May 18th, 2011

Conceptual Curriculum

We are crazy about seeds! We have been reading many nonfiction books about seeds...like how seeds grow, what seeds can grow into and how seeds travel! Be sure to ask your first grader how seeds travel...they can tell you! We will be doing some planting with Mrs. Lockney's kindergarteners on Friday and we plan to TEACH them about seeds too! This week we have also begun to understand more about how people, animals and plants need each other to survive. We will be heading outdoors to get a better understanding and hopefully find examples of what we are learning about. We will then begin to explore more about how the plants and animals use the sun's ENERGY as well as how nonliving things use different kinds of energy. How fun!


Writer's Workshop

As we've been learning about living and non-living things, we have been reading a LOT of non-fiction books! We've done a lot of investigating of these non-fiction books and have discovered a lot about them, like: they have a big, all-about title, sections or chapters, headings, a table of contents, photographs, and sometimes a how-to page and/or a fun facts page. We decided to write our own non-fiction books! We know that first, though, we had to do some research and learn from the “pros” (published authors). We decided on a topic and got books from Mrs. Frysinger in the IMC so we could become experts on our topics. Mrs. Elsner and Mrs. Mason made us some research organizers, too! We have our own folders with 4 pockets inside. Each pocket is just the right size to hold index cards. When we are ready to do some research for a section of our book, we write the section name on our pocket and then write the information on the index card. Then the index card goes in the pocket and everything stays nice and organized so I can be ready to write my book! We are having a lot of fun and working hard writing our non-fiction books.

Math

As we finish up Unit 9, we will be moving into Unit 10—the LAST unit of our Everyday Math program! Unit 10 is a review of everything we've learned all year: telling time, working with money and coins, number stories, geometry, place value, and temperature. Your child will continue to have math homework each night. We are also still working a lot with fact fluency! It is important that you continue to work with your child over the summer, especially with time, money, and fact fluency, as these areas will be a major focus in 2nd grade.

Guided Reading

As the year comes to an end, we have to begin to assess each child's instructional reading level. Therefore, your child's reading envelope may not come home as often as before. We will still be reading in the classroom, but only occasionally meeting as groups. Because the envelopes won't be coming home as often, we are encouraging the students to check out new free choice books for their book baggies, as these are “good fit” books.

April 18th, 2011

Conceptual Curriculum

Our field trip last Friday was a huge success! Our only snag was running out of time while we mapped everything we saw! Thank you to each of our chaperones who attended! Helping to serve 44 first graders in a restaurant can be tricky, but everyone pitched in and helped to make it a great time!
We were able to map various places as we toured Far Hills Ave. We located and mapped gas stations, a fire station, a post office, restaurants, a gym, schools, stores and much more! When we returned from the field trip, we discussed and color coded the places we found. This helped the students to notice things like...schools are spaced apart from each other and we have a lot of stores and restaurants in our warm and cheerful Centerville! Now we are using our maps to look at the places that provide goods and services. Be sure to ask your child what place they learned about that provides a good or a service...or both!
The postcards that the students brought to school are fabulous! We will be traveling farther away from Centerville and looking at places in Ohio. Many students went to Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati! Then we will expand even further away into the United States and traveling using Google Earth with Mrs. Frysinger in the IMC! Students that traveled to another state will be sharing their postcards!

 

Writer's Workshop

A week ago, Mrs. Cline wrote our classes a letter. We wanted to reply to her letter, but realized....we need to learn about how to write a letter! So, we began reading many books about letter writing and the different kinds of letters to write. We wrote an invitation together, worked on friendly letters to our penpals, looked at a variety of postcards and will begin to learn about thank you notes. They are enjoying the letter writing process, especially receiving them!

Everyday Math

We are working through Unit 8! We will be learning about fractions, making change, continuing to build our fact fluency and continuing to practice place value skills. Math game day on Fridays has really helped us to practice the skills we learned throughout the week! Be sure to practice math facts at home too!

March 18, 2011

Conceptual Curriculum

     After learning so much about the food pyramid and other ways to keep our bodies healthy, we had one question—we know exercising, getting plenty of rest, keeping our bodies clean, and eating healthy foods are good for us, but HOW do these things help our bodies? We decided that our next journey was going to be investigating what parts of our bodies benefit from making healthy choices. As always, we wanted to be able to show the rest of our PVN friends what we're learning, so as we researched different parts of our bodies, like our heart, lungs, bones, muscles, and brain we each made a poster, giving a unique “X-ray view” into our bodies! We didn't really know how to draw our body parts (and neither did our teachers!) so we decided to use symbols, like balloons, straws, spaghetti, twizzlers, pantyhose and cotton balls. If you're like the rest of PVN, you might be a little confused as to what these silly things are and why they're on our body posters! We got together to problem-solve and decided that we should make a key that tells everyone that the balloons and straws are symbols for lungs and windpipe, the pasta represents our bones, the twizzlers are our muscles, and the pantyhose stuffed with cotton is a funny looking symbol for our brain!
      Did you know that we can use symbols and keys on maps, too? We're just beginning our next journey! We read a really neat book called Me on the Map. In that story, a little girl starts in her bedroom and makes a map of her bedroom. She then zooms out, to her house, then her neighborhood, town, city, state, country, and planet! We were so surprised we could make maps of all of those places! We're even practicing being cartographers (map makers) by making a map of our classroom. We learned from Mrs. Martin, who used to be a professional cartographer, that you need to use a different point of view when making a map. Ask your child about all of the different points of view we learned about! Your child will also have some extra practice being a cartographer. He/she has a homework assignment to make a map of his/her own bedroom. More information is coming home today regarding that assignment.

Writing

     We are officially poets!  We've learned so much about poetry, like poets can write whole collections of poetry and they describe things in fun, new ways. We'll also start investigating word choice in poems, as well as poem layout (using line breaks and writing poems in different shapes, etc.) We'll also experiment with different poetry formats, like haikus, cincquains, and acrostic poems. On Friday, April 25th Mrs. Mason and Mrs. Elsner's classes will have a Poetry Cafe, where the first grade poets will share the poems they've written.

Math


     Unit 6 is just about complete. As we move into Unit 7, we will begin exploring ideas about 3-dimensional geometric shapes. We'll also sort attribute blocks according to attribute rules (color, size, shape), extend our familiarity with polygons, identify 3-dimensional shapes, and explore symmetrical shapes.

February 28, 2011

Conceptual Curriculum

Our Healthy Me Fair led us right into our next journey! After learning about eating healthy foods, the blue neighborhood first graders have been investigating the food pyramid. We've learned about all 5 food groups, what kinds of foods belong in them, and how many servings of each food group we should have each day. We have even gotten to try some foods in each of the 5 food groups! After putting blindfolds on, Mrs. Mason and Mrs. Elsner gave us mystery fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and meat! Brave first graders volunteered to do a blind taste test to try starfruit, pummelo, avocado, eggplant, sugar snap peas, french baguette, 10-grain bread, muenster cheese, swiss cheese, havarti cheese, deli turkey, and pepperoni. Then we all got to try them. We were surprised to find out that we liked a lot of these foods, even when we thought we wouldn't! We learned how important it is to try new foods. Did you know that it may take up to 15 times of trying a particular food for you to realize that you like it? Wow!

Math

We are beginning unit 6 of our Everyday Math program. The main focus of Unit 6 is developing fact power. It is the expectation that with frequent practice throughout the school year, most children will know the simple addition facts by the end of first grade. The unit's main areas of focus are: to introduce fact-finding strategies; to review coin values, measurements, and time; and to develop procedures for addition/subtraction problems.

Writing

We are beginning to explore the world of poetry. As we study poetry, we have a few simple goals for our writers. We want them to understand that poetry is a form of writing they can use to actually say something meaningful about tall their many interests and passions in life, not just finding words that rhyme and piecing them together. We also want children to see poetry as the stuff of everyday life and that poems are all around them. Finally, we want the children to see that poetry is one way writers often approach a broad topic. We will be immersing ourselves in reading poems from a variety of collections as we investigate how poems are written.

Word Study

The first graders have been examining words all year long, but now that we're halfway through the year, we are really starting to analyze different parts of words. We're looking at vowel patterns, base/root words, word endings, and consonant clusters. As we learn these word features, we're making sure we're applying our knowledge to our reading and writing!

February 4, 2011

Conceptual Curriculum
Our Blue Neighborhood Author study has been a wonderful experience! The students have learned about many different authors and each class has presented their author's information in a different way! We have seen a change in our young writers as they take on new challenges and want to be an author like the ones we have been learning about!

As we wrap up our author study, Mr. Dahm got us thinking about ways we need to keep healthy. So we are off onto our next journey, learning about all the ways we can keep healthy! He taught us about exercise and now we are learning some new songs (they are hip-hop too!) about our food choices with Ms. Johnson! We will load them onto the website so your child can sing for you :) We will be learning about the food pyramid and other ways to keep healthy such as getting the right amount of rest and being germ free! We plan on celebrating our journey with a “Healthy Me” Fair! We will be having many presenters and are looking forward to it! More information will come home soon!

Math

We are about halfway through Unit 5. Students are enjoying working with the base ten blocks, working with coins, and using relation symbols. Through the rest of Unit 5 we will continue to build our FACT POWER and work with number stories. Keep working on math facts at home too, as practice is the best way to learn them!

Scholastic Book Order

Today a new book order will come home with your child. We would like for the orders to be submitted online or turned in by February 18th, 2011. Please be sure to check out the catalog that is all about Healthy Choices...what a great connection to what we are studying! There are a lot of great titles in that catalog!

January 14, 2011

Happy New Year! It's been a busy 2 weeks back after being away for 2 weeks. We hope you and your families had a wonderful holiday!

Conceptual Curriculum
Before break, students had worked in partnerships to research a culture of their choice. We enjoyed watching the teams presentations as they shared their videos, painting collages, and powerpoint slideshows. The students learned a great deal about other cultures as each team presented their research in a powerful way that kept their classmates interested and engaged. Next time you're in the building, check out our first grade timeline to see the painting collages and powerpoints. The videos will be posted on our website shortly.

Our next journey stemmed from our Writer's Workshop exploration as each class studied a favorite author. The entire blue neighborhood will be taking this journey and we'll “travel” to each classroom to learn about their favorite authors. Mrs. Elsner's friends chose Tomie dePaola as their favorite author and are going to retell the story Bill and Pete through a really neat computer program that Mrs. Martin is going to help us use! We'll be sure to post our final project on our website so you can check it out! :)

Mrs. Mason's class read several books written by Kevin Henkes in writer's workshop to explore beginning, middle, and end. The students noticed right away that most of Kevin Henkes' books use mice as the characters. They also noticed that many of his titles were names. In deciding a way to share our information about Kevin Henkes' books, the students decided to act out one of their favorite Kevin Henkes books. We have split up into 4 teams, with each team performing 1 book: Chrysanthemum, Owen, Sheila Ray the Brave, and Wemberly Worried. Parents are invited to come in at 10:00 on January 25th to see the students' live performance.

Writer's Workshop
Right before break, Mrs. Elsner's class worked together to write their own book! Our book is titled, The Three Little Reindeer and the Big Bad Snowman. We used a story map to help us organize our thinking, focusing on characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end. Then we got to work in partnerships and use LAPTOPS (we were really excited!) to type up our pages. They were printed out, we illustrated, and it is being “published” right now! We're so proud of ourselves. Now, we're working on our own individual stories and using a story map before we write. This really helps us stay organized and we're discovering the differences between main ideas and details.

Mrs. Mason's class has been exploring rhyme in writing. We used a story map to create a class story using rhyming words. We are currently working on this class book and will be using our knowledge of rhymes as we head into poetry. In exploring poetry, we will be learning about visualizing, embedding rhyme, and writing in stanzas. We'll also look at different styles of poetry, including haikus, cinquain, and rebus poems.


Everyday Math
We're getting into Unit 5 of our math program. Unit 5 is devoted to extending children's understanding of, and proficiency with, addition and subtraction. They'll be investigating place-value concepts for tens and ones, exploring addition of 2-digit numbers, making up and solving a variety of number stories, and will be introduced to the “What's My Rule?” routine (exploring how numbers relate to one another).
Just FYI—We do not send the students' math tests home after they take them. We use the tests to guide our instruction and make sure the students are learning what they need to learn. We don't want the students to be upset or worried about what they see on the tests. As they are about to take the test, we tell the students they are doing this to show Mrs. Mason and Mrs. Elsner what they know about math. We will, however, give you copies of the math tests when we meet at conference time in March. Obviously, if we have any concerns about your child's math progress, we will contact you if necessary! Thanks for your support and understanding!

November 23, 2010

Our Culture Studies
After the students chose which cultures they wanted to study, teams have been busy finding information about their country, such as: the language spoken, clothing, schools, homes, transportation, celebrations, and things they like to do in their free time. In using these non-fiction books, students were able to find a ton of information and have now been working on their final project that will teach classmates about their culture. The groups chose what project they wanted to do; some are making powerpoint presentations, some are making videos, and some are making watercolor canvas paintings. We can't wait for the groups to finish their projects so they can present them to everyone!

Writers' Workshop
The first graders have worked hard on using an organizer to create a beginning, middle and end when planning their stories. Then they take those plans and add more details to each part, writing a “juicy” beginning, middle, and end. Next we'll be investigating how to read like writers, to notice how things are written (the craft of the writing) and then to envision possibilities for their own writing from what they notice. We'll also continue doing a lot of work with beginning, middle, and end as well as problems and solutions in their writing.

Everyday Math
We will begin unit 4 when we return from Thanksgiving break! We will be using standard- and non-standard measurement tools, including thermometers, 6-inch and 12-inch rulers, tape measures, clocks, timelines, and we'll be introducing number scrolls. Of course, we'll be continuing to build our fact power. Our goal is to finish Unit 4 before winter break!

Guided Reading
Guided reading groups are always ongoing, however children make progress at their own pace. We're constantly shifting children within the groups based on their progress and need. Be aware that the number of times your child meets with us may differ from week to week, and that will affect the number of books he/she will be taking home each week.

Upcoming Dates

Thursday, Dec. 2nd—7:00 pm
PTO Meeting

Saturday, Dec. 11th
PVN Winter Carnival

Thursday, Dec. 16th
Canned Food Drive Ends

Friday, Dec. 17th—1:30
Winter Party

Dec. 20-Jan 2
Winter Break!

November 1, 2010

We can't believe November is here! We've had such a great month, though! Check out all of the things we've been up to!

Our Next Project
As soon as we completed our timelines, Mrs. Elsner's and Mrs. Clark's/Mason's friends got together to discuss where we should go next. We determined that we know an awful lot about each other: our favorites, how we celebrate our birthdays, etc. but what about people and children who live far away from Centerville? Do they like the same things? Do they celebrate the same holidays? So it was decided; we want to learn about people from other cultures (we learned that someone's culture is the way that person lives). It didn't take long for us to discover that there are lots of different cultures around the world, and for us to be able to learn about as many as possible, we need to break up into small groups and each take on 1 culture. Then when we're finished researching, we can share what we learned with all of our friends! We were also wondering if there was anyone who could help us with this project, so we wrote letters to Mrs. Frysinger, Mrs. Martin, Ms. Johsnon, Mr. Dahm, Mrs. Cline, Mrs. Miller, and Mrs. Ankenbauer. We're hoping to get letters back from them this week...we hope they can help!

Writer's Workshop
Our classes are continuing to do author studies. We love reading authors' collections of books so we can determine what their writing styles are. It just gives us more and more ideas as we write our own books! We'll soon develop writing styles of our own. Mrs. Clark's/Mason's friends have been studying Donald Crews (Mrs. Elsner's friends recommended him!) and Mrs. Elsner's class has been studying Tomie dePaola. We even found a website all about Tomie dePaola and he listed his mailing address on it, so of course we HAD to write him a letter! We can't wait to see if he writes back!

Everyday Math
Unit 3 is a long one! We're halfway through and as we move into the 2nd half of the unit, the students will be learning how to tell time to the half hour, as well as counting combinations of dimes, nickels, and pennies. Thank you for helping your children remember to do their math homework! It really helps reinforce the skills they've learned at school each day.

Guided Reading
Through whole-group mini-lessons and our small-group guided reading lessons, we've started exploring the beginning, middle, and end in lots of stories. Mrs. Clark's/Mason's friends have read lots of McDuff books and have segmented the story into beginning, middle, and end. They have enjoyed the McDuff books so much that they're going to let Mrs. Elsner's friends borrow them. We can't wait to read them!

 

Snacks
All first graders have a snack time at school every day. Please help your child remember his/her healthy snack. We know a hungry tummy makes it hard for first graders to concentrate on their learning! Thanks for your help!

Important Dates

Mrs. Elsner's Conferences
Tuesday, November 9 (evening only)
Thursday, November 11 (all day and evening)

Mrs. Clark's/Mason's Conferences
Wednesday, November 10 (evening only)
Thursday, November 11 (all day and evening)

NO SCHOOL
November 11th and 12th

Coupon Books Due
Monday, November 1st

Food Pyramid and Body Posters

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Healthy Me Fair!

The Blue and Green Neighborhoods spent all morning learning about ways to stay healthy from experts like Miss Bhanu, Mrs. Schwieterman, Mr. Dahm, Mrs. Ott, and Mrs. Zinger!


Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Full Size

Linking our learning!

We had fun working with the CHS students that bought outdoor things to us to explore and learn about!  What fun!

Linking our plant and animal research to the insects outside!
Full Size
Looking at animal furs!
Full Size
Getting upclose with a lizard!
Full Size
Petting a lizard!
Full Size
What a BIG snake!
Full Size
Paige isn't scared of that snake!
Full Size
Cyrus liked the snake too!
Full Size
Be careful Joe!
Full Size
Watch out Daniel!
Full Size
Kaden thought the snake was awesome!
Full Size
We also learned about bird eggs and played a matching game!
Full Size
Cool bird!
Full Size
Sorting our word and picture cards for word study!
Full Size
Which words have the same cluster at the end?
Full Size
Can you find the words that have -nk at the end?
Full Size
Adam and Luke found words with the -st cluster!
Full Size
What is the cluster in golf?
Full Size
Quinn and Joe are saying the words slowly to hear the cluster at the end of the word.
Full Size
Where is the -sk cluster?
Full Size
Working as a team!
Full Size
We love word work!
Full Size
Working on a diagram of how a seed grows.
Full Size
Adding labels to our diagram.
Full Size

Amazing learners!

Reading together is fun!
Full Size
Paige reads her poem!
Full Size
Alex reads his poem!
Full Size
We are reading together!
Full Size
Sharing smiles!
Full Size
Mapping Centerville!
Full Size
Lunch at Las Piramides!
Full Size
Making symbols on our maps!
Full Size

Watch us go!

Learning with TECHNOLOGY

We are having so much fun!  We had math game day and played a money game on the Touchscreen!  We are also writing a class book using the Touchscreen!  How exciting!!

Olivia and Zoe are working on our class book!
Full Size
Quinn is creating the cover for our class book!
Full Size
Math fun!
Full Size
More math fun!
Full Size
Math is awesome!
Full Size
We are working with money on the computer!
Full Size
How cool!
Full Size