News You Can Use!

Literacy 

Treasures:

This week, the children worked with long u (u_e). The children read stories about reusing and recycling. They continued working on making inferences. Using their schema (what they know) and text clues, the children made inferences about the stories they read. The children also used their inferences to draw conclusions. They made judgements about characters, actions, and events in the story. The children learned that making inferences and drawing conclusions helps them to better understand what they are reading.  

Love Splat:

Using the book, Love Splat, the children worked on their inferencing skills. As they listened to the story the children recorded their inferences on hearts. The children made inferences such as: I think Splat is worried because he thinks Kitten does not like him. I think Splat is hungry because his tummy rumbled. I think Splat is nervous because he does not give Kitten the valentine he made her. I think Splat is nervous because his tummy rumbled. I think Splat is sad because Spike is mean to him. We compiled all our inferences together to make an Inferring with Splat poster. 

After listening to the book, the children wrote about what love is. They came up with lots of wonderful heartfelt ideas. Then they made a Splat the cat to glue their writing to. They look very cute!

Grammar Packets:

This week, the children learned that the verbs has and have tell about the present. Has tells about one person, place, or thing. Have tells about more than one person, place, or thing. The children used has and have to complete sentences. They also worked with proofreading, making sure every sentence starts with a capital and ends with an end mark.


Guided Reading:
We will be taking a short break from guided reading groups next week. I will be meeting with the children one on one to do another round of running records. Reassessing allows me to make sure that each child is receiving reading instruction that best fits their instructional reading level. 

Math 

In Math, the children were introduced to Fact Triangles. Using their Fact Triangles, the children practiced their addition and subtraction facts with a partner. The children also wrote addition and subtraction number models to go along with their Fact Triangles.

On Tuesday, the children worked with different subtraction fact strategies to find the difference. They used: the Addition/Subtraction Facts Table, Subtracting using a Ten Frame, and -8 and -9 Shortcuts on the Number Grid. 

On Wednesday, the children worked with measuring. They were introduced to the centimeter. The children estimated different lengths to the nearest centimeter and then measured the actual length. They also measured and drew lines to the nearest centimeter.  

Social Studies

This week, we continued our social studies unit on Patriotism. The children researched George Washington. They listened to several books and watched a video about his life on BrainPop. As a class we wrote a list of important facts about George Washington’s life and filled out a graphic organizer. The children then chose five important facts to record on their facts sheet. Today, the children began the same process with Abraham Lincoln. We will finish learning about his life next week. 

Skype

On Thursday morning, the children were excited to Skype with Mrs. Sessler, who is in Japan. Mrs. Sessler stayed up late in order to Skype with us! She told us a little bit about her trip and answered our questions. If you would like to read about Mrs. Sessler’s adventures in Japan, go to her Blog.

Valentine’s Day!

On Thursday, the children celebrated Valentine’s Day. In the afternoon, they enjoyed different valentine math activities. They did a sweethearts graphing activity, practiced their addition math facts, and played Be My Valentine Doubles +1. After math, the children had their valentine’s party. They enjoyed all the delicious treats that were sent in, passed out their valentines, and heard the story, The Best Thing About Valentines.

A special thank you to our room reps, Mrs. Rabe and Mrs. Topps. Thank you for organizing the treats for our valentine’s party. Thank you to all the families who provided paper products and treats. You made our party a yummy success! Thank you!

I would like to thank all of you for making my Valentine’s Day so special. I loved the valentines and yummy treats. Thank you so much!

Art Appreciation

Today Mrs. Bartels came in and the children had their 2nd Art Appreciation presentation. They learned about two pieces of art by Pierre Auguste Renoir: Two Sisters and A Girl with a Watering Can. The children learned about Renoir’s life and his painting techniques. They discussed the two paintings in detail, noting color combinations and texture. Then three volunteer’s dressed up to mimic the two Renoir paintings. The children enjoyed making a sketch of our volunteers.  Thank you, Mrs Bartels!

Star Student

Liam was our star student this week. Thanks Liam for sharing all about you!

Royal Reader

A special thank you to Liam’s dad, he joined us this week as our Royal Reader. The children enjoyed listening to the three stories that Mr. Galka read, My Penguin Osbert, The Magic Hat, and The Biggest Best Snowman.

Notes:

• Thank you to everyone for sending in glue sticks!
• Make sure to mark your calendars, the First Grade Musical is quickly approaching. It is February 27th at 7pm. I hope to see you there!

Have a great long weekend!