This Week in Room 8 (4/24 to 4/28)

The First Grade Art and Music Show is Wednesday, April 26th, from 6-7 p.m.

Please check out the messages from Mr. Schwartz and Ms. Foran regarding the special evening!

I look forward to seeing you there!

ELA:

This week we will read Cinderella Stories from Asia! We are becoming experts at comparing and contrasting stories with similar features. It is amazing to see the details students are recalling from the text!

We will also work on the following skills:

• r-controlled vowels (ar, or, er/ir/ur)
• categorizing
• word endings with y and ey
• compound words

Word Wall Words:

• quit
• quite
• quiet
• was

Writing:

We will be working on adding details for where we locate evidence in text. Instead of just writing "In one book it has three step sisters. The other book has two step sisters." We will be working towards "In the original Cinderella story, Cinderella has two step sisters. In Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters there were two sisters named Nyasha and Manyara."

Math:

We will be spiraling back to visit and reinforce skills from earlier in the year. We will be working at our "just right fit" to make sure that we are making our brains grow and sparkle. :)

This week we will be working on the following skills:

• Fractions (vocabulary- equivalent and not equivalent, numerator and denominator, equal parts, equal groups)
• Time (vocabulary- hour hand, minute hand, elapsed time, quarter after, quarter til, half past)
• Identifying and counting money 

Science:

This week we will focus on the Moon!

Comic Life, Google Hangouts, and Poetry Comes to Life!

Our Leader is sharing her pictures from home!

We did a character analysis project with students from Bloomingdale, Illinois.

We looked at Peter in "Peter's Whistle" and "Whistle for Willie."

We took turns asking and answering questions about the text with our new friends.

Our class enjoyed learning more about other first grade students, hearing their ideas on the stories, and seeing life outside of Kipling!

It was a great collaboration project!

We took a closer look at the "Green Giant" by Jack Prelutsky.

Students synergized with a partner while reading the text.

We used Explain Everything to draw the picture of the Green Giant based on the 

adjectives in the text.

We had an incredible opportunity to work in the Smart Lab using Comic Life.

Students worked with a partner to create a comic that had a beginning, middle, and end.
We focused on an environment problem that the Earth is facing.

Students created Hero and Villain characters and solved the problem in the story.

Way to go, first graders!

Our Guest Reader came in today to read to the class!

Have a terrific weekend!

This Week in Room 8 (4/17 to 4/21)

Student Showcase is Thursday, April 20th, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. This is an Open House format where your child will guide you through the classroom to share his/her learning this year. Please plan to spend approximately 30 minutes for the experience. :)

ELA:
This week we continue to read Cinderella stories from around the world. Today, we finished Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. Please ask your child about Nyasha and Manyara. How did the character's actions change the events in the story? How is this story like the other Cinderella stories? How is it different?

We will also be doing a collaborative project with students from Bloomingdale, Illinois this Wednesday. The students are doing a character analysis on Peter from two books written by Ezra Jack Keats. We did an excellent job comparing the stories. Now we are looking to gain a better understanding of the character and how the events in the text cause the character to act in a certain way. We will be doing our Google Hangout Wednesday morning. I can't wait to hear the detailed conversations about the text!

We will work on the following skills:

• Reviewing nouns, verbs, and adjectives
• Categorizing and sorting words into specific categories
• Reviewing different kinds of sentences
• Phonics review and just right fit

Writing:

This week we will be writing about how we use the 7 Habits at school and at home. We are working on adding descriptive sentences that appeal to the senses and creative a picture in the reader's mind.

We will also be writing about how we can help our planet Earth. 

Science:

This week we will be learning about the Moon!

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)

Pictures from Last Week and This Week!

Don Thomas, a NASA astronaut, came to Kipling to tell about his experiences as an astronaut.

It was an amazing experience for the students!

(you could hear a pin drop)

:)

After listening to Don Thomas, students came back to the room to reflect on what they learned from the astronaut. We posted our learning on Seesaw. Be sure to check it out!

Our class LOVES solving math challenges!

In Science, we are learning about what is in the sky.

Students listened to videos on Discovery Education about the Sun.

We made our own mini-posters to teach others facts about the Sun.

We are learning about the elements of a Fairy Tale.

Students synergized on a Nearpod lesson for Fairy Tales.

We are working on fluency.

Students are working hard to see how many words they can read in a minute with a partner.

Way to go, Readers!

So far, we have read Cinderella by Marcia Brown and The Irish Cinderlad by Shirley Climo.

Students discussed how the stories are alike and different.

We are working on identifying key details in the text.

Students have been working on fact fluency.

We are challenging ourselves by working on a "just right fit" for fluency.

Today we used the Math Monsters app and worked at different levels.

Friends were amazed to see that they CAN do something that was hard for them a few weeks ago.

Practice is paying off!

The Kindergarten students led our Habit 6 assembly.

We learned why it is so important to synergize!

Congrats to our Leader for Habit 6!

We are working on a Cinderella Collaboration Project with 1st Graders in the entire DPS109 district.

After reading the different Cinderella books, we will be typing a reflection. We will also have the opportunity to see what other 1st graders think about the different books we are reading!

After reading The Irish Cinderlad, students worked creatively on sharing a summary for the book.

They could share their learning on Telestory, Toontastic, or ChatterPix.

Be sure to check it out on Seesaw!

On Friday, we had Robotics Rotations!

Students could choose to work with Dot, Cubelets, Ozobots, Coding Apps, and other new apps.

We were excited to explore Dot using the Blockly App. 

We also used some exciting apps to work with the Ozobots!

Our Leader of the Week shared his poster with the class!

We worked on a problem solving sheet where we had to read clues to determine the order of the colored ovals. I am very impressed with our determination!

Our Leader shared his pictures with the class!

Tomorrow we are doing a character analysis activity on two books from Ezra Jack Keats with first graders from Bloomingdale, IL. We will be collaborating using Google Hangouts as we buddy up with students in the other class to discuss Willie's character traits and how they 

change between the two stories.

I can't wait to post pictures of this activity tomorrow!

Today we compared the two stories for our discussion, Peter's Chair and A Whistle for Willie.