Last week students were introduced to informative "How To" writing when we were chefs. This week we continued our work with this type of writing. Students learned to use transition words like first, next, then, and finally. They are working on writing complete sentences with a capital letter and end punctuation. As I'm sure you heard, we made applesauce in class today! They were so excited. Last week, I took my boys to pick apples at an orchard and I brought the apples in today with some additional supplies to make crock pot applesauce. Yes, it was fun! Yes, the applesauce smelled amazing all day as it simmered and cooked! Yes, it was delicious! The students were able to use this experience to independently write their own informative piece about how to make applesauce. These came home today along with the very simple and easy recipe in case they persuade you to try it:) I hope it was a memorable day for them and that this experience provided an "anchor" for this type of informative writing.
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Today was our read, dance, walk triathlon. The students had a fun day. READ DANCE WALK Compound words-pancake chefs!So you saw the chef hats and I'm sure heard about pancakes. What are these teachers doing?! So last week we were working on CVC words. This week our next step is to read and spell CVC/CVC compound words. We also expose them to compound words with more complex phonetic spellings. We often do an anchor activity to help students remember what we are learning. This week we used the theme of pancakes (since it is a compound word!) We also try to connect to books as often as we can and we read several this week with a pancake theme. The students were VERY MOTIVATED to read and spell CVC/CVC compound words this week because each time they read/wrote one, they could flip it with a pancake flipper. That's all it took! They did so well!!! And obviously they had fun. How can you not have a good week when there are pancakes involved?! We worked on our first informative writing piece this week. Since the students were chefs, they chose a food/snack/meal as their topic for their own "How To" book. We will continue this type of informative writing next week as well. As they were finishing up their books on the second day, I couldn't resist the opportunity to give them some pancakes to enjoy. Small group instruction is in full force! We had a GREAT week meeting in both reading and math small groups. Our focus in math is subtraction and the application of subtraction in word problems. Since they have been doing so well, we started to mix addition and subtraction word problems. This is obviously more challenging for the students because they truly have to understand the concepts and also visualize and know what the problem is asking. Next week, we will throw comparison number stories into the mix as well (one group started this week already). We have loved starting the year off with word problems and we couldn't be happier with their progress. In reading small group we worked a lot with reading and writing CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words that include digraphs (th, sh, ch). We also worked on identifying story elements: characters, setting, problem, solution, etc. Here are a few pictures from this week! Thinking about our thinkingThis week the students learned a big word "metacognition". Metacognition is a fancy word that means we are thinking about our thinking. Together the students and I made a "real reading salad". We talked about how good readers don't just read the words, but think about the story. Good readers make predictions, ask questions, make connections, and clarify when the story gets confusing. I read the story Super Worm to the class. Anytime I read a page of text we put a red card in the salad. Anytime we stopped to think about the story we put a green card in the salad. The students soon realized that good readers do a lot of thinking while reading a book. The next day each student was given a thinking bubble. While reading the story At The Library we stopped to think about our reading. They did an amazing job! Here are a few of their thoughts... The class learned that they can use their metacognition in everything they do. In our classroom we have a scale posted that helps us assess our own learning. Throughout the year the students will be asked to think about how well they understand what we are learning. I told the class that I am a 4 at riding my bike, but a 2 at cooking :) We will ask students to think about how well they understand new concepts in math, reading, science and social studies as we learn throughout the year. Teaching them to think about their thinking will help them monitor their own understanding and take appropriate actions when they know they are having trouble.
Running RecordsThis week we were able to complete our individual running records assessments and begin meeting with reading groups based on those results. During a running record we listen to a child read a book and we take notes on words read correctly, errors made, and observations we make about their fluency or strategies they use to attack unknown words. We also ask comprehension questions. We use all of this to determine their reading level. (They need to read at least 90% of the words correctly and correctly answer the comprehension questions). We then group students so that we can provide instruction at their level and based on their needs. We do running records throughout the year. Students will be graphing their own progress of their reading level (and many other areas) in their student data binder. In between meeting with individual students, I paused to take a couple of pictures of the class working through their center routine. We are so happy with how well they are doing! the energy busThis week we started reading an amazing book called The Energy Bus for Kids. It is about a boy named George who learns how to stay positive and overcome challenges. We will read a little each week and focus on making connections while reading. George learned the importance of creating a positive vision for yourself. So we had a great class discussion about what this means. Students then drew pictures of themselves accomplishing their dreams to create their own positive visions. It was simply awesome to hear them talk about all of their dreams they have for themselves. There was a lot of positive energy in the room:) We made a list to share with you. Here are our first graders' positive visions:
Reading Throwing basketball in the hoop Being a vet Exercising Cartwheel Be a lifeguard Be a football player on the Browns Be a police officer Do a handstand Learn how to swim Catch the football one handed Doing a headstand Be a football player A book writer when I grow up Ride my bike no hands standing up Catching football for a touchdown Defeating level 99 on Lego Marbles To be a doctor Reading a book, learning how to swim better, be a construction worker Play basketball Do a handstand Being a lifeguard, sit with my brother on the bus when he gets older Being a teacher, learning how to play the guitar Being a soccer player, being a library teacher Doing a cartwheel Reaching level 99 on castle crasher Kicking the soccer ball into the goal, playing basketball, playing baseball |
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