We didn't manage to get our weekly writing done to talk about our week in class this week, so I thought I'd give you a few snapshots to start your conversations.
First, here's our Jump Math book. We're working on number sense and numeration and comparing numbers to 5 and 10. The numbers are being shown in a 10 frame, which makes it easier to see. This has been very tricky for some, and very easy for others.
One student said, "I just looked at it and didn't even have to count! " but another told me, "I can only start counting from one, otherwise I don't know what comes next."
Students chose names for their reading groups this week.
My Chocolate Chips are reading A level books right now, my Candy Canes are reading B level books, Skittles are C through F, Gummy Bears are F through H, and Smarties are I or higher right now. I work with students in smaller groups in order to teach skills relevant to their reading needs. Each week students will spend some time reading to self, reading with a partner, doing word work (spelling, phonics, patterning), and writing a journal entry. We've just started our Ipad rotations so I'm hoping to get students on RazKids during reading time as well.
This chart shows some of the big ideas from our energy unit. We're beginning to talk about energy conservation, which a big concept for many students, who are having some trouble understanding that some of the energy lighting up their classroom or powering vehicles comes from long dead dinosaurs and why it might be important to use less of it.
The Story of Stuff video might be on deck in our next Science class.
Next up is art. We're focusing on the fundamentals of art and design, like line, shape, colour, space, and texture. These are experiments with line.
We're also learning about how to talk about our work in a critical way in order to improve it.
By giving you these examples, I'm hoping to show you a little bit of what we're doing in each subject area, but also give you a framework to understand how to place your own child's strengths and needs in a broader context. To a large extent, students in Grade 1 are figuring out what it means to be a student, and you're figuring out how to support their learning in this new context as well.
Sincerely,
Ms. Goegan
