Dear Parents,

We have a had a great week so far in First Grade!

This week we have started some new units to begin our second semester of the year...
In reading, we have started a Non-Fiction reading unit. We started the week with a non-fiction text book called Look Who's Hatching.  The book had clues for students to guess who was hatching behind a flap. We learned how to use clues in the books to help find information. Through out the next few weeks we will learn some of the features of non-fiction books such as: table of contents, glossary, index, diagrams, photographs, captions, etc. Mostly we are learning how fiction and non-fiction are different because all things in a non-fiction book are true!

Visualizing is our reading comprehension strategy that we have been practicing during read alouds. We read the book In The Tall, Tall Grass today and we visualized how tall the grass was then wrote and drew about it.

In writing, we have begun a new Non-Fiction unit on "How To" writing. Today we made butter! We learned how to shake heavy cream into butter. The students loved the little "experiment" and were excited to guess what we were making (it was a surprise!)... some guessed ice cream, cake, cream... After making the butter we wrote about it! Everyone got a small taste with a spoon, a few students loved it! Others were not to sure and did not try it, but it was fun anyway!

In math, we started unit 5 today. We are beginning place value. Students worked to build numbers with base 10 blocks. We have a home link tonight that is due tomorrow.

It was awesome to see all the amazing growth in our class in reading since September. I have completed my individual reading assessments and started up our reading groups this week. Look for a reading book this week and remember to return it the next day.

Have a great night!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of January 11-15

Dear parents,

BRRR! Winter weather has returned to Michigan! This week students have been spending more time inside for recess. Please continue to send the appropriate winter clothing school and mark your child's things with his or her name!

In reading the week we have been practicing a new strategy for reading called Visualizing. Students have learned when they listen to a book or read to themselves they can visual a story when the book doesn't have pictures. We practiced with a poem called "Balloon Man." The students listened to the story two times and shared with a partner "the pictures in their heads."  After sharing they drew a picture of what they visualized during Balloon Man.  We will continue using this new strategy for the next few weeks.

In writing, we have been working hard on our Writing for Readers unit. I introduced students to personal word walls. The word wall goes into their writing folder, on it are all the popcorn words this year. We also add words to the personal word wall during conferences in writing. Students are now responsible for being able to write the popcorn words correctly during writing time.

In math this week we are wrapping up Unit 4. We have worked hard this week on doubles facts, adding to make ten and adding three numbers in one number sentence.  We noticed when adding three numbers to add numbers that made 10 together first then add the third number (3+7+4). We reveiewed strategies: using a number grid, using a number line, using a picture, or a fact to help solve a problem with three numbers. There will be a home link to practice adding three numbers tonight!
We will have a Unit 4 math test on Friday.

In Science we have watched our experiments with liquids and solids evaporate over the last several days. We dissolved rock salt into a solution with water and waited for the water to evaporate and leave behind the salt. This was an exciting experiment to watch. We also discussed how water evaporates outside and how solids can change shape with heat and cold.

We will be talking about and reading about Martin Luther King day this week and making a Martin Luther King project. I was surprised by how much the children remembered about MLK from our lessons in the fall about how laws that are unfair can change!

We are ending the first semester this Friday, January 15th. There is no school on January 18, in observance of Martin Luther King day!

Have a good week!
Mrs. Scheck

Week of January 4-8

Hello parents and Happy New Year!  We have had a great couple of days back to school. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays with your families and friends!

 

This week in first grade we have started individual reading assessments. The students will be seen one on one for me to do our January required testing. It has been exciting to watch the students grow as readers! I will not be sending books home during this time. Please continue to read at home and have your child practice reselling the story after reading. Ask them to include the characters, problem and solution!

We have read the book The Biggest Best Snowman by Margery Culer. We read the books and discussed how to retell the story.  We also talked about the authors message, in this story the students concluded the message was to believe in yourself!

In writing, we have begun a new unit of writing called Writing for Readers.  We are working on making our writing readable by putting spaces between words, using capitals and periods, using neat handwriting and spelling words from the word wall correctly.

In math we have worked on measurement using cubes to measure a pencil.  We will work this week on shapes using base ten blocks, geo boards and pattern templates.  We will practice making tally marks again. 

In science we did an experiment today mixing liquids. We mixed water and cooking oil.  We predicted what would happen and we observed the oil separating from the water. We will check it again in the morning to see what happened over night. We will also mix solids with water. We will dissolve salt into water and let the water evaporate over several days. These experiments will wrap up our science unit on solids and liquids!

   

Thank you and have a great week! 

Mrs. Scheck