October 13-16

Hello Families!
Wow - only four days together, but it seemed like at least five with all that we accomplished! This was a week of a lot of self-reflection, and here's why...

Writer's Workshop
In writing this week we learned that we need to go from being the writer to being the reader. This means that when we reread our own books, we read them just as if we were reading a published book. Sometimes when we're reading we notice a "mess-up" and have to fix it up. This helped us to prepare our pieces for our Gallery Walk!

Each writer selected their best piece of work to display in their gallery. Alongside that piece was the very first piece they wrote in first grade. Writers also had a guest book for visitors to provide them feedback on their writing.

We all enjoyed spending time reading each other's work and reflecting on our own! 

Following our gallery walk, we joined in a circle talk about how we have grown as writers. 

Here is a sampling of some of the responses during our conversation about how we have grown as writers…

I have been practicing word wall words. -Ellery

I don’t give up! -Olivia

I try my hardest. -Everett

I start getting a little better with writing. It’s a little neater. -Ella

I started using speech bubbles. -Jacob

I make more details. -Ari

I sound out words. -Madison

I have read more books. That helps me to be a better writer! -Gwen

I write as much as I can. -Esme

I keep trying again and again. -Mackenzie

I’m getting better at writing hard words. -Ellie

I never give up! -Colin

I’ve been writing books at home. -Willy

During writing this week, we also talked about how writers write for many different purposes. One purpose is communicating with others to say thank you, how are you, to invite someone somewhere, etc. We learned about addressing an envelope and writing a friendly letter. Now we can use the Wee Stormonth Post Office! 

 

 
Some of our friends chose to write to a former teacher, a family member and a friend here at Stormonth. They'll all be so happy to receive your letters!

Lynette Long's book Domino Addition was a great springboard for our work in math workshop this week!

We spent our time representing story problems and writing equations to go with them. The discussions surrounding this work helped us understand the meaning of equality. We compared both the equal sign and the not equal sign as well. These discussions are helping us avoid the common error of thinking of the equal sign as punctuation before or after the answer rather than a symbol meaning "is the same amount or value as..." 

When solving story problems, we discovered that it takes a very long time to draw detailed pictures to represent the story problem! A castle and kings and queens REALLY take a long time!

 
Instead, we learned to use simple shapes to represent the items in story problems.

Next we replaced our pictures and abstract shapes with circle drawings. In reflecting on our learning, we discovered that this was a  much more efficient way to solve story problems.

We also reflected on how we go about solving addition equations. We discovered that it's easier for us to simply say the larger number first, THEN count on from there. When we count ALL or count on from the smaller number, it takes us much longer to solve the equation. 

During word work this week, we explored different ways to practice our five new word wall words - write them in SHAVING CREAM, BUILD THEM with magnetic letters, ROLL & WRITE them, and RAINBOW WRITING. Ask your first grader what his/her favorite way was. We also went to www.spellingcity.com and played HANG MOUSE.

NEXT WEEK'S WORD WALL WORDS: 

or, one, had, by, put

Be sure to visit www.spellingcity.com for some fun activities to support your speller!

Ari celebrated his birthday this week with a fun and healthy treat! These oranges with apple-flavored licorice looked just like miniature pumpkins!

What a fun-filled week it was! 

Mark Your Calendars: 

Next week is RED RIBBON WEEK! First grade will focus on "BEE-ing HEALTHY!" Please send a HEALTHY SNACK with your first grader daily.

October 20: Dragonfly Day - Wear pink or green

October 21: Red Ladybug Day - Wear polka dots or spots

October 22: Butterfly Day - Grade Level COLOR day! First grade's color: YELLOW!!!
                       Early-Release Day
                       P.M. Conferences

October 23: Bee Day - Wear stripes

October 24: Spider Day - Wear black clothes or a shirt with an insect.
                      All-School Assembly

                   
Until next time!
Michelle Mullen