Happy Friday! Just a reminder, progress reports will be going home, Monday, March 30, 2015.
Here is a recap of the week’s activities:
Math: This week, we began our unit on place value. We first talked about teen numbers and worked on decomposing the numbers into sets of tens and ones. On Thursday, we began to work on decomposing larger numbers. We will continue this next week.
Writing: Students finished their opinion pieces on their favorite season. Each student chose one reason why their chosen season was their favorite. Students added details to their writing to make their reasons more sophisticated. We also worked on starting sentences in a different way. This week, students practiced starting sentences with the word, after.
Reading: We read more Pigeon books, looking at the similarities and differences between the books we have read. Students participated in their regular reading centers.
Phonics: We finished up our, Explode the Code, assessment. We reviewed what we learned by playing a fun short vowel game.
Social Studies: We started learning about Japan. I read, K is for Kabuki: A Japanese Alphabet. On Thursday, I read, The Beckoning Cat, which is a Japanese folktale about the Japanese figurine that is commonly found in Asian businesses. This figurine is supposed to bring good luck and fortune to those that display it. The students began making their own beckoning cat collage piece.
Science: On Monday, we finished our beautiful Kandinsky circles. We will be sharing these art pieces during the whole-school meeting on Friday, April 3.
Have a great weekend! Andrea
Friday, March 27, 2015
Friday, March 20, 2015
Friday Letter March 20, 2015
Happy Friday! Just a reminder, progress reports will be going home Monday, March 30.
Here is our weekly re-cap:
Math: Students have been working hard on telling time to the hour and half hour. On Thursday, students took a time math assessment.
Writing: Last week, students wrote about what pet the pigeon should have and why. On Monday, students made a crayon-resist painting to go along with their writing. On Wednesday, students began discussing their favorite season. I read a book about the seasons and the students talked about their favorite season. Students began drawing a picture of their favorite thing to do in that season. Today, Fred Wolfe will be coming into our class to do another fun writing activity with the students.
Reading: I read two more pigeon books to the students, “The Pigeon Needs a Bath, and “Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay up Late.” Students participated in their regular reading centers.
Phonics: We have been using the phonics program, Explode the Code, to become better at decoding CVC words. We are almost finished and will begin working on long vowels.
Science: This week, we talked about echolocation and how bats use this to find how big and far objects are from them. We set up an experiment with two paper towel rolls and an aluminum pie container. One person spoke into the first paper towel, as the other student listened. The sound vibrated off the container into the other tube. We also continued to learn about synethesia. We learned about the Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky, who had this condition. I read the book, “The Noisy Paintbox,” a story about how Kandinsky would hear music when he painted. We looked at his famous circle painting. Students then created their own circles with oil pastels and water colors.
Have a wonderful weekend! Andrea
Here is our weekly re-cap:
Math: Students have been working hard on telling time to the hour and half hour. On Thursday, students took a time math assessment.
Writing: Last week, students wrote about what pet the pigeon should have and why. On Monday, students made a crayon-resist painting to go along with their writing. On Wednesday, students began discussing their favorite season. I read a book about the seasons and the students talked about their favorite season. Students began drawing a picture of their favorite thing to do in that season. Today, Fred Wolfe will be coming into our class to do another fun writing activity with the students.
Reading: I read two more pigeon books to the students, “The Pigeon Needs a Bath, and “Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay up Late.” Students participated in their regular reading centers.
Phonics: We have been using the phonics program, Explode the Code, to become better at decoding CVC words. We are almost finished and will begin working on long vowels.
Science: This week, we talked about echolocation and how bats use this to find how big and far objects are from them. We set up an experiment with two paper towel rolls and an aluminum pie container. One person spoke into the first paper towel, as the other student listened. The sound vibrated off the container into the other tube. We also continued to learn about synethesia. We learned about the Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky, who had this condition. I read the book, “The Noisy Paintbox,” a story about how Kandinsky would hear music when he painted. We looked at his famous circle painting. Students then created their own circles with oil pastels and water colors.
Have a wonderful weekend! Andrea
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Friday Letter March 12, 2015
I hope you had a wonderful week & had a chance to be outside in this beautiful weather. We'll be taking our Friday spelling test on Monday, to give students extra time to work on their words.
Supplies: We are in need of paper towels and white cardstock.
Here is a re-cap of what we did this week:
Reading: We had our normal reading centers this week focusing on word work, reading “just right” books, handwriting, and composing sentences. We read, “The Pigeon Wants a Puppy,” by Mo Willems. We will continue reading Mo Willems’ pigeon books over the next few weeks.
Writing: We are working on our opinion unit. We began writing an opinion piece about what pet would be best for the pigeon. Students have to come up with three reasons for their choice. We have also been discussing what an opinion is and why it’s okay to have different opinions than our peers. We are working on respecting each other’s opinions.
Math: This week, we have been focusing on telling time to the half hour. Students are learning the different ways one can represent time to the half hour. I encourage you to help your child at home tell time and discuss the difference between a.m. and p.m.
Science: We had a lot of fun during our science block this week. Students learned how sound travels. On Monday, we made paper cup telephones and tried to make the sound vibrations reach the other end of the phone. On Tuesday we had lots of fun creating colorful kazoos. Yesterday, we read the book, The Girl Who Heard Colors, by Marie Harris. It is about a student who has an extra sense called, synesthesia (being able to hear the colors of music, voices, and other sounds). After reading the story, students listened to classical music and painted the colors they saw as they listened to the music.
Fred Wolfe will be coming around to the different classrooms within the next few weeks to do writing activities with the students. He is an expert at teaching writing to kids. Teachers will get the opportunity to observe him and take our new knowledge back to the classroom.
Have a wonderful weekend! Andrea
Supplies: We are in need of paper towels and white cardstock.
Here is a re-cap of what we did this week:
Reading: We had our normal reading centers this week focusing on word work, reading “just right” books, handwriting, and composing sentences. We read, “The Pigeon Wants a Puppy,” by Mo Willems. We will continue reading Mo Willems’ pigeon books over the next few weeks.
Writing: We are working on our opinion unit. We began writing an opinion piece about what pet would be best for the pigeon. Students have to come up with three reasons for their choice. We have also been discussing what an opinion is and why it’s okay to have different opinions than our peers. We are working on respecting each other’s opinions.
Math: This week, we have been focusing on telling time to the half hour. Students are learning the different ways one can represent time to the half hour. I encourage you to help your child at home tell time and discuss the difference between a.m. and p.m.
Science: We had a lot of fun during our science block this week. Students learned how sound travels. On Monday, we made paper cup telephones and tried to make the sound vibrations reach the other end of the phone. On Tuesday we had lots of fun creating colorful kazoos. Yesterday, we read the book, The Girl Who Heard Colors, by Marie Harris. It is about a student who has an extra sense called, synesthesia (being able to hear the colors of music, voices, and other sounds). After reading the story, students listened to classical music and painted the colors they saw as they listened to the music.
Fred Wolfe will be coming around to the different classrooms within the next few weeks to do writing activities with the students. He is an expert at teaching writing to kids. Teachers will get the opportunity to observe him and take our new knowledge back to the classroom.
Have a wonderful weekend! Andrea
Friday, March 6, 2015
Friday Letter March 6, 2015
I hope you all had a lovely Winter Break. It’s nice to get back into the swing of things. Thank you to all the parents who donated supplies and/or volunteered their time to help out at the 100th Day Celebration & Chinese New Year Celebration. The students had a lot of fun & were able to create fun projects.
Here is a re-cap of what we did this week:
Math: We started our unit on time. First graders are expected to be fluent in telling time to the hour and half hour. This week, we made clocks and have been practicing telling time and writing time to the hour. On Friday, we began practicing telling time to the half-hour.
Writing: We finished up our writing assessments this week. We will begin our unit on opinion writing next week.
Reading: Students participated in their usual reading centers consisting of word work, independent reading, handwriting practice, guided reading, and a writing piece. Each student took a “Words Their Way” spelling test, to see what vowels and digraphs they have learned so far this year.
Social Studies: On Monday and Tuesday, students painted their “porcelain” plates. We celebrated Chinese New Year on Thursday and the 100th Day of School on Tuesday.
Due to all the snow days, progress reports will be going home Monday, March 30th.
Also, if you can, please save your paper towel rolls. We need them for a science project. We also need empty coffee containers if anyone has any (like Maxwell Coffee containers).
Thanks and have a wonderful weekend! Andrea
Here is a re-cap of what we did this week:
Math: We started our unit on time. First graders are expected to be fluent in telling time to the hour and half hour. This week, we made clocks and have been practicing telling time and writing time to the hour. On Friday, we began practicing telling time to the half-hour.
Writing: We finished up our writing assessments this week. We will begin our unit on opinion writing next week.
Reading: Students participated in their usual reading centers consisting of word work, independent reading, handwriting practice, guided reading, and a writing piece. Each student took a “Words Their Way” spelling test, to see what vowels and digraphs they have learned so far this year.
Social Studies: On Monday and Tuesday, students painted their “porcelain” plates. We celebrated Chinese New Year on Thursday and the 100th Day of School on Tuesday.
Due to all the snow days, progress reports will be going home Monday, March 30th.
Also, if you can, please save your paper towel rolls. We need them for a science project. We also need empty coffee containers if anyone has any (like Maxwell Coffee containers).
Thanks and have a wonderful weekend! Andrea
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