Weekly News!

We are off and running on another exciting week in first grade, but let's not forget to check in on last week! Isabel was our class photographer last week, and below are her photo selections and the captions she has written to go with them. Nice job, Isabel!


Emilia and Peter are working on the laptops during writing time.


Emilia was finding out things about peacocks.


Leilani and Kate were practicing telling time with their clocks.


Kate is paying attention nicely.


Ellie was getting her snack out.


Lily is getting ready to do her animal researching.

Literacy:
Last week, our Treasures theme was "Bugs, Bugs, Bugs", and the first graders were so excited to read about insects, one of their favorite topics! They had so much to share about their own experiences with insects! As we read, we practiced rereading portions of the text when we don't understand something, or find ourselves confused. We also used illustrations in the text to help us comprehend what we have already read, and gather new information that perhaps had not been spelled out for us in the text. Our spelling and word work pattern of the week focused on the "ow" sound, with /ou/ and /ow/ words. During grammar instruction, we practiced identifying the subjects in sentences.
This week, our Treasures theme will be "Exploring Space”. As we read the selections for the week, we will practice using context clues and making predictions to improve our comprehension. Our spelling and word work pattern will focus on words with the /oo/ pattern. During grammar instruction, we will learn about and practice identifying the predicates in sentences. This is our final week of Treasures and spelling for the year! Can you believe it?!

Writing:
Last week, we spent a great deal of time on our expository writing. We began by practicing writing sentences about animals that are fiction and non-fiction. We identified differences between these types of sentences and learned that with expository writing, we are writing only non-fiction sentences. Next, we used the laptops to research animals using the pebblego website. The students were so excited to have such a fantastic resource right at their fingertips! They were able to each select a different animal to research, then took notes on the animals' descriptions, habitats, food, and interesting facts. Pebblego was the perfect tool for them to use, as it highlights the text as it is reading it to them, and also includes great photographs and videos for the students to access as well. They did an incredible job researching and taking notes independently, and they had a great time! This week, we will begin to work on our publication of our non-fiction animal books!

Math:
Last week in math, we began the week by reviewing Unit 9 with our Mimio Vote system, followed by our Unit 9 test. On Wednesday, we reviewed collecting and analyzing data. We wrapped up the week with a review of telling time. Over the summer, don't forget to practice telling time to the hour, half hour, quarter hour, and to the minute to keep those skills strong!

This week in math, we started with a review of mental math. We are practicing combining sets of coins to make believe buying items from a vending machine. We are using our strategies of counting by 5s and 10s from numbers other than zero as we work on adding these large numbers together! On Wednesday, we will review geometry, followed by a review of temperature and thermometers on Thursday.

Science/Social Studies:
Last week, we continued our cultural comparison with China. We learned 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 which animals represent our birth years! This week, we will learn about Chinese New Year!

Speaking of China, we did some research on the Chinese land and culture during our LMC class time, and the students are so excited to share their video creation on the right side of our blog! They did such a fantastic job. Be sure to check it out!

Mrs. Glaser ☺