"Peek at the Week" November 11-15

It is crazy to think we are half way through November already!  This year is flying by! 

We had our first snowfall this week!  I absolutely love how exciting these little ones get over the first snowfall...it is so magical to them!  We had to stop to take a peek :)

Writer's Workshop

This week we began learning how to bring our stories to life.  We want our stories to sound like books we might find in our book bins....not flat and frozen.  We learned that writers need to 'unfreeze' the characters (people) in their stories.  They can do this by making them talk and making them move.

Many children started including speech bubbles in their sketches in order to make their characters talk.  We also started learning that authors give us clues when characters are talking by using quotation marks!

 

Next we learned that writers need to use 'itty bitty steps' when they write.  We sang the Itsy Bitsy Spider to illustrate this point.  We revisited a favorite book from earlier this year called Night of the Veggie Monster.

 

In this book, George McClements takes us through the 'itty bitty steps' in eating a pea! We were able to imagine ourselves being there with him at the dinner table!

Reader's Workshop 

This week we learned that readers talk to their books as they read! This was silly to think about at first, but it soon made sense because we have all had thoughts in our brains in response to something we have read! We learned how to talk to our books using sticky notes.  Sticky notes are a great way to record anytime we 'talk' to our book. Here is a look at some of our book talks!

Word Work 

This week we focused on the long and short sounds of Oo.  We sorted long and short Oo pictures.

Math Workshop 

This week we started a fun unit from Context for Learning Mathematics called The Double-Decker Bus.  We began this unit by reading a book about a little girl who loves trying to figure out how many passengers are on the bus as it drives by.  She uses adding and subtracting strategies to determine the number of passengers she sees.

Students were then introduced to arithmetic racks to help determine the number of passengers on a bus.  The arithmetic racks have 20 beads- 10 on the top and 10 on the bottom. 

The purpose of this unit is for children to begin seeing the 5-group in numbers in order to add and subtract mentally.  For example, in the arithmetic rack above there are 8 beads on the top and 6 on the bottom.  Rather than try to mentally add 8 + 6, students are encouraged  to see this fact as 10 + 4 which is easier to mentally add. There are ten red beads and 4 white beads. 

We also learned a game this week called Passenger Pairs.  This game helps children recognize the different combinations for a given number.  I hope you had a chance to play this game with your child at home!

Science 

This week we learned about the water cycle.  We observed that our puddles we put out last week were gone by the end of the week!  Where did the water go?  It evaporated!

 

We learned a fun song to help us remember the water cycle!  It was a tricky song because it had such big words- evaporation, condensation, and precipitation!  Ask your child if they can sing it to you :)

 

The Water Cycle Song

(sung to the tune of She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain)

 

Water travels in a cycle yes it does!

Water travels in a cycle yes it does!

It goes up as evaporation

Then forms clouds as condinsation

Travels down as precipitation yes it does!

Other News

 

During our “Fire Prevention Program” our North Shore Fire Department gave our first grade class something very special.  They gave us a big red bag that houses a special friend Sparky the Fire Dog.  Sparky will be a visitor to your home for one week.

It is your job to:

1.    Read the letter from the fire department.

2.   Fill out the special checklist in the red folder. 

3.   Document Sparky’s visit by putting pictures in the photo album.  (Please use only one page so all children have a chance to fill the book.) 

4.   Return the bag to school by the following Friday.

Our school wide food drive is running through November 22.  Please send in food items to school to help the Spanish speaking community!  We appreciate your donations!

Please LABEL all winter gear- hats, mitten, scarves, boots, etc.  I cannot tell you how many times I find mittens laying around in the hallway that end up spending the winter in the lost and found.  Many teachers check items for names before bringing them to the lost and found.  I also suggest adding 1H  (1st-Hogue) to your child's items for an even quicker return!

Don't forget about our upcoming Informance on Tuesday, November 26 at 10:00AM!

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Mrs. Hogue