Ninetieth Day of School

We are halfway through our 1st grade year. Our last lesson about ancient civilizations taught us that the Egyptians were similar to the Mesopotamians in that they also a polytheistic society who attributed control of unexplained natural phenomenon to gods. Their gods often took the form of humans with various animal heads like a crocodile or birds. Jumping a few thousands years towards the present, we began our study of ancient cultures of the Americas beginning with the Mayans. We learned that:

• Mayans lived on the Yucatan Peninsula.
• were dependent on fish and maize.
• helped each other within the community in times of need.

We have just about completed our midyear Reading assessments. We will be taking our midyear Math assessments this week. Unsatisfactory notices will be sent home soon. The district requires that a notice be sent out when a student may receive a score of 1 or 2 on the following progress report. At this time, it is not necessary for a student to know they are getting an unsatisfactory notice if that should happen. 

In Science we have been modeling our solar system to learn why and how day turns to night as well as how seasons change.

In Writing we have begun our Opinion unit. Our first step was to generate a list of possible topic. Next was to select a topic and then form an opinion. Today, we planned our arguement which means outlining reasons for our opinion.

Thirtieth Day of School

In Writing today, we shared their editing and spelling strategies. Then some writers read their stories aloud to the class.

Math application problem:

    There are 10 swings on the playground, and 7 students are using them. How many swings        are empty?

So far, all of the application problems which have been turned in as homework have all been completed to the level of a score of 4.

Score for this application problem have been recorded to Schoology.

For our content knowledge unit, we discussed how the body is make up of organs which work together to complete a task, such as digestion, as part of a system. In the body, systems network togther. These are key concepts for the unit as well as key vocabulary.

For Visual Art, we practiced whole figure gesture sketching to show bodies in action. This will come in handy for future planning as part of the writing process.

Seventeenth Day of School

In Writing today, we selected our memorable moment which will be the focus of our first story. 

Parents should find their child's first Math fluency test in their homework folder. The number at the top will be the number correctly answered in 90 seconds. Our high score was a tie at 24.

In Science we began to explore how animals survive in their environment and continued to ask questions.

For drama, we are using our whole body to tell a patterned story.

Sixteenth Day of School

In Writing today, we brainstormed people with whom and things with which we may have had memorable moments.

In Math, we practiced using all 5 models learned so far (Acting it Out, Model with 5, Number Bond, Ten Frame, and Equation). We also took our first Math fluency quiz today. Scores for this quiz will not be posted. We will go over the quiz tomorrow and it will be sent home with the number completed correctly in 90 seconds.There is Math homework today. 

For music, we are reproducing simple rhythms using rhythms sticks.

Thirteenth Day of School

Beginning of the year Reading Battery has been completed and grades have been posted to Schoology.

We will take our initial Math assessment next week.

Math homework was sent today.

We in our 2nd day of the immersion process for narrative writing. During this stage we look at anchor texts (examples) of expert writers. Thank you to those parents who have already submitted lists of their child's memorable moments. We should begin using those during brainstorming on Tuesday.

In Social Studies, we learned about some rights and responsibilities of citizens.

Question for discussion: What stories can you think of which use personification (as a literary device)?