Mrs. Hogue's 1st Grade Class: "Peek at the Week" November 2-6

I apologize for not blogging last week! With conferences and Halloween fun, the week just got away from me! Here are some pictures from Halloween followed by an update from last week!

We had fun celebrating Halloween together!

We loved our orange and black snacks!

We also had fun painting pumpkin scarecrows!

And the best part was dressing up for our parade!

Here is a peek into our week!

Reader's Workshop

We have been busy working on retelling the stories we read. We learned that readers retell stories by thinking about the:

Setting

Characters

Problem

Beginning

Middle

End

Solution

We had fun talking a 'walk' down the yellow brick road to help us retell! Each brick represented an area of retelling. We even got our own bookmarks to keep in our book bins so we can practice each day!

Math Workshop

This week we learned how to represent subtraction equations! We learned how to draw the total number of circles and cross out the partner we subtract. We don't erase because it is important to see both partners. This helps us see the relationship between addition and subtraction!

We solved subtraction story problems by making a proof drawing and equation. We learned that it is important to be able to prove your thinking when solving story problems.

We then began focusing on related equations. We explored the relationship between addition and subtraction facts.

On Friday we learned a fun game to help us practice our subtraction facts - Subtraction Bowling! Students 'bowl' into 10 cups and record the subtraction fact! This was quickly name 'the best math game ever!' by many first graders :)

Writer's Workshop

On Monday we wrapped up our unit on Small Moments. We published our pieces and spent the afternoon reading our friends' stories. We also left them compliments on things they did well as writers. The children really enjoyed reading the nice things their friends had to say...I loved seeing all the smiling faces!

We began a mini unit on "How to Writing" this week. I asked the children to write a step-by-step set of instructions on how to blow a bubble from a piece of bubble gum.
The next day I took their instructions and attempted to follow them. Needless to say it was pretty hilarious as I tried to chew gum that hadn't been unwrapped and shooting gum out of my mouth because the direction said 'blow as hard as you can.' This helped demonstrate the importance of including every detail so that someone can follow your set of directions. I sent them back to rewrite their instructions. We published them to display in the hallway! (and of course we got to enjoy some real bubble gum!)