Monday, April 29, 2019

The Week of April 22



Upcoming Events 

Early Release Day/Teacher In-Service
Students dismissed @ 11:30
May 2, 2019

Morning Recess
The first and second graders have enjoyed spending time outdoors each morning. I have noticed an improvement in focus and energy levels throughout our day. Students are welcome to play outdoors from 7:30-7:50 each morning! 


Fine Print 
Here is a picture from our Friday Community Meeting. These  students will have their writing  published in this year's Fine Print publication. Congratulations to all!

Morning Meeting
Here is a snapshot of the kiddos sharing during our morning meeting. They are so descriptive and detailed in their shares. Students are getting so much better at connecting with the thinking of their classmates and asking interesting questions! 

Math
The first graders are working on developing strategies for adding numbers up to 20! We are learning to make and break numbers into the parts and put them back together as a whole. We are reviewing fact families. Students are making connections between addition and subtraction while learning to write number stories which match different equations. We have been reading lots of number stories together, and have been brainstorming lists of words that go with addition and subtraction problems. 

Readers' Workshop
This week in reading we worked in our book clubs! Students chose their favorite books in a series to read. We reviewed the expectations of working in a "book club" and really enjoyed the conversations that took place! As we zoom in on the  characters in our series books, students are becoming experts.  Students are making connections and learning to make predictions based on their prior knowledge. We are asking questions about the text, and noticing how different characters respond to problems differently! It is wonderful to see these kiddos excited to read and share their books with others! 


Writers' Workshop
In writing, we are learning to express our strong feelings and opinions.We have been building our understanding of letters and opinion pieces by reading lots of great mentor texts, examining and annotating student writing samples and brainstorming ideas we feel strongly about.  Students are writing letters to share their thoughts and ideas with others! Be on the look out for some pretty convincing letters!!!


Science
How does wind and water shape the land? Students began investigating this question on Friday. We  were introduced to a phenomenon in which water slowly washed away sand and created a new river. How did this happen... how can we explain this... have you ever seen something like this before? These were the questions that guided our work. Students shared their initial ideas and thoughts by jotting and drawing ideas they have about the phenomenon. It was fascinating to learn about each child's prior knowledge and their understandings about how wind and water can change the earth.  Later, we investigated where water comes from and how rivers, lakes, and ponds are created. We built a model of a mountain and created a rain storm observing where the rain water traveled. 






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