about this program went home in Thursday folders this week.
Friday, February 14, 2025
Friday, February 7, 2025
Math: Numbers to 99
Literacy: Closed Syllables, Vowel Teams, and Writing About the Sun and Moon
Word Study: Students are learning about different syllable types during word study (closed syllables have a short vowel and are closed in by one or more consonants.) Vowel teams will be introduced shortly, include: ai, ay, ee, ea, ey, oi, oy. Please practice the following heart words at home with your child: say, says, see, between, each. During fluency practice we continue to work on reading with accuracy and prosody (expression.)
EL: During our Literacy block students continue to reflect on where the sun and moon appear in the sky and what happens when the sun and moon are at different places in the sky. We are reading What the Sun Sees and What the Moon Sees by Nancy Tafuri to understand the content as readers and then again as a mentor text to study the author’s craft to begin narrative writing about the topic. The guiding question that we are investigating is, How do authors use their knowledge and observations to write a story?
Second Step: Problem-Solving
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Friday, January 17, 2025
Martin's Big Words
In recognition of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on Monday, first graders enjoyed a read aloud of Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. This picture book biography prompted discussion about race, inequality, Dr. King's religious inspirations, and his death. First graders might have questions about the life and work of Dr. King at home this weekend!
Literacy: Informational Texts and Glued Sounds
This week we are finishing up a unit in word study on glued sounds: -ang, -ing, -ong, -ung, -ink, -onk, -ank, -unk. Please take time to practice the following heart words at home with your child: why, by, try, my, two, too, also, put, come, some. Students are expected to read and spell these words. Thank you!
Math: More Addition and Subtraction Within 20
Addition problem investigations require students to add two or three numbers, with a total within 20. They start with problems in which two of the numbers make a ten (for example,
For example, making a ten is helpful when finding the value of
Second Step: Emotion Management
Our social emotional learning program, Second Step, began a new unit recently that focuses on emotion management. In this unit, students are taught proactive strategies to help prevent strong feelings from turning into negative behaviors. When intense feelings are allowed to escalate, strong physiological reactions hamper students' ability to reason and to solve interpersonal and other problems without aggression. The ability to keep strong emotions from escalating and driving behavior allows students the chance to employ many of the other skills practiced this year, such as effective communication, assertiveness, negotiation and compromise, and problem-solving. During today's lesson, first graders learned to identify their own feelings by noticing the physical clues in their bodies. Using disappointment as the example, activities and discussions revolved around the idea that everyone has strong feelings sometimes.