Week 21 January 27

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Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on January 27, 2014

halfWe’re halfway to the end of the year! This is a good time to reflect on our journey, and to thank you for your efforts as partners in your child’s education. It’s remarkable how much growth the kids have shown, from learning skills and critical thinking to their growth as caring members of our learning community. To foster self-reflection, try asking your child to compare how s/he is different now from the start of the year. What things can s/he do now that s/he couldn’t before? What things does s/he still want to learn (goals) and how can we get there? It’s also a good time to begin learning about fractions and the concept of 1/2: http://leaderinlearning.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/how-to-teach-halving/

heartsValentine’s Day is coming! We will exchange valentines in class on Friday, 2/14. If your child will be bringing valentines in for classmates, please be sure there is one for everyone. There are currently 20 students in our class. I will send home a list of names this week. If you’d like to send in a special snack with your child that day (cupcake, etc.), we’ll also be making valentine placemats for the occasion.

100dayThe 14th also marks the 100th day of school! Next week we will develop number sense and explore some of the many patterns that make up this remarkable number. I will also set up a “100 Day Museum” to show off student projects and learning. I encourage you to create a poster/collection/display/etc. that somehow represents 100. Guidelines: nothing so large it cannot be carried on the bus; nothing alive (!); something that shows an understanding of number or patters such as: grouping objects (stickers/pennies/etc.) in bags or on a poster that shows counting by 5s, 10s, 2s, etc.; writing or drawing addition and subtraction up to and within 100; a display of a collection of 10s and 1s in 2 digit numbers; splitting 100 into halves, quarters, fifths; looking for and coloring in patterns on a hundred grid (there are many, as we have learned in class!). More ideas can be found by Googling 100 day projects with Google images, and at: http://www.kidsplayandcreate.com/100th-day-of-school-projects-for-kids/  and   http://www.pinterest.com/joyteach/100-day-ideas/

horse

This Friday marks Lunar New Year and is celebrated by Chinese and Chinese Americans nationwide. We will learn a little about customs long ago and today (history); our place and that of China in the world (mapping); and the ways in which people celebrate this holiday similar to those in Europe and North America (culture). My home town of Boston puts on a great display in and around Chinatown, including parades, food, and family-friendly events. I encourage you to take a trip in: http://www.eventbrite.com/directory?q=chinese+new+year+festival&loc=Boston%2C+MA

11949856271997454136tasto_2_architetto_franc_01_svg_medIn math this week, we will be reviewing and taking a test on unit 5 skills. The homework will be from the packet on Monday and Tuesday; be on the lookout for separate, marked homework pages for Wednesday and Thursday.

Week 20 January 21

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Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on January 20, 2014

01-martin-king-010909_14065_600x450 I hope you are enjoying the long weekend and holiday! We have been learning about Dr. King through stories, discussion, and video, and analyzing the traits that civic leaders such as himself exhibit (brave, hardworking, patriotic, etc.). Brainpop Jr. has entertaining and informative pages (including video, activities, and games) on this and many other topics: http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/martinlutherkingjr/

Reminder: The PTO is sponsoring an evening of Q & A around the budget and potential impacts next year. The event will take place in the Floral Media Center from 6:45-8:00 PM, Monday, January 27. It is a great way to stay informed about the issues affecting your child’s education!

spellingOur spelling quizzes will look a little different starting this week. We have all mastered the Nifty Fifty on spelling quizzes, and all ten words will come from list A, B, or C. As usual, they will come home on the first day of the week and will be quizzed on the last day.

cafeboardOur CAFE focus will be on using story elements to help us better understand texts. Narratives most often are about central characters that encounter problems that they solve or that change them in some way. By understanding this format, young readers can use it to key in on what’s important in texts. This in turn helps them predict, ask relevant questions, and better understand what they are reading. More on story elements and their value: https://www.teachervision.com/skill-builder/reading-comprehension/48783.html/11949856271997454136tasto_2_architetto_franc_01_svg_med

11949856271997454136tasto_2_architetto_franc_01_svg_medThis week’s math focus is on learning to recognize patterns in number and to apply them when doing math facts. We have learned that +0/-0 leaves an addend unchanged, while +1/-1 means counting up or back 1. We will next learn that if we know doubles, we can solve math facts that are +/- 1 or 2. For example: 3 + 3 = 6, so 3 + 4 = 7 because 4 is just 1 more than 3. Another strategy is to recognize turnaround facts. If 5 + 3 = 8, then 3 + 5 does too. By learning these tricks, students will be better able to solve addition problems with speed and accuracy, and won’t have to rely on counting with fingers.

checklistAfter learning the elements and purposes of procedural writing, we continue to practice its application this week by writing out routines that we follow in the classroom. It’s remarkable how many steps are necessary to accomplish even simple things. The challenge for young writers is to include enough detail so that anyone could follow a procedure, even if unfamiliar with it. Try practicing at home with any routine such as brushing teeth or setting the table. What steps are necessary? Which ones may be inferred? Where is it important to be very explicit with the materials being used? A template for writing a recipe procedure can be found here: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson1018/procedural-writing.pdf The parent site, ReadWriteThink.org is run by the IRA which is a leader in literacy development in the U.S., and has some good information for parents on both general and specific reading topics.

                                                      jwrite

balance1This week in science we will apply the principles of balance as we create mobiles. Students will use their knowledge of weight and counterweight as they create a system that balances around a balance point. Here is a home version: http://sciencenetlinks.com/afterschool-resources/balancing-points/

balance5    balance  balance2  balance4

rubyWe continue our look at what makes great American leaders. We will learn this week that kids show traits too (honesty, compassion, etc.) that help to change things for the better in communities and in the country. We will look at how Ruby Bridges did this as a child. You can find out more at her story’s homepage: http://www.rubybridges.com/story.html

 

Week 19 January 13

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Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on January 13, 2014

It’s that time of year: budget talks are beginning! The school district budget, and constraints related to it, affects in a very real way what goes on here day to day. Your child WILL be impacted next year, regardless of grade. Please read the message below and attend the meeting which should prove helpful at explaining and answering questions regarding next year:

A Message from the Floral Street School Council and PTO:
The Floral Street School Council and PTO invite parents, teachers, and neighbors to a community meeting to discuss pressing school and district issues including:

✦               Resource needs and challenges facing the school and district

✦               Fiscal Year 2015 budget development

✦               Ways to be involved and stay informed

School committee members, Jason Palitsch and Sandy Fryc will be special guests at the meeting.  Join us on January 27th from 6:45-8:00pm in the Floral Street School Media Center. Childcare will be provided for children ages 3 and older. Please click on the link below to RSVP, sign up for childcare, and/or submit questions for discussion. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1A-GpCYIJ8iQmbRwIqGqhms_2O_jVR-adur6eY6y-SBE/viewform  Thank you for your time, we hope to see you there.

cafeboard Our CAFE focus this week is on Inferring, which is a strategy we use all the time to help us understand what we’re reading. When we infer, we use our schema (what we already know about something) and combine it with clues from the text to understand something new. Consider these lines from Eloise Greenfield’s poem Things: Went to the beach/Played on the shore/Built me a sandhouse/Ain’t got it no more. My schema tells me that at the beach we build sandcastles, which is what she likely means, and sometimes the ocean comes and washes them away–that’s why the speaker “Ain’t got it no more.” Kids and grownups infer all the time in real life, for example: Snow is in the forecast. When the phone rings at 5:30 AM we can infer school will be delayed or cancelled! It’s smart to catch it when it happens and ask “How did you infer that? What were your clues?” Here is a site that, while designed for teachers, has lots of great info and links on inference: http://www.minds-in-bloom.com/2012/02/tips-for-teaching-inference.html

checklistIn writing, we are increasingly focusing on adding details that explain our thinking. We will practice that skill by learning to write out procedures this week (how to tie a shoe, etc.). The goal is for students to be clear but thorough in their explanations, so that another person could follow the procedure just by reading it. As always, grammar, punctuation, and handwriting count!

place value mats3 Our math work with place value and comparing numbers continues this week. After learning the tens and ones that make up two-digit numbers, we will apply this knowledge in activities that challenge us to compare two numbers (e.g. something weighing 34 lbs. is less that something weighing 43 lbs.–see how important place value is?). We will also spend time on word problems and solving problems, focusing on what the questions is really asking and what a good answer looks like. Here is a site with more information that is an excellent at-home math resource for families throughout the elementary years: http://www.coolmath4kids.com/addition/03-addition-lesson-place-values-01.html

petals     We will apply our knowledge of poetic elements by analyzing local author and poet John Updike’s January. Consider the first stanza:

The days are short,

The sun a spark,

Hung thin between

The dark and dark.

What images spring to mind? Use inference to make sense of the metaphor of the sun as a spark between the dark and dark. What rhythm and rhyme are present? What is the tone of the poem (how does the poet create feeling with words)?

balance1In science we will learn about balance point. This is the spot around which the forces in a system are in equilibrium, often in the base or at the center of an object. Here are sites with more info and activities you can try/modify at home!

http://www.netplaces.com/kids-magical-science-experiments/get-physical/science-fair-finding-a-balance.htm

http://sciencenetlinks.com/afterschool-resources/balancing-points/

01-martin-king-010909_14065_600x450Next in social studies we will explore citizenship by examining the qualities that good citizens/leaders display (honesty, perseverance, courage, etc.). After spending time identifying character traits of characters in stories we have read, we will now apply them to real life subjects, beginning with Martin Luther King, Jr. National Geographic for Kids (an excellent at-home resource for all things social studies) has an awesome collection of photos, along with biographical information: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/photos/gallery/martin-luther-king-jr/ 

 

Week 18 January 6

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Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on January 6, 2014

2014    Happy New Year! I hope the holidays and vacation were filled with the best of memories. Mine included a long-overdue reunion with family and plenty of time to recharge my battery. So: onward!

  children's museum

As part of our science unit on balance and motion, we will be taking a field trip to The Boston Children’s Museum on March 7. This day-long trip includes hands-on learning about the ways in which design affects speed, motion, and direction. The program was actually refined using a past group of first-graders in our classroom–cool! We will need chaperones to accompany us, which is why I’m posting this in advance. This is an excellent chance for parents (especially dads!) to join in our classroom learning who otherwise can’t commit to in-class volunteering. A CORI background check must be current (within 3 years) in order to chaperone field trips. Our secretaries can quickly take care of it if you drop into the office some day. A permission slip will be sent home at the start of next month. More info about the program and the museum  in general: http://www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/exhibits-programs/exhibits/raceways        raceways

cafeboard  Our CAFE focus this week is on the Comprehension strategy of visualizing, or creating mental pictures. When children read independently, it is often with a great deal of picture support–at least initially. The next step is to teach them to picture what is happening in a text. This improves their understanding by helping them to put themselves in the picture, which then improves their ability to understand the characters or situations. This in turn helps them to ask appropriate questions, make better predictions, and guess unknown words based on what makes sense. When reading aloud to your child, pause and ask: What did you see in your mind when I read ______? How is _____’s face looking, do you think? What might s/he say or do next? Some children do not obtain the skill of visualizing easily. If your child has no response, try guiding the image suggested by the text: Goldilocks broke the chair. Imagine a chair with the legs broken and rolling away on the kitchen floor, etc. More at: http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy/comprehension_strategies.html#visualizing

place value mats3  Unit 5 in Everyday Math introduces students to thinking about place value. Understanding place value is HUGE for understanding numbers and operations. As an example, young children cannot hold big numbers in their head. When you ask them if 74 of something is a lot, they may not know. But if you show them 7 tens of something (e.g. 10 pennies, and another ten, etc.) they quickly see how big a number it is. Then again, consider adding 43 + 40. Will the answer be more or less than 100? By adding just the 10s we can see it will be less. By understanding that adding any amount of tens to 43, the ones place will always be 3, students have a deeper understanding of what’s really going on in addition, beyond simply adding the digits together. Some ideas for online games to help practice (note: in first grade the focus in on the ones and tens place, with initial forays into the hundreds place): http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/menus/place_value.htm

More info on the importance of place value:  http://investigations.terc.edu/library/curric-math/qa-1ed/place_value.cfm 

snowglobe1_thumb

Our writing focus this week will be to create an opinion writing piece that explores the theme “If I were stuck in a snow globe.” Students will work on stating their opinions, explaining them with 2 or more sentences, and writing a concluding sentence that expresses their thoughts or feelings. As always, even spacing, lowercases, handwriting, and end marks are important!

balance1  In science, we will explore balance using cutout shapes and making them stand up in a stable position using clothespins as counterweights. Consider a right triangle cutout, standing upright: Which side of the base is likely to be heavier? Why is that? (One side is bigger, with more surface area, so the weight will be heavier thus causing an imbalance.) Where then should counterweights be placed to provide balance to the system? We will repeat the experiment with various arches and triangles. Here’s a neat experiment to try at home: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/pencilbalance.html

treasure

Our social studies lessons this week focus on map skills. The goal is for students to apply their knowledge of cardinal directions and to create 2-dimensional representations of a place. They will do this by hiding a “treasure” (toy gems) and writing directions for others to find it. The “finders” will then create a map that shows how to find the treasure once they have accomplished it!

 

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