Newsletter Jan. 27th- 31st

 

• 2/3 Reading Reward- For kids who have completed all of the required 15 min./day reading and accompanying log. They are due on Monday so take advantage of the weekend to complete those last boxes if you need to!
• 2/11- Assembly
• 2/11- Math Night, PLEASE consider joining me. There will be a free pizza dinner and child care while we meet and discuss the new math expectations and how to help students master them
• 2/14 Valentine's Celebration- please do NOT send in ANY candy. A list with student names will be sent home soon.
• 2/15-2/23- February Recess, no school
• When children return from February recess, we begin assessments for the end of term 2 and term 2 report cards (conferences in March!) so please keep them reading throughout the break so that they are prepared to do their very best when they return. It's amazing how much one week without reading can get in their way!

Volunteer Schedule for February

 

In Reader's Workshop we are continuing to learn about nonfiction.
Good Readers...

* Know the difference between fiction and nonfiction and can sort their books
* Read Nonfiction differently because it teaches rather than entertains
* Are familiar with the "elements of nonfiction" and how to use them:

• title 
• table of contents
• author/ illustrator
• headings
• glossary
• index
• fun facts/ text boxes
• captions

* Read everything on the page
* Use headings to get an idea of what the text will be about
* Notice bigger, bold vocabulary words- those are the words the author think are important and can be found in the glossary
* Use the glossary to find out what the vocabulary words mean 
* Ask who, what, where, how, and why to figure out what it's all about... find the main idea and details.
* Read charts, graphs, and diagrams to learn more about the topic
* Use context clues to figure out the meaning of a new word

 
Because of the difficulty the children had with the words last week, we continued working on them this week so we are now 1 week behind the list on my website...

Review	will, tell, little, who, now Practice
New	any, must, under, each, some Practice

Alongside our Readers' Workshop unit on nonfiction, we are currently working on a unit of nonfiction (expert- "expository") writing!
Good writers:
* Choose a topic they know ALL about, something they are "experts" on
* Use "expert" expository paper (paragraph writing instead of story writing)
* Introduce their topic with a "topic sentence"
* Add MANY important details that they KNOW (must be true, not what I think but what I know)
* Wrap up with a "closing sentence" which restates the topic sentence using different words
* Use key vocabulary when writing  
* Research to learn interesting facts to tell about their topic (we will be researching a favorite penguin of ours to wrap up this unit starting today!)

Example:

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an important man. He was a minister who fought for things to be fair for all people. He gave speeches and led marches. People were inspired by him to fight back peacefully through sit ins and protests. Even after he died, people kept fighting to make his dream come true. Dr. King was an amazing person who changed the world.

Please help your child work on facts to 20. You can do this by helping them count forwards and backwards from a given number (you say 16, they say 15, 14, 13 or 17, 18, 19). This will help them create a mental number line necessary for movement through those bigger numbers. Also, keep working on those automatic facts- the doubles and friends of tens. Check out the videos from previous newsletters if you need some refreshing on what that means.

During this unit, we are working on very tricky math skills with harder numbers. Here is what we are learning:

* We can solve word problems using the strategies and tools we have learned
* To be a word problem solving "super hero", we have to follow ALL the steps
1) Read the problem.
2) Find the power words and think if they are words that mean to add or to subtract
3) Get the numbers in your head.
4) Write the equation
5) Solve using strategies/ tools
The absolute hardest part of this concept has been getting students to do the entire process rather than just providing an answer. The word "equation" and knowing what it means and how to write it is vital for them as we progress from 1st grade on. And students must be able to show their work. I'm sure you've heard this before :) First graders show their work by drawing counters or pictorial representations, number lines, or ten frames. They also should be able to use the actual tools (ten frames with counters, number lines, cubes, etc.) to show how to solve a problem. Come to math night on 2/11 to find out why and more!

 

Social Studies focus next month:

 

Science focus next month: 
Penguins - Want to help your child learn even more about their favorite penguin at home? Check out the 1st Grade Penguins Page!