The Martino Messenger
First Grade News!
Important Upcoming Dates
Tuesday, November 6th - NO SCHOOL
Professional Development Day
November 12th - 16th Book Fair
Wednesday, November 14th:
Learning Celebration & Thanksgiving Feast
Please join us for our Annual Thanksgiving Family Feast and Celebration of Learning on Wednesday, November 14th. Enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with your child and view his/her great work in the classroom during Celebrations of Learning.
We are also looking for volunteers. Our flexible volunteer schedule allows you to enjoy lunch with your child and still help out. View your child's schedule below and click here to volunteer. Parents and siblings can pre order tickets at MySchoolBucks.com. Students will use their lunch accounts to order that day. We hope you are able to join us!
Our Learning Celebration will be from 11:10-11:40,
with lunch from 11:40-12:00.
Monday, November 19th-Friday, November 23rd: NO SCHOOL
THANKSGIVING BREAK!
Classroom Highlights
Literacy World Class Outcome: Create meaning strategically in reading and writing
One overall theme throughout the year in reading is teaching the kids that reading is not just about reading the words. We also think about the information... Reading is thinking! I say this to them all of the time! Listening and reading involve thinking, and nothing matters more than the thinking we do when we read, listen, and view.
After Fall Break we discussed that good readers listen to their "inner voice" when they read. When they learn something new their inner voice might say "Wow!" "I didn't know that!" "Awesome" or "Yuck!" We kept track of our learning by writing it down on a sticky note and coding it with an "L" for "I learned..." For example:
Asking questions can be hard for first graders. Their first response is to say, "I don't have any questions." I respond by saying, "If you did, what would they be?" They need to learn to push their thinking! Sometimes their questions are ones that have already been answered, or are not very deep, like, "Why is a squirrel called a squirrel?" They need us to help them by modeling good questions. They can ask questions when reading both fiction and nonfiction.
*In technology the kids created a Sonic Pic presentation to share their thinking when reading a nonfiction book. They shared the sticky notes where they wrote what they learned and wonder. They uploaded this presentation to their Seesaw Journal. Seesaw allowed them to access audiences of both parents and other first grade readers. Partners then left digital comments for each other on their presentations. The kids loved learning from their friends and giving feedback. As you can imagine, there was lots of excitement and wonder about being able to work with a partner without sitting next to them! Look for these presentations on Seesaw soon!
Ask your child to listen to their inner voice and to think out loud, sharing what their inner voice is saying as they read!
Discuss what you learn and questions you have, then try and discover the answers together!
Model how to ask questions as you read with or to your child!
In writing we've been continuing with our small moment unit, writing stories from our lives. We discuss how writers use various strategies to help our readers understand our writing. We've been practicing "Bringing our stories to life" - making people talk, move, think, and feel. We are also trying to tell our stories in "itsy-bitsy steps" - writing what happened first, then next, then next and using lots of detail. We discussed the next steps in the writing process, editing and publishing and practiced these steps on one of our stories. The kids shared their "published" story on Seesaw.
This week we will look closely at mentor texts and notice things authors do in their writing that we can try in our own writing... things like "pop out words" (bold face words), elipses (...), and onomatopoeia (words that show sound, like "ding" "whoosh" or "clickety clack." We are also focusing on editing our work, correcting spelling and adding punctuation.
We will be finishing up our narrative unit in about a month or so by "publishing" one of our best stories, then move on to writing information pieces about topics we are "experts" on.
Ask your child to share how they are bringing their stories to life when they write!
Math World Class Outcome: Look for and make use of structure:
I can see and understand how numbers and shapes are organized
and put together as parts and wholes.
We've been working on a unit on geometry. Our geometry unit focuses on two dimensional shapes and the relationships among them. Our goal is for students to describe shapes according to their attributes (triangles have 3 straight sides and 3 corners), and to understand that shapes can be put together or taken apart to make new shapes. Students observe, describe, compare, classify, represent, and build with 2-D shapes. We use what we know to recognize shapes in the world and to use geometric vocabulary to describe them.
We will finish up this work in the next few weeks, then move on to our next addition and subtraction unit.
Ask your child to find geometric shapes in the world and describe them using our math language!
Social Studies
World Class Outcome: Evaluate the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship - We concluded this unit before Fall Break. The kids worked collaboratively in small groups to create posters that teach Gold Rush citizens how to go for the G.O.L.D. throughout the building. These are hanging up throughout the school, and your child should have the video they posted on their Seesaw portfolio for you to see.
Ask your child to tell you what it means to be a good citizen at Gold Rush and
why it is important!
Begin to talk about your family traditions and customs!
Science: World Class Outcome: -Demonstrate the process of inquiry:
*Identify a problem
*Generate questions
*Investigate possible solutions to the problem
We completed a unit on rocks called Pebbles, Sand, and Silt. The kids really loved working with the rocks and felt like real geologists! This unit introduced concepts in earth science while practicing the process of inquiry. The activities provided experiences that heighten students' awareness of rocks as earth materials and natural resources. They came to know rocks by many names and in a variety of sizes. For example, pebbles and sand are the same material - rock - just different in size.
Begin a rock collection! Find different and unique rocks around your neighborhood. Describe the properties of the rocks you find!
Thank You!
Thank you Ann Fitch for planning and coordinating our Halloween Party! Thanks, too, to all of the parents who provided food, supplies, and helped supervise stations! The kids had such a wonderful time!
And thanks to all parents for supporting your child at home!
