K-1: January 2014

Is it spring yet?

The bitter cold has kept us inside this week. Let's hope we can get outside soon! We are all so much happier when we spend time out in nature.

Here are some highlights of the last two weeks:

In Language Arts we have been writing in our "frog" books. The children seem to really enjoy the books and look forward to the activity. The K/1's have been enjoying some fun centers during Thursday mornings' language arts. We have both Jennifer and Sharon working with us during this time. The centers have been consisting of: Word Families Pocket Chart, sight words games, "Chunks" Word Building game, independent reading, or reading with a friend and/or teacher. During mini-lessons we learned/reviewed the question mark, exclamation mark, comma, and period. Also during a mini lesson we talked about sentences - begin with an upper case letter - end with a period. Also during language arts time we continued our study of author John Burningham. We have a list of books by John Burningham (see photo). Also the children brainstormed what they have noticed about the author and his books. We will do some more noticing next week. Audrey's mom, Jennifer, read two books by Burningham. The books were new to us and we added them to our list. Also I began to meet with each child to edit the story he/she dictated to a middle school buddy before the holiday break.

In First Grade Math we played Guess My Rule with shape cards. The children played with partners. They took turns placing shape cards on the table according to a secret rule to be guessed. By playing Guess My Rule the children learned about the attributes of different shapes. Each child also created a poster with their shape cards. The children sorted the cards into groups of shapes that go together. They used two, three, or four groups paying attention that every card belonged to a group. Each child made a presentation of his/her poster to the class explaining how he/she chose to sort the cards. The children had fun playing "Quick Images." They worked with partners to show the image of a shape for five seconds, then hide the shape while the partner drew the shape he/she was shown. Ask your child to tell you about the game How Many Am I Hiding? and the game Counters in a Cup. The children were also introduced to polygons. They practiced drawing shapes that are polygons and shapes that are not polygons.

In Science with Kate the children continued to explore Motion. They conducted a Marble Drop Test. Experimented with How High Does it Bounce. Explored How Does a Ball Stop. They are immensely enjoying this hands on way of exploring motion. They bounced balls around the classroom, rolled marbles in Styrofoam tubes. Experimented rolling marbles and other balls on different kinds of surfaces - so much fun! The photos capture some of the fun. Unfortunately I lost last week's photos to a faulty card. But the card has been replaced and all is well now.

Friday the K/1's had fun writing about their favorite things about their school, with their middle school buddies. The sticky notes are on display in the front hall way.

The last photo shows a group of boys showing a picture story they created during free choice time. The boys proudly presented their story to their peers on Friday afternoon. Notice how they used blocks to build a "TV screen."

Until next time,

Liliana

Happy 2014!

We began the week by slowly coming back to school routines and expectations. We greeted each other with enthusiasm and shared a bit about our vacations.

In Language Arts the children were introduced to their Writing "Frog" Books. The children call them "frog books" because there is a drawing of a frog on the front cover. The books have pages with blank areas for drawings and lines for writing. The children, as you know, are not new to drawing and writing. Back in the fall they created their own books, as they developed knowledge and confidence in all levels of writing. Each child works at his/her own pace and level of development. There is a mini lesson before the children sit down to draw and write. The mini lesson covers one or two conventions of writing - anything from spelling/phonics, punctuation, story structure, to how to draw a letter, etc. As always the children also receive individual instruction as they are working. This week we reviewed some lower case letters. Ask your child to show you how some lower case letters go fishing. Also this week during mini lessons we reviewed/practiced how to sound out a word, listen for the sounds, and write them down. The children were told that they are writers and illustrators, and that writing one letter to represent a word is writing, so everyone is a writer.

Also in Language Arts we began an author study. We will be studying author and illustrator John Burningham. The children love his books. This study is still in the making - more about it later.

Your child might have come home talking about volcanoes and earthquakes. The children showed interest in this area one day at morning meeting, so I read them books on the subjects during one of our language arts slots.

In Science with Kate the children began an exploration of MOTION. The children had a great time discussing, and engaging in hands on activities about PUSH and PULL. Many continued their explorations, on their own, during free choice time in the block center. After Tuesday morning science class, the children were so excited about "motion" that we continued the discussion into language arts.

First Grade Math - We began the week by exploring calendars. We looked at our calendars since September and counted the days we were in school each month. We added them all up to come up with a total number of school days from the first day of school to the last day before the break. This took two math sessions because the children broke up in groups to figure out the total using counters, numbers lines, and number charts. We concluded by meeting to share the strategies we used. We are continuing with our unit on geometry. The children used the pattern blocks to fill in a shape outline using fewer or more shapes according to directions. Also we practiced "Start with Get Go" which consist of counting on from a given number. Also we read The Greedy Triangle and talked about turning it into a play to act out.

Enjoy the photos! I don't have one for every activity.

First grade math