Hello, Room 4 Families.  Happy New Year!  Did you hear about our adventure on Friday before the break?  We were fully engaged in our DEC Day when Loker lost power.  Your children did not miss a beat!  They had a wonderful time creating the arcade games they had carefully planned the day before.  They problem-solved, reworked their designs, and played with their new creations.  Wow! 

I have added some photos to our class photo album.  :)

Below are some important reminders and some of the things that we have been learning and working on recently.

Reminders:

•Please remember to send boots and shoes each day.  The grassy areas on our playground are muddy this time of year.  Without boots and a change of shoes, our classroom rug and floor get very muddy.  We sit on our rug for lessons, games, and small groups.  Thank you!

•As a reminder, we are not passing out individual Valentines in First Grade.  We will write an affirmation or compliment for each student in our classroom, during class time.  Please see my email from January 4th for specific details.  

Phonics:

We have learned about the suffix s.  We learned it can make a word plural (more than one) or an action (something you can do).  The suffix s has two sounds.  Sometimes it sounds like the letter s and sometimes like the letter z.  

How do you mark a word with a suffix? 

How do you tap out a word with a suffix? 

Does the suffix in the word “mops” make the word plural or an action or both?  

What about in the word “fans?” 

We have added the words do, does, were, are, who, what, and when to our Trick Word Wall.

Reading:

During our reading time, we are learning about the features of informational text and how they help readers.  As we learn about each feature, we look for examples of this feature in the many non-fiction books we have in our classroom.  Here are the features we have learned about so far:

Table of Contents

Index

Photographs

Words in Bold

Glossary

Pronunciations

Illustrations

Headings

Can you tell me how ___________ helps you as a reader?  

Where will I find the Table of Contents?  What about the Index?  

Do all non-fiction books have every feature you have learned about so far?

We will continue to learn about more features of non-fiction texts over the next couple of weeks.  At home, you may want to gather some informational/non-fiction texts and look for examples of the above features with your child.

Math:

We have been busy in math!  We learned how to use a Rekenrek to add numbers, specifically doubles and double +1.  What is a Rekenrek?  So glad you asked!  Here is a video that explains what it is and how we use it.  ;)

Here is a virtual Rekenrek for you to try at home.

This week we reviewed how to solve story problems while showing our thinking.  This time we are using numbers up to 20.  Later this week we will solve story problems with 3 addends.  

Did you find the Rekenrek helpful?

Can you show me on this virtual Rekenrek how you would solve 8+8 and then 8+9?

Open Circle: 

Last Friday Ms. Mortley joined us for an Open Circle on the Size of the Problem.  There are times when our feelings are very big and our reactions don’t match the size of the problem.  We are learning how to think about the size of our problems and working to match our reactions accordingly.  Big problems require adult help.  Small problems, or glitches, are often things we can solve on our own.  Here is a book that Ms. Mortley shared with us during this Open Circle.

Social Studies:

This week we began learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.  We will learn about segregation and how people worked peacefully to change these unjust laws and practices.  Later this week and next week we will learn about Ruby Bridges and Audrey Faye Hendricks.   

Writing:

We will finish our Opinion Pieces this week!  Yay!  Your children are excited to see if their Opinion Pieces will convince you (or Mr. Jones) to make the changes they want.  

 Hello, Room 4 Families.  Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate.  I know we had some very excited first graders on Friday! :)  Below are some reminders, an announcement about Pajama Day (yay!), and classroom updates.  

Pajama Day:

We will have Pajama Day on Friday, December 23.  Wearing Pajamas is optional.  Please do not send in stuffed animals, pillows, or blankets.  Thank you!   This is also DEC Day.  Please be sure to send in recyclables and tape.  (painters tape, masking tape, duct tape)  We do not have tape for this project at school.  Also, this is an early release day.  Dismissal is at 11:30.

Reminders:

•Feel free to keep boots and snow pants at school.  We will send them home for washing when they get dirty.

•Please send in boots for outside and shoes for the classroom.  Your children sit on our classroom floor periodically throughout the day.  It is no fun to sit on a wet floor or in mud!  Thank you!

•Please remember to check our Sharing Schedule and mark your calendar with the days your child has sharing. This is optional.  

Classroom Updates:

Phonics

•We learned the glued sounds an and am.  

What are the keywords, sounds, and spellings for these sounds?  How do you mark them in a word?

We have added the following words to our Trick Word Wall:

do, does, from, have

Math

In this unit of study we are focusing on the following skills:

• Relate counting forward and counting back to addition and subtraction situations

• Begin exploring the combinations of 10 or 10’s partners

• Mastering doubles facts and introducing the doubles + or - 1  strategy

• Solving word problems with 3 addends (using storyboards to begin)

This past week we used number lines to help us solve addition and subtraction equations.  These equations were adding or subtracting the numbers 1, 2, or 3.  This week we will work with doubles and then doubles plus or minus 1.  

Which direction do you go on a number line when you subtract?  What about when you add?

Reading

Last week we began reading different versions of the Gingerbread Man.  We are looking for some key story elements, the refrain, and how the story ended.  Your children are very observant and insightful!  Here is a picture of the slides we have completed so far:

We have several more stories to read this week.  

Do you have a favorite story from last week?  Why is it your favorite?

Science

Our exploration of the wind has continued.  We learned that an anemometer is used to measure wind speed.  We learned about wind speeds through the Wind Scale.

On the day we made pinwheels there was no wind!

How is a pinwheel similar to an anemometer?  

Writing

Your first graders have been very hard at work, writing their Opinion Pieces.  We started with a graphic organizer.  This helped us to choose a topic for our opinion piece.  We then filled in 3 reasons to support our opinion.  Finally, we restated our opinion.  This week we will use this graphic organizer to write our opinion piece.  Some of us are trying to convince Mr. Jones that we need more recess time.  Others want to convince Mr. Jones to have lines painted on our soccer fields on the playground.  Some first graders are hoping to convince their families to let them go to bed later.  We shall see how convincing their reasons are!  While our goal is to finish these before the end of the week, we may not finish until the first week in January.  

What are you writing your opinion piece on?  What are your reasons?

Social Studies/ Open Circle

Ms. Mortley came in for an Open Circle. She taught us another breathing technique to help us calm down.

Can you show me the breathing technique Ms. Mortley taught you? (breath in the flowers and blow out the candles)

We learned how to deal with annoying behaviors at school and at home.

1. Ask the person to please stop the specific behavior they are doing that is annoying.

2. Tell them why this behavior is bothering you.

3. Tell them what you want them to do instead.

For example:

"Kathy, please stop tapping your pencil on the table. It is distracting me from my work. Please work quietly instead."

 Hello, Room 4 Families. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend with your family and loved ones last weekend. We have been very busy in Room 4! Below are some reminders, announcements, and classroom updates.  

Announcements / Reminders:

•As winter approaches, I want to remind families that children need the “Big 5” when the snow starts to fly. The ‘Big 5” are a coat, mittens or gloves, a hat or hood, boots, and snow pants. At this point, I do not see snow in our forecast but, you never know! New England is full of surprises!  

•Please consider sending in snow pants and boots to remain in the classroom. We will send them home for washing when they get muddy.  :) Having boots here will also help keep our classroom rug and floor mud-free for the many times a day we are on the floor. Thank you!

•Please remember to check our Sharing Schedule and mark your calendar with the days your child has sharing.  

•Did you know that Friday, 12/23, is now an early release day?  Dismissal is at 11:30 AM with no lunch in school.  We return to school on Tuesday, 1/3/23.  

•I have uploaded some videos and photos to our class album. Enjoy!

Classroom Updates:

Phonics

We learned the glued sound “all.”  

What is the keyword and spelling of the sound, "all?" 

How do you mark this glued sound?

Here are our current trick words:

a, and, as, be, for, has, his, he, into, is, I, me, of, one, or, said, she, the, to, they, was, we, you, your

Reading

We continue to work in our small groups to develop/strengthen comprehension strategies, practice what we learn in phonics when sounding out unknown words, and reading fluency.

We have been developing our schema for the author, Janelle Cannon. As a class, we have read Stellaluna, Crickwing, Pinduli, and Verdi, and are currently reading Trupp.  

As we read more of her books, our schema for her as an author grew. 

How did your schema for Janelle Cannon grow as you read her books?  

What did you notice was similar in her books?  

Was anything different?  

Do you have a favorite Janelle Cannon book?

Science 

We had a fantastic field trip to the Museum of Science Planetarium! 

We are currently making a season wheel and will bring them home once they are done. 

When we learned about the phases of the moon, I shared a project idea with your children. You can recreate the phases of the moon at home with a pencil, orange, and light. Here is a link to this project.  Full disclosure, we would have to find something to use in place of the orange at my house. My daughter would not be willing to sacrifice an orange or clementine, and I wouldn’t want to waste the food.  ;) If you try this at home and use something in place of the orange, please let me know what you used and how it worked! 

We explored air with bubbles and observed what bubbles can tell us about the wind.

Social Studies 

Before Thanksgiving break, we learned about the Nipmucs, who are indigenous to the land we now call Wayland. We learned a bit about their lifestyle and culture and made Nipmuc baskets!   

What does the name Nipmuc mean?  (People of the Fresh Water)

What is the name of the dwellings they built and lived in? (Wetus)

We read the book, A Kid's Book About Racism by Jelani Memory. This book is also linked here, on our class website, under the link for the Black Lives Matter Virtual Library.  

Writing  

We have continued to work on adding important details to our writing while working to remember capital letters at the beginning of our sentences and punctuation at the end.  

This past week we began writing opinion pieces. We learned that people have different opinions about the same subject. We can persuade someone to agree with our opinion by writing an opinion piece. We state our opinion and give three reasons that support our opinion. We then restate our opinion. Stay tuned for more on this later!

Math 

First graders have been working with number bonds, creating fact families, and noticing the relationship between addition and subtraction. Each student is working on their targeted numbers based on an assessment completed individually. Below is a visual of a number bond, dot array, and fact family.

 Hello, Room 4 Families.  I hope you have had a chance to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather we had this weekend.  Thank you for your help with having your children observe the Moon last week.  Wow, it was quite a week for the Moon!  

Reminders:

• Please help your child return his/her moon observations on Monday- we look forward to discussing them!

•Wednesday, November 16th- Super Wednesday-Dismissal is at 11:30. There will be a "grab and go lunch" option.

•Our field trip to the Planetarium at the Museum of Science will take place this Friday.  We will be having lunch in our classrooms upon our return.  Please keep in mind that our classrooms are nut-free.  Thank you!  If your child would like to purchase lunch from the cafeteria on Friday, the option available to them is a sunflower butter and jelly sandwich with fruit and shelf-stable milk.

•Wednesday, November 23-  Dismissal is at 11:30.  NO LUNCH  

Below are some of the things we have been working on in Room 4.

Phonics

We learned about the bonus letters s, f, l, and sometimes z.  When following a short vowel, the letters s, f, l, and sometimes z are doubled.  Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. 

How do you mark a bonus letter in a word? (put a star above the  bonus letter)

How do you mark the digraphs sh, ch, th, wh, and ck in a word?

(underline them)

You may wonder why we mark certain letters or letter combinations in words.  It helps us to recognize these letters and letter combinations when we are working to sound out unknown words. (decoding) It also helps us remember how to spell those sounds when writing. (encoding)

These are the words we currently have on our Trick Word Wall:

the, a, and, is his, of, as, has, to into, we, he, she, be, me, for, out, you, your

Reading

Last week we began our unit on Schema.  What is schema?  Schema is all that we know about a topic or idea.  Each day we learn more and continue to build our schema. Our schema for a topic, character, or author helps us to make predictions and/or understand a story better.  Sometimes our schema can grow or change.  

I read the book, The Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume, to the class.  Many of the first graders had schema for siblings and could make predictions and make connections with the characters.

How did your schema help you understand or enjoy the read-aloud?  

Math

The first graders are currently working on understanding the difference and relationship between addition and subtraction.  They are also working on decomposing targeted numbers to 10.  The numbers each student is working on are based on an assessment done individually with each child.  

How are we working on these concepts?  Here are two examples:

Clear the Deck

This game is played with two students.  They cover two ten frames with unifix cubes.  Each player takes turns rolling a 0-9 die.  They then spin a +/- spinner to see if they are to add or subtract that number of cubes.  The first person to “clear the deck” wins.  

Build a Floor

This game is played with a specific number of unifix cubes, based on the assessment mentioned above.  Students roll a die and work on building the base of their floor, using one color cube.  Based on the numbers rolled, they must determine where that floorboard goes.  Once the base is complete, students work on building the rest of the floorboard with a different color cube.  Here are some pictures to help explain:

    

   The base of the Floor          Completed Floor 

On Friday we learned the parts of an addition and subtraction equation.  The numbers we add together are called addends.  We find the sum when we add the addends together. 

We subtract the subtrahend from the minuend to find the difference.  Here are some visuals:

           

Science

As you know, we are currently learning about the Moon. We are also learning about clouds.  We have learned to identify cirrus, cumulus, and stratus clouds.  With the beautiful, sunny weather we had last week, we did not have much of an opportunity to observe the clouds in the sky.  ;) We will try again this week. 

Which cloud is high in the sky and looks like stretched-out cotton balls?  Cirrus

Which cloud is low to the ground, is often gray, and covers the whole sky?  Stratus

Which clouds are in the middle of the sky and often look like puffy clumps of cotton balls?  cumulus

Social Studies

This past week we learned about courage.  I read the book Courage, by Bernard Waber.  Then we began the book, Courageous People Who Changed the World, by Heidi Poelman.  We are learning about people who demonstrated courage while working to make the world a better place for everyone.  We will finish that book this week.

How can you show courage?

Does being courageous mean that you are not nervous or afraid?

  

  

 Hello, Room 4 Families.  Can you believe tomorrow is the last day of October?  Time is passing way too quickly!  Below are some highlights from the last few weeks.  I have also added some pictures and videos to our class photo album. I need to take more photos each week!

Thank you to the parents who have come in as Mystery Readers! Your children are very excited about this time each week! If you haven't had a chance to sign-up for a time yet, please click on the link in the top right corner of this web page. Once every family has had a chance to sign-up for one slot, I will open it up for additional times. Thank you!

Phonics

•These are the words we currently have on our Trick Word Wall:

a, and, as, has, his, into, is, of, the, to

It is expected that your children will spell these words correctly in their daily writing in class.  

•Last week we learned the digraphs ch, sh, th, wh, and ck.

Can you sing me the song you learned to help you remember how to spell the word, “of?”

What are the keywords and sounds for the digraphs?  

When would you use the digraph ck in a word? (after a short vowel)

Reading

•Your first graders continue to work on their reading stamina with just right books.  

•We recently started meeting in small groups to work on reading and comprehension strategies.  •During one of our reading mini-lessons we learned that books can be mirrors or windows.  When a book is a mirror we can see ourselves in the book.  When it is a window we learn about other people through reading the book.   

Tell me about a time when a book was a mirror for you.  

Tell me about a time when a book was a window for you. 

Social Studies   

•We have continued to read books that help us think about belonging.  Here are some books we read recently:

Zombies Don't Eat Veggies

Happy In Our Skin

The Proudest Blue

One Green Apple  (This was a book we started during a mini-lesson for Reading Workshop and finished during Social Studies.)

Math

•Your amazing first graders have completed our unit on careful counting and comparing numbers.  We have moved on to our unit on decomposing numbers within 10.  Here is an overview of this unit:

In this unit of study we are focusing on the following skills:

• Conceptual Understanding of solving word problems about putting together and taking apart situations (using storyboards)

• Learning combinations of numbers up to 10 beginning at a targeted number based on the results of an assessment, done individually with Ms. Germaine

• Understand the relationship between addition and subtraction and use visuals to understand this relationship (turn around facts as well)

• Use number bonds to understand the relationship between addition and subtraction (begin to introduce fact families)

Tell me about the game, Race to Ten.  (This is a game that uses both addition and subtraction.)

Science

•Each morning we record the weather and temperature.  

•This week we will look to see if there is a time of day that is warmest.  

•Later this week we will learn about the different types of clouds and what they mean.

How are you recording the weather and temperature each day?   

Open Circle

•Ms. Mortley has joined our Open Circle a couple of times to help us learn about our brain and some exercises we can do to calm down.  We might need to calm down if we are anxious, nervous, or excited.

Can you teach me one or two of the exercises you learned to do to help you calm down?

Something New!

The first-grade team decided we would gather once a month to learn Spanish from Salon 6, our First Grade Spanish Immersion classroom. This past Thursday we learned the song they sing for snack time. We also learned a new song about a sardine. There is a video of us learning the snack-time song in our Google Photo Album. :)