MAP Testing and PBL Time!

This week we will be MAP testing in 1st grade.

Today we finished the ELA part. Tomorrow we will work on the Math portion of the test.

PBL (Project Based Learning):

Yesterday we began our PBL "Specialty Shop" Project. We will be learning about different things in all subject areas that we need to know in order to create our shop.

This is one of my favorite activities to work on with my students! 

Yesterday, students worked together for a Nearpod activity where they learned about consumers, producers, and goods. We are learning how each plays an important part

 in our specialty store project PBL.

We did a tally activity where we learned about what other students prefer when it comes to chocolate. We found out that it is important to know what the consumers prefer when determining what items we will have in our shop.

Today we took the next step by creating our very own store name and determining what "goods" we will sell in our shops. 

This afternoon we worked with a buddy on Nearpod to learn about maps. We will take a closer look at maps tomorrow as we determine the best location for our stores. We will be learning about the compass rose, how to read a map, and words like rural and urban.

We also constructed our stores by working on partitioning rectangles into halves and fourths. We created 3D stores. We will also use these stores for Science as we learn how the sun moves across the sky.

More to come in the weeks ahead!

We finished reading all of the Cinderella stories (I think)!

Today the students had a discussion on their favorite Cinderella book.

They had to share the name of the book and provide at least two reasons why that book was their favorite. We will be doing a writing activity in the upcoming days to complete this project.

Have a great week!

This Week in Room 8 (4/30 to 5/4)

ELA:
This week we continue with our Cinderella unit. This week we will read versions from Korea and China. As we read, we will make connections, compare and contrast, and identify key details in the text. We will also make observations from the common key elements in fairy tales. We will dig deeper this week at writing how the two stories are alike and different.


We will also work on the following skills:

• Including specific examples from text as we compare and contrast
• Determining the order of sentences in a paragraph
• Revisiting context clues to help understand the meaning of an unknown word

We have finished with our first grade Word Wall list. This week we are focusing on understanding the differences between their, there, they're, your, you're, too, to, and two!

This week in writing we will begin our Poetry Unit!

MATH:

We will continue to work on the following skills at our "just right" levels:

• telling time to the hour, half-hour (quarter-hour, five minutes, and exact time)
• money
• using our knowledge of the hundreds chart to add numbers within 100 (Example of the strategy thinking: 53 +24... Find the larger number, 53 on the hundreds chart. Add two groups of 10 by going down two rows on the hundreds chart counting 10, 20. At this point, you are on 73. Now, add four to the number and you end up on 77). 

If you are looking for ways to challenge your child at home, please explore Freckle! Your child can work on his/her adaptive level on both ELA or Math skills on the app. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Science:

We are going to learn more about how shadows change depending on the time of day. We will build, draw, and observe!

The First Grade Art Show (6 p.m.) and Music Show (6:30 p.m.) is Wednesday, April 18th. 

ELA:
We will continue our Cinderella unit. We will be reading versions of Cinderella from Africa this week. As we read, we will make connections, compare and contrast, and identify key details in the text. We will also make observations from the common key elements in fairy tales.

We will also work on the following skills:

• homophones
• continued practice on making connections- understanding the order of events in a story or text
• compound words
• continued practice on main idea and key details

This week we begin our final 6 week session and groupings of Words Their Way.

MATH:

This week we will be working on the following skills:

• Measurement to the nearest whole unit (or to the nearest 1/2, 1/4 inch- just right fit)
• Continue to work on telling time to the hour/ half-hour (or to the quarter, five minute interval, minute, and elapsed time)
• Reviewing graphing and interpreting data skills
• Continue to build on 3-D shape knowledge
• Continue to work on just right math fluency (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing at a just right fit)

Science:

This week we will continue our new unit on Sky Patterns. We will be learning about how sunlight can create shadows and how the shadows can change during the day.

LEADER IN ME:

We will be focusing on how we can be leaders and help take care of our Earth.

Friends, Fractions, Faces, and Flowers!

We were so excited to get back and see our friends after Spring Break!

Fraction Memory! We are becoming experts at identifying and matching fractions.

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How many vertices, faces, and edges are in the 3D shape?

We were busy constructing 3D shapes. Afterwards, we went on Seesaw to document how many vertices, faces, and edges were in each shape.

"I can feel my brain stretching," said one Cacioppo Leader.

We worked on spreading kindness to Mrs. Sutic in honor of Assistant Principal Week.

Students made a flower petal to write words of appreciation.

We have been using FrontRow for both reading and math. Students have been working on identifying the main idea and also making connections by remember the key details/order in text.

We also like having choice when we pick an article to read and answer the questions. 

The Green Leaders here at Kipling helped us remember the importance of taking care of planet Earth.

Our leader is sharing his adventures with Purple Hoser.

During our LEAD Time, students met with their accountability partners to share their accomplishments so far this school year. We also took time to reflect on our WIGs and look to see if we have met our goal or not.

Our leader is sharing his talent with the class.

Our Guest Reader came to read a fairy tale to the class.

We created our 7Habits flower.

Students reflected on what they do and gave examples for how they live the 7Habits.

This Week in Room 8 (4/9 to 4/13)

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing Spring Break. I was very thankful to spend some time with my family and good friends.

The First Grade Art and Music Show is Wednesday, April 18th at 6 p.m. More information will be coming home to you from Mr. Schwartz and Ms. Foran. 

ELA:
This week we begin our Cinderella unit. We will be reading versions of Cinderella from all over the world. This week we will read versions from France and Ireland. As we read, we will make connections, compare and contrast, and identify key details in the text. We will also make observations from the common key elements in fairy tales.

We will also work on the following skills:

• making connections- understanding the order of events in a story or text
• compound words
• main idea and key details
• distinguishing shades of meaning among verbs (look, peek, glance, stare, scowl) and adjectives of differing intensity (large, gigantic)

We are finished with our first grade Word Wall list. I sent home a list of the words today. We will continue to work on writing these words with accuracy through the end of the school year. 

MATH:

We will continue to work on the following skills at our "just right" levels:

• telling time to the hour, half-hour (quarter-hour, five minutes, and exact time)
• fractions
• composing 3-D shapes
• adding and subtracting within 100 (and beyond)

Science:

This week we begin our new unit on Sky Patterns. We will be answering the following questions:

• What do you see in the sky?
• Where is the sun in the sky?
• How long is the sun in the sky?

LEADER IN ME:

We are working on organizing all of the information in our Leadership Binder. Our class has grown so much since the beginning of the year. We can't wait to show you our growth on Showcase Night on April 26th. More information will be coming home soon about this special event!

This Week in Room 8 (3/26 to 3/30)

ELA:
This week we will be working on the following skills:

• /o/ spelled au or aw
• recalling main idea and key details in fiction and non-fiction text

Word Wall Words:

• together
• shall
• laugh

Writing:

This week we will continue on our series writing. 

We will continue to add the following pieces to our writing:

• include dialogue between different chracters
• expand vocabulary and expand beyond "said"
• recognize and create a pattern in our series writing

MATH:

This week we will be working on the following skills:

• fractions
• measurement and data
• adding and subtracting with/without regrouping
• solving and explaining strategies with word problems

SCIENCE:

This week we are synergizing with the other first grade classrooms on a engineering design project! Today we found out who will be in our group and which first grade classroom we will be working in during science time. We also got to pick our job for the project (timer, note taker, presenter starter, and sketcher). Be sure to ask your child all about it!

LEADER IN ME:

Today we created our classroom chart for our ST Math WIG for First Grade. Our goal before the end of the year is to reach 100%. Each week we will be checking in to see how we grow on our chart. If/when your child reaches 100% for first grade, he/she will get to move on to the Second Grade goal for ST Math!

We are also making headway on our Rocket Math Goals! Our celebration time is becoming a favorite time in the class. We clap and cheer on our friends as they make their way through the different levels for ST Math. Way to go, Cacioppo Crew!

This Week in Room 8 (3/19 to 3/23)

ELA:
This week we will be working on the following skills:

• review contractions
• /o/ spelled au or aw
• /ou/ spelled ow or ou
• continued practice with nouns, verbs, and adjectives

Word Wall Words:

• show
• far
• draw
• clean
• grow

Writing:

This week we will continue on our series writing. 

We will be learning how to do the following:

• include dialogue between different chracters
• expand vocabulary and expand beyond "said"
• recognize and create a pattern in our series writing

Comprehension:

We will be using role-playing to see how the character acts to gain a better understanding of how the character felt, what kind of person he/she is, and what that character might do next.

MATH:

This week we will be working on the following skills:

• fractions
• continued 2-D and 3-D skill practice
• adding and subtracting with/without regrouping
• solving and explaining strategies with word problems

SCIENCE:

We will be taking a look and learning about how deep the ocean goes!

LEADER IN ME:

Did you know that Kipling collected 202 pajama/book sets for the Pajama Program? My heart is absolutely bubbling over! Way to go, Kipling!