Twenty-Eighth Day of School

Today we practiced using a checklist for reviewing our writing. The checklist is a tool devised as a means for writers to check to see if they have everything required in their writing sample in order to pass a writing examination. We will be taking our narrative writing exam next week. Students may be interviewed by their parents so parents may learn which story a child is most likely to tell during the writing exam.

In Social Science today we learned about the United States Independence Day. We learned facts such as:

• Before having an elected President, who ruled what is now the United States?
• From which country was it necessary to declare our independence?
• What did George Washington do before becoming our first President?
• On what day do we celebrate our independence and why that day?

On last night's some students were confused with the part/part/whole when they went to construct the model on their own. When performing subtraction, the model remains with the two parts being above the whole. The difference between subtraction and addition is that with addition, the whole (sum) is the unknown (so the lower space is empty), with subtraction, a part (addend) is unknown and one of the upper spaces will be empty.

In Drama we practiced collaboration on one-scene tableaus.

Twenty-Seventh Day of School

In Writing we revised for closure (CCSS W.1.3).

We listened to a selection on Roberto Clemente and generated the following questions on his life:

1. Where was Roberto Clemente born?
2. What was Roberto Clemente known for?
3. What kind of person was Roberto Clemente?
4. How did Roberto Clemente die?
5. How was Roberto Clemente honored following his death?

Additionally:

• What did Roberto Clemente want to accomplish in Puerto Rico?

Chapter 1 Test Results

Of the 23 students taking the test, all students passed with an adjusted score of 13 or better. One student scored 100% and one student missed only one point.

Twenty-Sixth Day of School

Student writing samples were reviewed this week for progress. Key characteristics were noted which need further teaching. Today we revised for story beginnings as many beginnings failed to include a complete setting. We discussed the strategy of beginning the first sentence of a story with a time:

• One day,
• Last week,
• When I was 5,
• On my 4th birthday,

In tomorrow's writing lesson we will discuss endings/closure.

We completed our Math test. 

The homework sent today is review work.

Reading logs are due Wednesday.

Unit 1 Week 5 Preview

We close out the unit discussing what we like to do with our friends and what we can accomplish with teamwork. Our oral vocabulary words are challenging, charity, admire, focus, offer. We will read, discuss, and generate question for a non-fiction selection about baseball and humanitarian great, Roberto Clemente. We will use our generated questions to conduct expert interviews about Roberto Clemente. Our sight words are help, now, use, very. We will develop our skill of identifying the author's purpose to develop the comprehension strategy of analyzing text structure. We will analyze texts where authors use description to give information. We will focus on final consonant blends (eg. -nk, -nt, -sk, -st, etc.) for decoding, and spelling.

For Social Science we will discuss the significance of Independence Day (HSS 1.3.2) and some national iconic symbols (HSS 1.3.3) (tested).

In P.E. we will be using teamwork to accomplish various goals as well as chasing and learning base running.

In Science we continue our exploration of matter with an investigation of liquids.

Twenty-Fifth Day of School

For your information: Friday afternoons are set aside for Science lessons and there is no make-up. There is often no make-up for math tests either due to the time required to administer. In order to leave time for the Science lesson today, the Math test was cut short and will be continued on Monday.

Reminder: Students should wear socks every day with shoes that either tie or close with Velcro. Shoes with elastic straps are insufficient for safety in our P.E. lessons.

Nice to see familiar faces at our Arts Family Night tonight.

Twenty-Fourth Day of School

Today we edited for punctuation.

In Reading we took a reading comprehension test for a baseline score.

Students including a model on homework problem #11 received a bonus point for their table.

Math test was postponed until tomorrow due to absences.

Twenty-Second day of School

In Writing we revised by adding adjectives.

In Math we made a report for the parts of 10. We also learned how to find a missing addend for 10 as a whole.

Unit 1 Week 4

During week 4 we will tread lightly on the subject of pets. We will read/listen to various selections about pets including a nonfiction selection about White House Pets. Our oral vocabulary words are adorable, dear, needs, sensible, and train. We will continue the comprehension strategy of analyzing story structure using the skill of recognizing parts of the plot. Our sight words will be come, down, good, pull. In spelling we will focus on words having an initial consonant blend with the letter 'l' (fl-, pl-, cl-).

In Social Science we will discuss traditions in a variety of contexts, for example, the classroom, community, and family. (HSS 1.5.1) We will also begin comparing the past with the present (tested) reading a nonfiction selection titled Learn About the Past. 

This week we will test for and comprehension and the first chapter in Math.

In P.E. we will be learning to cooperate as a team to accomplish a goal.

Twenty-First Day of School

Today was a busy day. We worked on our Unit Project in the  morning. For Writing we revised to add interesting words which may help to give our writing more style.

We listened to a non-fiction article called Munch Crunch about the eating habits of various animals and examined it for structure. We concluded that it was categorized information. We learned (among other things) that large plant eaters will often eat for most of the day whereas large meat eaters may only eat every 4 days.

In Math, we built physical models for the numbers 8 & 9. On Monday (time allowing), we will record our results and make a report which will be posted in class.

In Science, we learned about the term classify. We sorted objects by common properties and tried to guess other's sorting property or rule.

Some suggestions about story telling at home:

• When a child starts a story, listen for the who, when, and where of the beginning (set/introduction).
• Listen for an action which follows the beginning.
• Listen for a transition (then, later, suddenly) to what happens next (CCSS WS.1.3).
• If you feel motivated, have your child dictate the story to you as you print in black ink.
• Revise the story in blue ink adding details for completeness and interest.
• Edit the story in red as a final practice step.

Twentieth Day of School

Today we learned to add dialogue to our stories to add interest.

We examined 5 different non-fiction pieces for structure. We learned that two ways to structure a non-fiction piece is by time (timeline) and by categorizing subtopics.

You will find a Scholastic News article in your child's work about scientists which uses categorization for its structure. Examining an author's structure helps to improve comprehension.

Nineteenth Day of School

Reminder: Kids' tops worn to school should have sleeves.

We listened to a non-fiction selection about the life cycle of tigers in the wild. Tomorrow we will retell the selection using our oral vocabulary words. Comprehension questions:

• Why do male tigers have to leave the pride when they are 2 years old?
• Why are the playing activities important for tiger cubs?

Please continue to have your child retell small moment stories at home in order to develop oral language. It would also be wise to occasionally ask them how they know a particular answer is correct on their homework. Ask them to show you how they know (tested skill). Or, ask them to teach you how to do a particular problem. Have them walk you through the steps so they are articulating their strategy.

In Science today we examined a collection of solids and generated a list of properties for solids.

In Drama we worked on developing our skills in tableau. It was easy to see which students are able to maintain a clear focus (standard).

Eighteenth Day of School

We started revision of our personal narratives today. This marks the real excitement of writing and giving our pieces a voice. Our first revision lesson was on revising for clarity and completeness of message. this lesson was particularly important to satisfy the basic requirements of the narrative writing standard (CCSS 1.W.3). Tomorrow we will begin revising to add interest (the best part of revision).

We took a practice timed test in math today. Later on we will take actual "timed" tests which will earn us stars on the chart.

We discussed the two particular long-vowel word families: -ost (most, post), -old( old, gold). Tomorrow (time allowing) we will discuss -ild, -ind. This is a part of our current study of consonant blends.

Preview Unit 1 Week 3

In this week's instruction we focus on  how we will change and how we have changed as we grow. If your child would like to bring in a photo showing themselves as a baby, we could display these and guess who they grew into. We will also explore how animals change as they grow. We will draw conclusions about animals that change greatly and those that may only change in size as they mature. We will analyze text for character, setting, and plot. We will focus on spelling patterns: -in, -it, -iss. Our oral vocabulary words will be change, adult, learn, imitate, and practice. Our reading sight words will be be, ride, and run. In grammar we will distinguish between statements and questions.

In Writing, we will begin the revision portion of our process.

In Social Science, we will discuss the difference between rights and responsibilities and what they mean for United States citizenship (HSS 1.1).

In Math we will continue our work with chapter 1.

In Health we will continue our overview of the concept of "good health."

In Science we continue comparing properties of various solids. We use our insight into these properties to perform an investigation.

In Drama we will begin our work on tableau.

In PE we will begin to work with team members to accomplish goals. Due to weather considerations we may have indoor PE on Monday and Tuesday.

Mid-Chapter 1 Test Results

Of 22 students taking the test, 1 student achieved a perfect score and 1 student missed only one. Twenty-one students passed with an adjusted score of 11 points. The modal average was a score of 16.

Sixteenth Day of School

You should find a Scholastic Article about making friends in your child's belongings. We read and took notes to be able to retell this article. Taking notes with pictures helps to create lasting images in memory. A retell of the article may sound something like:

This article is about making friends at school. You can meet a friend at your table and share a book. You might meet a friend in the hallway and say hello...

Some parents may want to check in backpacks for child photo ID money which was not turned in.

Fifteenth Day of School

We will have our first Mid-Chapter Test Friday afternoon.

Today we practiced pantomime in Drama.

We began drafting our second personal narrative. We also took a dictation test focusing on short vowel spellings including a surprise spelling of the 'short e' sound spelled 'ea'.

Tomorrow we will retell The Great Rope Tug with our oral vocabulary. 

Fourteenth Day of School

Instead of continuing on to the revision process, we restarted the writing process to develop a second story for drafting. We will then have at least more than one piece from which to choose for the revising process.

We read a pattern book about moving and generated a list of movement words. We sang a song in English and Spanish about moving and music.

We learned a partner moving game and took our P.E. indoors.

Preview Unit 1 Week 2

During week 2 we discuss how physical activity is an important part of our lives. We learn how activity keeps our bodies healthy and strong. Our oral vocabulary words are movement, energy, express, exhausted, and stretch. Our sight words are: it, over, too. We will analyze story structure to discover selections with patterned text. Examples of famous patterned text are Monday, Monday, I like Monday (Bill Martin Jr.), and The Important Book (Margaret Wise Brown). Ask your librarian for other examples. Patterned texts often become bedtime favorites and re-reading them is a good way to build fluency. We will not often use a patterned text for retelling purposes. We will read the West African folktale The Great Rope Tug and diagram the story together using a Flow Map to highlight the beginning, middle, and end. We will continue to encode and decode single syllable words with short vowels (a, e, i). We will listen to rhyme, movement, and rhythm in poetry.

In Social Science we will look briefly to the original people of Australia and learn that a tradition is a special way of doing something. often repeated annually that becomes part of a people's culture.

For discussion: What is a tradition? What traditions does your family share?

For Math we will continue our exploration of addition.

In Science, we will continue our exploration of matter. We will focus on solids by identifying various properties of solids.

In PE we will continue with balance.

Thirteenth Day of School

Today we learned two tested concepts. The first was a Social Science and Science combined concept of wants vs. needs (tested). We discovered that in order to survive, humans (and other living creatures) need in this order:

• Air
• Water
• Food
• Shelter
• Clothing
• Companionship

In Science we learned that there are are 3 forms/states of matter:

• Solid
• Liquid
• Gas

We learned that one form can be transformed into another form by adding or removing heat (tested).

We listened to the fable Town Mouse and Country Mouse whose moral was that everyone has different preferences.

We read a fantasy called Pam and Sam and learned that our abilities are a part of what makes us unique.

In Writing, we began the drafting process of our first personal narrative (CCSS 1.W.3). Next week we will begin the revision process.

In P.E. we practiced techniques of handball.

In Math we reinforced the idea that numbers can be deconstructed in more than one way. We did not take home homework.

Next week we will take our first publisher's math test.

Twelfth Day of School

Today we had our first Drama lesson (Theatre Art).

We retold the story Princess and the Pea using our oral vocabulary words. We also took our second dictation quiz.

In Writing we worked on our plan for our first personal narrative. Tomorrow we will begin drafting.

In Math we worked on problem solving. We had to identify the information being asked for. Choose a strategy, and then write a number sentence (also a strategy). The strategies discussed were:

• Draw a model.
• Make a table
• Write a number sentence (math sentence/equation)
• Act it out (with manipulatives)

We completed lesson 7 of the violence prevention training.

Eleventh Day of School

Today we listened to the story The Princess and the Pea. We discussed the characteristics of the genre of fairy tale. We discussed the 5 oral vocabulary words. Tomorrow we will retell the story using those  words. We will use this same process every week to practice retelling, use new oral vocabulary, and practice listening and speaking skills.

Yesterday we completed the "thinking" (brainstorming/idea collecting) portion of the writing process (CCSS 1.W.3). In addition to the ideas which cover our yellow writing folders and the list of memorable moments which we practice telling with our parents at home, we also made categorized lists of topics which we can refer to in our writing folders. Having these resources will help ensure that we will always have a cache of ideas from which to draw for inspiration. Today we began the planning portion. The planning portion steps of the writing process involves:

1. Touching and talking
2. Drawing and labeling

Our first step today was to touch (the pages) as we told our story to a partner. We listened for a beginning (which answers the questions: who, where, and when?) a middle (which tells what happened) and an end (which may tell what happened next and may indicate a change of emotional state).

Tomorrow we will begin the drawing and labeling stage.

In addition to your child's Math homework, you should find a Reading Log which has your child's number and the first due date of September 30th. As discussed at Back-to-School, the Reading Log may be completed in a parent's hand and should be signed by a parent at the bottom.

Composite Reading scores, and raw spelling scores are available in the classroom to interested parents.