First Grade Chatterbox
Ms. Hedrick's Newsletter for the Week of February 13th
Important Dates
February 13
- Last Day to Register for the Science Fair
February 14
- SSLC Sponsored Dress Like a Teacher Day
- All School Meeting 2:30 pm
February 21 and 22
- MAP Math Tests for first graders
February 23 and 24
- MAP Reading Tests for first graders
Classroom Happenings
Madison School has been chosen to participate in a pilot of the Map for Primary Grades Assessment (MPG). We, along with two other elementary buildings in the district, will administer this assessment to all of our first grade students during the month of February. This assessment consists of 2 reading and 2 math assessments and is an auditory supported test. This assessment typically takes students 25-50 minutes per testing session.
First graders will be singing a song about cooperation at our February All School Meeting! We hope to see you on February 14th at 2:30!
Just in case you missed it...
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! Students are invited to bring valentines to school on February 14th. Please remember if your child chooses to do so, he or she needs to bring one for every child, and they should not include candy. See below for a list of students in our class. We will not have a traditional Valentine’s Day party with parents and room moms as we have in the past, but we will be making mailboxes and celebrating in class. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Girls: Lillian, Megyn, Avani, Melina, Dana, Sarah, Tess, Savannah
Boys: Luke, Owen, Michael, Johnny, Rohan, Asad, Otis, Drew, Sean, Timur, Bennett
Reading
During our language arts block, students continue learning about reading nonfiction texts. We learned that nonfiction authors organize their writing in a way that's easy to understand. This organization is called text structure. In class, we read a book called "Is t Living or Nonliving?" and learned that the author Rebecca Rissman used two different text structures - compare and contrast and description. Several days later when we read a biography about Dr. Suess, students learned that some books are organized in chronological or time-order. Identifying the text structure(s) of a book allows students to more easily retain and understand what they are reading.
To prepare for our upcoming social studies unit on Alaska, each guided reading group read a nonfiction text about an Alaskan animal. Prior to reading students connected to their schema by brainstorming everything they already knew about the animal. This allowed them to identify information as 'new' or 'known' as we read. Any information that was knew, we wrote on a sticky note to keep track of our learning. After each group finished reading their book, they worked together to categorize the facts they learned into different groups like - eating and hunting, where and how they live, and what their body looks like. Finally, we worked together to identify questions students still had to get ready for the animal research project we'll start this week.
In addition to learning about nonfiction, students have started learning about reading fluency. So far, we've learned fluent readers pay attention to:
Accuracy:
- I don't eliminate words or word endings.
- I don't add words or word endings.
Punctuation:
- I look for end marks and stop when I see a period, an exclamation point or a question mark.
- I pause when I see a comma.
Soon, we'll learn that fluent readers also pay attention to expression and pacing, or how quickly and smoothy they read.
Writing
Students are up to their eyeballs in fiction writing! We have officially started writing our very first fiction story! To plan for their first story, students drew, named and described their main character inside and out, after examining some of the characters from our mentor texts. They also sketched and described their setting. To begin our stories, we started with the four Ws - When? Where? Who and What? We selected a problem, and our main characters have even started to solve it! We can't wait to share all our hard work!
Math
- add double-digit numbers with and without regrouping
- subtract double-digit numbers without regrouping
- add 3 numbers using strategies like make a 10 and find a double
As students are asked to complete more complex computation in class, it becomes more important for students to build a regular fact practice routine at home. Students can practice their math facts up to 10 or even 20 each night using IXL or another math website like Math Playground. You can find links to these sites below.
IXL Skills to Practice
First Grade:
- C.1-C.10
- D.16-D.19
- G.1-G.10
- H.15
Second Grade:
- G.3-G.6
- H.3
- H.5
If you'd like to give your child extra practice adding with regrouping, check out Funny Numbers, a game on gregtangmath.com.
Social Studies
Our economics unit has officially come to a close! During this unit, students learned about the difference between needs and wants and goods and services. Ask your child to tell you the difference between these concepts. We also had so much fun learning about different jobs as we listened to each job presentation. Check out the job posters hanging in the hallway outside our classroom, if you have a chance. Students were so proud of all their hard work!
Science
We just wrapped up our weather unit! Over the past couple weeks, students have been learning how water travels through the water cycle. First, we learned that evaporation occurs when the sun heats water on the earth's surface. Liquid water turns into water vapor, an invisible gas. In class, students used eye droppers, a petri dish and a cup of water to see what would happen if a drop of water was left alone, as we continued about our day. Students were so surprised to discover the drop had disappeared when we returned from lunch and recess! After learning that water can go into the air, we used a cup of ice water to show that water can also come out of the air through condensation. Students explored condensation further by learning about the three main types of clouds - cirrus, cumulus and stratus and how they can produce precipitation. We put it all together and voila - the water cycle!
SELAS
Because we worked so hard throughout the week and mastered our mindful bodies, Mrs. Wychocki was able to teach us about mindful breathing during her last visit. She asked each student to find a spot and lay down on one of our rugs. (This was quite a treat since we're normally not allowed to lay down on the rug when we're all together!) After asking students to close their eyes, she gently placed a Beanie Baby on each child's belly. It was so much fun to watch their reaction to these cuddly friends! As she talked to the class about mindful breathing she asked students to watch the rise and fall of their animal as a way to help them "see" their breath. You could have heard a pin drop in our classroom! What a treat! It was also fun to see students return to their seats with a much calmer affect and ready to learn.