We are Writing How-to Books!

This week, we launched our new writing unit - we are writing how-to books!

Our students come to school knowing so much. From constructing forts to playing games to navigating the dynamics of friendships. This next unit on writing how-to books will provide the opportunity to show our students that they are all experts at something. Further, they have the power to pass that knowledge onto others. The unit frames students as experts, rallying them to teach their areas of expertise through writing. We can't wait to see what knowledge they will decide to impart on others!

Important Dates in November

Tuesday, November 5th - Election Day (NO SCHOOL for students)
Monday, November 11th - Veterans Day (NO SCHOOL)
Wednesday, November 13 - Evening Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thursday, November 14 - 1/2 Day for students - Afternoon Parent-Teacher Conferences
Friday, November 15 - Family Friday
Wednesday, November 27 - Harvest Festival
Thursday, November 28 & Friday, November 29 - Thanksgiving Break

Air & Weather

A few weeks ago, our class began our science unit on Air & Weather, and what fun we've been having! As a class we keep a chart of our hypotheses and results of our experiments. So far this year, we have observed how the shape, weight, and air force of objects affect its motion. We learned that air is something real, takes up space, and interacts with objects. We have also looked at air through difference scopes, through our Air under Water exploration. For the next few weeks, we will continue to explore air through different mediums such as resistance and compression effects. Rebecca, our student teacher, is lead-planning the next few science lessons, and we are really excited to continue our study!

Fall Ball

We hope to see many of you tomorrow at the Fall Ball!

Supporting Your Growing Reader

Comprehension is an incredibly important reading skill, and there are many ways to support this work at home with your growing reader! Here are some guiding questions to ask as your child is reading.  If your child is reading level A-F, it is more appropriate to ask your child forms of these questions at the end of the book.  For children reading G and up, it is important to stop and talk throughout reading the book. Only focus on 2-3 questions in one reading session.

Literal questions:
Tell me what has really stuck in your mind so far (what seems important).
Explain why that part seems important.
Where does the story take place? What kind of place is it?
Tell me what you know about the character so far?

Inferential questions:
At this point in the story (or an important part the reader mentioned), what do you imagine the character might be feeling and why?
Tell me about any themes or issues you are noticing.
Are there any lessons so far that you think the character is learning or could have?
How would you describe this genre and what do you know about it?

Hope this is helpful!

Town Meetings

Below you'll find a schedule for town meetings this year.  Town meetings happen about once or twice a month on Mondays, first thing in the morning after drop-off.  Join us for a cheery 20-30 minute sing-a-long to jump-start your week!

October 28
November 25
December 9
January 13
February 3
March 3
March 17
March 31
April 28
May 12
June 2
June 16

Remember to...

...pack your child's book baggy tonight and every night!

School Closed Tomorrow

No school tomorrow, Monday October 14th (Columbus Day). 

To deepen students' thinking around Christopher Columbus, we will read the book Encounter written by Jane Yolen.  Told from a young Taino boy’s point of view,  this is a story of how the boy tried to warn his people against welcoming the strangers, who seemed more interested in golden ornaments than friendship. 

We are eager for our conversation around Encounter! 

See you Tuesday.

Math Workshop

This week we launched our new math curriculum - Go NY: Engage Math, a Common Core aligned curriculum.  Students picked up new routines quickly, such as "sprints." Every lesson starts with a sprint, a chance to practice fluency with math facts.  Sprints are timed exercises; the first graders get 60 seconds to work independently around decomposing and composing addends up to 10!  It's challenging work, and the first graders seem to really love it!

So far, we've been figuring out ways to break numbers into parts.  We now know that we can break numbers in different ways.  For example, 9 breaks into 6 and 3, 5 and 4, and so on.  Whether working individually or in partnerships, first graders are engaged and excited about math in room 401!

This first grader broke 6 up into 4 and 2. He knows 6 = 4 + 2.

This first grader broke 9 up into 6 and 3.  She knows 6 + 3 = 9.

Click here to view EngageNY Website!

Updated Family Friday Schedule

Monday, October 28 - Publishing Party

Friday, November 15 - Scavenger Hunt & Family Breakfast

Friday, December 13 - Neighborhood Study Share

Thursday, February 6 - Post Office Opening *** DATE CHANGE ***

Friday, March 7 - Poetry Slam

April TBA (Share with Kelli) - Farmers Market 

Tuesday, May 27 - Acts of Persuasion 

Tuesday, June 24 - End of Year Party

Reading Buddies

This year we will be reading buddies with Lenore and Leslie's 2nd grade class! We met with our buddies on Monday. The second graders came to our classroom and read their book baggie books to us.  It was lots of fun getting to know each other, and we look forward to seeing our reading buddies at least twice a month!

Library every Monday

The first graders visit the school library every Monday.  Please make sure your child brings her/his library book back to school on Monday so she/he can check out a new book for the week!

Neighborhood Study

Today we launched our social studies unit - the neighborhood study.  Students began by responding to the prompt: "Write and draw about what you see in your neighborhood." After the writing assignment, we started reading the book, "This is New York" by Miroslav Sasek.

After reading about famous structures, interesting neighborhoods and the many cultures that make up NYC, the first graders had their first "how to draw" lesson around cityscapes.  We used the book "Make a World" by Ed Emberley to learn how to use simple shapes to make a city skyline.  After sketching with pencil, we used black sharpie markers to trace our lines and next we will use watercolors to paint our cities.

This is just the beginning of our exciting work around our neighborhood! We are so excited to continue our study!