It was a great week this week!
We have been focusing on the thinking strategy of Making Mental Images. We focused on the words in the text that helped us to make these mental images. We read lots of poetry by Valerie Worth and Georgia Heard. We drew our mental images. We discussed that mental images sometimes come to us as pictures and sometimes we can see movie screens in our heads.
We fixed and fancied up writing as we ended our unit on Small Moment stories. We picked one piece of writing and worked on revision and editing. We revised by adding details and edited by checking our spelling, captials and punctuation. On Friday, we celebrated by sharing our stories and having a treat.
In Math, we continued to work on subtraction problem solving strategies. The strategies that we have covered include: counting on/back, making a ten to subtract, and using addition to help us. We will begin a new unit on numbers to 120 on Monday!
We researched planets as part of our study of the Earth, moon, and stars. We researched planets on PebbleGo and chose how we wanted to share that information with our peers. Some of us made posters and some of us created stories on Little Bird Tales.
The character trait for the month of December is Kindness. We are taking a little time each morning to discuss how we can show kindness to others in our Meadow Lane family.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Another Wonderful Week!
Halloween, a Royals' win, a big parade and a day off from school was quite the start to the week! There was so much excitement in first grade!
We continued to focus on making connections as we read this week. We read the book My Best Friend and discussed the connections we made to the main character Lily. The connections we made helped us understand how Lily was feeling in the book. It also lead to some great conversations about how real friends treat one another.
In Writers' Workshop, we continued to write small moment stories. We focused on how to give the readers a sense of closure instead of just ending the story with "The End." We also posted our Orange Pumpkin books to our classroom blog. Thank you parents who commented on the students' posts. They really enjoy seeing your messages.
In Math, we focused on strategies to add to 20. We reviewed our doubles facts and discovered that all of the sums are even numbers! We also reviewed our doubles plus one facts. We added a new strategy- doubles plus two. In this strategy we can either double the small number and add two more or we can double the number that comes between our two numbers. Example: 5 +7 can be thought of as 5 +5=10 and then add two more to get 12 or you can double 6 to get twelve. We also practiced solving two step story problems.
In Social Studies, we learned about Veteran's Day. We wrote letters that will be given out to our Veterans at the assembly on Wednesday. Please remember to send in the form if you will have a Veteran guest of honor joining us on Wednesday. If you need another form your student may pick those up on Monday from Mrs. Sheets. We also have stars that you may decorate with your family for Veterans who will not be able to attend.
Thursday, November 12th is picture retake day!
We continued to focus on making connections as we read this week. We read the book My Best Friend and discussed the connections we made to the main character Lily. The connections we made helped us understand how Lily was feeling in the book. It also lead to some great conversations about how real friends treat one another.
In Writers' Workshop, we continued to write small moment stories. We focused on how to give the readers a sense of closure instead of just ending the story with "The End." We also posted our Orange Pumpkin books to our classroom blog. Thank you parents who commented on the students' posts. They really enjoy seeing your messages.
In Math, we focused on strategies to add to 20. We reviewed our doubles facts and discovered that all of the sums are even numbers! We also reviewed our doubles plus one facts. We added a new strategy- doubles plus two. In this strategy we can either double the small number and add two more or we can double the number that comes between our two numbers. Example: 5 +7 can be thought of as 5 +5=10 and then add two more to get 12 or you can double 6 to get twelve. We also practiced solving two step story problems.
In Social Studies, we learned about Veteran's Day. We wrote letters that will be given out to our Veterans at the assembly on Wednesday. Please remember to send in the form if you will have a Veteran guest of honor joining us on Wednesday. If you need another form your student may pick those up on Monday from Mrs. Sheets. We also have stars that you may decorate with your family for Veterans who will not be able to attend.
Thursday, November 12th is picture retake day!
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Halloween Week!
We have had such a fun week in first grade!
In Readers' Workshop we focused on making text to self connections. We read several Kevin Henkes' books and then made connections between the story and our lives. We learned that we can connect to the story elements (characters, setting, problem, and solution) and to how characters feel. These connections help us to comprehend the story we are reading.
In Writers' Workshop we focused on using adjectives to help us describe. We wrote our own spooky versions of Brown Bear, Brown Bear with things we find at Halloween time. We then published those stories using https://www.littlebirdtales.com/. We will post these stories on our blogs next week, but here are a couple to enjoy before they are all posted. I will send a text via Remind when we have posted them to KidBlog.
https://www.littlebirdtales.com/tales/view/story_id/551436
https://www.littlebirdtales.com/tales/view/story_id/551253
In Readers' Workshop we focused on making text to self connections. We read several Kevin Henkes' books and then made connections between the story and our lives. We learned that we can connect to the story elements (characters, setting, problem, and solution) and to how characters feel. These connections help us to comprehend the story we are reading.
In Writers' Workshop we focused on using adjectives to help us describe. We wrote our own spooky versions of Brown Bear, Brown Bear with things we find at Halloween time. We then published those stories using https://www.littlebirdtales.com/. We will post these stories on our blogs next week, but here are a couple to enjoy before they are all posted. I will send a text via Remind when we have posted them to KidBlog.
https://www.littlebirdtales.com/tales/view/story_id/551436
https://www.littlebirdtales.com/tales/view/story_id/551253
In Math, we wrapped up our unit on Addition and Subtraction to 12. We focused on the relationship between addition and subtraction (if we know the addition fact, we already know the related subtraction fact). We also used the Draw a Picture strategy to help us solve story problems. We will begin our unit on Addition Strategies to 20 on Monday!
We focused on Bats for our Wonder Wednesday/Science this week. We used PebbleGo to research facts about bats. We took notes about what we learned about bats from PebbleGo and other resources. We then determined what was the most important information and shared with the class on Google Classroom.
Our Halloween party on Friday afternoon was awesome! Thank you parents for all your hard work! I will share pictures from the party soon!
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Story Elements and Symbols
We continued to work on story elements this week. We identified the characters, setting, problem, solution and major events in stories. We identified story elements as we listened to The Hallo-wiener and Piggie Pie. We also identified story elements in books that we read to ourselves.
In Writers' Workshop we added details to our small moment stories. We added outside details (setting and characters), sensory details (what we hear, see, smell, etc.) and inner details (how we feel, what we think, etc.). These details make our stories more interesting for our readers. We will continue to work on adding details next week!
In Math, we focused on strategies to add numbers. We practiced the doubles strategy and near doubles strategy. We also practiced making a ten to add two numbers together.
In Social Studies, we continued to work on American symbols. We researched an American symbol of our choice on Pebble Go and took notes on our symbol. We will use this information next week as we make Google Slides to teach our classmates about our symbols.
Make sure to check out the information about the Library's pumpkin contest! https://www.smore.com/bwzmq
In Writers' Workshop we added details to our small moment stories. We added outside details (setting and characters), sensory details (what we hear, see, smell, etc.) and inner details (how we feel, what we think, etc.). These details make our stories more interesting for our readers. We will continue to work on adding details next week!
In Math, we focused on strategies to add numbers. We practiced the doubles strategy and near doubles strategy. We also practiced making a ten to add two numbers together.
In Social Studies, we continued to work on American symbols. We researched an American symbol of our choice on Pebble Go and took notes on our symbol. We will use this information next week as we make Google Slides to teach our classmates about our symbols.
Make sure to check out the information about the Library's pumpkin contest! https://www.smore.com/bwzmq
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Fantastic Week!
We have had such a busy week this week! Everyone looked lovely for our school pictures!
In Reading, we focused on story elements. We identified the characters, setting, problem, and solution in many different books. We know that story elements are found in our fiction books.
We used a new site for Listen to Reading, Raz-Kids. This site allows us to listen to stories at our reading level and then answer comprehension questions about those stories. Students will bring home thier log-in information on Monday.
In Writing, we continued to focus on writing small moment stories. We are focusing on using transition words to help structure our writing. We are also focusing on using capitals and punctuation marks in our writing.
We also added comments to our classmates' blog posts. We know that our comments can be used to compliment the author, ask a question or add information to the post. We discussed how to interact positvely with others online.
We finished our unit on ten in math. We showed all different ways to make ten and played a a great game to hep us memorize our tens facts called Turn Over Ten.
We wrapped up our unit on Light and Sound this week. We created communication devices with a partner to allow people to communicate easily with one another. We had kids made string telephones, megaphones, and a "Bat-Signal" to help us communicate across a distance.
We are now beginning our unit on American Symbols. We learned what a symbol is and how they are used. We learned about the American flag. We will continue to lean about American symbols next week.
In Reading, we focused on story elements. We identified the characters, setting, problem, and solution in many different books. We know that story elements are found in our fiction books.
We used a new site for Listen to Reading, Raz-Kids. This site allows us to listen to stories at our reading level and then answer comprehension questions about those stories. Students will bring home thier log-in information on Monday.
In Writing, we continued to focus on writing small moment stories. We are focusing on using transition words to help structure our writing. We are also focusing on using capitals and punctuation marks in our writing.
We also added comments to our classmates' blog posts. We know that our comments can be used to compliment the author, ask a question or add information to the post. We discussed how to interact positvely with others online.
We finished our unit on ten in math. We showed all different ways to make ten and played a a great game to hep us memorize our tens facts called Turn Over Ten.
We wrapped up our unit on Light and Sound this week. We created communication devices with a partner to allow people to communicate easily with one another. We had kids made string telephones, megaphones, and a "Bat-Signal" to help us communicate across a distance.
We are now beginning our unit on American Symbols. We learned what a symbol is and how they are used. We learned about the American flag. We will continue to lean about American symbols next week.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Another Wonderful Week!
We continue to work hard in first grade!
We looked at how books are categorized into fiction and non-fiction, We know that fiction books tell us a story, while non-fiction books teach us facts. We sorted books from our book boxes into fiction and non-fiction.
We added our last rotation to Daily 5- Listen to Reading. We have enjoyed reading fiction and non-fiction texts during this time. This is a good time for us to practice our listening skills and to listen to good models of fluent reading.
We discussed how to get ideas for our writing. We know the best ideas are seed stories- not writing about a watermelon topic. An example would be writing about getting sick on a roller coaster, not writing about a whole day at Worlds of Fun. These small moments allow us to focus our writing and write with better details.
In Math we celebrated what we know about subtraction and began a new unit focusing on five and ten. We focused on the ways to make ten and describe numbers as they relate to ten.
In Science, we explored light. We know that light is energy that travels in rays. We did an experiment to determine what type of materials light can shine through and learned the terms transparent, translucent, and opaque. We also used reflection to change the direction of a ray of light.
I hope that you got information for how to join our KidBlog group. It came home in Thursday folders. We look forward to using this tool throughout the school year and would love to have you join us and comment!
We looked at how books are categorized into fiction and non-fiction, We know that fiction books tell us a story, while non-fiction books teach us facts. We sorted books from our book boxes into fiction and non-fiction.
We added our last rotation to Daily 5- Listen to Reading. We have enjoyed reading fiction and non-fiction texts during this time. This is a good time for us to practice our listening skills and to listen to good models of fluent reading.
We discussed how to get ideas for our writing. We know the best ideas are seed stories- not writing about a watermelon topic. An example would be writing about getting sick on a roller coaster, not writing about a whole day at Worlds of Fun. These small moments allow us to focus our writing and write with better details.
In Math we celebrated what we know about subtraction and began a new unit focusing on five and ten. We focused on the ways to make ten and describe numbers as they relate to ten.
In Science, we explored light. We know that light is energy that travels in rays. We did an experiment to determine what type of materials light can shine through and learned the terms transparent, translucent, and opaque. We also used reflection to change the direction of a ray of light.
I hope that you got information for how to join our KidBlog group. It came home in Thursday folders. We look forward to using this tool throughout the school year and would love to have you join us and comment!
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Strategies and Sound
It's been another busy week in first grade!
We added another rotation to Daily 5- Read to Someone. This is a time where we can practice our reading fluency (reading smoothly, with expression and accuracy) with a reading partner. We are using poetry to help us with reading with fluency.
We added two new strategies to our fix-up strategies. We can get our mouth ready by saying the first sound in the word we don't know and think about what makes sense. We then check our word by looking at the picture and the rest of the unknown word to make sure they match. We can also ask ourselves, "Do my letters match my sounds?" as we monitor our reading. This strategy is usually used alongside using the picture and getting our mouth ready. In this strategy we may use a word that would make sense with the picture and may even sound right- but the sounds we say might not match the letters in the word. An example would be when we read, "The lioness carries her cub to the den," but the text says "The lioness carries her baby to the den." What we read makes sense but the sounds in cub do not match the letters in the text. We will add more tools to our toolbox next week!
In Writers' Workshop we began our new unit on writing Small Moment stories. Small Moment stories are about ur own lives. We got booklets. 3 pages long! We had stamina as we added details to our writing to make it interesting for our readers.
In Math we continued to work on solving subtraction problems. We solved take away problems, comparing problems, and missing number problems. We also looked at the relationship between addition and subtraction.
We were scientists and explored sound.we learned about sound waves, vibrations, and pitch. We made some excellent sound machines this week.
We also started setting up our blog on KidBlog. We picked our avatars. We also practiced writing our first blog post. Right now, our blog is only viewable by students in our classroom. As we get more comfortable posting, we will make our blog more public. We discussed digital citizenship issues as we blog- not using our full name (only our first names), not attaching our picture to our name, and keeping our personal information private. Blogging will give us the opportunity to practice digital citizenship with a real audience. Be on the lookout for directions on how to join our blog as a parent in Thursday folders!
We added another rotation to Daily 5- Read to Someone. This is a time where we can practice our reading fluency (reading smoothly, with expression and accuracy) with a reading partner. We are using poetry to help us with reading with fluency.
We added two new strategies to our fix-up strategies. We can get our mouth ready by saying the first sound in the word we don't know and think about what makes sense. We then check our word by looking at the picture and the rest of the unknown word to make sure they match. We can also ask ourselves, "Do my letters match my sounds?" as we monitor our reading. This strategy is usually used alongside using the picture and getting our mouth ready. In this strategy we may use a word that would make sense with the picture and may even sound right- but the sounds we say might not match the letters in the word. An example would be when we read, "The lioness carries her cub to the den," but the text says "The lioness carries her baby to the den." What we read makes sense but the sounds in cub do not match the letters in the text. We will add more tools to our toolbox next week!
In Writers' Workshop we began our new unit on writing Small Moment stories. Small Moment stories are about ur own lives. We got booklets. 3 pages long! We had stamina as we added details to our writing to make it interesting for our readers.
In Math we continued to work on solving subtraction problems. We solved take away problems, comparing problems, and missing number problems. We also looked at the relationship between addition and subtraction.
We were scientists and explored sound.we learned about sound waves, vibrations, and pitch. We made some excellent sound machines this week.
We also started setting up our blog on KidBlog. We picked our avatars. We also practiced writing our first blog post. Right now, our blog is only viewable by students in our classroom. As we get more comfortable posting, we will make our blog more public. We discussed digital citizenship issues as we blog- not using our full name (only our first names), not attaching our picture to our name, and keeping our personal information private. Blogging will give us the opportunity to practice digital citizenship with a real audience. Be on the lookout for directions on how to join our blog as a parent in Thursday folders!
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Reader's Toolbox, Celebrating Writing, and Subtraction Stories
We have had another amazing week in first grade! We came back Tuesday refreshed and ready to learn!
We continued to work on the short a sound as we practiced our spelling words. We had our first spelling test on Friday!
We added a third rotation to Daily 5- Word Work. During this rotation we can do Lexia or practice our spelling words in different ways. This week we learned how to rainbow write our spelling words. Now we can choose the order we do Read to Self, Work on Writing or Word Work. We love our choices! Next week we will add Read to Someone as our fourth rotation.
We learned a fix up strategy to put in our reader's toolbox when we come across a word we don't know. The first is: Look at the picture. Picture books have lots of helpful clues to words we may not know. We try a word that would make sense with the picture and then check to see if the word we say matches the sounds in the word. we will continue to add strategies to our reader's toolbox next week!
We wrapped up writing pattern books this week. We read a very funny book, Who Hops and many of us tried to make similar pattern books. We celebrated and shared our pattern books during our Author Celebration on Friday.
In Math we practiced writing and solving subtraction sentences. We solved take away and comparing problems.We will solve different types of subtraction story problems through next week.
We also discussed staying safe online as part of the Chromebook Challenge. We discussed going to the websites that adults tell us are okay and expect us to be on. We discussed letting an adult know if we come across something that we think is inappropriate or makes us feel uncomfortable. We will continue to learn about digital citizenship as we begin blogging in the next few weeks.
If you are looking for learning activities on the Chromebook, guide your student to Google classroom. The first grade teachers put websites and activities that we use in class on these pages. Mr. Burke showed us a fun koala racing game we can play!
We continued to work on the short a sound as we practiced our spelling words. We had our first spelling test on Friday!
We added a third rotation to Daily 5- Word Work. During this rotation we can do Lexia or practice our spelling words in different ways. This week we learned how to rainbow write our spelling words. Now we can choose the order we do Read to Self, Work on Writing or Word Work. We love our choices! Next week we will add Read to Someone as our fourth rotation.
We learned a fix up strategy to put in our reader's toolbox when we come across a word we don't know. The first is: Look at the picture. Picture books have lots of helpful clues to words we may not know. We try a word that would make sense with the picture and then check to see if the word we say matches the sounds in the word. we will continue to add strategies to our reader's toolbox next week!
We wrapped up writing pattern books this week. We read a very funny book, Who Hops and many of us tried to make similar pattern books. We celebrated and shared our pattern books during our Author Celebration on Friday.
In Math we practiced writing and solving subtraction sentences. We solved take away and comparing problems.We will solve different types of subtraction story problems through next week.
We also discussed staying safe online as part of the Chromebook Challenge. We discussed going to the websites that adults tell us are okay and expect us to be on. We discussed letting an adult know if we come across something that we think is inappropriate or makes us feel uncomfortable. We will continue to learn about digital citizenship as we begin blogging in the next few weeks.
If you are looking for learning activities on the Chromebook, guide your student to Google classroom. The first grade teachers put websites and activities that we use in class on these pages. Mr. Burke showed us a fun koala racing game we can play!
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Building Our Stamina
It has been another amazing week in first grade!
We've focused on building our stamina in Daily 5. We can now Read to Self and Work on Writing for 13 minutes at a time! This meant we got to start making the choice of which one we would like to work on for each rotation. Next week we will add another component into our Daily 5 routine- Word Work. This will be a way for us to practice our phonetic skills and spelling words.
In Writers' Workshop we've been working on writing pattern books. We practiced writing pattern books that have an two sentence repeating pattern. We also focused on writing both fiction and non-fiction pattern books. We will wrap up our unit on pattern books next week and begin writing narrative stories.
We celebrated what we know about addition this week. We know that we can use two parts to make a while. We can find the parts for 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. We began to work on subtraction skills this week. We worked on finding the missing parts of those same numbers.
On Wonder Wednesday, we learned about birds. We used padlet to write what already knew about birds before reading our National Geographic article. Padlet allowed us to share our ideas with Mrs. Mallen's classroom from our own Chromebooks. Padlet will allow us to collaborate and share ideas easily with others. You can view our thinking here: http://padlet.com/MrsBertz/birds
We continued to work on the Chromebook Challenge. We know how to bookmark a site. Your child should have these three things bookmarked- MLE webpage, Mrs. Bertz's webpage, and Lexia. Yes, Lexia is completely set up for student usage! All new students have been added and I can look at student progress! Hooray! We also downloaded an app- Matific. It will help reinforce the math skills we are learning in class.
Bengal Book buddies and spelling homework will come home on Tuesday!
Thanks to everyone who came to Spotlight Night. If you could not make it, I sent some paperwork with your child. You can also view the presentation on my webpage. https://sites.google.com/a/lsr7.net/bertz/
Enjoy the three day weekend!
We've focused on building our stamina in Daily 5. We can now Read to Self and Work on Writing for 13 minutes at a time! This meant we got to start making the choice of which one we would like to work on for each rotation. Next week we will add another component into our Daily 5 routine- Word Work. This will be a way for us to practice our phonetic skills and spelling words.
In Writers' Workshop we've been working on writing pattern books. We practiced writing pattern books that have an two sentence repeating pattern. We also focused on writing both fiction and non-fiction pattern books. We will wrap up our unit on pattern books next week and begin writing narrative stories.
We celebrated what we know about addition this week. We know that we can use two parts to make a while. We can find the parts for 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. We began to work on subtraction skills this week. We worked on finding the missing parts of those same numbers.
On Wonder Wednesday, we learned about birds. We used padlet to write what already knew about birds before reading our National Geographic article. Padlet allowed us to share our ideas with Mrs. Mallen's classroom from our own Chromebooks. Padlet will allow us to collaborate and share ideas easily with others. You can view our thinking here: http://padlet.com/MrsBertz/birds
We continued to work on the Chromebook Challenge. We know how to bookmark a site. Your child should have these three things bookmarked- MLE webpage, Mrs. Bertz's webpage, and Lexia. Yes, Lexia is completely set up for student usage! All new students have been added and I can look at student progress! Hooray! We also downloaded an app- Matific. It will help reinforce the math skills we are learning in class.
Bengal Book buddies and spelling homework will come home on Tuesday!
Thanks to everyone who came to Spotlight Night. If you could not make it, I sent some paperwork with your child. You can also view the presentation on my webpage. https://sites.google.com/a/lsr7.net/bertz/
Enjoy the three day weekend!
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Our First Week...pretzels, popcorn and great books
The first seven days of school have gone by so quickly. There has been lots of excitement as we reunited with our old friends from Kindergarten and made some new friends in first grade. We learned some fun ways to great one another- like butterfly handshakes and knuckle bumps.
Stamina (or building our reading muscles) has been the focus of Daily 5 lessons this week. We discussed what readers look and sound like. We also practiced reading in different places around the classroom. Today we chose our reading spots and read for 8 minutes without stopping! We also learned that readers talk about books they like. Some of us shared our favorite books with the class.
We learned about adding by combining groups this week in Math. Students have practiced combing groups to make 6, 7, 8, and 9. We also wrote addition number sentences and solved addition story problems.
We were scientists this week! We learned that scientists ask a question, research their topic, make a hypothesis, conduct an experiment, and record their results. This week we answered the question "Does popcorn sink or float?" Ask your student to share their results with you!
We also practiced some calm down strategies. We have four different strategies to use- star, pretzel, drain, and balloon. The balloon strategy seems to to be the most popular way to calm down in the classroom.
I'm looking forward to seeing you all at Spotlight Night, September 1 at 6:30!
Stamina (or building our reading muscles) has been the focus of Daily 5 lessons this week. We discussed what readers look and sound like. We also practiced reading in different places around the classroom. Today we chose our reading spots and read for 8 minutes without stopping! We also learned that readers talk about books they like. Some of us shared our favorite books with the class.
We learned about adding by combining groups this week in Math. Students have practiced combing groups to make 6, 7, 8, and 9. We also wrote addition number sentences and solved addition story problems.
We were scientists this week! We learned that scientists ask a question, research their topic, make a hypothesis, conduct an experiment, and record their results. This week we answered the question "Does popcorn sink or float?" Ask your student to share their results with you!
We also practiced some calm down strategies. We have four different strategies to use- star, pretzel, drain, and balloon. The balloon strategy seems to to be the most popular way to calm down in the classroom.
I'm looking forward to seeing you all at Spotlight Night, September 1 at 6:30!
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