March 23-27

Welcome back!  Hope you had a wonderful spring break and are ready to end our year with energy and enthusiasm!

Reading This week we continued working on character lessons.  We looked at...

• noticing when things happen over and over to a character
• using what I know about characters to predict
• moral of a story/lessons learned
• thinking about how I can be like a character

Question:  Who is a character you would like to be more like?  What lesson(s) did this character learn in the book they are featured in?

 

Writing
We began our unit on book reviews.  We began the unit by learning...

• what is a book review
• how to persuade others with a book review
• parts of a book review
• structures (retell, opinion, reasons, closure)
• how to select a book to review

Question:  What is a book review?  How is it similar/different from a persuasive book?

Math 
This week we focused on...

• adding/subtracting
• double digit addition (plus/minus ten)

Question:  What is easier for you, adding or subtracting by 10's?

Social Studies
This week focused on an introduction to our new unit, producers and consumers.  We learned about...

• goods and services
• the process of taking products from start (producers) to finish (consumers)

Question:  What is the difference between a producer and a consumer?

Upcoming dates:

3/27-Author visit

4/1-Late Start

4/3-No School

4/10-Trivia Night

5/8-Field Trip

5/21-Last Day of School

Thank You

I want to thank you all for a truly special birthday celebration yesterday.  I continue to appreciate your overwhelming support and generosity you have shown this year.  This has been a very special school year for me, and I have all of you to thank for that.

I can't wait to come back from spring break with some new clothes I bought with your gift!  Thank you all very much!


The Cheetahs signing my birthday card:

Our fourth grade buddy, Jerrion, asked to read to the class at the end of the day as a special treat:

March 9-12

Spring Break is here today...but take a look at what we've working on before we go and PLAY!  There is only reading log homework over spring break, so just read and discuss the blog!

Reading

We continue to work in our Character Study unit by...

• keeping track of how one character affect another character
• reviewed keeping track on changing behaviors
• reviewed keeping track of changing relationships
• studied how characters have feelings for opinions about characters

Question:  What is an example of how one character affects another character?

Writing

The students continue to work hard trying to persuade their readers in their persuasion books by...

• planned a new opinion book
• added a catchy hook
• wrote three reasons for my persuasive book
• wrote examples for my reasons 
• used linking words

Question:  What are linking words and how did you use them in your book?

Math

Our unit continues to focus on number patterns and addition strategies. To help with building number sense and fluency we have...

• added 10 to a 2 digit numbers within 100
• played games that supported adding/subtracting 10, 20, 30, or 40 to a number within 100 & 200
• worked with base 10 blocks

Questions:  What game is your favorite so far?  What addition strategies have you learned to help you add more quickly?

Social Studies

We continue to work through our This is Our Country unit. This week we learned about...

• Barack Obama
• Martin Luther King Jr.

Questions:  What did you learn about Barack Obama?  What did you learn about Martin Luther King Jr.?

Upcoming Dates

3/16-Spring Break

3/23-School Resumes

3/27-Author Visit

4/2-Leader In Me Day

4/3-No School

March 2-6

Our first full week of March had a lot of learning!  Take a look at what we've been up to in first grade...

Reading
We continue to work in our Character Study unit by...

• keeping track of the mood of a story
• keeping track on changing behaviors 
• keeping track of changing relationships
• celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday!

Question:  How did the mood change in the book Green Eggs and Ham?

Writing

The students continue to work hard trying to persuade their readers in their persuasion books by...

• adding in strong reasons supported with examples
• adding a closing
• reviewing how to plan a persuasive book
• reviewing how to add a catchy introduction

Question:  How did you wrap up the ending/conclusion to you first persuasion book?

Math

Our unit continues to focus on number patterns and addition strategies.  To help with building number sense and fluency we have...

• added 2 digit numbers within 100
• played + or - from 89
• learned to decompose 2 digit numbers (i.e., 43 = 40 + 3)
• played addition split
• worked with base 10 blocks

Question:  What game is your favorite so far?  What addition strategies have you learned to help you add more quickly?

Social Studies

We continue to work through our This is Our Country unit.  This week we learned about...

• George Washington
• Abraham Lincoln
• comparing Washington and Lincoln by using a venn diagram

Question:  What did you learn about George Washington?  What did you learn about Abraham Lincoln?

Upcoming Dates

3/10-Book Fair Begins

3/11-Parent/Teacher Conferences

3/13-No School

3/16-Spring Break

3/23-School Resumes

3/27-Author Visit

4/2-Leader In Me Day

4/3-No School