All grade 1 students have school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday next week. Thank you!
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Warm Clothing
UST Jacket(s)
Outdoor Jacket
Hats
Gloves
Scarf
Thank you!
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UST Read-a-thon
G1A Total Minutes: 2,294 minutes
G1A Money Raised: ¥56,750
Wow! I am so proud of the grade 1 students and the hard work they put into UST's Read-a-thon! The money raised by our classroom is helping support our sister school in Cambodia. In previous years, the money UST raised during read-a-thons sponsored construction of a classroom and purchase of new library books; new toys for an orphanage in Senegal; and learning supplies for a school at a Syrian refugee camp.
Photos (from previous years):
UST Bake Sale
Thursday, Feb. 14th Assembly
Kindness Notes
Spreading kindness around UST!
Reading
Dramatizing Characters and Deepening our Comprehension
*Reader's Theater
This week each student was assigned a part in a Reader's Theater performance. We have been using a lot of fairy tales to practice our current Reading unit's reading skills, so our Reader's Theater stories were fairy tales as well.
Reader's Theater:
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Little Red Riding Hood
Three Billy Goats Gruff
Students worked together to read their lines, take turns and listen to each other, and follow along so they were always prepared for their part. We practiced "making the characters come alive" by thinking about: our voice (volume, tone), gestures, and facial expressions. Reader's Theater is also a great opportunity for students to practice fluency.
What is fluency?
Fluency is a key foundational skill that helps students read complex text with greater understanding. When students read with accuracy and expression at an appropriate reading rate, their fluency supports their comprehension. Repeated reading practice with short passages improves word recognition and automaticity.
Writing
Persuasive Writing
Students worked on writing, revising, and editing their persuasive writing pieces this week. Next week everyone will publish their work and share it with the class. I am excited to share their published work with Ms. Natasha and student council! Many students feel strongly about their opinion and have spent time thinking about great reasons that support their opinion.
Daily Attendance - Extra Practice
Every morning this week I have written an opinion on the board.
Examples:
Ms. Ray thinks elephants are cool.
Mr. Hassey thinks the platypus is the cutest animal in Australia.
Furat thinks Inside Out is a good movie.
Ms. Allison thinks bananas are the best!
Students "sign in" (attendance) by choosing if they agree or disagree. We start our day, during Morning Meeting, with a discussion about why someone agrees or disagrees with the person's opinion. It's been a great opportunity to talk about how we are similar and different as well as understanding that it's okay if someone's opinion is different than yours (Ex. I think bananas are gross, but my friend likes them and that's okay! We like different things, but we can still be friends!).
Persuasive Writing - Class Example:
- Draft
- green: beginning sentence - state your opinion
- orange: middle sentences - reason
- blue: ending sentences - state your opinion again
- Revise (blue marker)
- Edit (red market)
Math
Addition and Subtraction Facts to 20 (completed)
Measurement - Length (new chapter)
We completed our chapter all about addition and subtraction using numbers to 20. Students were encouraged to try their best and show what they know during the chapter test. We will continue to practice addition and subtraction with homework assignments, morning work, and morning meeting challenge questions. The next time we focus on addition and subtraction students will be using numbers to 40 and practicing how to add and subtraction with and without regrouping.
Our next Math chapter is titled Length. For the next two weeks our class will learn about measurement.
Math Vocabulary
height tall taller tallest | length short shorter shortest | long longer longest |
Science
Air and Weather
*Sun, Earth, & Moon
*Wind
Moon
We started the week asking the question, "What time of day can we observe the Moon?" We read Science texts and watched a Moon video to learn facts about the Moon.
Moon Facts:
The moon is made of rock.
There is no air (wind) or water on the Moon.
It does not create it's own light. It reflects the light of the Sun.
The surface of the Moon has mountains and craters. A crater is a deep hole.
The Moon has dust and rocks.
It takes about 27 days for the Moon to go once around Earth.
Earth and Sun Facts
The Earth orbits around the Sun.
The Earth rotates on its axis.
The Sun appears to move across the sky during the day because of Earth's rotation.
We used hands-on materials to learn more about these facts. We discussed moon patterns and how the shape of the moon appears to change over time. We also added Moon phase observations to the Meteorologist's daily job.
*Moon Phase Observations (two weeks)
Grade 1 Weather Wall
The Meteorologists from G1A and G1B will start working together to complete the Weather Wall every day for the remainder of the school year. Our hope is to start video taping Weather reports that can be included in the monthly UST News videos!
100th Day of School
Friday, Feb. 15th was the 100th day of school!
We are 100 days smarter in G1A!
It's hard to believe it's been 100 days of school. Sometimes it feels like we just started! Time flies when you're having fun! : ) I am looking forward to the rest of the school year and the growth our first graders will continue to make!
Have a wonderful weekend!
- Ms. Allison