Sunday, August 30, 2015

Unit One Week 1 Preview

As a part of our theme: What Makes Us Special, our focus questions are: What do we like to do, and how do the things we like to do make us special? We will discover that the things we like to do help to make us who we are. Our vocabulary words for the week are cheerful, interest, unique, prefer, and genuine. We will analyze story structure for the beginning, middle, and end (comprehension strategy). We learn that this is the way that most realistic fiction stories are structured and that good readers pay attention to these parts (R 1.3.1). We will also pay special attention to the characters and setting of stories (comprehension skill). In phonics we will blend words and identify rhymes with short 'a' and short 'i'. Our reading sight words for the week are jump, not, up. In grammar we will discuss how a sentence tells a whole idea. We will continue with our Unit Project. We will analyze the structure of the fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. We will analyze how an author develops character by what they say and do. In writing we discuss and practice how using describing words adds detail and interest. We will listen to the fable, Town Mouse and Country Mouse, and discover how preferences make characters unique. We will read an informational text and use structure to deduce main idea.

In Math we will continue with strategies for addition and model making (CCSS 1.OA.1 & 2)

In Science we will make a connection between what we have been learning in music and what we know about Alexander Graham Bell and discuss the discipline of acoustical science and engineering. In life science we discuss basic needs of people and animals using the vocabulary: shelter, energy.

In Writing we will continue with ways to come up with a topic as well as how to plan a personal narrative.

In P.E. we will work on balance.
  • How are you different than other people in your family/class? How is your family different than other families?
  • What are the states of matter?
  • What does an animal need in order to survive? 

Friday, August 28, 2015

Ninth Day of School

There is no homework tonight.

We have been learning the American Sign Language Alphabet and are up the letter 'k' to date.

Today we segmented words into syllables. We discussed homonyms and homophones.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Eighth Day of School

In Math, the important concept was that the equals symbol (=) means: the same as (CCSS 1.OA.7). Additionally, students should also understand that a + b = c can be stated as c = a + b and because of the commutative property a + b = b + a (CCSS 1.OA.3).

In P.E. we learned basic handball rules.


Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Seventh Day of School

On the Math homework, have your child create their own part-part-whole (PPW) model for question number 7.

In P.E. today, we finished learning our first class dance.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Quick Note

Thank you to all parents for taking the time to listen their 1st grader's teacher drone on for a couple hours.

There was no homework sent tonight other than the School Handbook.

It is now 8:10; Do you know where your first grader is?

Answer: In bed!

Monday, August 24, 2015

Fifth Day of School

Thanks to those parents who have returned their homework already. I will speak more to that tomorrow evening. Reminder: Folders and Memorable Moment Lists are due tomorrow.

Today we discussed the structure of narratives. We learned that most narratives have a beginning (which often answer the questions of who, where, and when), a middle (containing the basic plot or conflict/problem), and the end (resolution).

We continued work on our Unit Project.

There was homework tonight. Students are to complete the reverse side of the classwork. The last question should be answered in a complete sentence.

We completed our 4th violence prevention lesson today.

In P.E. we worked on moving in open space and maintaining personal space. We moved in high middle and low space in 3 speeds using different locomotion.

Reminder: Tomorrow night is Back-to-School night.








Friday, August 21, 2015

Fourth Day of School

Our math journal question today:
The Dawson's want to go on a bicycle trip. All of the tires on their bikes are flat. there are 7 bicycles in all. How many tires will they have to inflate? Make a model to solve. Write a math sentence.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Third Day of School

Today we continued letter formation and letter study and well as work on our Unit Projects. We also took our first spelling inventory.

In Math we worked in our Math Journals on this question:
Phillip had a 21 piece puzzle in a box. When he dumped the box out, he counted only 16 pieces. How many pieces were missing? Make a model for your solution and write a math sentence.
The yellow writing folders have already started to come in and look great so far. Only 3 students are missing their emergency information.

Reminder: Back-to-School Night is on Tuesday at 5:30. Information will be presented this evening that will not be repeated at any other time this year. Please make a point to have an adult representative present from your family.

Tomorrow we will take our first Writing assessment.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Second Day of School

Today we continued with letter formation and began phonics review. We have begun our initial battery of reading tests. Soon we will begin Math and Writing assessments. We began our first Unit Project which will be to author a book about ourselves.

In Math we worked on another constructed response. A larger number of students were able to accomplish this task with greater success. the question was:
There are 3 students sitting at a table. How many fingers do all of the students have in total. Show how you arrived at your solution . Write a math equation.

We continued our violence prevention training. In P.E. today we learned the beginning of our first dance for the year.

You should should find in your child's possession a yellow folder with which to complete the 2nd parent homework assignment.

Thank you to those parents who were able to complete the numerous forms brought home yesterday. All of the forms were returned by a majority of the students. Thank you as well to the parents who have already donated supplies to the classroom.


Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Mandatory Parent Assignment #3

The Memorable Moment

Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be working on the genre of personal narratives.

Your Task:

With input from your child, over the course of the next few days, construct a list of memorable events. These individual events should be about moments which occurred across a time span of approximately 20 minutes maximum in length. Each event should have an identifiable emotion (or two) attached to it (fear, happiness, surprise).


Examples of events which will not work:
  • My Day at Disneyland
  • Christmas Morning
  • My Birthday Party
  • The Winning Game

Examples of events which will work:
  • Meeting Cinderella
  • Opening My Favorite Gift
  • Breaking the Pinata
  • Scoring the Winning Goal

Try to make a list of at least 10 memorable moments. Make a copy of the list for you to keep at home. Send one copy of the list to school with your child by Tuesday August 25th (sooner than that is fine if not better). We will refer to this list as our list of Memorable Moments. Hopefully your child will be able to construct at least 3 narratives from events in the list. They will eventually be choosing from among those narratives one which they focus on for elaboration, revising, and editing for publication.

For your child's homework over the next few weeks, choose one event from the list each day and have your child tell the story to you orally. Listen for the following characteristics/items in their speech:

  • Complete sentences (not run-on sentences or phrases)
  • A beginning, middle, and closure to the story
  • Details or examples of dialogue


Please finish your lists up this weekend. If all goes as planned we should begin work with our lists next week in class. Again, if you have any questions regarding this important assignment feel free to post in the comment section. If you would like to post an example for comment I will be glad to review with my thoughts.

First Day of School

First day went by fairly smoothly. A great majority of the students set very good behavior examples for the balance of the children. It was nice to see so many well-behaved children.

Today we began to lay the foundation for our writing program. We also practiced some letter formation. In Math, we discussed behaviors for problem solving  and we worked in our constructed response journals on the following question:
There are 10 students in a classroom. How many student eyes are there? Draw a picture and write a math sentence. 
A few students were able to complete the task with minimal guidance. Some students found the correct answer but were unable to explain their work in writing. A majority of the students were unable to complete the task with the correct answer but had the beginnings of a correct model.

Additionally, we began our violence prevention training (Second Step) today.

As I mentioned earlier, the students do not have homework tonight except to pressure their parents to fill in the emergency cards so they can be sent to the office ASAP.

I will be sending home your child's yellow writing folder tomorrow. Your second and third homework assignment relates to this yellow folder. Your task:
With you child's input, decorate all surfaces of your child's folder with some or all of the following items:

  • Pictures of memorable events form the child's life
  • Pictures or advertisements of your child's favorite items
  • Pictures of topics which particularly interest your child (your child may have an interest in machines, space, dinosaurs, soccer, etc.)
 Return the decorated folder to school with your child by Monday August 24, 2015.

You might notice that the folders are not very substantial in quality. After the folder is decorated you may consider adding a bit of clear packing tape over the items which you have attached. We will (hopefully) be using these folder the entire year.

Please post any questions you may have in the comment section below.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Welcome to Room 11

This blog has been created to keep parents and guardians of the students in Room 11 at Caroldale Learning Community informed about daily activities in our classroom and school. Please discuss what you read here with your children when appropriate. Ask them clarifying questions. They don't necessarily need to know how you know what happened during their day, they should simply know that you are informed.

Feel free to  respond to what you read by posting a comment or question. Avoid including students' names when responding to posts. General comments and questions are best in this arena.

Please remember the most efficient way to communicate with me on timely issues is to write a note on or attached to your child's homework. For convenience, you might consider linking to this page through an rss feed or through the google reader application.

I am also available for conferences after school most days except Tuesdays. It is okay to drop by without an appointment with questions and concerns.

Thank you,

Mr. B