This week with our Wonders program we will be talking and reading about folktales. After reading The Nice Mitten with our Wonders program, we will compare and contrast this story to Jan Brett’s wonderful story, The Mitten. Then taking one of the characters from this story, we will begin our Research Writing. Comparing and Contrasting as well as Research Writing is difficult for any student…never mind for a First Grader. This will be a great way to revisit The Power of Yet. Lots of practice with both new areas will occur often over the next few months.
The phonics focus will be difficult. Soft “c” and “g” as well as “dge” will be introduced. The spelling words for the week will not have any of these spelling patterns. Instead, we will practice them in the classroom all week. The spelling patterns this week will continue with Long Vowel A and Long Vowel I. made, take, same, like, fine, pine Sight Words: was, so With our Mystery Science we will investigate what is takes to make a stationary object’s shadow move. We will explore how moving the position of a light makes shadows move. Our observations will be connected to shadows that change through the day and the Sun’s position moving across the sky. We will then dive right into Groundhog Day and the importance of seeing his shadow. Be on the lookout for an email from Elizabeth’s mom about our Friendship Celebration on February 14th.
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This week with our Wonders program we will focus on the Essential Question: How do plants change as they grow? Interesting question with snow on the ground and below freezing temperatures outside!! This is a great follow-up to our Mystery Science investigation last week of: What do sunflowers do when you’re not looking? We realized that plants need: sun, water, and soil/nutrients to grow and that the parts of a plant play an important role in their growth. This week we will be reading several books about plants and how plants grow, learning even more! Our phonics focus will be Long Vowel Ii, with the spelling pattern of i_e.
Everyone did a great job last week on their spelling test. Between blends, digraphs, and long vowels the words are getting more difficult. I will be adjusting the spelling words for this week. This week’s spelling words will contain three long vowel Aa words (a review from last week) and three long vowel Ii words (the new spelling pattern for this week): made, game, late ride, bike, mine We will be reviewing all of the long vowel words and sight words that our Wonders program has suggested, but your child will only be held responsible for the above six words. In Social Studies we talked more about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. This week in Science we will investigate: How do animals make their home in the forest? This will conclude our study of what animals and plants need in order to survive and that their lives are all about meeting those needs. In Math we will continue to work with place value and telling time to the hour. Be on the lookout in your child’s folder on Monday for a 120 grid and activities that can help your child with their number sense. The Power Standards on your child’s Report care are: 1. Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10. 2.Count to/within 120, read and write numbers to 120. 3.Demonstrate understanding of place value for 2-digit numbers (25=two tens and five ones). 4.Add a 2-digit and a 1-digit number within 100. For example the addition number sentence of 23 + 7 is decomposed as: 20 + 3 + 7. 5.Add and subtract using multiples of 10 (23 + 10 = 33, 57 – 10 = 47). Your children love playing math games in the classroom. Have fun with these activities at home. Winter Clothing Rule Reminder: Your child needs EVERYDAY…. Hat, Gloves/Mittens, Snow Pants, Coat, and Boots. Please make sure they have an extra set of clothing in their backpack - - depending on the weather conditions…sometimes they come in from recess with wet pants, socks, etc. This week with our Wonders program our Essential Question is: How do we measure time? We will be reading A Second is a Hiccup by Hazel Hutchins. Understanding the passage of time can be a very abstract concept. How long is a second? A minute? How about an hour? This book will help to explain these units of time with examples that we can understand and apply. A second is how long it takes to hiccup...a week is seven sleeps. We will start our mathematical exploration of clocks – both digital and analog - with telling time to the hour and half hour. Our phonics focus is the long vowel Aa with the spelling pattern of a-e (Magic Ee, Silent Ee). Last week we learned about the power of the letter “e” at the end of words with a focus on the spelling patterns for this week: _ake, _ame, _ate). We will be practicing a lot with this new concept. Confusion creeps in when we start to sound out these words. We have spent so many weeks on short vowels (words with a consonant-vowel-consonant, such as - - rob, pin) and have mastered this concept. Now we will be learning that with a “magic e/silent e” at the end of the word, the vowel now says its name...a new sound to apply. So...rob becomes robe, pin becomes pine. Our spelling words follow three a_e spelling patterns (ake, ame, ate): make, take came, game gate, late Our two new high-frequency words are: some, today. We will also focus on these additional high-frequency words: away, now, way, why. Number Sense is so important and we will continue to focus on it. When children understand numbers and operations along with the ability to use this understanding in flexible ways to make mathematical judgments and to develop useful strategies for solving complex problems then they are developing number sense. Researchers note that number sense develops gradually, and varies as a result of exploring numbers, visualizing them in a variety of contexts, and relating them in ways that are not limited by traditional algorithms. Developing an understanding of numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems are focus areas of our math curriculum. First graders move from developing basic counting techniques to understanding number size and relationships, place value, and operations. They develop this understanding at different rates. First graders can easily count 32 objects, but they do not always see that 32 is three groups of ten and 2 groups of ones. Through repeated practice they will understand that they can group objects into tens and ones and recognize their numerical representation. So…we practice and practice and practice these skills. With our Everyday Mathematics program, we have begun investigating place-value concepts for tens and ones. Using manipulatives, we will be learning this new skill. Here is some information for you about the Base Ten Blocks that we are using. The Base Ten Blocks provide a spatial model of our base ten number system. The smallest blocks are units, these represent the number 1. The long, narrow blocks are called longs or rods and represent the number ten. Eventually we will be getting to flats, which represent 100 and even the largest cube which represent 1,000. As a result, your children have begun to understand that the number 32 consists of three longs (30) and two units: 30 + 2 = 32 (Expanded Notation). This is also a great concept for adding larger numbers. 32 + 54 = 30 + 50 + 2 + 4. We have been having so much fun investigating Plant and Animal Superpowers with Mystery Science. Why don’t trees blow down in the wind? Why are polar bears white? Why do family members look alike? Be sure to ask your child about this – they have gained a vast amount of knowledge on these concepts. |
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