ISB Grade 1

Thank you to all the parents who made “International Week” so special. The children had such a wonderful experience. They did not want the day to end and to quote many of your children “This is the best day EVER!” It truly was an international community event-thank you. Please enjoy the photos from the week’s events.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

In our sixth unit of study in Math, we will return to number sense. This unit is called Number Games and Crayon Puzzles. We will be working on mathematical ideas such as composing numbers with two or three addends and solving addition and subtraction problems.

Throughout this unit, students will be working toward the following goals:
-Find at least five 2-addend combinations of 10.
-Combine two small quantities by counting on.
-Interpret (retell the action and sequence) and solve addition and subtraction story problems.
-Subtract one small quantity from another.

Click her to download the complete Math Parent Letter Unit 6.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

The month of January had many highlights, please check out the photos to see your children creating, learning and cooperating.

The students created survey questions and collected data with a partner. Then they made representations of their data and shared the results with the class. In some of the photos you can see the students begin to learn about linear measurement. In these photos they are measuring fish to find out if they are “keepers”.

We also enjoyed a class visit from our 5th grade buddies. Ms. Mc Aloon read and then gave us a copy of Baby Brains the Rock Star. We practiced turning and talking and making predictions about the book with our buddies. You can see from their faces how much they loved the story.

On Friday we celebrated the 100th day of school. The children rotated through the five first grade classrooms and participated in fun learning activities that had to do with the number 100.

January 2010

In January, Grade One will begin a wonderful unit in writing called Authors as Mentors.  In this unit, students will study how one or more authors tell a story.  Your child will become an apprentice under these wonderful writers and try to emulate what they do.

In this unit, children will look closely at what an author has done in order to write well.  They will then be encouraged to try it in their own writing.  Some of the larger understandings and habits students are encouraged to gain from this unit are:

•    Notice a writer’s craft and how they use it often as a technique in their books
•    Think about why an author uses certain techniques and then emulate the author by using them in their own writing
•    Approach their own writing by thinking not only about the topic, but how to write it well by using the techniques used by others, including feelings, thoughts, repetitions, show not tell, and details.
•    Learn about stories that are many moments
•    Use literary language
•    Increase their stamina in writing

At home, think about authors you and your child like to read.  Reread them with another lens and study what makes the author’s stories so engaging.  Look to see if they are using any writing techniques (bold words, punctuation, ellipses, pause lines, repeated words, and etc.) repeatedly in their writing.  Talk about what the author is doing, pay close attention to how it allows the reader to understand the story better or encourage readers to read the story in a certain way.

I’m sure you and your child will come away with a greater appreciation for children’s literature and it’s purposeful complexity.  This is a fun and educational unit for children.

Classes are working on a new unit in mathematics called What Would You Rather Be? This unit is about data—the facts or information we collect about people and things in our world. Students will be sorting objects and information, posing questions, collecting data, and making representations of the data they collect.

Click here to download the complete Math Parent Letter Unit 4

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

During Reading Workshop the students have been learning how to notice when they get a feeling or an idea while reading. We are encouraging and nurturing their thinking and talking skills through demonstrations, read aloud books, and big book shared reading time. Rather than just reading the book cover to cover we are exploring ways they can make their reading come alive by having the students stop and share their thoughts and feelings. In addition, we are encouraging the children to begin a conversation about the book by listening to their partner and responding by agreeing or disagreeing (in a kind way) to their partner’s ideas.

You can model this kind of thinking at home. Below – you will find ideas that will help initiate conversation about what your child is reading- or what you are reading together. This is not meant to be a question and answer session but an authentic conversation about the story.

• Before reading, look at the front cover and talk about the title and the illustrations. Make some predictions or ask some questions that you might be thinking. “I wonder if..”

• When reading a non-fiction book- try and think about what you might already know on the topic.

• During reading, notice when you get a strong feeling. For example you might say, “I think I know what will happen next”, or laugh out loud, or “Wow, I did not know that!”

• Talk about the characters. How is the character feeling? What would you do if you were that character?

• After reading look through the pages again. Talk about and retell parts of the story that were your child’s favorite and ask them, why they liked that part. Make connections to other stories you have read that are similar or situations that might remind you of your own life. A more advanced skill might be to talk about the most important part or the message the author might be trying to tell.

For ESL students who are reading English books talk about the story in your home language. If your child is having difficult time talking about the book, model your own thinking. You will be amazed at how your child can begin to think and talk about what they are reading.

Here are some recent pictures of our Mystery Readers, math and science work and our 5th grade buddies.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Retelling and Readers Have Thoughts While Reading

Your children are working hard at word solving and building their stamina for reading! It is always so rewarding as a teacher to see the kids reading and getting excitied about books. Our next step is to nurture the children’s natural excitement into conversations about books. This unit will build the foundation for children to read, understand, and begin to have conversations about what they are reading.

The first phase of the unit works on retelling a story. For some, this task can seem quite dull and rote but if students are not holding on to the story, how can we expect them to talk about it and go further? Retelling not only shows if students understand what they are reading but it also helps build a foundation for students as readers, writers (recounting/retelling stories from their lives) and thinkers.

The characteristics of a good retelling are as follows:
• Uses characters names (Character)
• Tells where/when the story takes place (Setting)
• Includes all the important parts of the story (Plot)
• Retold in sequence (Beginning, Middle, End)
• Told in an interesting voice (Fluency)
• Check in the book to see if you missed anything (Using text evidence to support your thinking)

As students begin to read more sophisticated texts they will be summarizing rather than retelling every detail in the book. For ESL students this can be a difficult but very worthwhile task. So encourage your child to retell you the story after they have finished. Then review the book to see if anything was missed.

Dear Parents,

It is already November and your child has grown as a writer. Grade One is currently concentrating on writing small moments that are focused and easier for others to read.

This unit, Writing for Readers, encourages children to write their stories so that they are easy to read. They are taught to believe they are authentic writers and therefore their stories are valuable to a real audience. In this unit they will think or learn about whether or not:
• their writing is easy to read, this means their writing is neat, there are enough sounds written for the reader to read an intended word, and the writer takes the time to write high frequency words correctly by using the tools available to them.
• the writing is focused with lots of detail. Students will reread stories to see if it zooms in on the most important parts.

In the next unit, The Craft of Revision, students learn how to revise their stories. In part, this is a continuation of the previous unit in that they are asked to reread their writing to see if it makes sense. In addition, they learn that:
• a writer understands a story is usually not finished in one try. Writers constantly reread their stories to see how they can make them better.
• a writer has a story they want to convey and it takes multiple tries to get the story just right with concrete details, feelings, and a strong beginning, middle, and end.

Many times a child in first grade will write a story and believe it is finished. This unit begins to teach children that stories are revised, usually with another person who is called the editor.

The skills and strategies taught in both units can be applied to writing in other subjects such as reading, math, and science. The children begin to really think about the audience who is eager to read their stories and observations.