GATE Conference

The GATE cadre of teachers and Principal Brooks attended the Central Cities Gifted Children's Association Annual Conference in Pasadena yesterday. Teachers chose from a variety of lectures and presentations to enrich their classroom and to help deliver differentiated instruction. The focus this year was  the shift towards the California Common Core Standards and what that means for the gifted child, classroom, service provider, and parent. Information and techniques learned at the conference will be shared with the other teachers on campus.

Thank You

A special thank you to the parents who contributed to our successful holiday party. The children had a good time. Thank you to those parents who helped set up and facilitate; it allowed the teacher to have a short break on "celebration day" which very often isn't the case. It made a big difference and was much appreciated.

FYI

A quote lifted from Room 11 Blog from a previous year:

"FYI: I read a book about Santa Mouse (a treasury from my childhood) to the children. A child asked me after I finished story 2 the other day, "Are you sure that's true?" Hmm....So the legend goes, that if you should happen to find a small (tiny) gift tucked somewhere in your tree, perhaps tied with a yellow bow, then you will know that Santa Mouse has been to your house. *Shrugs* I don't know, it's just what I heard. Who knows how these stories get started?"

The same book was read again this year. The comments were quite different than in the past and varied. A debate ensued. The teacher neither confirmed nor denied the accuracy or truth to any of the claims made in the book or the comments made by the students. The management would simply like to advise all tree displayers to carefully check the branches of their holiday trees before proper disposal or storage for any possible gifts wrapped with a yellow ribbon.

Math test statistics are forthcoming.

Seventy-Seventh Day of School

Math test postponed to Thursday. No homework tonight.

Two children were able to publish a computer version of their unit writing and save to their flash drive.

Friday we will have our first classroom celebration if students would like to bring treats to share.

Seventy-Fifth Day of School

We have been working on our persuasion pieces. Many are through with the rough draft. Their published piece will be a flyer (hopefully some will have a chance to publish on the computer) persuading people to come to their personally designed event.

Dismissal tomorrow (Tuesday) is 2:04.

Our topic 11 math test will be Wednesday.

Reading logs are due on Friday.

Clarification and Miscellaneous

Parents, the homework to which I referred in a previous post was not an optional assignment. Please read. This assignment is the basis for half of our Unit Project.

The students now have 3 stanzas of our poem at home. We have also covered  long-i spelled 'igh'.

The 1st grade teachers have decided that 1st graders will be wearing a red shirt for their winter performance on Friday the 14th.

Seventy-First Day of School

Today we worked cooperatively in groups to produce a persuasive writing piece. Students were not graded on the quality of their writing but rather their ability to work and produce as a group. Of the 21 students present, 17 produced consistently for the 30 minute work period; four did not. Groups will have time to improve their pieces to be judged with criteria tomorrow.

Unit 3 Week 2 Preview

This week we ask the question: What do family members do with one another to have fun? Our comprehension skill focus will be to make and confirm predictions using the strategy of analyzing story structure. We will take a brief look at alliteration (consonance). We will continue our exploration with long vowel spellings in particular: long vowel-i spelled i_e (like, nice) or 'i at the end of a syllable' (pilot, riding). In grammar we will examine present-tense verbs. We will be using the skill of persuasion in our writing over the next 2 weeks.

Our oral vocabulary words are typical, possessions, connections, relief, and support. Our high-frequency words are call, funny, how, more, so, there.

As you read with your child at home, please continue to predict and confirm as you read (What do you think will happen? Do you think Goldilocks will get caught?). When finishing a fiction selection or chapter, ask your child to confirm predictions and summarize what happened. When reading a nonfiction selection, have your child state the main idea and details.

Please continue to have your child collect family jokes, anecdotes, and riddles for the next few weeks in order for us to complete our Unit Project.

We have also been learning a poem to recite in front of our classmates.

In Social Science we will continue to compare the past and the present. We will also work towards understanding our location in the world while learning the continents and the oceans (tested). We will compare globes and maps.

In science we will continue our exploration of the forms of matter, in particular small particle solids. We may even get a bit messy again. No worries, everything will wash out.

Sixty-Seventh Day of School

Today we had a Flow Map-retell contest of the selection, On My Way to School.

In Social Science we reviewed how we are a part of many groups (family, team, class, community) and in order for everyone to get along in those groups, members must follow rules and have common courtesy.

 In Visual Art we learned that "line" is one of the basic elements of art (tested). We learned a basic vocabulary for discussing line and practiced making various types of lines.

Unit 3 Week 1 Preview

In our new unit we will be exploring fun and laughter. In the first week we ask what makes us laugh and how do we make other people laugh. Our oral vocabulary is amuse, delighted, humorous, mood, ridiculous. Our reading sight words are away, school, today, way, and why. For spelling we will focus on 'long-a' spellings. We will memorize the first stanza of our vowel poem. We will listen to and generate rhyme. We will use a Flow Map to generate a retell. We will incorporate time-order cues and words into our retell.

In Social Science we will discuss good sportsmanship and rules (HSS 1.1.2) We will also learn the basic components of a simple map.

In Visual Art we will discuss line as the first basic element.

Second Reporting Period

We expand our writing proficiency to include the genres of persuasion and opinion. Students will be required to write a time-limited opinion piece on demand which will be panel-reviewed for a district portfolio score. This score will weigh heavily on this term's final score in writing. In reading, 45 WPM are required with a timed independent retelling scored for accuracy and length.

In Science we will take a closer look at air and its influence on us and our environment.

In Social Science we will be constructing various types of maps. We will need to name and locate the 7 continents and 4 major oceans as well as the general location of Los Angeles on a world map.

For the Arts we will focus on Visual Art and its 7 basic elements.

Sixty-Fourth Day of School

The principal was impressed by our unit projects. Each child that had a completed project presented it to the principal who then interviewed the child regarding their worker descriptions. We then challenged him to a game of noun claps. We were unable to trick him but it was fun.

At-Home Support

In order to complete one of the unit projects for the next unit, students will need to collect favorite family jokes, riddles, and anecdotes. As family members come to visit this week, have your child take notes on jokes and funny stories family members remember. Notes can also be taken over the 3 week winter holiday break.

Happy holiday to everyone!

Sixty-Third Day of School

First progress reports will be sent home tomorrow.

We have begun our study of clock reading. We will be required to read an analog clock to the hour and half-hour.

Most if not all students will have a Thanksgiving surprise completed to take home tomorrow.

Eight students were able to complete their unit projects. Some students were able to complete more than one  project. All completed projects will be reviewed by the principal tomorrow.

Unit 2 Week 5 Preview

For the next few instructional days we will ask what neighbors do together for fun. Our oral vocabulary words will be: audience, entertain, brilliant, enjoy, perform. Our sight words will be: all, put, show, together, under, want. In phonics we will be introduced to the digraphs 'sh,' and 'th'. We will again generate retells and summaries of our selections using visualization and Flow Maps

Sixtieth Day of School

Six students have completed their unit projects.

Today we are bringing home a sample of "gak" from our science experiment. It is fairly harmless if a few simple precautions are heeded:

1. It is not edible.
2. It should be kept away from any textile which can not be thrown into a washing machine.

This week we wrote cards which will be sent to armed service workers by one of our parents volunteering this weekend for Veterans' Day. Hope everyone has a good holiday.

Unit 2 Week 4 Preview

Continuing our exploration of families and neighbors, we ask the question: what is a home? Our oral vocabulary words are collapse, company, construct, entire, and material. Our high-frequency focus words are again, could, make, one, then, three. For spelling we will focus on short-vowel 'u'. Our grammar rule will be proper nouns and capitalization.

Monday we will read our class president speeches and Tuesday we will vote. A copy of our voting ballot with those children making speeches will be sent home. This, along with a copy of their speech may be an example of those documents you might consider scanning or typing to your child's flash drive.

For discussion: What constitutes a home? (A family or dweller, the building materials, and the neighborhood or community.)

Unit 2 Week 3 Preview

This week we will emphasize comparing the past and the present (tested) and review comparing the effects of geography on lifestyles (tested) in order to be able to pass a test on Friday in Science and Social Science if all goes as expected. Students should be bringing home their notes from class today in order to study (discuss) with you for their test. They should be able to name several differences in lifestyle between people that live in a warm climate from those that live in the cold. They should also be able to mention some differences between living in the past and the present. We discussed differences in shopping (in the past- fewer stores with a wider variety of items and services), transportation (in the past- slower animal-powered vehicles on dirt roads), school (in the past- one-room school buildings for all ages without computers), and clothing (in the past- long-sleeved dresses and shirts with high collars and bows or ties, stockings or high socks and boots).

We will be spelling with 's' and 'r' consonant blends this week (step, spend, grab, trap).

Six students have completed seminar for their worker report. Those completing so far have done a very good job. They have not only demonstrated their skill in writing composition but their diligence and independence to work to completion.

Reading logs are due on Wednesday.

Topic 7 Math Test

Twenty-one students passed this test with a score of 16 (adjusted) or better. Thirteen students scored 20 points or better and there was one perfect score.

Forty-Eighth Day of School

Today we worked on our Tree Map describing our neighborhood worker. Four students have completed this task and have begun work on the draft of their worker report. We will publish our work as a poster for the worker.

In Social Science we discussed how the climate of a particular region affects the transportation, dress, and recreation of the people who live there (tested) We discussed how the resources of an area largely determines the materials used to build shelter (tested).

We took our topic 7 math test today and results will be forthcoming.

We will soon be ready to begin our timed math tests for facts up to 12. Perfect scores achieved on these tests receive a star on the star chart.

For discussion:

Why do the people of Alaska and the people of California dress differently?
What can the people of Spain and the people of California both do for fun that people who live in Alaska can not do? Conversely, what can the people of Alaska do that we cannot?

Home Activity Suggestion 2

We are two weeks away from our national election day. Every year Room 11 has the tradition of electing a class president. This supports the government portion of our Social Science standards.

Those students interested in running for class president will work on a speech at home to be delivered to the class on November 5, 2012. On November 6th we will vote for who we feel will make the best class president for the 2012-13 school year.

Unit 2 Week 2 Preview

This week we discuss cooperation and our role in helping out. We discuss families and neighbors working together to help each other. Our oral vocabulary words are appreciate, partner, cooperate, responsibility, and delectable. This week we will continue with the comprehension strategy of summarizing. We will focus on short vowel 'e' (tell, went) in spelling and touch on long 'o' spelled 'o_e' (hope, note). Our sight vocabulary words are eat, no, of, some, who. For grammar we will pluralize nouns requiring '-es' (lunches, dishes). We will complete a simple Flow Map in order to retell a story. We will complete our personal Tree Map of favorites and then begin work on a Tree Map which we will use for the brainstorming (prewrite) of our unit project on neighborhood workers. I would expect for our parents to know the neighborhood worker of their child's choosing and to be discussing the tools, dress, and duties of the worker in order to facilitate and improve writing fluency. 

In Social Science we will discuss at length how physical environments affect the way people live (food, shelter, clothing, transportation, recreation) (HSS 1.2.4) (tested). We will compare the environments of Alaska, Spain, and California.

In Science we will use our senses to describe a liquid which behaves like a solid.

In math we will complete topic 7 and take the test.

First District Quarterly Assessment

Of the 24 students taking the test 20 passed with 70% or better. One student passed with a perfect score and the class raw average was 78%. Five students scored 90% or better.

Forty-Fourth Day of School

We  have completed our first District Quarterly Math Exam. I will post results soon.

Today we participated in the Los Angeles Shake Out Emergency Preparedness Drill.

In Health we learned about wise choices. We learned the 6 tests for a wise decision/choice: is your decision healthful, safe, does it follow community/family guidelines, show good character, etc. We then made a "Caring Chart" to log caring actions.

Tomorrow we will complete a personal Tree Map categorizing favorite items in order to practice our Tree Map  skills for the prewrite portion of our unit project.

Topic 7 math test will be next week.

Forty-First Day of School

Today we learned the difference between a summary and a retell. We also generated a summary together of  a selection we read. Later we had another retell contest. Topic 6 math tests and school pictures were sent home.

Tomorrow morning we will take the open-ended response portion of the District Quarterly Math Exam.

Topic 6 Math Test

On topic 6 math test 22 students passed with a score of 17(adjusted) or better. One student scored perfectly while 14 students scored 20 or better.

Unit 2 Week 1 Preview

Our weekly themes in this second unit will center around our families and our neighbors having already examined ourselves, our abilities, and our growth. Our last idea about teams was that families are the most important kind of team. This week, we will explore the idea of families taking care of each other. For a unit project students will focus on a worker of their choice and write an expository piece about them. Our oral vocabulary words are guide, protect, provide, separate, wild. Our sight words are her, our, they, two. Our comprehension strategy this week will be to focus on summarizing a selection. We learn to summarize by developing the skill of distinguishing main ideas from details. Summarizing a selection is a different skill than a retell. Where a retell would be to tell a story in our own words with as much interesting detail as possible, a summary isolates only the most important ideas answering the basic questions of who? what? where? when? why? and perhaps how? This story is about a girl walking in the forest who seeks food and rest in the home of 3 bears. In phonics and spelling, will take a more detailed look at some long vowel spellings this week beginning with 'a_e'  (cane) and 'i_e' (ride) along with inflectional ending '-ed'. In grammar we will discuss sentence subjects and nouns.

For Social Science we will continue comparing and contrasting the past with the present (HSS 1.1.4) (tested). We will examine photos of schools long ago.

In Theatre Arts we will present our tableau we have used teamwork to create.

Thirty-Sixth Day of School

Today we learned about the life of Roberto Clemente. We learned about his constant charity to others less fortunate and his tragic early demise.

We have but a handful of students left to go through seminar before we close out our first Language Arts unit.

Math test on Friday, district quarterly math test the beginning of next week

Unit 1 Week 5 Preview

We close out the unit discussing what we like to do with our friends and what we can accomplish with teamwork. Our oral vocabulary words are challenging, charity, admire, focus, offer. Our sight words are help, now, use, very. We will develop our skill of identifying the author's purpose to develop the comprehension strategy of analyzing text structure. We will analyze texts where authors use description to give information. We will focus on final consonant blends (eg. -nk, -nt, -sk, -st, etc.) for decoding, and spelling.

For Social Science we will discuss the significance of Independence Day (HSS 1.3.2) and some national iconic symbols (HSS 1.3.3) (tested).

In Science we will begin to look at the properties of liquids (tested) and how they differ from those of solids. We will learn and use vocabulary concepts such to describe liquids such as opaque, transparent, translucent, and viscous.

In math we will continue with topic 6 and parts of 12.

In P.E. we will be using teamwork to accomplish various goals.

Thirty-Fourth Day of School

Twenty-Three students took topic 5 math test today; 20 students passed with a score of 16 or better. We achieved 3 perfect scores and 12 students scored 20 or better.

Today we were introduced to the idea of judging with criteria, a critical thinking technique. The process was demonstrated to judge our first story retell competition. Four groups presented a story-retell judged on the parameters of accuracy, clarity, and delivery.

Thirty-Second Day of School

Eight students have made it through the seminar process so far. One student felt motivated enough to go through seminar twice (having written 2 personal narratives) and already has word processed one which was copied to a flash drive. Three students have published their narratives. Several more students are on the verge of the seminar process.

We will take the topic 5 math test on Thursday.

For discussion: What is the topic of your personal narrative? Tell me some of the details of that topic.

Topic 4 Math Test

A score of 16  was a passing grade on this test, achieved by 16 students.  Five students scored at least 20 or more.

Unit 1 Week 4 Preview

During week 4 we will tread lightly on the subject of pets. We will read/listen to various selections about pets including a nonfiction selection about White House Pets. Our oral vocabulary words are adorable, dear, needs, sensible, and train. We will continue the comprehension strategy of analyzing story structure using the skill of recognizing parts of the plot. Our sight words will be come, down, good, pull. In spelling we will focus on words having an initial consonant blend with the letter 'l' (fl-, pl-, cl-). We will continue working our way through seminar. Those students who are ready may start working on publishing their pieces. At this point it would be helpful for some students to have access to a personal flashdrive for the purpose of publishing their work and creating a digital portfolio. I can hold onto flashdrives or they can be kept in backpacks. They do not need a large storage capacity. It is helpful if they have some identifying characteristic (label or keychain).

In Social Science we will discuss traditions in a variety of contexts, for example, the classroom, community, and family. (HSS 1.5.1) We will also begin comparing the past with the present (tested) reading a nonfiction selection titled Learn About the Past. 

In Math we will begin topic 5. Our focus will be the number 10 as we use physical models, diagrams, tables, and expressions to form equivalencies (NS 1.3).

Last week's Science lesson will become this week's lesson.

At Home Suggestion

As I mentioned at Back-To-School, when reading your selections at home, try to locate together the exact point in a story where the middle begins. Make a game of it-see who can locate it first. Have your child retell the story using sentence frames such as, "In the beginning of the story...,The story takes place...The main character of the story is...In the middle of the story...The problem that the main character faces is...At the end of the story..."

Parent Conferences

Parent conference notices were sent home today. Please tear off, sign, and return.

Twenty-Seventh Day of School

Today we discussed the difference between rights and responsibilities in social studies. All students were unfamiliar with the concept of rights which is to be expected for 1st grade.

Two students were able to complete seminar today. In order to complete seminar a student has finished their personal narrative rough draft. The students have now had 90 minutes total to write their rough draft. The next step of the process is to revise the draft and then to proofread it. The final step will be to publish.

Topic 4 math test on Thursday

For discussion: What responsibilities do you have as a citizen? as a student? as a family member? What is a right? Can you give an example of a right?

Twenty-Sixth Day of School

We thought it more important to take the time to go outside and see if we could catch a glimpse of the space shuttle rather than do our science lesson. We were very glad we did so when we were treated to a direct fly-over right above our heads. We probably will remember that for many years to come.

Once again students have an optional math assignment to complete this weekend.

Conference scheduling notices will be sent this coming week for conferences on the following week.

Twenty-Fourth Day of School

I have completed the initial beginning of the year reading battery. The battery is composed of 4 tests. The beginning battery does not have a comprehension component. I have posted results for the fluency portion of the test in the classroom if parents would like to stop by and take a look. If we compare scores normed to all first grade students we would see that students scoring at 30 WPM at this point in the year would be ranked at the 75th percentile. One requirement for a 3 on the first progress report in reading is a fluency score of 30 WPM. For future academic success, 45 WPM at the 12 week mark would be desirable. For a 4 on the first progress report 80 WPM is required.

Thank you to all parents taking an active role in their child's first grade year. I can definitely tell which parents are discussing classroom activities with their children at home. Thank you to those parents who have shared pictures with us this week.

We now have 9 students completed with the 2nd math report.

There is currently a 2-way tie for first place on the star chart with a total of 6 stars each. In past years, the winning star total has usually been around 28 stars.

If a math homework paper is sent back home to be corrected, please make sure your child makes the necessary corrections and returns it to school for complete credit.

Unit 1 Week 3 Preview

In this week's instruction we focus on  how we will change and how we have changed as we grow. If your child would like to bring in a photo showing themselves as a baby, we could display these and guess who they grew into. We will also explore how animals change as they grow. We will draw conclusions about animals that change greatly and those that may only change in size as they mature. We will analyze text for character, setting, and plot. We will focus on spelling patterns: ,-in, -it, -iss. Our oral vocabulary words will be change, adult, learn, imitate, and practice. Our reading sight words will be be, ride, and run. In grammar we will distinguish between statements and questions. We will continue writing our All About Me books and begin to work on our narrative piece to wrap up this unit's writing task.

In Social Studies, we will discuss the difference between rights and responsibilities and what they mean for United States citizenship (HSS 1.1).

In P.E. we will toss and catch.

Last week in Science we generated a list of properties for various solids that we observed. This week we will decide which of those properties are most useful for various tasks.

In Math we will continue with topic 4 and building our understanding of subtraction and its relation to addition.

In Health we will discuss why it is important to keep our bodies healthy. We will discuss trustworthiness, caring, and responsibility.

Twenty-Second Day of School

Eight students have completed the 2nd math report. Five students have shown the entire American Sign Language alphabet for the class.

Topic 3 math tests went home today.

Topic 3 Math Test

Some definite patterns begin to emerge as 22 of 24 students pass the topic 3 math test with a score of 16 or better. Six students earned a perfect score while 16 earned a score of 20 or greater.

Desk Faerie

Room 11 has already been visited by the desk faerie twice this year. The desk faerie will only enter neat desks to leave a treat. In this way he helps out the teacher by providing an extra motivation for keeping students' materials organized. The desk faerie knows how important this is for a smooth running classroom. Lessons can only move as fast as the least organized child. Organizing materials is a graded study habit on the report card. Consider asking your child how often their desk has been visited.

Twentieth Day of School

To date, students have been assigned two in-class math reports. All but 3 students have completed the first math report (pattern report). Four students have so far completed the second math report (train report). All completed reports are currently displayed.

Today we examined 4 distinct biomes and and the creatures who inhabit them. We also took a look at various geographical features and made observations.

As a part of our movement theme-of-the-week, we learned a song called Mi Cuerpo Hace Musica.

On Friday we finished learning the American Sign Language Alphabet and are waiting for the first person to sign the alphabet in front of the class.

Unit 1 Week 2 Preview

During week 2 we discuss how physical activity is an important part of our lives. We learn how activity keeps our bodies healthy and strong. Our oral vocabulary words are movement, energy, express, exhausted, and stretch. Our sight words are: it, over, too. We will analyze story structure to discover selections with patterned text. Examples of famous patterned text are Monday, Monday, I like Monday (Bill Martin Jr.), and The Important Book (Margaret Wise Brown). Ask your librarian for other examples. Patterned texts often become bedtime favorites and re-reading them is a good way to build fluency. We will not often use a patterned text for retelling purposes. We will read the West African folktale The Great Rope Tug and diagram the story together using a Flow Map to highlight the beginning, middle, and end. We will continue to encode and decode single syllable words with short vowels (a, e, i). We will listen to rhyme, movement, and rhythm in poetry.

In Social Studies we will look briefly to the original people of Australia and learn that a tradition is a special way of doing something. often repeated annually that becomes part of a people's culture.

In Science we will continue with the states of matter by observing a collection of solids and generating a list of properties.

In Math we will finish up our introduction to addition and begin topic 4 on an introduction to subtraction. We will see how closely subtraction is related to addition by finding missing parts (addends) of a whole number.

Eighteenth Day of School

We had to have different homework today because the math lesson is just taking longer than expected. This also means the math test will be pushed up to Thursday.

Seventeenth Day of School

Students have an optional page of homework for the weekend. If you decide to have your child complete the page, I will collect it on Tuesday.

Discussion focus: What are the 3 states of matter? What liquids and solids do we have present in our house? What is your favorite liquid? How can a solid be transformed into a liquid? (add heat) How can a liquid be transformed into a solid? (remove heat).

You may be interested to see your child open their "magic box" and put on their clown costume (Drama).

Math test Wednesday.

Fifteenth Day of School

Some students were sent home with extra homework in reading or math based on recent test score performance. This will continue until those students show consistent satisfactory performance on tests or other performance measures. Additionally, all students have in their possession a reading log for the month of September.

Some students should be able to describe the characteristics of a fairy tale and relate details from the story The Princess and the Pea. Some students will have a working knowledge of the words: cheerful, unique, interest, prefer, and genuine.

Last night's math homework had the perfect example of a question I spoke about at Back-to-School. A variety of answers were acceptable; a concise answer would look like: "I know this is true because 8 + 0 = 8." Some answers were actually better and more descriptive. When writing lines are provided for a response, make sure your child responds with a complete sentence. Grammatically, it is unnecessary to spell out numbers unless a number is beginning a sentence. For example: Eight is the answer because 8 - 0 = 8. Sentences should begin with a capital letter and end with a period; otherwise, they do not qualify as sentences.

Discussion questions: What activities do you prefer? What makes you unique as an individual? How did the prince know that he had found a genuine princess? 

Unit 1 Week 1 Preview

As a part of our theme: What Makes Us Special, our focus questions are: What do we like to do, and how do the things we like to do make us special? We will discover that the things we like to do help to make us who we are. Our vocabulary words for the week are cheerful, interest, unique, prefer, and genuine. We will analyze story structure for the beginning, middle, and end (comprehension strategy). We learn that this is the way that most realistic fiction stories are structured and that good readers pay attention to these parts (R 1.3.1). We will also pay special attention to the characters and setting of stories (comprehension skill). In phonics we will blend words and identify rhymes with short 'a' and short 'i'. Our reading sight words for the week are jump, not, up. In grammar we will discuss how a sentence tells a whole idea. We will continue with our Unit Project while referring to our 2 previously constructed Thinking Maps. We will analyze the structure of the fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. We will analyze how an author develops character by what they say and do. In writing we discuss and practice how using describing words adds detail and interest. We will listen to the fable, Town Mouse and Country Mouse, and discover how preferences make characters unique. We will read an informational text and use structure to deduce main idea.

In Science we will make a connection between what we have been learning in music and what we know about Alexander Graham Bell and discuss the discipline of acoustical science and engineering. In life science we discuss basic needs of people and animals using the vocabulary: shelter, energy. We will also begin our physical science unit on matter.

In P.E. we will work on balance, catch and toss to ourselves and to a partner.

In Math we will continue with our notion of parts of a whole and joining groups to come to an understanding of addition and how to relate those ideas in standard notation. Special note to parents: In past years, 1st grade students have not only been asked to find the sum on the right side an addition sentence, but to also balance equations presented in somewhat unexpected manner for 1st graders. For example: find the missing part in:

• 2 + _ = 7 
• 7 = 2 + _
• 2 = 7 - _
• 7 __ 2 + 5  (choose the correct symbol)

Topics for discussion:

• How are you different than other people in your family/class? How is your family different than other families?
• What are the states of matter?
• What does an animal need in order to survive? 

Thirteenth Day of School

You should find your child's math test in their backpack. I sent the new lesson's homework home. I told them it was optional. I will correct and record it on Tuesday if your child decides to turn it in.

Please remember that Tuesday is a regular dismissal schedule (2:04).

Some students will be able to retell to you events of Alexander Graham Bell's early life (his deaf mother taught him how to play piano, he tried to invent a talking machine, and one that would make his dog speak), young adult life (he taught deaf students how to talk), and later life (he collaborated with Thomas Watson to invent the telephone, he made it possible to talk across the U.S.).

Some students may also recall traditions from other countries regarding what children do with their baby teeth.

Topic 2 Math Test

Twenty Students of the 24 taking the test passed with a score of 13 pts. (72% adjusted) or more. High score was 25 pts. Seven students scored 20 pts. or higher. The modal score was 21.

Again, it took the class much longer to take the test than usual. There was not enough time remaining to start topic 3. I sent the topic introduction activities home for home study. It does not need to be returned.

Start Smart Conclusion

This week we will continue to review more sounds and letter formation. All students have been assessed in oral phonics skills and sight word reading. We have begun our Unit Project. We will be authoring a book entitled All About (name of student). We will continue work on this project over the next 2 weeks.

Tomorrow we will participate in our first VAPA (district) drama lesson with Ms. Jordahl.

Reminders and Notes

The PearsonSuccessNet access code was sent home today with your child.

Our second math test will be on Wednesday.

The first reading log is due on Thursday.

Instructions For Math Program Registration PearsonSuccessNet

In order to complete the registration process, a registration code is necessary which I will be sending home this week.

First time users: 
To register in SuccessNet:

1. Go to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com
2. Click Register
3. On the first screen, type the class access code above in the access code field.
4. Follow the instructions to register.Please DO NOT use your full name as your user name.
   Write your user name on the blank line above exactly as you typed it.
5. At the end of registration process, the SuccessNet login page appears.
6. Log in by typing your user name and password.

Existing users:
To enroll in this class:

1. Go to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com.
2. Log in by typing your existing user name and password.
3. From your Home Page, click My Account.
4. Click Add Class/Group
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Topic 1 Math Test

The scores for our topic 1 math test were a bit underwhelming this year. I was surprised at some students' performances. With an adjusted score for the difficulty of some items 21 students passed with a score of 14 or better of the 23 students present to take the test. The high score was 22.

Tests will be returned tomorrow.

Seventh Day of School

We took our 1st topic math test today. We ran out of time to begin our next Math topic so we will now be behind. There is no need to return tonight's "homework" (the topic 2 preview game sheet) so students will not be turning in homework tomorrow.

I acknowledged one student's homework today in class who actually correctly answered the open response question. The students were supposed to write a problem for the picture of the 3 dogs and the 2 bones. A best answer response would have been: "How many more dogs than bones are there?" or "How many dogs will not get a bone?" An incorrect response would have been to suggest adding the number of dogs to the number of bones. This will be an important idea for later topic concepts. If there are 3 apples and 2 oranges, one doesn't ask: "How many are there altogether?", but rather: "How many fruit are there altogether?" So to extend the idea to algebraic terms, 3A + 2O does not equal 5AO.

We reviewed the Golden Rule in class today. It may be a good idea to review the principle at home for continuity. I was very surprised to learn how many children were unfamiliar with this concept.

It is not necessary for students to bring their reading log to school each day. I will review them all on the last school day of the month.

Conversation starter: We heard the story Aunt Minnie and the Twister. All students should be able to relate what happened to Aunt Millie's house. A high producing student should be able to define the term setting and tell what the setting of the story was (springtime on a farm in Kansas), who the main characters were (Aunt Minnie and the children), the middle of the story (a tornado), and the end (the house was turned around to face the johnny house so Aunt Minnie had a new front built for the back of the house). They should also be able to distinguish the genre (realistic fiction) from that of a folktale.

Students really should be wearing a shoe substantial enough to require socks. That is to say, socks should be worn every day to school. Shoes for school in 1st grade are not fashion statements but rather functional items to protect feet comfortably.

Start Smart Week 2 Preview

The next 5 days of instruction will be our 2nd week of Language Arts review. We will continue with sound spelling card review, proper letter formation as well as isolation of initial and final phonemes, and syllable segmentation. We will continue with rhyme identification and begin rhyme generation. Last week we briefly reviewed sequence of events as a strategy for analyzing story structure. This week we will briefly reintroduce the concepts of beginning, middle, and end of a narrative piece.

We will have our first topic test in Math on Wednesday. Look for test results to be posted towards the end of the week. We will begin the study of our second topic (time permitting) on Wednesday, comparing and ordering numbers. This topic reviews the ideas of 'greater than' and 'less than'. This is a short topic which means we will have our second Math test next week.

We will continue our introductory lessons of our violence prevention (Second Step) program. We are on our 3rd lesson. We are learning how to identify emotions based on observation in order to make it easier to foster friendships.

We will continue with last week's PE concepts and add spacial awareness and boundary recognition.

Home Activity Suggestion 1

Every week have each member of the family keep an eye out for something they would want to read aloud to the rest of the family. This item might be a limerick, fortune cookie, greeting card, comic strip, etc. Physical pieces might even be saved in a scrapbook type collection over the year.

Back-To-School Addendum

It was very to nice to meet all of the concerned parents at Back-To-School Night last night. I hope you felt the time was well spent. Please feel free to use the comment section to add further questions or to let me know if there was some information you felt was especially helpful, surprising, or maybe something that was left out.

Speaking of things left out, a few things I forgot:

1) If you will recall when I was speaking about our math program and some of the methods we will use to learn our new concepts, I forgot that I was also going to tell you about a recurring theme which will show up in a variety of math tests this year. Your child will be asked often to explain how they know that a particular answer is correct. For example, if your child makes that claim that 7 + 5 = 12. A perfectly acceptable way to show that they know this is true is to use inverse operations. Since the inverse operation of addition is subtraction, your child may simply assert that they know 7 + 5 = 12 because 12 - 5 = 7.

2) A further math heads-up is that children in 1st grade are expected to learn to tell time to the half-hour and to count and identify pennies, nickels, dimes, and half dollars.

3) A couple of special days I failed to mention are of course Halloween and Valentine's Day. We will not be sharing any special treats on Halloween. We will have a Halloween parade to show off our costumes in the afternoon. Children are expected to bring their costume in a bag and will change after lunch. I would very much appreciate assistance in the putting on of costumes, in fact, I try to stay out of the way as much as possible for this activity. Girls change in room 8 with Mrs. Ramirez. Boys change in room 11 with my parent volunteers. For Valentine's Day, we will share treats and trade our special this and that's and we just love Valentine's Day in 1st grade.

Start Smart Week 1 Preview

In our first unit of learning we will explore some of the things that make people unique. This week we will look at the characteristics of ourselves and others that make us special. Within this idea we will review the simple elegance of the Golden Rule for our Social Science lesson as we reinforce the importance of respecting the differences we discover in others (HSS 1.1.2).

For the first 3 weeks in Language Arts, we will review many of the concepts learned in Kindergarten. We will review the Kindergarten sight words as well as letter sounds and proper writing formation. We will also review rhyme and syllable segmentation. We will be reintroduced to our first thinking maps, the Circle Map and the Bubble Map as we learn how to describe ourselves in order to begin our first theme project: a book about ourselves.

In Math we will review number sense concepts emphasizing visual patterns and ideas for the numbers 0-12.

In Music we will discuss pitch and rhythm.

In PE we will focus on balance and cooperation.

Welcome to Room 11

This blog has been created to keep parents and guardians of the students in room 11 at Caroldale Learning Community informed about daily activities in our classroom and school. Please discuss what you read here with your children when appropriate. Ask them clarifying questions. They don't necessarily need to know how you know what happened during their day, they should simply know that you are informed. Feel free to  respond to what you read. Please remember the most efficient way to communicate with me on timely issues is to write a note on or attached to your child's homework. Try to avoid including students' names when responding to posts. General comments and questions are best in this arena. For convenience, you might consider linking to this page through an rss feed or through the google reader application.

Thank you,

Mr. B