1B Update #5
December 4, 2015
Introducing Team Fierce Cheetahs!
What's Happening in 1B!
We have a class name! Team Fierce Cheetahs! One thing we do in First Grade is learn how to communicate and problem-solve. In one of our community meetings, we revisited what it means to be a community and the discussion led to sports and how teams work together. From there, we created our team rules and selected a name. As we continue to build our community, we will use our rules and the idea that we are a team who works and plays together as a way to continue to develop our communication and problem-solving skills.
Reading
In reading, we moved from making our connections as a strategy to help us understand to how retelling. Retelling a story helps us to recognize the key details of story and deepens our understanding about what happened in the book. We are currently working on identifying the beginning by finding who is in the story and where it happens. The middle has the main event -- usually a sequence of events -- and the end tells us a concluding statement. A way to support us at home is to read picture books with us that have a clear beginning, middle and end. Questions to ask are us are:
- How does the story start?
- What is the most important event in the middle?
- How does the story end?
When we answer, have us speak in complete sentences so this will help us to practice the vocabulary we are using in class.
Writing
In writing, we wrapped up our small moment story by working on writing a concluding sentence to our writing. Our next step is to edit our story by rereading to check our writing for a capital at the beginning of a sentence, spaces between our words, and a period at the end of each sentence. We will be sharing our editing steps at the curriculum share and will share our completed stories after Winter Break through and Author Share time. (More details to come!)
Inquiry
We went on a “Trip Around the World” several weeks ago that had us look at homes around the world. The homes we saw were from both rural and urban areas across the six continents. In small learning groups, we collaborated to choose a country and a type of home we were interested in. We started our research of our homes and began planning and building this week.
Math
It’s all about strategizing with 1B. The 1B mathematicians have worked hard these last couple of weeks. We have been brainstorming many ideas on how to solve addition and subtraction word problems. Our class found the strategies of counting on from one number to find the total and crossing out to find the difference to be very helpful. We also have been exploring the relationship between addition and subtraction problems.
A way to support us at home is to work on mental math problems that ask us to quickly add numbers between 1-20 or subtract numbers between 1-10. This will help to increase our fluency and familiarity with number facts.
Math Strategy Wall
Solving Number Facts
Making Numbers with Play Dough
Thank You Volunteers!
Construction Time
Special Spots Writing
Notes for Families
Inquiry Volunteer Slots: Monday & Wednesday Morning
We have switched our schedule around to allow for more construction time on our homes. We are looking for more adults to help in the classroom next week! Please email us if you can join us on Monday and/or Wednesday from 9-10:15am.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
A notes was sent home this week with the sign up information below.
Dates: Wednesday, December 16th – Friday, December 18th
Remember, there is no school on Friday, December 18th!
Location: BPCS Downtown
Deadline: End of day before the requested appointment date
To reserve a time slot with us, enter the following link into your web browser: www.ptcfast.com/reg1
You will then be asked for an entry code, where you should enter: W4E1126096
SIMS Recycling Field Trip Rescheduled
Our field trip has been rescheduled for Dec. 22nd, from 9:30 - 1:30pm. A permission slip went home this week. Please ensure to sign and send back by Thursday, Dec. 18th. Also, there is one more slot available on the signup sheet!
Raz-Kids Online Reading Program
Our online reading program is up and running! One way to support students in reading is to have them read at a level they feel successful with and then increase from there. Through Raz-Kids online reading program, students can start at a level that fits their needs, play games, and earn points while they practice reading. Please go to www.kidsa-z.com and login using the details that were sent to your email account that is registered with the school. If you have any troubles with logging in, please contact us at dtes1b@brooklynprospect.org.
A Science Update From Ms. Rosabal!
A Physical Education Updates from Coach M & M
WOW, grade one artists really worked hard in November. Their studio challenges varied greatly but the overall focus was lines — all kinds of lines! Thick, think, curvy, wavy, scalloped, diagonal, zigzag, jagged, dotted, etc.! Looking at Paul Klee’s work, we discussed how he first used lines (drawing) and then painted shapes to make his masterpieces. Our subject was houses, our challenge was ten; 10 different kinds of lines, 10 different colors, and finally 10 different patterns using lines. Check out our final composition!
Additionally, 1B created Autumn garlands to help out our K artists. Kindness counts and our BPCS tree lives on! Last but not least, 1B earned a dance party for working together to clean up the studio after a very messy art class. Super fun! Happy Holidays from the Studio Lab!