Here's what we were working on in the classroom last week :
Reading : We spent all week practicing various ways that the students can work with their reading partners. We went over different ways to read, how to talk about books, and how to coach their partners to read tricky words.
Writing : Last week, the students started using the writing folders you helped decorate at home and learned all about how to use their folders to spark writing ideas. The students also chose the writing pieces that they want to publish for the first unit. At the end of every writing unit, the students choose which pieces they would like to fancy up and 'publish.' Each child has chosen hish/her piece and has worked on making sure that his/her piece makes sense (which is the beginning steps of revising/editing).
Phonics : We have officially reviewed all of the letters and the basic letter sounds! This week, we'll move on to reading and writing CVC words. (CVC stands for consonant, vowel, consonant. These are three letter words that are simple to read and write. For example : cat, fin, pet.) It's very important that first graders have a strong foundation in these early phonics skills, so we are taking our time to review them.
Math : We started our second math unit this week. The students played a math game called Roll and Total to practice the addition strategy of counting on.
Social Studies : We wrapped up our Communities unit by talking about equality vs. fairness and needs vs. wants. This week, we'll be starting our first science unit of the year!
Here are some pictures of 1-Bu last week. Sorry there are so few - there was a technical glitch with pictures saving earlier in the week. :