Reading : The students are devouring nonfiction books. It's so nice to see them so interested in seeking new information on their own. Last week, we started talking about nonfiction conventions. Nonfiction conventions are things that the authors of nonfiction texts use to organize and share factual information with readers. So far, we've gone over labels, photographs, captions, and comparisons. As we learn about each convention, the students find examples in their own nonfiction texts and record them in their nonfiction convention journals. We'll keep learning about more nonfiction conventions this week as well.
Writing : We expanded on our opinion writing unit last week by talking about persuasion. To start this unit off, the students were simply writing their opinions about various matters. Now, they're thinking about things that they want to change and are writing pieces to try to persuade others to agree with them. It's a lot of fun to see what sorts of things the students want to change. Ask your child what he/she has been writing about!
Math : We wrapped up unit 6 last week by extending our knowledge about place value to the hundreds place. Along with that idea, we learned about the dollar bill because it's worth 100 cents. In first grade, the students are only responsible for being able to count pennies, dimes, and dollar bills because they go along with ones, tens, and hundreds. They'll continue learning about the other coins in second grade. Of course, you can go over them will your child at home though!
Science : We had a lot of fun talking about force this week. We started off by creating Venn Diagrams about things that you push and pull. Then, we talked about different ways that things move (due to pushes and pulls). After that, we started talking about magnetic force. The students when on a magnetism hunt in the classroom to explore what sorts of materials are magnetic.
Here are some pictures from the classroom last week: