Mrs. Nitsopoulos' Grade One Class
March/April 2015 Newsletter
Literacy
Before the Break, students incorporated what they have learned into their own writing: Adjectives can be words related to colour, size, behaviour, and the senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and sound) and that detail can be added to their writing by answering Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. Students were asked to draw a monster, describe their monster using adjectives and then use their adjectives to write a paragraph about their monster. They particularly enjoyed playing Who Am I? and What Animal Am I? using descriptive clues that they read out loud to their classmates.
This week the students will be introduced to persuasive or opinion writing. Students will learn to generate and record arguments for or against a topic of interest, such as getting a new pet, asking for an allowance, or having a longer recess each day.
Again, students are encouraged to refer to the Learning Target and Success Criteria posted in the classroom as well as use checklists provided in order to improve their writing.
Math
The following are addition and subtraction strategies the students will be learning in class to help them arrive at their answers:
1. Count on.
2. Count back.
3. Use manipulatives (e.g. blocks, counters, cubes, bears, cars, etc.)
4. Doubles facts.
5. Part, part, whole (e.g. knowing 2 of the 3 numbers in the number sentence will help
you to figure out the missing number).
6. Draw pictures, tally marks.
7. Act it out.
8. Use a number line.
9. Make a mental picture in your head.
Ask your child to sing "The Doubles Rap" to you outlining all of the double numbers facts.
After the students have mastered calculating their addition and subtraction facts, we will move on to 3D Geometry.
Science
Energy is the ability to work, move or change.
There are different forms or sources of energy - the sun, electricity, batteries, gas/oil/coal, wind and muscle(movement).
The most important source of energy is the sun as it provides all living things with light, heat and food. Without the sun, everything would die.
Energy changes from one form to another, e.g. a hairdryer uses electrical energy to produce heat energy to dry our hair.
There are many ways we can conserve energy.
Our Energy unit is almost complete. We will be working on energy conservation posters this week. Students will also be assessed via a short quiz and oral conference with me.
The next unit of study will be about Structures. This is a very interesting and hands-on unit for the students. We are looking at the possibility of having Scientists In School visit the Grade Ones to conduct a workshop in April. I will keep you posted!
April Show and Share Presentations
The focus for our next round of Show and Share is TRAVEL! Students are asked to bring in an item they have acquired in recent travels such as a souvenir, postcard, guidebook, photo album, admission ticket, etc., and talk about it and their experience. Items can be derived from travel to other cities/countries or local points of interest such as the CN Tower, Canada’s Wonderland, Niagara Falls, the zoo, or a beach, to name a few.
The idea behind this topic is that it educates students about far away places or local destinations without actually travelling there. Students will also find it easier to talk to their peers about a personal experience. This activity is also linked to Social Studies as we will be labeling our travels on our classroom map of the world.
The purpose of the presentations is to fulfill the following Ontario Curriculum Oral Communication expectations: 2.3 Communicate ideas and information orally in a clear, coherent manner; 2.4 Choose words to communicate their meaning accurately and engage the interest of their audience; 2.6 Identify some non-verbal cues, including facial expression, gestures, and eye contact, and use them in oral communications appropriately; and 2.7 Use visual aids to support or enhance oral presentations.
Please have your child practice discussing their item and travel experience with you prior to coming to school. Have them focus on speaking in detail by incorporating the answers to the following questions: Who, What, What, Where, Why and How? - in their presentations. They are already accustomed to doing this in their writing.
I will kick off the presentations by modelling and sharing my own experience this past summer. Presentation dates will be sent home shortly via the April calendar.
The following are the Success Criteria for the oral presentations:
Presentation
I spoke loud enough so that my friends could hear me.
I looked at my audience as I was speaking.
What I said made sense.
I brought a visual (e.g. picture, souvenir, map, etc.) to support my discussion about my trip.
I spoke for 1-2 minutes.
Content
I stated the place WHERE I travelled to.
I stated WHO I travelled with.
I stated WHEN I went on my trip.
I stated the reason WHY I went on the trip.
I stated HOW I got to my destination.
I stated WHAT I did/saw on my trip.
I stated what the visual was, and its significance to my trip.