I hope that everyone had a fun and restful break. Many students shared their exciting winter break adventures with me. Although every student enjoyed their time off on break, many of the students were happy to be back at school, in their daily routine, and learning. This week our class was thrilled to dive into several new curriculum concepts which we will continue to work on in the upcoming weeks. We are off to a great start in 2019!
This week students were excited to learn about a district wide competition: iRead! Saturday, January 6th was the official start of our North Shore School District “iRead for 112 Education Foundation” reading event. An informational note and recording form was inside your child’s Home Folder on Friday. Please record all minutes read and shared at home, beginning Saturday, January 12th - through Wednesday, February 6th. Please have your child keep his/her iRead recording form inside of his/her home folder so it does not get lost. Reading and recording minutes is a school wide activity. Minutes spent reading books sent from school, library books, books at home, magazines, newspapers, etc. can all be included on the recording form. Completed forms with parent signatures and TOTAL number of minutes read need to be turned in by Tuesday, February 6th. Because reading 10-15 minutes each night with your first graders is already homework I have asked ALL students to turn in their iRead reading log at the end of iRead. Thank you for your continued help, support, and participation at home! Donations are much appreciated and are optional.
Students were also eager to learn about goal setting and achieving your dreams through hard work with an all school assembly we had on Tuesday. We had U.S. Olympian Debbie Sullivan talk about how she set and achieved her goals and how students can do. She also taught us and let us try some olympic walking in a relay race!
Literacy
This week we focused on the supporting text informational "Supermarkets". We were able to compare and contrast with the anchor text "Goods and Services" which we focused on before break. Thinking about how things are similar or different helps readers to deepen their comprehension of the text they're reading. Comparing and contrasting text supports the reader by engaging them in critical thinking. Comparing involves discovering similarities and differences. Contrasting focuses only on differences. The class used a venn diagram in order to organize our thoughts as we compared and contrasted the texts. Try supporting your child with this skill at home when reading together. When comparing two items discuss likenesses and differences of what is being compared. Begin comparing two people or places and then move on to comparing the characters or settings in a story.
This week we focused on the supporting text informational "Supermarkets". We were able to compare and contrast with the anchor text "Goods and Services" which we focused on before break. Thinking about how things are similar or different helps readers to deepen their comprehension of the text they're reading. Comparing and contrasting text supports the reader by engaging them in critical thinking. Comparing involves discovering similarities and differences. Contrasting focuses only on differences. The class used a venn diagram in order to organize our thoughts as we compared and contrasted the texts. Try supporting your child with this skill at home when reading together. When comparing two items discuss likenesses and differences of what is being compared. Begin comparing two people or places and then move on to comparing the characters or settings in a story.
Math
This week students began working with an "open number line". Students improved number sense by finding missing numbers based on some provided information, they improved their base-10 knowledge, added and subtracted double digit numbers by using base-10 knowledge, and used the number line to create their own mathematical story problem for others to solve. Additionally, the number line provides a good visual image of skip-counting patterns and encourages students to count by 10s. They can think of adding 10 (and multiples of 10) as jumps of 10 forward and subtracting 10 (and multiples of 10) as jumps of 10 backward. Once students become good at adding or subtracting 10 to any number, they usually generalize this skill to problems such as 34 + 30 by seeing it as 34 + 10 +10 + 10 or 34 … 44, 54, 64. Students are learning to use combination jumps of 1s, 5s, and 10s to solve more complex problems:
This week students began working with an "open number line". Students improved number sense by finding missing numbers based on some provided information, they improved their base-10 knowledge, added and subtracted double digit numbers by using base-10 knowledge, and used the number line to create their own mathematical story problem for others to solve. Additionally, the number line provides a good visual image of skip-counting patterns and encourages students to count by 10s. They can think of adding 10 (and multiples of 10) as jumps of 10 forward and subtracting 10 (and multiples of 10) as jumps of 10 backward. Once students become good at adding or subtracting 10 to any number, they usually generalize this skill to problems such as 34 + 30 by seeing it as 34 + 10 +10 + 10 or 34 … 44, 54, 64. Students are learning to use combination jumps of 1s, 5s, and 10s to solve more complex problems:
Science
Students learned about different ways to measure weather. We practiced using a thermometer to determine how hot or cold something is. We practice setting our cut-out paper thermometers to the temperature of different locations around the world by using the iPads and a weather app. We looked at the temperature in Highland Park, Illinois and compared it to locations around the world that were much hotter and others that were much colder. Students discovered that temperature around the world can be very different depending on where you are located and the time of year. Here are some of the places we searched and found the temperature:
Students learned about different ways to measure weather. We practiced using a thermometer to determine how hot or cold something is. We practice setting our cut-out paper thermometers to the temperature of different locations around the world by using the iPads and a weather app. We looked at the temperature in Highland Park, Illinois and compared it to locations around the world that were much hotter and others that were much colder. Students discovered that temperature around the world can be very different depending on where you are located and the time of year. Here are some of the places we searched and found the temperature:
Many thermometers require the ability to skip count by twos which can be challenging for first graders. To reinforce reading a thermometer at home have your child start skip counting by 2s starting with multiples of 10 (numbers such as 10, 20, 30 and so on). For example, start at 50 and skip count by 2s : 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 and so on. You can also practice setting temperatures on the cut out thermometer that will be sent home with your child in a few days.
Upcoming Events
iRead for 112 Education Foundation & 1D Reading Practice at Home: Saturday, January 12th officially begins our North Shore School District “iRead for 112 Education Foundation” reading event. An informational note and recording form is inside your child’s Home Folder. Please record all minutes read and shared at home, beginning Saturday, January 12th - through Wednesday, February 6th. Please have your child keep his/her iRead recording form inside of his/her home folder so it does not get lost. Reading and recording minutes is a school wide activity. Minutes spent reading books sent from school, library books, books at home, magazines, newspapers, etc. can all be included on the recording form. Completed forms with parent signatures and TOTAL number of minutes read need to be turned in by Tuesday, February 6th. Thank you for your continued help, support, and participation at home! Donations are much appreciated and are optional.
Friday, January 18th: Early release, students dismissed at 1:00pm.
Monday, January 21st: No school, MLK Jr. Day.
Tuesday, January 29th: Math Night (After school- more information coming about this event.)
iRead for 112 Education Foundation & 1D Reading Practice at Home: Saturday, January 12th officially begins our North Shore School District “iRead for 112 Education Foundation” reading event. An informational note and recording form is inside your child’s Home Folder. Please record all minutes read and shared at home, beginning Saturday, January 12th - through Wednesday, February 6th. Please have your child keep his/her iRead recording form inside of his/her home folder so it does not get lost. Reading and recording minutes is a school wide activity. Minutes spent reading books sent from school, library books, books at home, magazines, newspapers, etc. can all be included on the recording form. Completed forms with parent signatures and TOTAL number of minutes read need to be turned in by Tuesday, February 6th. Thank you for your continued help, support, and participation at home! Donations are much appreciated and are optional.
Friday, January 18th: Early release, students dismissed at 1:00pm.
Monday, January 21st: No school, MLK Jr. Day.
Tuesday, January 29th: Math Night (After school- more information coming about this event.)