Having a HOOT in Mrs. Mullen's First Grade!

Sunday, November 13, 2016

November 7-11

Hello Families!

Here's a sneak peek at another interesting week:

During Writers' Workshop we finished up our How To writing mini-study by fixing and fancying up one of our favorite How To pieces. Our Gallery Walk was another opportunity to recognize and celebrate our learning across our unit of study.

We began our new writing unit of study on Thursday: Nonfiction Chapter Books. We've begun with a focus on All About books. Some topics your experts have been writing All About...
soccer, basketball, bunnies, t-ball, drums, football, babies, cats, bears, electric guitars, ballet, and teeth! Can you guess which one your writer wrote about? Please check in with your writer about other topics that s/he is an expert in and could teach others all about!

The Super Secret Detective Agency continued to challenge us with word study missions this week during Readers' Workshop, and our Word Detectives were really up to the challenge!

We talked about how that last sentence uses a word that isn't proper English - ain't - but that the Super Secret Detective Agency wanted the song to be as close to the original Ghostbusters song as possible.

During Math Workshop this week we wrote equations for subtraction problems and made proof drawings. "We like to prove it, prove it! We like to... PROVE IT!" Have your first grader sing this new song to you! We began to look at how addition can be used to solve subtraction problems. This can be very tricky for our young mathematicians, so I encourage you to complete the homework pages for this week's lessons especially (2.13-2.15). An example of this thinking is...
I know 5 and 3 are partners of 8, so if I take one of the partners away from 8, the other partner will be left. With subtraction, it really helps to encourage them to tell you which numbers are the partners and which is the total. It is also helpful to always remind them that they need to subtract from the larger number. This has been a tricky concept for everyone. In other words, 3-8=5 is NOT a true equation.

Our new "snap" or Word Wall words were got, get, come, was and play.

Next week's words will be:
had
they
will
too
all

We also began our vowel study with a focus on long and short /a/. It would be very helpful for you to point out different ways long /a/ is spelled in words that show up in their books that they bring home to read to you. Speaking of those books... we have had many friends not returning their Book Briefcases on a daily basis. Please be sure that your developing reader is reading at least one just right book to you every day. This should be a book that they know well and can read fluently. After they've read, please sign their reading log. Thanks so much for your help with this very important daily homework.

Election Day, of course, was on Tuesday. Discussions surrounding our presidential election were focused on having respectful conversations with others even when we disagree with them. Our Scholastic News issue was very useful in helping our young friends to understand this through learning about it from another child. During the week we read three books: My Teacher for President, Duck for President and Grace for President. We then talked together about what kind of person would make a good leader.

After that we each filled out our ballots, voting for our three candidates: Mrs. Robbins from My Teacher for President, Duck and Grace.

Our results:

1 missing ballot

3 invalid votes because more than one candidate was chosen.

3 votes for Grace.

4 votes for Duck.

6 votes for Mrs. Robbins - Our winner!

Our Star of the week showed off some amazing artwork as well as an incredible magic trick!

Next week's star will be Lexi!
Until then...
Michelle Mullen

Star of the Week Schedule

Lexi – November 14^th- 18^th

David - November 28- December 2^nd

Madelyn – December 5^th-9^th

Cameron - December 12^th-16^th

Giselle - January 9^th-13^th

Oscar – January 23^rd - 27^th

Alex P. – January 30^th- February 3^rd

Evy – February 6^th -10^th

Josh – February 13^th-17^th

Eleonore – February 27^th- March 3^rd

Darius – March 6^th-10^th

Alex M. – March 13^th-17^th

Brayden – March 20th-24th

Mark Your Calendars!

Food Drive: November 7-18th A reminder that you can donate a food item(s) OR every dollar you donate is equal to TWO food items. Let's be the winning class while fighting hunger! Thanks much!

November 21st-December 16th: FIRST GRADE SERVICE PROJECT: Mitten Tree to benefit COA Youth & Family Centers

Tuesday, November 22: Music Concert (Last Names A-M at 10am/Last Names N-Z at 2pm)

Wednesday, November 23: Early Release Day

First Grade Thanksgiving Gathering

Monday, December 5: Report Cards Come Home

Wednesday, December 14: Early Release Day

Friday, December 23-Monday, January 2: Winter Break

Wednesday, January 11: Early Release Day

Monday, January 16: NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, February 8: Early Release Day

Monday, February 20: NO SCHOOL/Teacher In-Service Day

Wednesday, March 8: Early Release Day

Wednesday, March 22: Early Release Day

Thursday, March 23: Musical (2pm & 6:30pm)

Monday, March 27-Friday, March 31: Spring Break

Wednesday, April 12: Early Release Day

Friday, April 14: NO SCHOOL

Monday, April 17: NO SCHOOL/Teacher In-Service

Wednesday, April 26: Early Release Day

Wednesday, May 10: Early Release Day

Wednesday, May 24: Early release Day

Monday, May 29: NO SCHOOL

Thursday, June 8: Last day of First Grade!

See you later, Second Grader!

Friday, November 4, 2016

Ocbtober 31-November 4

Hello Families!

Here's a sneak peek at our week:

In Writers' Workshop we continued our focus on How To writing. We learned that our lives are full of things that we can teach others how to do! It makes it easy if we think across our day...

We also focused on using sequence words to order our steps, and creating interesting introductions and catchy conclusions. We got ideas for our How To pieces from our mentor author Inez Snyder. One of her books, Wax to Crayons, was about how crayons are made. We then watched a short video clip about how they're made and noticed that the video had many more details to really help explain the process.

During Readers' Workshop, we continued our focus on retelling and also spent some time reviewing and practicing our expectations for Partner Reading time. Please check in with your first grader about what partner reading time should look and sound like and what partners should be doing during that time.

On Friday we began our new Word Detectives unit of study. The excitement was pretty amazing as I announced that we received a TOP SECRET letter from the SSDA: Super Secret Detective Agency.

Inside was our first mission...

Next week we'll receive the next 4 missions - our Word Detectives are up for the challenge!

Thank you for transitioning to our new Reading Log! Almost everyone has been bringing their book briefcase and signed reading log back on a daily basis. I encourage you to help your child make this routine a habit if you have not done so already. It's such an important part of their development as a reader. Thank you!

Word Work

As we move along, our weekly words are getting a little bit trickier. Some of your kiddos showed on the pre-assessment that they were already able to read and write these words, so their Rainbow Writing and Roll & Write are handwriting practice for them as this is a need for many of our friends. Please practice your child's words with him/her during the week. This can become part of their daily homework. If you need ideas for practicing these words, let me know.

Next week's words:

get

come

got

play

was

In Math Workshop this week we practiced counting on from the larger number to solve addition story problems. We also began looking at representing and solving subtraction story problems.

During Science our focus question was: What happens when air is pushed into a smaller space? We investigated this question with syringes and tubes. Ask your scientist to tell you what s/he discovered.

On Wednesday we enjoyed some free choice in the room by earning our 10 links. We earn a link when EVERYONE in our classroom is demonstrating the Stormonth Way!

We enjoyed getting to know more about our Star of the Week!

She sews...

makes headbands...

knits...

AND plays the keyboard!

Next week's star will be Ben! Until then...
Michelle Mullen
Star of the Week Schedule

Ben – November 7^th-11^th