News You Can Use!

1-1 had a very busy short week! 

Take a peek at what we accomplished!

Literacy

During this short week, our close reading lessons focused on fables. The children became familiar with the terms central message and moral. They learned 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 a wordless adaptation of the fable. As we read the pictures, the children discussed what they thought 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 Mark White. 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. The children recorded the moral of the story along with examples from the text to provide evidence about the moral on their own graphic organizer.

Writing

This week, the children completed their rough draft of their how-to writing. The children worked on writing at least 4 steps and adding additional detail.

On Friday, the children met with a peer and edited their writing. Next week, the children will publish their How-To writing using the iPads.

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 Thursday, the children worked with place value on their calculators and number grids. They investigated place-value digit patterns. 

Science

On Wednesday, the scientists discussed whether all magnets have the same pulling strength. As a group of scientists, we brainstormed different ways that we might test the pulling strength of magnets. We then planned an investigation. How many items (paper clips, washers, and screws) can each magnet hold? Ask your scientist what magnet had the most pulling strength. 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!