Well, here we are again, only this time we're looking at negative numbers. I had to break for a teachable moment for the class about these strange and unknown numbers left of zero on the number line when we looked at the weather on Friday. Needless to say, it is absolutely frigid outside (I've read unconfirmed reports, that it will be colder in Chicago tomorrow, that it is on Mars. Yes, Mars!?!) Anyhoo, here's the last post of 2016...
***Note: This Friday is another spirit wear day, brought to you by the Middleton Student Council. The theme is Pajama Day. Feel free to send kids to school in their PJ's, or send them in their backpacks to change once they arrive. However, please no blankets, stuffed animals, or slippers. Math We will be wrapping up Module 2 at the end of this week. Students have been working hard, and I'm super proud of all their hard work they've shown with this new curriculum. I'm excited to start Module 3 when we return from the holiday break, and spend about 3 weeks on measurement. Science Stars and constellations will be the focus of this final week on our Space Unit. Students will learn more about the 88 named constellations including a introduction to the Zodiac signs/constellations. We will have our star quiz at the end of the week. Additionally, we will take an afternoon to learn all about snowflakes and learn how to make them and decorate our room for winter which starts on the 21st (officially). Language This week we will read several versions of the Gingerbread Man, and compare and contrast between texts. We will also do some fun activities around the story and spend some time doing some fun projects for winter too. Word Work We will be learning and reviewing endings -ll and -ss this week. Here are our words in case you missed them: Spelling Words: spell, small, chill, miss, class, dress Wordwall Words: well, come, now, ask, very, your Writer's Workshop Students are knee deep in their personal narratives, and we will continue this unit when we return from the winter break. After several days of writing, and seeing some familiar writing patterns, we decided to take a step back, and use some helpful graphic organizers. These will help students draft their story and to focus on a small but meaningful moment that they remember vividly. We will continue to work on spelling, capitalization, punctuation and spacing as well as adding emotion and transitional words to help make their stories come alive. Miscellaneous -Thanks to all of those family members that came out to hear our holiday concert last Friday. It was short and sweet. The kids did a fabulous job, they looked sharp and sang with confidence. I was very proud of them. -Olivia is turning 7 on Friday! Wish her a happy birthday if you see her. -Thanks to those that bought books from Scholastic Book Club this week. With some coupons and points, I was able to purchase six new biographies for our corner library including titles profiling Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Sonia Sotomayor, among others. -Keep those box tops coming! -We are holding a "Spare Change" fundraiser this week. If you have any spare change, send it in with your child. We are collecting for a local charity (but I don't know the details; that sounds fishy I know, but for real, I'm not buying gas with this pocket change). Happy holidays to everyone. Stay warm, and safe travels. I'll see you on the flip side. ~Mr. Layes
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It is getting cold out this week. Please remember to send kids in warm winter wear, and label anything and everything. The lost and found is growing, so if anything is missing, best to check there first. Here's the latest...
Math We are about 2/3's through our second module and started a new topic this week. Please see the Math News-letter coming home today. We are introducing story problems that use the -9, 8, 7 to teen numbers strategies that we have been working on the last week or so. These get tricky, especially for lower readers. We are learning the R (read problem carefully), D (draw and label a picture/circle drawing), and W (write a number sentence/equation and a statement) strategy this week. This a ton of work, but the kids seems up to the task. We will assess later next week. Here are the standards we are working on until the end of the module: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.A.1 CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.B.4 CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.C.6 Science We are moving on from the moon (I've collected all moon journals, if you have them still at home, please send them back for credit), and starting up on stars, specifically, patterns of the stars and constellations. We will read some good books, watch some insightful videos and look at all the 88 named constellations over the course of the next two weeks. Good stuff. Language This week we will be looking at family traditions and reading some books about the various holidays that are celebrated around this time. We will also be assessing for Unit 2. Note: I am missing quite a few reading logs from last week. Please send them in by tomorrow for full credit. Word Work A reading letter will go home tomorrow. If you want to study up for the words this week, here they are: Spelling: luck, neck, truck, speck, check, struck Word Wall: where, why, how, who, over, would Writer's Workshop We are smack dab in the middle of writing our small moment stories. The students are working hard using transition words, adding movement and emotions and continuing to monitor their use of proper punctuation, capitalization and spacing. We will finish these next week, and have our second publishing party on Thursday. Miscellaneous -Olivia Infante is turning 7 next Friday!!! -The first grade music concert will be held this Friday at 9 am in the gym. Please arrive before then to secure limited seating. We're looking forward to it! -There is a meet & greet this Thursday from 8:30-9:30 hosted by Mr. Ruffino and Ms. McFadden in the library. Get to know your school community! That is all for now. Thanks for all your support at home. ~Mr. Layes And so it begins. Please send kids to school with warm boots, scarves, gloves and hats. Snow pants are helpful if your child enjoys making snow angels, and building snow forts. Don't forget to have an extra pair of sneakers for inside/gym. There will inevitabley be lost items of clothing, and I will do my best to send kids to the lost and found to find said items. Please put names in/on EVERYTHING!!! Thank you. Here's the latest...
Math We've been working hard on finding good strategies to subtract 9 from teen numbers. Kids can count on (15-9=6 and 9+6=15), and find the ten (15-9 is just like taking 9 from the ten, so add the extra one to 5 to get 6). We will begin to use the same strategies for 8 and 7 this week. Many of you might be wondering why we're doing all of this? I think it's for the kids to be more flexible in their thinking. Take 199+201=? for example. We can use the old algorithm of borrowing and going through those long steps, or we just take the 1 away from 201, give it to 199 and know quickly that it equals 400. The work we are doing will give students this flexibility. Science We will be wrapping up our study of the moon this week, and we'll take a short quiz on Thursday. Students have been having fun learning all about the moon phases, and we have a catchy song/video that accompanies our learning. Check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBc8QHSsFgE&t=214s I'll be collecting the moon journals at the end of the week. Thank you for all the help with these (did all of you see that beautiful waxing crescent moon on Saturday night?) Language We are diving into non-fiction, informational text this week. In our guided reading groups, we will highlight all the different text features including headings, the table of contents, glossary, index, and labels/captions. We will be using books about the moon to convey these lessons as well during our language lesson. Word Work Now we are on to -ck ending. I'm sorry for the confusion from last week. Writer's Workshop We are starting to write our personal narrative stories this week. We have brainstormed a list of special small moments, wrote a class story and looked at other 1st grade examples to get a sense of what is to come. I will highlight how to use transition words including first, next, then, finally and how to add emotion and great detail to make stories come alive. Miscellaneous -We met with Officer Friendly today and discussed 'stanger danger'. This can be a scary topic for some children, so please talk to them about this if they bring it up. -There is an Meet & Greet for all Middleton families on Thursday the 15th from 8:30-9:30 in the library. The purpose is to strengthen the bonds of our community. Drinks/pasteries will be provided. Come by if you have the time. -International Fest is coming up on February 11th. If you want to reserve a cultural booth, please go to: https://goo.gl/vklvuk If you want to perform or suggest a performance, go to: https://goo.gl/HRoNyT That's it for now. Thanks for the support you give your child at home. Only 14 days and counting... ~Mr. Layes |
AuthorMr. Layes hails from the Pacific NW, cut his teeth on the streets of NYC, and now calls the Midwest... home. Archives
September 2017
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