Grade 1, Class 101

Here’s an update about our classroom and a list of dates to keep in mind!!

Reading –

We have started our nonfiction reading unit! The first few days have been inquiry based around the following questions: What is nonfiction? What do we notice about nonfiction texts? How are fiction and nonfiction similar and different?

Students have had many great noticings! They are super excited about the books, asking great questions, learning some awesome new facts and they have been eager to share their findings with the class.

Beginning next week, we will explore some of the features of nonfiction, and how they help us understand the text.

Read some nonfiction books at home this weekend! Ask lots of questions about the topics that you explore together (and don’t worry about knowing the answers to those questions), get excited about learning new information and have fun! Students are naturally curious and this is really a fun unit!

Writing –

We have spent this week revising, editing and publishing our opinion writing pieces. Each child is publishing one letter and one review. If you’re joining us next Friday, 1/27 at 9:25, for Family Friday, you’ll be able to be part of our publishing share and celebration!

During the revision portion of the writing process, students had class created checklists to make sure that they included all of the important information in each piece (opinions, reasons, etc.) For editing, they were instructed to think about proper use of upper/lower case letters, periods, and to check the spelling of words on the word wall!

Word Work/Vocabulary/Language Study – 

Next week, word study notebooks will come home (just for 1 night!!!), so that you can see what spelling/word patterns your child has been working on. These patterns would be great to add to (or make) a word wall at home.

New words that have been added to our word wall/class charts…

• dear
• do
• does
• fun
• funny
• go
• goes
• name
• no
• now
• please
• sister
• was
• you
• your
• “ch” words
  • chip
  • chin
  • choose
  • chew
  • chop
  • choke
• “sh” words
  • share
  • shine
  • shoe
  • should
  • shoulder
  • shadow
  • shell
• “th” words
  • thank
  • Thursday
  • those
  • these
  • thin
  • throw

Math –

We are still working on our Collecting and Organizing unit. It involves counting materials around our room and organizing them in groups of ten and “loose” items. This led to great conversations about place value (without officially calling it that!) and noticing the patterns in our number system. Today, students did an amazing “string” of related math problems and had to use their words to explain their strategies and noticings between problems! Students were actively engaged in this activity and the level of comprehension was really evident!!

Here is what that looked like… *we also used an open number line to model this thinking*

Social Studies –

Students are preparing for the Spring STEM unit (redesigning Bensonhurst) and getting ready for their trip to the Center for Architecture. This week students designed homes, rooms, cars and more! Stay tuned for some amazing pictures and designs to be posted!!

Mark your calendars!