Week 29 March 31

0

Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on March 31, 2014

martyKelleyLiteracy Night is an annual event at our school that will occur this year on Friday, April 4. The focus is on engaging kids and families with the joys of reading and writing. There will be a visiting author: Marty Kelley (http://www.martykelley.com ) . There will also be a book swap, and much more! Our class has been working on writing pieces which will be displayed outside our room, so come check them out. The evening begins at 6 PM.

bandaid kleenexThe end of the year is in sight! Thank you for your contributions of health supplies this year. To get us through the end (and through allergy season) we need boxes of kleenex. We can also use boxes of band-aids (regular, not antibacterial, please). Thank you for helping us stay healthy this year!

cafeboardWe continue to think critically about texts by looking for the important parts and separating out interesting but unimportant details. This kind of thinking is essential to understanding what is read. One way to do this is to start with the title of a chapter, or heading of a section (in nonfiction).  As you read on, look for ways the author explains what is meant in the title or heading. If the sentences or facts tell about something else, chances are those are details which enhance the reading but aren’t necessarily developing the main idea. Time for Kids is an excellent online resource to practice this strategy with a range of interesting topics: http://www.timeforkids.com/

writingThis week we will finish our writing pieces based on genres and topics of our own choosing (persuasive, poetry, informational, opinion, procedural). We will then practice editing our pieces for clarity and presentation in order to share/publish them!

fractions1Our math work this week involves introductory lessons in fractions. What’s important for kids to know is that fractions represent equal parts of a whole, and that we frequently speak in terms of common fractions (1/2, 1/3, 1/4) when talking about time and amounts.  Students will apply this concept as they divide shapes into parts, label them with numerators and denominators, and identify fractions in pictures and on clocks. Here is a read and play site kids can do with a  little help at home: http://www.aaamath.com/fra.html. In addition, Youtube has a wealth of offerings you can search for!

living thingsOur science focus in term 3 is on biology, specifically characteristics of living things and the interaction of organisms with their environment. We will explore the idea of living vs. nonliving things; identify, compare, and contrast life cycles of plants, worms, and insects; and design habitats for a variety of creatures. We start this week by sorting and classifying living and nonliving things and by planting flowers which will provide us with opportunities to learn about scientific observations and life cycles.

Week 28 March 24

0

Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on March 24, 2014

numberthreeTerm 3 has begun! Report cards will come home next Monday. While many of the descriptors are self-explanatory (e.g. the math section), others are not. Reading on grade level at this time means reading independent level 12 texts. You will see your child’s level in the comments section of the report card. To be considered exceeding (a report card score of 4), students should be reading levels 20-24 independently. Regarding the subtraction and addition facts descriptors, a score of 3 (proficient) is given to students who are on level 7 up to level 11, while a score of 4 reflects progress on quizzes above that. In writing, a 3 is given when students regularly write independently several complete and thoughtful sentence on-topic and in a logical progression, with correct upper/lowercases and periods most of the time.

cafeboard  Our CAFE focus this week is on Determining Important Parts of Text. In a sense, this is what we as busy adult readers do all the time. Both fiction and nonfiction texts have an abundance of words in them. Some are just part of the format of language, and others are really what the text is all about. Kids need to be taught to sift through the words in texts to pull out what is important and separate it from what is simply nice to know. At home, you can practice with homework books or with read-alouds. Try pausing after _____ (a page; a few pages; a chapter) and asking “What was the important part of what you/we just read? Why do you think that is? What does this have to do with _____ (the title; article heading; main idea/plot)?”

spring-10-640x400 In preparation for literacy night here on April 4, we will be producing writing pieces for display. Students will choose a topic related to spring, and a genre of writing we have learned (opinion, narrative, poetry, informational). We will work on these this week and create final drafts next week!

 

dollar-and-pennies1-300x199Unit 8 in Everyday Math brings together concepts learned so far related to place value, coins and exchanges, addition and subtraction and number sense and ties it all together with money. In our world of e-commerce, kids don’t often get opportunities to practice counting coins and figuring out change. It can help at home to have a “bank” (something easy to get into, like a jar) with coins and dollar bills. Try writing price tags under a dollar with your child and placing them on items in the home (incidentally this is a good economics lesson too: Which items would you price higher? Why do they have greater value?). Kids can then go shopping and combine coins and/or bills when it’s “checkout” time. Here are some online games to reinforce the same: http://www.kidsmathgamesonline.com/money.html

balance1In science this week we will wrap up our balance and motion unit by creating tops and other spinners, designing them with the physical properties in mind that we have learned through exploration this term.

Week 27 March 17

0

Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on March 17, 2014

shamrockLuck o’ the Irish? There’s just 13 weeks to go! We’ll start this one by flexing our map skills as we explore directionality and landforms related to the Emerald Isle, share Irish folk tales and music, and more. For some fun sharing of Irish culture, check out: http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/1Kids/2Index.html

Monday we will also take our quizzes from last Friday. I was unexpectedly sick and absolutely down for the count! We’ll still have a new set of quizzes this Friday.

cafeboardThis week we will learn about the Author’s Message in a text. This is usually the author’s purpose in writing the text. By thinking about it, readers in turn think about the big ideas behind what they are reading and come to understand events and character choices more deeply. Here’s a terrific explanation of what, how, and why: http://thepicturebookteachersedition.blogspot.com/2012/03/importance-of-authors-purpose.html

In writing we will continue to work on Main Event writing in small groups and 1-on-1. We will also review and practice how to write pieces that are informative (main idea and supporting details) and that state an opinion.

3d_shapesOur exploration of geometry continues this week with introductory lessons in 3-D objects. What is important is that students learn to identify them by the number and nature of their surfaces, including those on a cube, cone, cylinder, sphere, and prism. Here is a link to a terrific site for printing, cutting, and pasting together 3-D shapes: http://www.senteacher.org/Worksheet/12/3D.html By going through the process, students come to see in a hands-on way the unique properties of shapes. I encourage you to use them, and to compare/contrast them: How many total faces does a (cube, e.g.) have? How many faces are curved? Flat? How is one shape like another? Can you group several of them together by like properties?

And here is a fun site for practicing these and other first grade skills: http://www.starfall.com/

 

Week 26 March 10

0

Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on March 10, 2014

children's museum  Our trip to the museum was awesome! Students applied their knowledge of science skills and concepts around motion, including speed, friction, and momentum. They also spent the afternoon exploring the many offerings the museum presented. In all aspects, the kids were engaged, polite, and responsible representatives of our school! Kudos to them, and thanks to you for dropping your child off early and prepared. It made a big difference! Thanks also to out to our parents who came and helped make the day a success: Archana Mudbidri, Sarah Hansen, Bethany Pyro, Sean Weafer, and Terry Habib.

museum1 museum4 museum5 museum7 museum8 photo 2 photo 3 photo 4 museum9 museum6

cafeboard We continue to teach and practice the comprehension strategy of Predicting when reading text. As we read Flat Stanley (Brown), students are learning to pause as events unfold to become aware of how our “reading brains” constantly anticipate what is coming next, along with the clues (evidence) that lead us there. As we get better at analyzing text this way, so too we get better at making predictions that are accurate and reasonable, thus improving our understanding of the important points of texts. Try it at home when you’re reading aloud!

pttrn_blksToday we start unit 7 in Everyday Math. The focus is primarily on learning plane, or 2-D geometry. We will learn to identify shapes by their properties, compare and contrast them, learn to recognize them as fractions (e.g. a trapezoid is 1/2 a hexagon; a triangle is 1/6 of the same, etc.) and more. To start, we’ll be learning attributes of shapes and how to compare and contrast them. Here’s a home activity that’s similar: http://www.mathsisfun.com/activity/shapes-sorting.html

fact_triangleAnd here’s a game to keep up those math facts! https://em-facts-workshop.everydaymathonline.com/te_main_menu.html?PHPSESSID=269f6a4c5d0fdb98b9d851546d6d5589

 

museum3 This week we will apply science and writing skills as we tell about our roller coaster constructions in

NarrativeDiamondthe form of a main event, with actions and observations that stretch out one moment of time and put the reader in the picture with us! Our stories will incorporate scientific vocabulary as well as elements of good storytelling (description, logical order of actions, etc.).

Week 25 March 3

0

Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on March 3, 2014

children's museumOur Field Trip is upon us! This Friday is the big day. We will engage in lessons taught by the education staff at the museum in the morning, and explore the many offerings of the museum in the afternoon. It’s going to be an amazing day! Please remember:

  • Students must be dropped off no later than 8:15. Bus riders will need to be driven by car that day. Students WILL follow their normal dismissal routine home from school.
  • ALL students need to BRING A LUNCH FROM HOME (even those who regularly buy lunch at school). Lunches must be in containers that are TOTALLY DISPOSABLE (we will not be bringing them back with us). Students should also bring a snack for the afternoon at school if they normally eat one.

Thank you for your efforts: they will make the day a big success!

cmmtyreaderToday is Read Across America day! In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, schools around the country celebrated by inviting readers from the community to read to children. The idea is to further instill a lifelong love of reading in children by showing them the power of literacy in the lives of adults around us. We were fortunate to host Firefighter David Hodgemey from the Shrewsbury Fire Department, who engaged and informed us while providing a role model for how important reading is in each of our lives. We appreciate his time and efforts! More info on this new American tradition can be found at: http://www.nea.org/grants/886.htm

NarrativeDiamond  New this week, we will learn the importance of writing good main events in our narrative stories. After learning to start our stories with a bang (Entertaining Beginnings), we will explore what makes a good main event (what the story is all about). We will see how action and observations play the largest role in most stories, and how most narratives written by children are improved with a minimum of thoughts, feelings, and dialogue. In addition, the best student stories are those that stretch out one moment in time (e.g. a time they snowboarded to the bottom of Ward Hill instead of a whole day they spent doing things on vacation). Videos on how and what of writing main events can be found at this site, the mainpage for the writing program we use at Floral: https://empoweringwriters.com/teachers-corner/video-classroom/video-main-event-modeled-writing-lesson-magical-bike/  You can practice at home by watching any short video clip of any event (Youtube has a great and varied selection) from the internet or your home movies. Examples: The time I rode “Superman, Man of Steel” at Six Flags; The time I had my ballet recital; The time I learned to ride a bike.

balance1 Our physical science work continues with our study of motion. Wednesday we will be designing systems using pvc foam pipe covers that facilitate the motion of marbles being rolled along the track, like a roller coaster. (For an example, see any of the short videos on Youtube, such as: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLyC6tDQrkM .) Questions you can ask your child afterward, or while watching the previous video or similar ones at home: Why does the ball start down the track without pushing it (objects at rest need a force to make them move; gravity is the force here)? Why would someone start their coaster up high (the steepness of the slope affects speed)? Why should the track be free of obstacles, such as too much tape (friction slows things down and/or can cause a change in direction)? Why does the ball go up a loop or ramp when gravity supposedly pulls things down (speed and momentum can counteract the effects of gravity)?

Skip to toolbar