Forty-Third Day

Today we discussed absolute and relative location and read a nonfiction selection, On the Map, about locating places on a map. We discussed the main idea and details in order to help us summarize the selection. We also played the main idea/details game which 1st graders just love; go ahead and try it at home. We also read a nonfiction selection about animal camouflage.

On the Topic 7 math test 22 students out of 24 passed with a score of 17 or better; two students got a perfect score.

Forty-Second Day

We compared the the past and the present in a nonfiction selection today called Around Town, Then and Now. We started a Flow Map to write a report about the city of Carson. Our vocabulary words for the week include: frequently, service, variety, useful, and amazed.

We took Topic 7 math test today.

Fortieth Day

Sixteen students have completed seminar and 8 students have completed their Unit Projects. We began our own Flow Map to provide instruction for a family chore after completing a practice map to retell the events of The Little Red Hen. The best of these maps may be saved to be displayed in the office for Room 11's turn at the bulletin board.

We will likely take our Topic 7 math test on Monday. That makes for a busy test week in math.

Thirty-Ninth Day

Thirteen students have now completed the seminar portion of their Unit 1 Writing Project. Three students have shown me their final revisions. A number of students have yet to turn in both reading logs which are now past due.

Today we "share" wrote instructions for raking leaves and discussed the need for leaves to fall from trees during this season as an aside and current event. We selected a chore for which we will begin to develop instructions.

Thirty-Eighth Day

Don't rush with homework. I will collect all back homework on Wednesday. Please find November reading log in homework folders.

Have a fun and safe evening.

A passing score of 17 or greater on our recent math test was achieved by 21 out of 24 students. Six students scored greater than 25.

Some parents asked me when the district "quarterly" math test would be. The first grade will take the test in two sessions on the 9th and 10th of November. Please see post on the 37th day for some sample questions. Additionally, students should understand that in order to show that they know an answer is correct, they need to reform an equation using the principle of inverse operations. For example: I know 3 + 4 = 7, because 7 - 4 = 3.

Unit 2 Week 2 Preview

This week we will be discussing helping and cooperation in connection with our larger theme Family and Neighbors. We will discuss how we are able to contribute to tasks which need to be accomplished. We will read and listen to several versions of The Little Red Hen for comparison. We will focus on the order of events to retell (R 1.2.7). We will use our fourth thinking map (Flow Map) to write a retelling. We will then learn to write ordered instructions for completing a task.

Our focus in phonics will be the short-vowel 'e'. We will focus on high-frequency words: eat, no, of, some, and who. We will discuss and practice plural nouns with an emphasis on those which require '-es'. Our robust vocabulary words are: appreciate, cooperate, partner, responsibility, and scrumptious.

In social studies we will observe how the environment/weather of three different climates affects lifestyle. We will also examine the division of labor in and the process of raw material to final product.

In science we will work further with solid forms of matter.

Thirty-Seventh Day

We listened to the folktale Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. We took a dictation test on words with short-vowel 'o'.We read a non-fiction story about baby animals. We also read the poem: Down in the Meadow, for which we discovered the rhythm of the poem and then used rhythm instruments to play along with our choral reading.

We took Topic 6 math test. Results can not be posted at this time due to the number of students with incomplete items on their test. It was our longest test to date and probably one of the more difficult. One concept which some students understandably struggle with in first grade is comparing dissimilar equalities, for example in the expression 6 + 3 = ___ + 5. Another past struggle seems to be with matching an expression with a value. For example: which of these express the same value as 12: 8 - 4, 8 + 4, or 9 + 4. We will be working on some these more difficult ideas next week in preparation for the district math exam.