First Grade with Mrs. Spellman

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall weekend!  We had another busy week in 1S.  During Reader's Workshop, we talked about two new reading strategies, eagle eye and lips the fish.  We talked about how using the picture can often times help us with figuring out tricky words.  We also talked about how readers need to "get their mouth ready" for the first sound in a word so they can push through all the sounds.  Your child has 2 reminder cards in their OWL binder about these reading strategies to use at home.  

During Writer's Workshop this week, first graders wrote nonfiction books about wild cats.  We watched a movie about lions and listened to a book about tigers to learn about these animals.  First graders also jotted down notes about the important things they were learning.  We discussed important vocabulary words such as pride, camouflage, carnivore, territory and predator.  After we were all done with learning and note taking, first graders took their notesand used their ideas to write their very own nonfiction book.  Ask your child what they learned about wild cats this week!

In math workshop, we are working on combinations of numbers through 12.  We learned two new math games to help us practice called "How Many am I Hiding?" and "Plus or Minus 1 Bingo".  When playing "How Many am I Hiding?", partners start with a tower of 10 cubes, one partner hides some of the cubes and the other partner has to figure out how many are hiding based on the remaining cubes.  When playing "Plus or Minus 1 Bingo", students are working on thinking about what comes before and after a given number.  Students pick a card from a deck of playing cards and think about if it's best for them (their trying to get Bingo on their board) to add or subtract one from the number.  For example, if I drew a 6, I could cover up a 5 or a 7.  We also worked on an activity called "Peas and Carrots".  Students worked independently to come up with as many combinations of peas and carrots that they could if they had a total of 9 vegetables on their plates (1pea + 8 carrots). Here are some pictures of math workshop this week:

I also sent home information this week about RazKids and Lexia.  Each first grader has a username and password so they can access these great programs at home.  Please let me know if you have any trouble trying to use either of them.  The Scholatic Book Club forms went home as well and are due by Tuesday evening:). 

Have a great rest of the weekend!