Well families, it looks like we are having another short week. I can't believe we have only had one full week of school in January! Hopefully things will start to warm up.
Because of the short week, we will not have Spelling or Grammar.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
-Miss Seamann
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
News You Can Use!
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and keeping warm! It is cold out there! This week was a very short week, but we were busy in 1-1! I am continuing to enjoy getting to know your students. Here is a look at what Mrs. Johnson's class has been working on this week.
Literacy
During this short week, first grade took the opportunity to teach a mini unit on fables and folktales. The students became familiar with the term central meaning and understand that fables are stories with a moral to the story. To begin the week, we read a version of The Lion and The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney. This is an illustration only version of the fable. As we read the pictures, the students were able to determine what was going on in the story. After reading the story, the class brainstormed some predictions about the moral of the story.
The next day, we focused on another version of The Lion and The Mouse by Gail Herman and Graham Perry. This version contained words as well as illustrations. After reading, we had a class discussion about what the moral of the story was and how it compared to our class predictions. As always, the class was able to practice giving examples from the text to provide evidence about the moral.
We are still learning all about verbs. This week, the grammar highlight was having the students depict themselves as a superhero. Each student surrounded their superhero with super verbs. What a fun way to learn about verbs!
Next week I will have the opportunity to see small literacy groups. Your students should resume taking books home to practice at some point next week.
Writing
The students had the opportunity to write the final copy of their How-To Writing. The children were very excited to use the iPads to do this. The students became familiar with the app, Story Kit. It was so fun typing their writing on the iPad, but the real fun came when they had the opportunity to include pictures for each step. Students took turns acting out each step as a friend took their picture doing so. They were very creative and really enjoyed this step the most! The students will complete putting the finishing touches on their final copies next week. Once the How-To Writing is complete and ready to publish, you will be able to find your student's work on Mrs. Johnson's blog. Stay tuned!
Math
The students continue to work hard on Unit 5. This week the lessons focused on strategies for solving story problems. The students were able to draw pictures, use a number line, use their fingers, as well as other strategies to help them explore which strategy is most successful for them. The students had fun determining how much more or how much less a number is. For example, the class really got a kick out of the example involving baby Brevin. I told them I would round how much he weighed up to seven pounds. Then I told them to pretend there was a baby right next to him that weighed fourteen pounds! How much more did that big baby weigh? They really enjoyed that one. To reinforce this skill, the students got to play a game pretending to use money to figure out how much more money their partner or themselves had.
The students are continuing to do a great job with Gumball Math. Once students are able to score 48, 49, or 50 addition problems correctly in three minutes, they have fact power. We are continuing to discuss that if you have not gotten fact power yet, all that means is to just keep practicing. The focus is more on how much they are improving. Keep practicing those math facts, mathematicians!
Science
We finished our science unit on magnets this week. The science unit came to an end as the students learned about magnetic fields, north and south poles of a magnet, and how a compass works. The students explored how magnets can either attract or repel each other. The students had fun with this experiment. We also watched a few short videos about how compasses work and how to make them. To close the unit, the students liked watching a video about magnets on BrainPOP Jr website.
Other
I would like to thank Mrs. Misner for coming in to facilitate an Art Appreciation lesson with the students. We sure learned a lot about Pierre Renoir! The students really liked talking about some very famous paintings by the artist, A Girl With a Watering Can and Two Sisters (On the Terrace). Each child also created their own masterpiece reminiscent of a Renoir painting. Thank you for teaching us so much, Mrs. Misner!
Notes
I had the opportunity to meet a few of the parents this week. I have also received some very nice emails and written notes. What a lucky group of students to have such great parents. It was so nice to put a few names to faces. I look forward to working with you during the next couple of months! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay warm!
Literacy
During this short week, first grade took the opportunity to teach a mini unit on fables and folktales. The students became familiar with the term central meaning and understand that fables are stories with a moral to the story. To begin the week, we read a version of The Lion and The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney. This is an illustration only version of the fable. As we read the pictures, the students were able to determine what was going on in the story. After reading the story, the class brainstormed some predictions about the moral of the story.
The next day, we focused on another version of The Lion and The Mouse by Gail Herman and Graham Perry. This version contained words as well as illustrations. After reading, we had a class discussion about what the moral of the story was and how it compared to our class predictions. As always, the class was able to practice giving examples from the text to provide evidence about the moral.
We are still learning all about verbs. This week, the grammar highlight was having the students depict themselves as a superhero. Each student surrounded their superhero with super verbs. What a fun way to learn about verbs!
Next week I will have the opportunity to see small literacy groups. Your students should resume taking books home to practice at some point next week.
Writing
The students had the opportunity to write the final copy of their How-To Writing. The children were very excited to use the iPads to do this. The students became familiar with the app, Story Kit. It was so fun typing their writing on the iPad, but the real fun came when they had the opportunity to include pictures for each step. Students took turns acting out each step as a friend took their picture doing so. They were very creative and really enjoyed this step the most! The students will complete putting the finishing touches on their final copies next week. Once the How-To Writing is complete and ready to publish, you will be able to find your student's work on Mrs. Johnson's blog. Stay tuned!
Math
The students continue to work hard on Unit 5. This week the lessons focused on strategies for solving story problems. The students were able to draw pictures, use a number line, use their fingers, as well as other strategies to help them explore which strategy is most successful for them. The students had fun determining how much more or how much less a number is. For example, the class really got a kick out of the example involving baby Brevin. I told them I would round how much he weighed up to seven pounds. Then I told them to pretend there was a baby right next to him that weighed fourteen pounds! How much more did that big baby weigh? They really enjoyed that one. To reinforce this skill, the students got to play a game pretending to use money to figure out how much more money their partner or themselves had.
The students are continuing to do a great job with Gumball Math. Once students are able to score 48, 49, or 50 addition problems correctly in three minutes, they have fact power. We are continuing to discuss that if you have not gotten fact power yet, all that means is to just keep practicing. The focus is more on how much they are improving. Keep practicing those math facts, mathematicians!
Science
We finished our science unit on magnets this week. The science unit came to an end as the students learned about magnetic fields, north and south poles of a magnet, and how a compass works. The students explored how magnets can either attract or repel each other. The students had fun with this experiment. We also watched a few short videos about how compasses work and how to make them. To close the unit, the students liked watching a video about magnets on BrainPOP Jr website.
Other
I would like to thank Mrs. Misner for coming in to facilitate an Art Appreciation lesson with the students. We sure learned a lot about Pierre Renoir! The students really liked talking about some very famous paintings by the artist, A Girl With a Watering Can and Two Sisters (On the Terrace). Each child also created their own masterpiece reminiscent of a Renoir painting. Thank you for teaching us so much, Mrs. Misner!
Notes
I had the opportunity to meet a few of the parents this week. I have also received some very nice emails and written notes. What a lucky group of students to have such great parents. It was so nice to put a few names to faces. I look forward to working with you during the next couple of months! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay warm!
Friday, January 17, 2014
News You Can Use
Happy Friday 1-1 Families! I am thrilled to be in your child's classroom! It has been a joy to get to know each student during my first week in Mrs. Johnson's class. I just spoke with Mrs. Johnson and wanted to share that Mom and Baby Brevin are both doing great. I am new to posting to a blog so you will have to be patient with me. Here is what we have been working on this week in 1-1!
Literacy
This week we read the book, Hey Little Ant by Phillip Hoose. The children used the text to identify the point of view of the story. The students identified that the story is being told from two points of view. We also practiced showing evidence from the book. The students took turns showing the class pages that gave clues as to whose point of view the story was being told from.
In light of the holiday coming up on Monday, our close reading lessons for the rest of the week focused on the book, Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. While reading this story, we had a class discussion about how words can appeal to the senses or make you feel a certain way. After reading, we talked about some big, important words in Martin's Big Words. Some of these words included courage, love, together, and fair. To expand on this topic, we discussed how these words might make you feel and why they might make you feel a certain way. In response, the students did a fantastic job of using iPads to create a big words project!
I want to take a second to remind everyone that because next week is a short week, there will be no spelling or grammar. In addition, I will continue to complete some benchmark assessments with the students. Guided reading groups will reconvene the following week of January 27th.
Writing
The students have continued to work hard on some How-To Writing this week. The class brainstormed some great How-To Writing ideas together. We talked about needing to be an expert at something in order to write an expert How-To. After brainstorming ideas, the students completed writing their "sloppy copy", or rough draft of a topic of their choice. Let me tell you, some of the students can probably teach me a thing or two! I was very impressed with many of their ideas! We will complete our How-To Writing next week when we use the iPads to complete our final copy.
Math
We are continuing to work hard on Math Unit 5. This week, many of the math lessons focused on greater than or less than. We practiced using math vocabulary by saying things like, "Twenty is greater than sixteen." Some of you may have noticed on some of your student's homework that their greater than or less than symbols had teeth on them. In case this wasn't explained to you, we used the analogy of an alligator wanting to eat more fish because he is very hungry. There is a method to the madness! To expand on this concept, we used greater than and less than word stories as well as compared animal weights.
Science
We are still studying magnets and their pull, or force. This week the students went on a classroom scavenger hunt to discover everyday items that are magnetic or are not magnetic. The magnetic madness continued as the students discovered that magnets still have force through many different materials. In addition, the students guided their own investigation to discover that different magnets have different strength forces.
Other
With Monday being the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, we spent a great deal of time this week exploring information about the Civil Rights leader. Aside from reading Martin's Big Words, the students were able to view a timeline of Dr. King's life, complete many informational worksheets, and view several video clips about Dr. King's life and accomplishments. The students viewed part of his moving "I Have a Dream" speech prior to discussing our individual dreams and what we can do to accomplish these dreams. I really want to share how impressed I am with the great discussions that were lead by the students. They asked such wonderful questions such as, "Why didn't the president at the time help those people? Isn't it his job to help everyone?" and "How did that start? Why did people start treating other people badly?" It truly warmed my heart to see how compassionate your students are.
This week Martha was our Star Student! We got to know a little bit more about Martha. I also want to thank Martha's Grandma for coming in to be our Royal Reader this week. I know we all really enjoyed those books!
Notes
Again, I can't express enough how excited I am to spend time in 1-1. I have some very big shoes to fill, as Mrs. Johnson is an amazing teacher. I can already tell this is going to be a fantastic few months. I really look forward to getting to know the students as well as you, the parents! Please feel free to contact me via email with any questions, concerns, or just to share some good news about your student! mseamann@sd25.org. Enjoy your nice, long weekend!
Literacy
This week we read the book, Hey Little Ant by Phillip Hoose. The children used the text to identify the point of view of the story. The students identified that the story is being told from two points of view. We also practiced showing evidence from the book. The students took turns showing the class pages that gave clues as to whose point of view the story was being told from.
In light of the holiday coming up on Monday, our close reading lessons for the rest of the week focused on the book, Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. While reading this story, we had a class discussion about how words can appeal to the senses or make you feel a certain way. After reading, we talked about some big, important words in Martin's Big Words. Some of these words included courage, love, together, and fair. To expand on this topic, we discussed how these words might make you feel and why they might make you feel a certain way. In response, the students did a fantastic job of using iPads to create a big words project!
I want to take a second to remind everyone that because next week is a short week, there will be no spelling or grammar. In addition, I will continue to complete some benchmark assessments with the students. Guided reading groups will reconvene the following week of January 27th.
Writing
The students have continued to work hard on some How-To Writing this week. The class brainstormed some great How-To Writing ideas together. We talked about needing to be an expert at something in order to write an expert How-To. After brainstorming ideas, the students completed writing their "sloppy copy", or rough draft of a topic of their choice. Let me tell you, some of the students can probably teach me a thing or two! I was very impressed with many of their ideas! We will complete our How-To Writing next week when we use the iPads to complete our final copy.
Math
We are continuing to work hard on Math Unit 5. This week, many of the math lessons focused on greater than or less than. We practiced using math vocabulary by saying things like, "Twenty is greater than sixteen." Some of you may have noticed on some of your student's homework that their greater than or less than symbols had teeth on them. In case this wasn't explained to you, we used the analogy of an alligator wanting to eat more fish because he is very hungry. There is a method to the madness! To expand on this concept, we used greater than and less than word stories as well as compared animal weights.
Science
We are still studying magnets and their pull, or force. This week the students went on a classroom scavenger hunt to discover everyday items that are magnetic or are not magnetic. The magnetic madness continued as the students discovered that magnets still have force through many different materials. In addition, the students guided their own investigation to discover that different magnets have different strength forces.
Other
With Monday being the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, we spent a great deal of time this week exploring information about the Civil Rights leader. Aside from reading Martin's Big Words, the students were able to view a timeline of Dr. King's life, complete many informational worksheets, and view several video clips about Dr. King's life and accomplishments. The students viewed part of his moving "I Have a Dream" speech prior to discussing our individual dreams and what we can do to accomplish these dreams. I really want to share how impressed I am with the great discussions that were lead by the students. They asked such wonderful questions such as, "Why didn't the president at the time help those people? Isn't it his job to help everyone?" and "How did that start? Why did people start treating other people badly?" It truly warmed my heart to see how compassionate your students are.
This week Martha was our Star Student! We got to know a little bit more about Martha. I also want to thank Martha's Grandma for coming in to be our Royal Reader this week. I know we all really enjoyed those books!
Notes
Again, I can't express enough how excited I am to spend time in 1-1. I have some very big shoes to fill, as Mrs. Johnson is an amazing teacher. I can already tell this is going to be a fantastic few months. I really look forward to getting to know the students as well as you, the parents! Please feel free to contact me via email with any questions, concerns, or just to share some good news about your student! mseamann@sd25.org. Enjoy your nice, long weekend!
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Baby Johnson is Here!
As most of your probably already know, today was my first day in your child's classroom. Mrs. Johnson and her husband welcomed a beautiful, healthy boy while we were all sleeping! And now introducing Brevin Robert Johnson!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
News You Can Use!
We had a short but busy first week back here in 1-1. Read all about our week below!
Literacy
This week, our close reading lessons focused on the book, The Mitten. We read two different versions, one by Alvin Tresselt and the other by Jan Brett. The children worked with comparing and contrasting the two versions. They identified the characters and the setting. At the end of the week, they chose their favorite version and wrote about why it was their favorite. Then, they illustrated their favorite part and glued their two mittens together with string. Their projects are on display in the hallway.
Next week, we will be taking a short break from guided reading groups. I will be assessing each child’s reading fluency. The children will be doing their winter CBM, how many words they can correctly read in one minute on a first grade passage. I will begin guided reading groups as soon as I have had time to meet with each child individually.
Writing:
This week, we started our new writing unit on How-To Writing. The children took turns acting out examples of how to do things in the classroom. They started by listing the materials needed and then they walked the class through the steps using transition words.
Together as a class, we wrote a How-To paper titled, How To Build A Snowman. The children brainstormed a list of materials needed to build a snowman and then using transition words they wrote down the steps. Next week, the children will come up with their own How-To writing topic. This weekend, help your child come up with some ideas of what they would like to write their How-To piece on.
New Year’s Resolutions
The children also worked on writing New Year’s Resolutions. They came up with two or three goals they have for the new year and wrote them down. They worked very hard on their writing and came up with some wonderful resolutions!
iPads
This month, we have a class set of iPads in the classroom. The children will be using them to enhance their learning. Next week, the children will work together to come up with our iPad rules. We will also incorporate the iPads into our math, literacy, and science lessons. Stay tuned to see how we use the iPads this month.
Math
In Math, we started Unit 5. The children worked with base-10 blocks to model whole numbers less than 100. They also identified whole numbers modeled by base-10 blocks. They exchanged base-10 cubes and longs to show different representations of the same numbers. On Tuesday, the children worked with place value on their calculators and number grids. They investigated place-value digit patterns.
Science
This week, we started our new science unit on magnets. This week’s lesson, focused on exploring what happens to a magnetic object when it is placed close to a magnet. The scientists learned that a magnet causes a push or pull (force).
Happy Birthday
On Wednesday we celebrated Ian’s birthday and on Thursday we celebrated Henry’s birthday. Happy Birthday Ian and Henry!
Notes:
-Congratulations to all my 1-1 Winter Reading Challenge participants. I am so proud of all the reading you did over winter break. Thank you for coming to celebrate with me, I hope you enjoyed your lunch bunch fun!
Have a great rest of the weekend!
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