It feels like forever since I had the chance to update you on all the learning that is happening in 1B. I am so pleased with how excited and motivated these students are about each activity that we do. I am noticing a huge change in their confidence as they are trying so many more things on their own.
In Language Arts we are really focusing on making real words. Every morning students come in there are 7-8 letters that they need to pick up for our making words activity. They then start to generate a list of words that are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 letters long. I love this activity because each student can really work at their own level. Some students are focused on 3 letter words while others move right to the 5 or 6 letter words. They love getting the chance to show me the words that they make. This leads to some great conversations about how we form words and we are learning quite quickly about letters that go together. It is really strengthening our knowledge of word families, root words and word endings. The students love it when they can find words with the “ing” sisters or when they can add an “s” to make the word one letter longer.
We continue our daily word sorts focusing on digraphs, such as ch, th, sh, and wh. Students will do an assessment on those skills early next week. I have also tested about half of the students on their Green Rainbow words and I will send home the start of blue words next Tuesday.
During our main language arts block, students are working in small groups on specific targeted lessons for reading and writing. I work with each group for 15-20 minutes and teach them something to focus on in their reading and then they get a chance to practice that independently. I do the same for their writing. They are really learning to take ownership and be proud of the work that they do on their own or with the teacher.
During block 6 (right before lunch) the Grade 1’s have started reading groups, which is an awesome program that the Grade 1 Teachers have put in place. I have attached a letter outlining the process for anyone who has any questions. Basically students are divided again by ability and what skill they need to practice most to make them better readers and they get 30 minutes of direct instruction at their level. IF your students are starting to talk about another Teacher, it is likely their reading group teacher. As students master new skills they will switch reading groups depending on what they need.
In Math, we have moved right into addition and are doing so well! They say this is way too easy for them as they use number lines, fingers, and counters to practice this skill. This week we learned about Mental Math too and I challenged them to try to figure questions out in their mind without needing to use one of our tools. To practice this skill we played the game Around the World and they quickly learned that if they can “count on” in their heads they would be much quicker than someone who is counting on their fingers. I don’t always like the pressure of having to be fast, but I focus the game on who is trying and being a good sport. The winner of the game actually never gets the prize it is someone who plays fair, is a good team member and who tries their very best. They love this game! Next week we will be solving and learning how to do math word problems. I really love Math games and during our addition unit I plan to teach the students quite a few. I will send home the game sheets as we learn them so you can practice at home.
Zero the Hero also struck again last week and he brought us some corn pops to count by 2's, 5's and 10's.
Along with our pen pal letters this week, I also signed our class up for the “Great Valentines Day Exchange.” There are over 400 classes participating and we had a list of 20 classes across Canada to send a Valentine to. With the letter we also included an information sheet about our community and school. In return, we will hear back from 20 other schools. When we get a letter back it will really open up some great conversations about other communities across Canada. We will also take the time to look up the towns on the map. We did some mapping activities in class this week as well, learning about a legends or keys and about directions.
To make our Valentines, we learned a new skill in Art called print making. Students were given a 4x6 piece of Styrofoam and used a dull pencil to carve out a design. This was going to be their very own stamp. Next they had to put a “medium” layer of paint across the stamp and press it onto the paper for our design. This was a fun and messy project. I apologize about the paint on the clothes. Next year, I think I will invest in some paint shirts. This exchange fits really well into our Social Studies Unit focusing on Community. Next week we will be starting a community scrapbook and students will be asking you questions most nights in their agenda. Please take the time to answer the questions together as we will need the answers to add to our scrapbook.
For one of our writing projects this week we read the book “Snowmen at Night.” This book talks about all the things snowmen do when the rest of us are in bed. It was a great lead up to our next writing project. Students had to finish this sentence, “If I were a snowman at night I would…” They had some very good ideas and used their writing folder tools to spell all their sight words correctly. We also focused on using the spelling patterns we have learned so far to make our writing more clear. Next week we are doing some work on sentence formation, learning how to begin and end a sentence and focusing on having one idea in each sentence.
In Science, we are just plugging away at our Winter and Senses Unit. We have a few more projects planned around the senses and one day we will get out on our winter walk, I think! This week we took some time to talk about how animals and humans get prepared for winter.
Our Senses Day was a huge hit!! Students moved around to all 4 Grade 1 Classes learning about each sense. In 1A they learned about optical illusions and Braille as they learned about sight. In 1B we learned about different types of textures. Students had to reach into a paper bag and feel for textures that were rough, hard, soft, smooth and bumpy. We also played a fun game that included finding a partner with the same textured item by only using the sense of touch. No talking or looking was allowed! In 1C they focused on the sense of hearing. Students played some listening games and tried to identify the sounds that they were hearing. 1D focused on the sense of smell and identifying different smells. At the end we all came together to talk about the sense of taste with a little taste test. Students tried a potato chip to learn about the taste buds for salty, a lemon for sour, a jujube for sweet and of course the Bakers Chocolate for bitter. I think they will remember those for a while!
I think that is enough for now, I am excited about next week though, we have a big project planned with our Grade 4 buddies, Valentines Day, Skating and the 100th day of School. I’m exhausted just thinking about it!
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