We have been busy finding interesting nonfiction books, thinking about what we already know about the topic, thinking about what we wonder about the topic, and then recording our new learning after we've read the book.
After spending a couple days with our KWL chart,
we then shared them with our
reading partners.
We have so much to share with our reading partners, because we have been putting on the brakes while we've been reading! After getting our minds ready to read nonfiction, we put on the brakes when we say things like, "Wow!" and "That's amazing!" and "Cool!" and "I never knew that!" These are great opportunities for us to "stop and jot" so that we can share our new learning with a friend.
We also talked about how we can put what we learned in our own words. It takes a lot of thinking to read a nonfiction book! Oftentimes one book covers a lot of information, so instead of telling our partner what the entire book was about, we got our feet wet sharing what each section was mostly about. In other words, "What was the author trying to teach me in this part?" We recorded our thinking for this as well and then shared with our partners. This can be a tricky skill that we will focus on
again during our nonfiction unit in the spring.
In Writer's Workshop we have been busy creating new adventures for our realistic fiction characters! My character Mrs. Readwell continued on her adventures as well: heading to the bookstore to buy a book for her sister Elizabeth and feeding her three cats - except that one was missing! Ask your first grader to tell you about these two adventures Mrs. Readwell had. What was the problem in each? What was the solution? We spent time discussing realistic problems for our characters and how to get them out of trouble. We also talked about how we can stretch the trouble down the page. James Howe does a great job of this in his Pinky and Rex series. For this lesson, we looked specifically at his book Pinky and Rex and the Bully. Ask your first grader to tell you about this book. Conversations with your young writer about story ideas for his/her realistic fiction character would be great as well! Brainstorm some story ideas that include a problem and solution. We were reminded again that writing comes easier to us when we connect to and use ideas from our own lives. We read Mr. Putter & Tabby Write the Book to remind us of this important lesson!
In math this week we reviewed for and took our Unit 3 assessment. Next, we began our Double Decker Bus unit, and the kiddos were introduced to the arithmetic rack. I hope you had a chance to read the letter that came home with them on Wednesday. It provides you a good understanding of the unit. We're quickly discovering how much easier it is to determine how many passengers are on the bus or on our arithmetic rack
when we look for groups of 5 and ten!
We practiced this week's new word wall words in the computer lab this week!
Next week's words:
look
has
two
no
big
Have a look at THIS! Ellie found this in her ditch on the way to school. Have you ever seen such an enormous maple leaf?! Thanks for sharing, Ellie!
On Friday we worked on a special winter project where we thought about what winter was like INSIDE. Here are some of our ideas:
Winter inside is...
when me and Tete sit by the fireplace and play Old Maid.
when we say good bye to spring and summer and fall.
watching a movie with friends.
happiness coming around the house.
a fuzzy brown blanket.
hot chocolate filling the air.
spending time with my family.
snuggling and reading books.
watching Frosty the Snowman.
opening presents.
opening our final day.
That last one really stuck with me. Our friend who wrote this was referring to an Advent Calendar, but sentimental me thought of it in terms of any day - OPENING it. As if it were a GIFT. Every single one. What a good way to go about our days.
So happy to be spending mine with your kiddos!
Speaking of which, one of our kiddos will be heading off on a new journey this week. Ari is moving to Nebraska! He is so excited for his new home and new school. We're so happy for him but will miss his friendship, his laughter and all of his great ideas and input to our conversations. Ari, we think you're terrific!
Happy trails to you until we meet again!
Mark your calendars:
Tuesday, December 16 Ari's last day. Please join me in wishing Ari and his family all the best as they venture off to Nebraska!
December 17: Stormonth students reached our goal of earning 1,000 BUGS for Being Unusually Good! Way to go! This means we have earned 1,000 seconds of extra recess time!
December 19: Our last day before our winter break.
January 5: Return from winter break.
January 14: Early Release Day
January 19: NO SCHOOL/Professional Development day for staff
February 11, 12 & 16: Conferences
February 11: Early Release
February 16: NO SCHOOL/Conferences
February 25: Early Release
Beginning in January, I will be sending out a volunteer calendar for Writer's and Reader's Workshop times. I will do my best to accommodate your requests, however, know that I may not be able to accommodate them all. If there is an overabundance of volunteers who would like to sign up on a particular day, I'll select the first email I get.
Thanks for your understanding!
Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle Mullen
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