November 14-18, 2016

Specials
(Refer to your flipbook for a reference of what each day is)

Monday - 1

Tuesday - 2

Wednesday - 3

Thursday - 4

Friday - 5

Upcoming Events & Reminders
Homework needs to come back in the blue folder every day.

November 17 - 1st Grade Thanksgiving Lunch 10:50-11:15. You are invited to join us in class at 10:30.
November 18 - 1st Grading Period Student Recognitions 10am in gym. I have sent e-mails informing you if your child is receiving an award this 9 weeks. :) 
November 23-25 Thanksgiving Break NO SCHOOL
December 4 - PTA 5K
December 9th - PTA Winter Dance 6-8pm

Spelling List

Your student will know which list he/she is on.

LIST A (Green and Yellow Reading Groups)

cane

kite

robe

hate

ride

tape

cube

LIST B (Orange and Blue Reading Groups)

quite

bathe

spine

plane

grade

Jane

slate

Kid-Friendly Objectives
I can write to tell how to do something.
I can use transition words in my writing.
I can read, write, and identify words with silent e.
I can correctly identify and use possessive nouns. 
I can tell the main idea of a nonfiction text.
I can relate addition to subtraction in fact families.

Week in Review
Hi everyone! I hope you've had a restful weekend. :) I am always so excited for the weekend to arrive but even more excited to spend another week with your first graders. Here is a glance at what we did this past week.

In our third writing unit, we are exploring How-To Writing. The kids helped me list types of things they might expect to see in a how-to piece (those are the orange items on the list below). 
To introduce this type of writing, I shared a simple recipe with the class.

They helped me identify the title (what the piece is going to teach me), the materials (and maybe what else would be important to use), and the steps/directions.

Of course, their engagement went THROUGH THE ROOF when they realized Mrs. Carney actually brought the ingredients!

We looked over the materials list again and double checked that we were ready to go.

The best part was having your first graders tell me the steps for making the trail mix.

So, so, so yummy.

The next day, we brainstormed a list of all of the things we know how to do. We are going to use this list throughout the whole unit to guide us in choosing topics as we learn more and more about the how-to process.

Here are some of our very first tries - just wait until you watch the transformation by the end of the unit!

"I can teach you how to flip."

"I can show you how to feed my fish. First get the food. Add three drops."

"I can teach you how to read a chapter book."

"I can teach you how to make a castle. It's so much fun! First you need to get blocks. Number two..."

"I can teach you how to do the monkey bars. You swing your arms."

The best part? I DIDN'T EVEN TELL THEM HOW TO DO A HOW-TO WRITING. We brainstormed our list and I released them to write, mostly so I could know what more I needed to teach them. My GOODNESS you have some amazing thinkers. Would you believe that almost every single kiddo started their piece with "I am going to teach you..." or "I can teach you how..." It was the coolest thing to see.

Throughout this unit, your author will learn to:

-add transition words

-"zoom in" (Think: how to do math vs. how to solve a subtraction problem)

-sequence their writing

-stretch out the steps

-identify materials needed

I am SO excited to see what they do. :)

In Language, we began to explore Possessive Nouns.

We had fun labeling our things!

We had a welcomed break in the week by walking over to LCA for Seussical the Musical! We were all very amazed by all of the fun things to look at while waiting to go inside.

 To end the week, we had fun practicing subtraction with...COOKIE CRISP!!!

(Some of us got a little distracted by the "Who Stole the Cookies" song...but that's okay :-P )

I hope you have a FABULOUS week!

Nov. 23-27

Specials
Monday - 1
Tuesday - Non-Rotation Day!
Wednesday - No School!
Thursday - No School! (Happy Thanksgiving!)
Friday - No School!

Upcoming Events & Reminders
*Some of you asked about pictures of your student being posted on the blog. Please remember the permission slip I mentioned throughout August and September is always available over here ----->

Please consider signing up to send in some fun items for our study of holidays around the world. Some items are due this Tuesday (November 24) and some are due the Monday after break (November 30).
Click here to Sign-Up to Bring a Holiday Supply!

There will also be an opportunity to sign up to donate items or represent a country in our Holiday World Market the morning of December 15. We are so lucky to have a diverse classroom and I would love for you to come and teach us how your family celebrates the holidays! Similar to our Junie B. Jamboree, we will "travel" to each country for about 15 minutes. While we are visiting your station, you would be responsible for bringing in fun items from home (such as a map or globe to show us your country, clothing, holiday decor, etc.). Additionally, you would prepare a simple craft for us to remember your special holiday (such as a paper lantern, origami, etc.).  ***You are also more than welcome to sign up for a country other than your own.***
The Sign-Ups will be posted in the first week of December. However, if you know you would like to volunteer to help with the market, you may go ahead and e-mail me to let me know. 

November  24 - Non-Rotation Day (Global Arts and Culture Day)
November 25-27 - Thanksgiving Break!
December 2 - Junie B. Field Trip (Please remember to submit your permission slip if you have not already done so!)
December 11 - PTA Winter Dance 6:30-8pm @ Wellington
December 15 - Holiday World Market
December 17 - Chorus Performance 1:30 & 6:30pm
December 21 - January 1 - Winter break!

No Homework this week!!!

Kid-Friendly Objectives

- I can tell my opinion of what I am thankful for. 
- I can compare the lengths of objects and tell which is longer and shorter.
- I can order objects by length.
- I can identify the main idea and key details of a text.
- I can read, write, and identify possessive nouns by adding apostrophe s. ('s)
- I can read, write, and identify words with Momma E! (silent e at the end of a word)

Spelling List

Take the week off! :) No spelling words this week.

Week in Review!
You've probably noticed a huge influx in apostrophes in your child's writing. :) We are learning all about possessive nouns...and that means apostrophes are everywhere!

We did a fun "roll the noun" activity with our partners. 

We drew any animal we wanted...as long as we could label it with our possessive nouns!

We got our oxygen pumping to our brain by doing a Write the Room activity. The kids were expected to read a sentence such as, "This computer belongs to Jen," and change it into "Jen's computer" to show the possessive.

We continued to develop our understanding of Main Ideas and Details in Informational texts with a Main Idea turkey! We researched Wild Turkeys on PebbleGo and concluded the Main Idea was Wild Turkeys. As we researched, we pulled out key details and wrote one detail on each of the turkey's feathers. I'll be sure to post the finished product later this week! So gobblin' cute!

To practice supporting our opinions, we read the story "A Turkey for Thanksgiving." In this story, Mr. Moose is sent on an errand by Mrs. Moose to get a turkey for Thanksgiving. Mr. Moose finally found the perfect wild turkey to bring back...and we had to try to convince Mrs. Moose to agree with our opinion (should she or should she not eat the turkey?)

We shared our opinions aloud for a passionate debate of what we believed she should do. I will get a few examples to show you by Tuesday! :)

 We are SO ready to move on and take a break from addition and subtraction! The kids had fun exploring length and measurement this week. We began by classifying whether one object was "shorter" or "longer" than another. We also put a big bunch of items from our pencil boxes in order by length.

We discussed the importance of endpoints when measuring so that no object can cheat! In this picture, one of my friends held the string at the endpoint of her foot and showed me where the other endpoint was so that I could cut it. Now we have a unit of measurement to use around the room so that we do not have to stick our foot on everything to compare its length!

"My foot is longer than the beads. The beads are shorter than my foot."

"The rug is longer than my foot. My foot is shorter than the rug."

"Look Mrs. Carney! My foot is longer than MY FACE!"

 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!! :)