1A CLASSROOM UPDATE 8
January 29, 2016
Goodbye January!
Reading
It is great to see how much our amazing readers and writers continue to progress this term. In these past couple of weeks, our 1A friends have become detectives when reading through their stories. Besides identifying the problem, our friends are now finding the solution within the story. We are encouraging our friends to figure out how does the solution fix the problem and provide additional evidence from the text to support their thinking. Starting next week, we will jump into the world of Nonfiction. With this upcoming unit, students will identify nonfiction text features, their purpose, and how they help the reader to better access and understand nonfiction text. Our 1A friends will also learn how to apply questions and summarize strategies to better understand nonfiction text.
Writing
In writing, our 1A friends are done with their small moment stories. These past couple of weeks our publishers used their skills to edit and publish their writing. Our authors used the word wall and other classroom resources to fix their spelling in their small moment stories. In the next coming weeks, our friends will be introduced to nonfiction writing. Within this unit, students will be able to incorporate the features from nonfiction books into their own book regarding a single nonfiction topic. We will start this week by comparing nonfiction books to fiction books and recording the different features.
Math
We are so impressed by the work our 1st grade mathematicians have been doing in the last two weeks! We are continuing our investigation of breaking numbers into 10's to make our math work more efficient. We have also been working on subtraction with teen numbers! Our scholars have been doing such a great job representing their work in group tens, while also getting prepared to start working with numbers in the twenties and higher. In our newly started measurement unit, or friends have been busy measuring objects around our room using various objects as their units of measurement (unifix cubes, inch tiles, and even their own shoes!) They have also been hard at work comparing objects to find which is longer and which is shorter.
Inquiry
In Inquiry we have continued our investigations in the States of Matter. Our scholars have discovered the 3 States of Matter (solid, liquid, and gas) and have been investigating the atomic make up of each state. We have learned why solids remain rigid, while liquids take the shape of their container, and how gases will float as far as they can. They have also begun to investigate how matter does not need to stay in the state it is in, but can actually go through a change. We have been busy performing a variety of experiments. Our scientists first made predictions about what they think would happen and then express their results and how it was different or similar to their hypothesis. In some of our experiments we watched how blue ice changed from a solid to a liquid, and we used a special tablet (Alka Seltzer) to discover how a solid transforms into gas! We will continue to let our scientists perform their own experiments to see the changes matter can undergo in the world around us.
Check out our 1A Friends!
Book Shopping
Technological Wizards!
Special Potion!
Measurement!
Consonant Blends!
POD Time
REMINDERS!!!
BPCS Spring Gala and Auction, March 12, 2016
Save the date of March 12, 2016 for Our School’s Biggest Annual Fundraiser —our Spring Gala & Auction. This year’s event will pay tribute to BPCS’s first graduating class of seniors, so we hope to have great turnout! In addition to supporting the Gala with your attendance, we are seeking volunteers to help plan as well as on the night of the event. Here are some of the things that you can do: solicit auction items, help with auction website and promotion, organize volunteers, help decide the menu, procure dessert donations, and more. You can sign up here or email auction@brooklynprospect.org to get involved — a little or a lot. We would love to have your help!
Class Start Time
A friendly reminder that we start class promptly at 8:30 in order to fit the many fun activities we have into our day. One of which is Morning Meeting where each student is greeted, participates in an activity or game, and we set goals for our day. Our doors open at 8:10 so we invite you to join us as early as then, especially if your child eats breakfast with us.
Please Read Over Our Policy for the BACKPACK BOOKS HOME PROGRAM
The “Backpack Books” Home Program will begin today! Your child will select one book on Friday to put in their yellow Take Home Folder. This book will give your child another opportunity to engage with a text at their independent reading level. Please have them read this book to you at least two times before returning it on Wednesday. For your child to receive a new book, they must bring back the previous one.
“Backpack Books” Home Program Schedule
Friday: Book goes home.
Sat - Tuesday: Child reads at least two times.
Wednesday: Book is returned.
Friday: New book goes home if previous book was returned.
Students keep the reading logs at home until it is filled in on both sides. Once both sides are filled please return it and will provide you with a new log
Please Make Sure to Return the Folders and Books on the Same Day!
Introduction to the Orchestra
Students in 1A are starting this new year by exploring "The Orchestra" in music. Using ChromeBook technology, students explored a fun, interactive website SFS Kids here at school. I encourage you to continue exploring this website with your children at home, listen to orchestral works - and if possible - see live performances!
In a few weeks, after the students have learned the parts of the orchestra and explored the role of the conductor, they will have an opportunity to create pitched and non-pitched instruments out of nontraditional instrument materials such as coffee cans, shoe boxes, and soda bottles.
To help us prepare for this, I am requesting/inviting everyone to bring in ANY objects that normally might be recycled to the "BPCS DT Music Recycling Center". Please ensure that all items are thoroughly cleaned and safe for student use (no sharps, etc).
Items can included, but are not limited to:
- Cans of all sizes (coffee, soup, etc)
- Jars of all sizes (baby food, salsa) - lids are a plus!
- Boxes (wooden, plastic)
- Bottles
- Bags of beads/old beans/pasta/etc.
- Unwanted kitchen supplies (pots, etc)
Thanks in advance for your help! I will show THIS VIDEO as part of class. I hope it inspires you as well as our students!
Grooving With Ms. Siby
- parallel feet
- bent knees
- forward lean
- loose torso
- silence
We've also begun to "paint" through dance. Using "paintbrushes" made with pipe insulator and colorful table clothes. 1A dancers are creating movement masterpieces that will be added to our dance curriculum share. Until then, enjoy a few pics!
¡Abracadabra en la clase de Español!
1A is exploring sus cinco sentidos (five senses). We´re using our oído, vista, olfato, gusto y tacto to identify our world. We spin the wheel of the five senses to tell our friends what to do. We also introduce the states of matter: sólido, líquido y gas. We love to play: Abracadabra con patas de rana: ¡Sólido! Abracadabra con patas de rana ¡Líquido! Abracadabra con patas de rana ¡Gas!
Please continues practice our songs and new vocabulary words.
5 Sentidos song:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz-v6fgxb3FmcF81U1FmeGo3dEU/view?usp=sharing
Yo tenía diez perritos song:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_H1z3dM5HmNNAz9Vs4cqGsW1qmhS1GCNNPnmRK_szrM/edit?usp=sharing
Muchas gracias,
Ms.Rosado
Contact Us!
Email: dtes1A@brooklynprospect.org
Location: 80 Willoughby St, Brooklyn, NY, United States