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 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.