In Writing today, we added transitions to our narratives. For those parents following along at home. Remember, we add transitions to every time we turn a page.
Math Workshop application problem:
Jonathan has 3 stickers. Marlin has 4 stickers. Anne Marie has 5 stickers. They each get 2 more stickers. How many stickers do they each have now.
Science focus questions:
Today in Writing we drafted our entire second narrative. Most writers were able to draft all 3 pages.
Math Workshop application problem: Marla and Carla are twins. Whatever Marla has, Carla has as well. Marla has 4 dolls. How many dolls do they have together? Together they have 10 stuffed animals. How many does Carla have? How many toys do they have altogether?
We took a fluency test for bonds for 8. Grades have been posted to Schoology.
In Writing today, we touch and talked our new stories. Starting Monday, we will begin drafting.
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.
Today in Writing, we chose our memorable moment for our next round of writing. This simply meant referring to our list of moments and circling the one we will write about.
Today's Math Workshop application problem:
Vincent counts 12 toy goldfish. Six of the fish are orange. The rest of the fish are spotted. How many of the fish are spotted?
Grades will not be posted for this problem in Schoology.
Today we took a fluency test for bonds of 7.
Grades are posted for this test in Schoology.
In Writing, we added closings to our narratives. A closing gives your reader the idea that the retelling of your memorable moment is over. The easiest way to close a memorable moment is to end with a superlative and/or a feeling:
This was the most exciting thing to ever happen to me.
The narratives were collected and evaluated for necessary elements to pass the standard. If a narrative was missing only one element at this point, the paper was scored as a 3. If more than one element was missing, a 2. If the paper was not recognizable as a narrative, a 1.
If your child has school issued electronic device, please make sure they bring it to school with them every day and charged.
In Writing today, we added openings to our narratives. The opening is perhaps one of the more challenging elements to add for first graders. In writing a good opening, our goal is to hook our readers into wanting to read our story. One way to do this is to focus on the initial or overriding emotion of the story all the while not giving away too much of the story's content:
I don't think I've ever been so surprised in my life. Two years ago, I went to visit my friend in...
Another strategy is to ask your reader a question:
Have you ever been so surprised, you forgot to be scared? Two years ago, I went to visit my friend in...
Many of the students this year are struggling some with the narrative structure. So, rather than go on to revising, we will add our final element tomorrow (closure), then begin again with one of our story ideas. In 2 or so weeks we will then have 2 stories from which to choose to do revisions.
The Math Workshop application problem of the day:
Jordan had 3 pencils in a container. His teacher gave him 4 more pencils. How many pencils did Jordan now have?
Grades for this assignment have been posted to Schoology
In Writing today, we learned about transitions (CCSS W.1.2), a necessary element for narratives. We learned that we should use them to transition from the setting into the plot (from page 1 into page 2) and again between each plot point (from page 2 into page 3). Transitions can be words like: then, next, suddenly. Transitions can also be noises: BOOM! (what happened?), quotations, or cliff hangers. They are words, phrases, or passages which connect one happening to the next.
In Writing today, we drafted our setting and our plot. We specifically write only one sentence per page in black ink. This gives us some strict sentence writing practice making sure our sentences are complete and have ending punctuation. They also provide the backbone of our story.
In Math we took a fluency exam for bonds of 6. Grades for this test have been posted to Schoology.
In Writing today, we drafted the plot (what?) of our narratives. This is involved writing the 'what happened' (p. 2) and the 'what happened next' (p.3). Each should be one sentence in length.
The Math Workshop application problem:
Laura had 5 fish. Her mother gave her 1 more. Laura's brother, Franklin, had 1 fish. Their mother gave him 5 more.
"Hey, that's not fair! He has more fish than I do!" complained Laura.
Grades for this assignment have been posted to Schoology.
In Writing, we vocalized the plots (the what?) of our narratives. Per standard, first graders should be able to distinguish plot from setting and order 2 or more events in a story.
The Math Workshop application problem of the day:
Dylan has 4 cats and 2 dogs. Samuel has 1 mama bunny and 6 baby bunnies. Do they have the same number of pets?
Grades for this problem have been posted to Schoology.
Please note when logging into IXL students should begin in the diagnostic arena initially for approximately 20-30 minutes until IXL has established a baseline measure for your child. In the weeks thereafter, it will only be necessary to spend about 10 minutes per week in the arena. We will have a weekly contest awarding the child completing the greatest number of correct responses. Only students with up to date diagnostics will qualify for the contest after this week.
In Writing today, we completed our setting and character statements orally.
The Math Workshop application problem:
Dylan has 2 cats and 4 dogs at home. Laura has 1 dog and 5 fish. Laura says she and Dylan have an equal number of pets. Dylan thinks he has more pets than Laura. Who is right?
Grades for this report and also the reading comprehension will be posted shortly.
This coming week we will use the strategy of doubles and near doubles (doubles +1) to solve problems. See how many doubles facts your child knows from memory.
Example of a problem where the doubles strategy will help:
There are 15 kids at a party. Seven ate cake while the rest had cookies. How many kids ate cookies?
The strategy will be to apply memorized knowledge that 7 + 7 = 14, therefore one more child will have needed to eat cookies to balance the equation: 7 + (cookie kids) = 15. So, 7 + 8 = 15.
A few parents have asked about homework. We should have had a Math homework sheet on Thursday, but it got overlooked. But otherwise, as discussed at Back-to-School, there really is writing and reading homework every night. Keep in mind, the students are not writing for homework at home, but parents are. Also mentioned, if nothing else, students should be using the the IXL app about 3 times/week, spending about 10 minutes of that time in the diangnostic arena every week. Also, children should be reading and be read to every day/night (7 days). They can and should use the Amplify app.
In Writing today, we planned the setting for our narrative. Planning a setting is when we quick sketch the 'when', 'where', and 'who' with labels (when necessary) in the box above the lines on the first page of our draft. This should take an adult no more than 5 minutes to complete.
Parents: please keep a copy of your child's memorable moments list at home so your child can practice telling you those stories. The better story tellers we become, the better writers we are. Many of the last lists (the ones that came to us late) had story ideas which will NOT work for our purposes. Some lists I did not send back home because there were at least a few ideas we could use and we really need to keep moving. BUT, a memorable moment should be just that: a MOMENT. So,
In Writing today, we decided upon the setting for our narratives, vocalizing the "where" and the "when" of the story.
In Math, we continued problem solving using the counting-on strategy.
Today's Math Workshop application problem:
There were 10 bowling pins standing. Raquel knocked some over. Seven were left standing. How many pins did she knock over?
Also in Math today, we took our second fluency test for 1 greater than. Tests will be sent home tomorrow for your review.
Grades have been posted for these two assignments as well as for our basic Reading skills measures in Schoology.
In Writing today we identified and verbalized setting for narrative "small moments". Students should have been able to select a memorable moment from their list to begin thinking about setting statements. Students who do not yet have a list (which also means they likely have not been discussing their narratives at home with an adult are already at a severe disadvantage to those students already in possession of their lists.
At home, the adult will begin formulating narrative statements for their own memorable moments as their child listens in. If you would like a refresher of how this is supposed to sound, come to see me after school.
Today's Math Workshop application problem:
Joshua and Rebecca were eating raisins. Joshua had 7 raisins and took 2 more from the box. Rebecca had 9 raisins and took 2 from the box. Who had the greater number of raisins, Joshua or Rebecca?
Grades for this problem have been posted to Schoology. Rubric:
