Phonics
Before vacation we finished up reading and spelling words with consonant blends! The students learned about words with three-letter blends and digraph blends. Challenge your child to search for words with blends as they are reading and listening to books.
Ask your child to read and/or spell the following words:
-strap -script -thrill
-split -bench -shrunk
Ask your child to read and/or spell the following words:
-strap -script -thrill
-split -bench -shrunk
We also began reviewing the VCe syllable pattern. The VCe syllable pattern, also often referred to as silent-e, magic e, or mean king Ed, contains a vowel followed by a consonant followed by the vowel e. While the vowel e at the end of the syllable is silent, the other vowel is long and thus, says its name. For example, wake, pine, hope, cute.
Check out this short video starring silent-e!
http://www.starfall.com/n/skills/silent-e/load.htm?f
Also, these fun games to practice building silent-e words:
http://www.starfall.com/n/make-a-word/silent-e/load.htm?f
http://www.starfall.com/n/make-a-word/long-i/load.htm?f
http://www.starfall.com/n/make-a-word/long-o/load.htm?f
http://www.starfall.com/n/make-a-word/long-u/load.htm?f
Check out this short video starring silent-e!
http://www.starfall.com/n/skills/silent-e/load.htm?f
Also, these fun games to practice building silent-e words:
http://www.starfall.com/n/make-a-word/silent-e/load.htm?f
http://www.starfall.com/n/make-a-word/long-i/load.htm?f
http://www.starfall.com/n/make-a-word/long-o/load.htm?f
http://www.starfall.com/n/make-a-word/long-u/load.htm?f
Reading Workshop
The past couple of weeks we have been immersed in nonfiction. This unit pairs perfectly with the natural curiosity of our first graders. To begin our study of nonfiction texts, I told the children "we will travel to new places, experience new things, and become super smart about lots of different topics!" When they started to wonder how this could possibly be true, I unveiled a collection of new nonfiction books. They soon realized that these books could help us learn about the world!
Children must be given the opportunity to read a great deal of nonfiction, and they must be taught explicit strategies for reading them. Without specific strategies, many students will flip through nonfiction books to locate weird animal snouts or other wild (but amazing!) photos while not reading the words at all. Often, students will robotically move through the sentences, focusing too much on the harder words, while not really thinking about the topic. In this unit, each mini lesson guides students to use skills that would help them develop a deeper understanding of the words and pictures found in books.
Sample Mini Lessons from Our Unit.....
Children must be given the opportunity to read a great deal of nonfiction, and they must be taught explicit strategies for reading them. Without specific strategies, many students will flip through nonfiction books to locate weird animal snouts or other wild (but amazing!) photos while not reading the words at all. Often, students will robotically move through the sentences, focusing too much on the harder words, while not really thinking about the topic. In this unit, each mini lesson guides students to use skills that would help them develop a deeper understanding of the words and pictures found in books.
Sample Mini Lessons from Our Unit.....
- Taking a sneak peak of the title, table of contents, and first few pages to start learning
- Studying a page can teach you so much
- Readers learn more by chatting about what's happening
- Readers reread to make sure they understand
- Readers don't let hard words get in their way
- Readers learn new words as they read
- Readers find and think about key words
Math
We wrapped up Topic 3: Five and Ten Relationships! A ten-frame is a hands-on and visual model that teaches number sense and mental math. Ten-frames are designed to help the mind organize numbers into chunks of five and ten to match our base ten-number system. For example, the most “efficient” way of seeing 7 with a ten-frame is one column of 5 dots and another of 2 dots equivalent to thinking of 7 as 5 + 2. Ten-frames are an excellent way to help children recognize numbers without having to stop their thought processes and resort to counting.
Understanding that numbers are composed of tens and ones is an important foundational concept, setting the stage for work with larger numbers. A strong sense of "ten" is a prerequisite for place-value understanding and mental calculations. Using a ten-frame, students can easily see that 6 is 1 more than 5 and 4 less than 10, or that 8 can be seen as "5 and 3 more" and as "2 away from 10." Once students are able to visualize the numbers 1 through 10, they begin to develop mental strategies for manipulating those numbers, all within the context of a number’s relationship to ten.
Check out this online Ten Frame Game: http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=75
Or, try this YouTube video to help your child instantly recognize numbers on a ten frame before they disappear from the screen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRR9LK3zfho
Understanding that numbers are composed of tens and ones is an important foundational concept, setting the stage for work with larger numbers. A strong sense of "ten" is a prerequisite for place-value understanding and mental calculations. Using a ten-frame, students can easily see that 6 is 1 more than 5 and 4 less than 10, or that 8 can be seen as "5 and 3 more" and as "2 away from 10." Once students are able to visualize the numbers 1 through 10, they begin to develop mental strategies for manipulating those numbers, all within the context of a number’s relationship to ten.
Check out this online Ten Frame Game: http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=75
Or, try this YouTube video to help your child instantly recognize numbers on a ten frame before they disappear from the screen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRR9LK3zfho
We are currently on Topic 4: Addition and Subtraction Facts to 12. Addition strategies are a bridge to fact mastery. Once children are able to quickly and accurately recall the basic addition facts, strategies may no longer be needed. For many children, its takes hours of practice to reach the point where strategies can be dropped and fact mastery achieved. Other children can do this quickly, and in some cases, may not need to use strategies at all. Below, you’ll find descriptions of the strategies your child will learn in class.
Doubles: Almost all children naturally remember the addition doubles. Strong visual images in day-to-day experiences facilitate memorization of these facts. For example, children quickly recognize that the five fingers on each hand demonstrate 5+5=10 or that the rows of eggs in a carton demonstrates 6+6=12.
Doubles Plus 1 (or Near Doubles): A doubles plus 1 fact includes an addend that is 1 more than the other addend. For example, in 6+7, 7 is one more than 6. If a child knows that 6+6=12, s/he can use this information to find the sum of 6+7.
Making 10: The making-10 strategy allows children to create a “friendlier” problem, one in which a number is added to 10. To add 9+5, the child might reason, “I can take 1 from 5 and put it with 9 to make 10. Then I can add 10+4 to make 14.”
Doubles: Almost all children naturally remember the addition doubles. Strong visual images in day-to-day experiences facilitate memorization of these facts. For example, children quickly recognize that the five fingers on each hand demonstrate 5+5=10 or that the rows of eggs in a carton demonstrates 6+6=12.
Doubles Plus 1 (or Near Doubles): A doubles plus 1 fact includes an addend that is 1 more than the other addend. For example, in 6+7, 7 is one more than 6. If a child knows that 6+6=12, s/he can use this information to find the sum of 6+7.
Making 10: The making-10 strategy allows children to create a “friendlier” problem, one in which a number is added to 10. To add 9+5, the child might reason, “I can take 1 from 5 and put it with 9 to make 10. Then I can add 10+4 to make 14.”
Writer's Workshop
In writer's workshop we have been busy exploring a new type of writing: How to (also known as procedural writing). How to is a type of informational writing in which an author teaches his or her audience how to do or make something. To kick off our unit, the students explored various types of how to texts and created a list of important features this type of writing includes. The students discovered how to books contain a materials list, illustrations or photographs for each step, numbers to sequence the steps, transition words, and clear directions.
In order to learn more about how-to writing and practice this new skill as a class, we wrote How to Build a Snowman! As part of our unit, we have been practicing not only writing, but also reading how to texts. Since verbs are an essential part of this genre, we have reviewed what verbs are and discussed verbs we may want to include in our own how to’s. The students came up with a great list! We also concentrated on checking our own how to's to make sure our steps are clear for our readers. As a result, the students were able to determine what steps might be missing or how to make the directions easier for their audience to follow and understand.
The goal when teaching procedural writing is to help students write with their audience in mind providing explicit details and careful sequencing to allow the reader to successfully complete the task.
As extra practice, ask your child to describe for you step-by-step How To Brush Your Teeth. Be sure to test out their steps to see how they did :)
In order to learn more about how-to writing and practice this new skill as a class, we wrote How to Build a Snowman! As part of our unit, we have been practicing not only writing, but also reading how to texts. Since verbs are an essential part of this genre, we have reviewed what verbs are and discussed verbs we may want to include in our own how to’s. The students came up with a great list! We also concentrated on checking our own how to's to make sure our steps are clear for our readers. As a result, the students were able to determine what steps might be missing or how to make the directions easier for their audience to follow and understand.
The goal when teaching procedural writing is to help students write with their audience in mind providing explicit details and careful sequencing to allow the reader to successfully complete the task.
As extra practice, ask your child to describe for you step-by-step How To Brush Your Teeth. Be sure to test out their steps to see how they did :)
Homework
Homework is extremely important for students in the lower-grades. Homework teaches the following:
- generalization of skills
- allows you to see where your child is struggling
- allows you to see your child’s work ethic
- allows your student to understand the importance of school work
- helps to ensure that the skills we teach are retained
Below are several suggestions to establishing a positive homework routine. Please take a moment to read through these tips to set your child up for success in completing homework in first grade.
YOU are their biggest resource.
YOU know your child best; If you know that he does not know all of the numbers, write the numbers 1-10 at the top of the page for reference.
Homework is for your child, not you!
If your child struggles with writing specific letters/numbers-teach them the line strokes, hand over hand assistance is helpful, but not when you do it for them.
Teach your child it is OKAY to make mistakes!
Teach your child self-regulation strategies to accept challenges and work beyond the "struggle".
Set the expectation high
If you communicate that homework is important, your child will understand that school work is important too.
Be Consistent
Work with your child to create an after school schedule that includes activities such as snack, play time, homework, dinner, etc. Allow your child to write the times and activities and post it on the refrigerator. Show your child how to use a digital clock to track the time of each activity. Making homework a part of your child's daily routine, will help foster independence, teach responsibility and support continued growth through the academic years.
As always, please let me know if you have questions or concerns!
YOU are their biggest resource.
YOU know your child best; If you know that he does not know all of the numbers, write the numbers 1-10 at the top of the page for reference.
Homework is for your child, not you!
If your child struggles with writing specific letters/numbers-teach them the line strokes, hand over hand assistance is helpful, but not when you do it for them.
Teach your child it is OKAY to make mistakes!
Teach your child self-regulation strategies to accept challenges and work beyond the "struggle".
Set the expectation high
If you communicate that homework is important, your child will understand that school work is important too.
Be Consistent
Work with your child to create an after school schedule that includes activities such as snack, play time, homework, dinner, etc. Allow your child to write the times and activities and post it on the refrigerator. Show your child how to use a digital clock to track the time of each activity. Making homework a part of your child's daily routine, will help foster independence, teach responsibility and support continued growth through the academic years.
As always, please let me know if you have questions or concerns!
Field Trip Fun!
Visit from Firefighters!
We were visited by Belmont firefighters who taught us how to properly crawl under smoke. The students did an excellent job practicing!