February 10, 2012 Update...

Hello Parents,

We have had an amazing week!  I am so impressed with how the students are really stepping up to the rigorous pace of the third nine weeks of school.  Our standards in first grade increase greatly in difficulty from now until the end of the year. I have seen such amazing higher level thinking, especially in regards to our money unit on making fair trades all the way up to $20 and in writing informational texts that have been edited and revised.  Wow!  I'm so proud of the hard work these kids have been putting in!  The electronics day was well deserved this week!

Phonics/Grammar:  This week, we learned all about the r controlled vowels and the sounds that they make (er/ar/or).  We completed a sort with letters to make a list of words, we put our words in abc order, we worked on the whiteboards to practice spelling the words, and we created a chart to help us practice our words at home. Remember, as we get into the more difficult spelling patterns, your child has been bringing home the actual list of words to study from. No excuses for not knowing these words and every child getting a "3" on the Friday assessment!

Writing:  We have continued our study of how to write an informational paper.  This week was another guided writing week, where I model everything first that I expect the children to do . We collected research on our animal, the penguin.  Then we wrote facts and details on a graphic organizer.  After that, we took that information and transferred it to our rough drafts.  We then completed the editing and revising process before writing our final drafts. 

Reading:  We learned how to incorporate the UNRAAVEL strategy (yes, that is spelled correctly!) to help us comprehend the nonfiction texts we are reading. We also worked individually on our new reading contracts.  We watched Mrs. W model each activity first before completing.

Math:  We finished up our unit on telling time to the hour and half hour.  We began working again with money, showing fair trades up to $20.  The children have so impressed me with their knowledge of money and how to make exchanges!  We briefly revisited fractions this week also to give those students who were struggling with this a chance to show what they know!

Social Studies: We began learning about George Washington Carver, a slave who persevered to become an amazing scientist and inventor.  We watched several video clips about him and his over 300 uses for peanuts! We also worked in small groups to read all about his life and accomplishments!

Class News and Reminders...

Tonight is our Mardi Gras Dance!  It starts at 6:30!  I'll see you on the dance floor!

Congratulations to our Teacher's Helper, Chloe Stacy!  Way to go on that awesome behavior!

Thank you to Mrs. Vansant for picking up the McDonald's happy meals for our social studies challenge participants on Thursday!  The kids loved this reward!

Challenge Project Opportunity (Due Date...February 24):
Informational Writing Project - Follow the steps below to teach your classmates about an important inventor/scientist!  We have been learning about George Washington Carver who was an amazing inventor. He created hundreds of uses for the peanut, he taught farmers the usefulness of crop rotation, and he overcame the challenges of his day.  Find another amazing inventor  and do the following steps!
1. Use a four square organizer to research your person.  Find details about his/her early life, education, personal life, and inventions.
2.  Transfer this information to a FOUR paragraph hand written paper. 
3. The first paragraph should include your hook and the information about your inventor's early life (NO LESS THAN 4 SENTENCES).
4. The second paragraph should include information about your inventor's education (NO LESS THAN 4 SENTENCES).
5. The third paragraph should include information about his/her personal life (NO LESS THAN 4 SENTENCES).
6. The fourth paragraph should include information about the inventions and a cool closing (NO LESS THAN 6 SENTENCES)
7. This paper must be hand written on lined paper in the format we have been following in class. This includes a title that is centered and underlined, name underneath.  All paragraphs should begin with an indentation. 
8. Include a picture of your inventor on a separate sheet of paper and one of his/her inventions.
9. Be prepared to independently read your word to the class.

**Tip: don't try to do all of this project in one or two nights!  Take your time and do one step each night until the project is complete!  Don't forget to go back and revise and edit your writing.