Happy Monday! Morning work entailed following written directions to complete a snowy winter scene. During our morning meeting, I introduced the class to another display box from the Field Museum. Earlier in the year, we saw how leaves can help us identify different kinds of trees. However, you can still identify deciduous trees in the winter when they don't have leaves! The shape of the tree, the ways the branches grow, and the bark are all clues to the type of tree it is..
The Question of the Day was: Are you wearing wool today? This was a jumping off point for our reading session with A New Coat for Anna. We reread the book with a focus on the trades Anna's mother made in order to get a coat for her daughter. After reading the story, we worked together to create a chart of these trades, noting what item was traded, to whom it was, and what good/service was received in return. Students recorded this information on their own charts to take home. We also looked at a display box showing wool in different stages on its way to becoming yarn. Later, we read the book "Charlie Needs a Cloak" by Tomie dePaola.
The Question of the Day was: Are you wearing wool today? This was a jumping off point for our reading session with A New Coat for Anna. We reread the book with a focus on the trades Anna's mother made in order to get a coat for her daughter. After reading the story, we worked together to create a chart of these trades, noting what item was traded, to whom it was, and what good/service was received in return. Students recorded this information on their own charts to take home. We also looked at a display box showing wool in different stages on its way to becoming yarn. Later, we read the book "Charlie Needs a Cloak" by Tomie dePaola.
This week's spelling words have the soft c or the soft g sounds. We observed that in the words with these sounds the letters c and g were always followed by the letters e or i.
In our second reading session, we returned to the story "Under the Lemon Moon" in our Junior Great Books. The students responded to wonderings/questions from peers and from their book. We worked on citing evidence from the text to support our thoughts. This can be tricky. When asking your child opne-ended questions about something he/she reads with you, prompt him/her to refer back to the words in the book to explain his/her response.
In today's math lesson, the students again applied place value concepts to find equivalent representations of numbers. We started on the rug using base-ten blocks as models. Then, the students drew quick pictures and filled in hundreds/tens/ones charts. We also solved a problem that asked a yes or no question, but also required an explanation for the response.
The specials classes of the day were Library and Civics. During Civics, the first graders began learning about justice. Justice means fairness. Ask your child about today's lesson! We ended the day with social studies. Since we had read a folktale from Russia, we watched a video clip to learn what living in Russia is really like today. We also used our Map Champ Atlas books to increase our knowledge of European geography.
Tomorrow, we will learn about a mammal found in Europe.
Scholastic Reading Club book orders are due Friday, January 17. Thank you!
In our second reading session, we returned to the story "Under the Lemon Moon" in our Junior Great Books. The students responded to wonderings/questions from peers and from their book. We worked on citing evidence from the text to support our thoughts. This can be tricky. When asking your child opne-ended questions about something he/she reads with you, prompt him/her to refer back to the words in the book to explain his/her response.
In today's math lesson, the students again applied place value concepts to find equivalent representations of numbers. We started on the rug using base-ten blocks as models. Then, the students drew quick pictures and filled in hundreds/tens/ones charts. We also solved a problem that asked a yes or no question, but also required an explanation for the response.
The specials classes of the day were Library and Civics. During Civics, the first graders began learning about justice. Justice means fairness. Ask your child about today's lesson! We ended the day with social studies. Since we had read a folktale from Russia, we watched a video clip to learn what living in Russia is really like today. We also used our Map Champ Atlas books to increase our knowledge of European geography.
Tomorrow, we will learn about a mammal found in Europe.
Scholastic Reading Club book orders are due Friday, January 17. Thank you!