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.

Eighty-Third Day of School

We have begun the second part of our Early World Civilizations unit in content knowledge. We are learning about and comparing Egyptian civilation to the Babylonians. We have learned that both civilations relied heavily and were built near great rivers. They each had writing systems for keeping historical records. In the course of our discussion we learned that there are 7 continents and 4 (or 5) oceans.

There is Math homework tonight. Two math reports will be scored and reported to Schoology soon.

Tomorrow (time and circumstance permitting) we will show what we know about opinion/arguement/persuasive writing as we take our writing pretest.

In Science we began a unit on earth science where we examine Earth's relationship to the sun. We learned the term 'perihelion'. And how important the tile of the Earth's axis is in determining our weather patterns.

We have begun our middle-of-the-year Reading battery assessment for mid-year reporting.

Sixty Second Day of School

 At the end of last week, we discussed the nervous system and how it ties together and controls all of the other systems.

In Writing over the past few days, we have added transitions, openings, and closings. Shortly we will select one of our topics in which to revise.

Math application:

Shanice has 9 pencils for school. She gives 4 of them to her friends. How many pencils does Shanice have left?

Scores for this work have been posted to Schoology.

Fifty-First Day of School

In Writing today, we added our opening. We learned that one way to write an informational opening is to describe the topic without naming it. Another word for opening is "hook," as we are hooking the reader into reading our text (Insects):

    They're creepy. They're crawly. They're everywhere! 

For our content curriculum, we discussed the circulatory system.

• The circulatory system is made up of the heart, veins, arteries, and capillaries.
• Blood moves through the circulatory system bringing nutrients and oxygen to all parts of the body.
• It takes approximately 1 minute for the heart to pump blood around the body and back.
• Bonus to students of parents reading the class notes: There are approximately 60,000 miles of arteries, veins, and capiliaries in the human body.

Forty-Fourth Day of School

In Writing, we touched and talked 2 things we know about our topics. A template will be sent home so that parents may follow along with the lessons.

For our content curriculum unit, we explored the digestive system:

• The digestive system helps to break down our food into nutrients which can be used for processes by the body.
• After being chewed, muscles move the food down the esophagus into the stomach staying there for 2-3 hours until it is turned to liquid.
• It then passes into the small intestine where the nutrients are picked up by the bloodstream.
• The entire process can take 2-3 days.

Math application problem:

    

    Jordan had a set of 6 pencils. His teacher gave him another set with 7 pencils. How many pencils did Jordan have now? (Strategy: think 'doubles plus one').

There is Math homework again tonight.

Room 11 will be open tomorrow night for Family Math Night from 5-6 p.m.

Thirty-First Day of School

There is Math homework tonight. It may prove challenging to 1st graders. Today we practiced with equivalent and non-equivalent expressions today. Tomorrow our Math workshop will reflect this concept.

In our content knowledge unit, we discussed the skeletal system. Key concepts:

• Our bodies contain approximately 206 bones.
• Bones are stronger than steel.
• Bones provide support and protection for the soft parts of our body.

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.

Eleventh Day of School

 We listened to the fable A wolf in Sheeps Clothing. Moral: Things aren't always as they appear. Don't pretend to be something you're not; you may end up losing in the end.

In Science, we discussed the difference between human and animal survival needs.

There is Math homework tonight.

Don't forget, when homework is light, have your child retell one of the stories from their Memorable Moments list.

Ninth Day of School

 We got a lot done today.

Please find flyer for LAUSD interent and devices available. Pre-register at device.lausd.net.

A parent asked about qr codes. Those will soon be made and distributed.

We have been taking our reading foundations battery of tests and are almost completed. Your child's progress will be reported as a rubric score on several measures to Schoology.

We listened to the story the Dog in the Manger, from which we learned about personification as a literary device.

We began our Life Science unit. We will be studying plant and animal defenses and learning how to generate questions as scientists. Our unit focus question: How do plants and animals survive?

We worked independently on a Math report. A rubric score is posted to Schoology to show our independent work progress. The two most common errors were not providing an answer to the question and/or showing math work unrelated to the question.

Math Workshop question:

    There were 7 horses on a carousel. Five of the horses had a child riding on it. How many     horses did not have a child riding it?

There is Math homework for tonight.