Weekly News!

What a special Teacher Appreciation week this was! I was so surprised and so touched by the sweet book that the kids made for me! I loved each and every one of the pages in the book and will treasure it always. You all are too good to me!



This week, Kate was our photographer, and she captured some great moments throughout the week! Below are a few of her favorite photos and the captions that she wrote to go with them:

Looks like we are doing math time.


Now we are learning about fractions.


We are cutting paper to do more fractions.


Leilani is working hard comparing the flags.


What is Emily working on?


Looks like we are learning more about fractions.


Literacy:
Last week, our Treasures theme was "How Does it Grow?", where we read stories about seeds and plants. It was great to see them recalling some of the information they learned during their Collecting and Examining Life science unit. They do remember! Hooray!! As we read our stories for the week, we continued to work on our questioning skills, and worked on classifying and categorizing information. Our spelling and word work pattern of the week focused on r-controlled vowels, specifically the /ur/ pattern, with words containing the –er, -ir, and –ur blends. During grammar instruction, we focused on synonyms and antonyms, and came up with words that either mean the same or the opposite of words.

This week, our Treasures theme will be "Bugs, Bugs, Bugs”. As we read the selections for the week, we will practice going back to reread and using the illustrations in the selections to comprehend what we have read. Our spelling and word work pattern will focus on words with the /ou/ and /ow/ blends. During grammar instruction, we will learn about and practice identifying the subjects in sentences.

Math:
Last week in math, we began the week with Explorations, where students measured their heights, used pattern blocks to make symmetrical shapes, played the number grid game, and worked on our math boxes. Next, we learned about fractional parts of a whole, followed by comparing fractions. Finally, we learned about different names for fractional parts of a whole, and made fraction pizzas to display what we have learned about fractions!

This week in math, we will begin the week by reviewing all that we have learned in Unit 9 with the Mimio Vote system. On Tuesday, we will take our Unit 9 test. Unit 10 will be our final math unit (can you believe it?!), so each lesson in Unit 10 is a review lesson. We will start with reviewing collecting and analyzing data. On Thursday, we will review telling time. We continue to take our timed tests on our addition facts for our "Gumball Math". Thank you for all of the extra time and effort you are putting in at home to practice these facts and help your first grader commit them to memory!

Science/Social Studies:
Last week, we began studying China. We started by looking at the Chinese flag, and comparing and contrasting the Chinese flag with the American flag. Next, we learned about the geography of China by studying a map of China and identifying various landforms and cities on the map. This week, we will begin learning about the Chinese calendar; how it is different from our calendar, the animals that are represented with each year, the legend behind the formation of the calendar, and finding out which animal is represented in our birth years, and what that means!

I eagerly look forward to another productive week in first grade!

Mrs. Glaser ☺