We continued to enjoy our Skype read alouds with 1-Bu family members last week. Thank you so much for all the organizational work you've done behind the scenes to help make these Skype sessions such a success!
I'm sure you've heard the news by now, but 1-Bu got a pet fish! His name is Finny. He's been adjusting to his surroundings, but he has some very thoughtful and caring people looking after him in 1-Bu. See the pictures below to get a peak at him.
Here's what we've been working on in the classroom:
Reading : Last week, the students focused on looking for facts they found interesting in nonfiction books. The students have been doing a great job using a variety of nonfiction text features to learn these facts. This week, the students will be creating a fun fact page, using a fact that they think is interesting and worthy of sharing with others.
Writing : We started our Nonfiction All About Writing Unit last week! So far, the students have brainstormed a list of topics they could write about. Then, they chose their topics and created 'webs' of facts they know about the topics. This week, they will start to organize the facts they wrote down into categories, which will hopefully turn into the sections in their nonfiction books.
Phonics : By now, we have gone over all of the short and long vowel sounds. While I don't expect your child to have mastered the intricacies of exactly which spelling pattern to use when a vowel is long, I do expect the students to be recognizing long vowels and trying to put a silent e at the end, or use a vowel team when writing those words. Please encourage your child to do this at home when he/she is working on homework.
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 : Since the students have been so excited about magnets, we spent some more time investigating them last week. The students explored what sorts of surfaces around the school were magnetic, how magnets can be both types of forces - a push or a pull, and magnetic strength, by seeing how many paperclips they could hang from various magnets.
Here are some recent pictures of 1-Bu :