It has been a couple weeks since I have posted an update so it is definitely time to send one out. My family and I had a chance to go out of town this weekend to visit family and do a little swimming which helped to break the winter doldrums. So, this post is a bit late.
We are working hard in the classroom and raising some expectations as we move through first grade. We are working at tightening our transitions and digging deeper to explain our thinking. I am proud of the kids as they shift to this new level of work, but it is still a work in progress :) They are working and trying their best which is all that I ask.
Here is an update in our main subject areas:
Math - we are working on adding and subtracting numbers with a teen total. This will be a mixture of woking on story problems as well as equations. Here are some examples: 8 + ? = 17, 17 - 9 = ?, There are 17 kids swimming in the pool. 9 kids get out of the pool. How many kids are still in the pool?, I have some apples in a basket. 8 are red and 9 are green. How many apples are in the basket? The main thing is to work with kids on understanding if we are looking for a total or a partner and then making sure they are using strategies consistently. We have reviewed the counting on strategy as well as counting backwards. Another strategy is making a new ten. Some kids are picking this strategy up and others are not. It is a pretty tough concept to learn, but we will keep plugging away at it. As long as kids have a strategy that works well and quickly for them, they can use it.
Reading - we have started a new unit that will focus heavily on reading strategies as the kids continue to read non-fiction books and fiction books. This week we are focusing on our accuracy strategies such as skippy frog, chunky monkey, stretchy snake, and eagle eye. We also learned the sounds au/aw and have been doing activities in the room surrounding those sounds. We will also focus on stopping our reading when something doesn't make sense. We had a really fun conversation surrounding this idea today. I asked the kids, "Have you ever had a time when something was confusing to you? What do you do?" The kids could really see why it didn't make sense to just keep going - just like in other areas of their life, they don't give up when something doesn't make sense. We will also talk about checking in as we read so we can make sure that we are on the right track and everything makes sense. Last, we will discuss how we need to get our minds ready for the next page by predicting what will happen next. This keeps are mind on our reading as well as making sure what we are reading makes sense.
Writing - we have started a new unit here as well. We have gone back to writing small moment stories and are slowing our writing process down so we look at each step a bit more critically. I am pushing the kids to add in more details, feelings, excitement, and descriptive words. This week we are working on coming up with writing ideas that the audience will want to hear and the writer will be excited to write. Today we did quick sketches on a timeline to map out our stories so that we have our overall plan. Then we can begin to write the pages and really adding in details to each page. The rest of the week will be spent on showing not telling our story using our five senses, adding in dialogue, and writing a good lead that will hook the reader in.
Just a reminder that we have a snack time everyday so you may send in a snack for your child. Our snack time is in the morning after our recess.
Here are some pictures from our Valentines Day party. Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who were able to donate items for our party and those who were able to stop by and help out!