Math: This week, we continued to work with even and odd numbers. We learned that even numbers are made up of partners of 2s and end in 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8. With odd numbers, one number is always left out without a partner, and odd numbers end in 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. We took a quick quiz on this concept, which will come home on Monday. We also began our study of addition strategies. We learned that mathematics draw pictures to help them add and we have practiced using a special kind of picture called circle drawings. We will continue our study of addition strategies next week by exploring adding zero, counting on/up, turn around facts, and partners of 10.
Writing: In writing, we have been exploring a new type of writing: small moments. Small moments are narrative pieces that zoom in to tell details about a small moment in time. So, instead of writing about all the things you did at your birthday party, you choose one important moment and stretch that out over several pages. Take a look at one from our First Grader writers:
We got out of the the car. We went to see The Book of Life. My mom was holding the umbrella. I was excited.
When me and mommy went outside it was raining and snowing and windy. Our umbrella went up like a triangle and we started to scream. I was surprised.
So we ran to the door and we were safe and my dad and sister were safe too just in time.
So instead of writing about the whole movie theatre experience, Jenesis chose this small moment in time and told the details over several pages. And a wonderful job she did!
We are working on adding different kinds of details to our pieces:
* Feelings
* Details about the characters and setting
* Dialogue: speech bubbles and adding to the words I said...
* Thinking bubbles & adding to the words I thought...
* Action words (interesting verbs)
Science: We have wrapped up our unit on Pebbles, Sand, and Silt. Your child brought home his/her science journal yesterday. Take a look and talk about your child's observations, drawings, and writing.
Reading Workshop: We have been working a lot on the thinking part of reading. We learned that readers have metacognition:
Metacognition is when readers read the text and put it together with their own thinking to really experiences the book. It is kind of like a pizza: the text is the plain old crust and the pizza really becomes a pizza when you add sauce and toppings (the thinking!). Ask your child to share the metacognition song with you :)
So we have been working on talking about our metacognition and we came up with different talking stems we could use. We put it on a bookmark so we could use them while buddy reading and even to push our thinking while reading to self:
We also began exploring our schema, or what we already know and have experienced that influences us while we read.
Every reader's schema is unique to them, so we made our own schema chart in our literacy journal:
And we shared those with our friends:
Next week, we will explore how schema grows and changes as we read.
COLD WEATHER
Unfortunately the cold weather is upon us, quicker than most of us would have hoped. Please make sure your child has warm weather gear for recess: warm jackets, hats, gloves, and warm shoes. During lunch recess, students are outside for a good 20 minutes. Talk with your child about the importance of wearing the gear. Thank you!
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