Mindset by Carol S. Dweck

"Everyone is born with an intense drive to learn. Infants stretch their skills daily. Not just ordinary skills, but the most difficult tasks of a lifetime, like learning to walk and talk. They never decide it's too hard or not worth the effort. Babies don't worry about making mistakes or humiliating themselves. They walk, they fall, they get up. They just barge forward." ~ Carol S. Dweck (Mindset)

We've just started the book Mindset:The New Psychology of Success - How We Can Learn to Fulfil Our Potential" by Carol S. Dweck and already love it. It's a highly recommended book for educators and parents on how to foster self-esteem, motivate our kids, and help them improve in school - and life.

Let us know if you pick it up! If you have any other recommended books (for parents/teachers --- or just for fun and pleasure), post here!

How to Draw Books

The first graders in room 401 LOVE to draw! Ed Emberley has some fantastic "how-to draw" books and most of our students love using the books during quiet time or choice time.  Here are some of his popular titles....

Make a World
Little Drawing Book of the Farm
Animals
Fingerprint Drawing Book
Book of Faces

Visit edemberley.com for more!

Family Share Update

Just a reminder that our Post Office Share is coming up - it will be on Thursday, February 6th.



We have also changed the date for our following Family Share - Poetry Slam - now we will host our Poetry Slam on Friday, March 14th.

Indy Kids

Looking for a great non-fiction resource that focuses on current social justice news events? Check out Indy Kids - a newspaper written by kids for kids.  We use some of the articles for Newsday Tuesday - they are interesting, thought-provoking, and engaging. Have fun reading!

Spelling Practice - Word Pyramids

Word pyramids are a fun way to practice spelling at home. (Thanks Erica, for the tip!)

Let's say your child is practicing the word "think"

Here's how the word pyramid works:

t
th
thi
thin
think

Then - write the word in a sentence!

We think spelling practice is really important. :)

Writing in secret code!

Today during our Post Office work, some of us tried writing letters in secret codes! We had so much fun using symbols and numbers instead of letters.  Here are two of the codes we tried today. Maybe some first graders will want to try this at home! Or...make a code of their very own!

Math Assessment

On our recent math assessment, all of our students showed us how much they know about addition and solving story problems.  It was a really difficult math assessment, and our students did really well!  They worked really hard and persisted even though the problems were tough.

Here are two problems that caused confusion amongst some first graders.


There were five boys at Jake's party.  Some more came after basketball practice.  Then there were 9. How many boys came to Jake's party after basketball practice? Draw a picture to help you solve the problem. Draw a complete number bond that goes with this story. Write an addition sentence to match this story.




Monica says when the unknown is 4, it makes this number sentence true: 5 + 3 = ___4__ + 4.
Terry says she is wrong.  He says 8 makes the number sentence true.

a) Who is correct? Explain your thinking using pictures, words or numbers.

b) Monica says that 3 and 5 is equal to 5 and 3. Terry says she is wrong again.  Explain who is correct, using pictures, numbers or words.

c) Next, Monica tells Terry 8=8. Terry says she is wrong one more time.  Explain who is correct, using pictures, numbers or words.

d) Terry decided to share 8 carrot sticks with his friend Monica.  Monica put 5 carrot sticks on her plate and some more in her lunch box. How many carrot sticks did Monica put in her lunch box?

Post Office Study

We launched our post office study through drama last week. Our students met Post Office Polly - she used to work at a post office until it was closed due to budget cuts! After listening to Post Office Polly, our students decided to help her by opening up a post office here in our school! After reading an article about post office closings and reading "The Post Office Book" by Gail Gibbons, we came up with a list of things we will need to build and make to sustain a working post office. We are so excited for this work!

Solve & practice math facts

Thank you from Maggie

January's Homework

We are so pleased with all of the writing the first graders did over their winter vacation! This weekend, we will take the journals home and give them back with feedback next Monday.  We are really impressed so far!

This month's homework packet will be available on Wednesday, January 8th. In the meantime, make sure your child is reading their book baggie books at home. 

Reading to Understand

In our current reading unit, "We Can Be Our Own Reading Teachers," first graders are learning strategies around self-monitoring during reading -- this can be really tricky! Today, we talked about the importance of really, really understanding what we are reading - and what to do when we realize we aren't getting it!

Here are some strategies your child can use at home around monitoring for understanding.
Happy reading!

Parts of a Letter

Today in writing workshop we learned about the parts of a letter. If your child writes a letter at home, make sure to point out these important parts!

Habits of Mind

In our classroom, we have been teaching "Habits of Mind" - created by the Metamorphosis Center for Cognitive Coaching.  Habits of Mind are dispositions displayed by people in response to problems, dilemmas, and enigmas, the resolution of which are not immediately apparent.

Here are some of the Habits of Mind we have coached into so far.  Habits of mind take time to develop, so it's a good idea to reinforce these habits and use similar language with your child.

Post Office Opening Date Changed

Please note, our Post Office share will be on Thursday, February 6th (instead of Tuesday, February 4th), at 8:45 am.

Thanks for your flexibility!

Letter Writing & Post Office Study

This month, the first graders will study letter writing during writing workshop (in alignment with our post office study). The first graders will learn lots of things about letter writing.  They will explore the different reasons people write letters (friendly letters, persuasive letters, etc), learn to write a letter with a particular reader in mind (using voice and asking specific questions), learn to use writing conventions associated with letter writing (and addressing an envelope), and will learn about the overall process for sending a letter.

Students will also design their own stationery, post cards, stamps and envelopes during project work. In social studies, they will learn about different post office jobs and machines, and will discuss reasons behind the current post office closures. In the block area, students will create sorting bins & mailboxes.  The first graders will also design flyers and posters advertising the opening of the post office to classes in our school.  Come the beginning of February, we will have established a fully working post office for EVCS.  Our first graders will deliver mail to classrooms in EVCS for the remainder of the year!

Stay tuned for updates about this work!

Meet our new student teacher - Caroline!

Caroline is excited to join 401’s vibrant classroom community as a student teacher. She is studying general and special elementary education at Teachers College at Columbia University. In addition to her passion for education, she enjoys practicing yoga and making art. She is looking forward to teaching and learning with first grade as we embark on this New Year.



Caroline joins us tomorrow and we are looking forward to collaborating with her! She will be with us Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays (full days MTR, half day on W) through the beginning of May.

Happy Snow Day!

Have a safe & fun snow day, first graders!

Word Study & Spelling Practice

We are studying bonus letters in word study.

The bonus letters in our language are f, l, s, and z. Bonus letters are letters that double up at the end of a word when the word contains a short vowel sound.

Here are some sentences you can dictate at home to encourage correct spelling and punctuation.

Did Chet get the red shell?
Beth sat in the den with Bill.
Tim will fill up the dish with fish.
We had to mop up the mess.
The bug fell in the web.
Jack had to sell his pig.
The hall is a mess.
Mom did not miss the mud at all.
I fell on the path.
Toss the ball to Kim.
Can you call the pup?

Meet our New DOE Chancellor - Carmen Farina

De Blasio Names New DOE Chancellor! (click the text to read NYTimes article)

We are quite excited that a career educator is finally in an important leadership role. Carmen Farina makes us proud to be NYC public school teachers - let's hope she'll be able to make some changes!

Welcome back!

We hope everyone had a restful and enjoyable break.  It was so great to see the first graders today - some with new haircuts, some who grew a few inches, some with newly missing or grown-up teeth, yet all with the same sweet smiles!

As of now, we have school tomorrow and it is most likely that schools will remain open. You can check the NYC Department of Education website for updated information. (Most of the first graders are hoping for a snow day tomorrow!)

We will have library tomorrow, so please remember to send in any library books!