Six More Weeks of Winter

On Friday, I taught the children about Groundhog Day.  Each child predicted whether or not they thought Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow on February 2.  The majority of the children predicted that he would not see his shadow.  As they made their predictions, they made comments like: "I want to wear shorts," and "I want summer to come."  I hope the children weren't too disappointed when they realized Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, thus predicting six more weeks of winter.  Luckily, according to WMTW's website, "The good news is that, according to analysis by the National Climatic Data Center, Phil is wrong most of the time."  We'll see what's in store for us for the rest of winter.

Last week during Reading Workshop we:

• added "said" to our word wall.
• learned that when we finish reading a book, we need to tell what the story was about or what we learned before we begin reading a different book.  We can tell the story or facts across our fingers.  I continuously tell the children that "reading is thinking."  Reading a book is more than just reading the words on a page; it is about understanding what is happening in the story or what the author is trying to teach us.
• learned that "reading is thinking" not just when we read by ourselves, but also when we read with a buddy.  When we finish reading a book to our buddy, we can ask him/her to tell us what the book was all about.
• learned that if we can't remember something we read, we need to go back and reread.
• read with our first grade reading buddies.

The children have also learned about the job of e when it is at the end of a word and there is another vowel in the word.  Check out this YouTube video to see what the children have learned about e at the end of a word:


Last week during Writing Workshop we:

• learned to add the "inside story" to our small moment stories.  Writers don't just tell what was happening on the outside (what other people would be able to see and hear if they were in that same moment), writers also write about what they were feeling throughout the moment, the "inside story."
• reviewed that writers can use tools to help them write words.  In their folders, students have a list of word wall words, an alphabet chart, and a digraph/blend chart as tools to help them spell words.
• learned that the last page of a story should tell the end of the moment.  
• chose a small moment story to edit and fancy-up.  On Thursday, I taught the children to edit their stories for spaces, correct spelling of word wall words, punctuation, and capital letters at the beginning of each sentence.  Children then used an "editing pen" to edit their stories.  
• shared the small moment story we selected with our reading buddies and first grade buddies. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Last week during Math we spent a lot of time learning more about 2-digit numbers.  We:

• played 2-digit Top-It.  Children chose two cards, put them in the order that created the larger 2-digit number, then compared numbers with their partner.  Whoever had the larger 2-digit number got to keep the cards.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• made 2-digit numbers with cards then highlighted those numbers on a number grid.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• practiced counting bundles of ten Popsicle sticks and single Popsicle sticks to build an understanding of the quantity of 2-digit numbers.
• learned about the difference between the tens' place and the ones' place and how it is important to pay attention to the order of the numbers.
• practiced writing 2-digit numbers on whiteboards.

The learning that is taking place in our classroom right now is amazing!  I can't wait to share your child's learning and progress with you at his/her conference in just a couple of weeks.
Warmly,
Katie