Welcome to Ms Edwards Grade one blog

Dear families,

The Grade 1 students and teachers are busy organizing students work to be taken home at the end of the year. The best way to send home the work done on the computers is if each student could bring a USB. Please label each USB with your child’s name. We will transfer documents and send home the USB by the last week of school.

Thank you,

The Grade 1 Teachers

2. End of year assessments summary (paste into Html)

At this time of year the Grade 1 teachers are busy assessing the students to see if they are meeting our expectations for the end of Grade 1. Here is a review of what is expected in Mathematics and Language Arts (this was also included in the handout provided on Open House Night):

Mathematics:

Number

- Count from any number by 1, 2, 5 and 10 to 100

- Estimate and count number of objects in a group

- Order and compare numbers to 1000

- Build numbers using base 10 blocks

- Understand even and odd numbers

Computation

-Memorize addition and subtraction facts:

• +/ – 0
• + / – 1
• Doubles (1+1, 2+2, 3+3 etc)
• Combinations to 10 (1+9, 2+8, 3+7 etc.)

- Show an understanding of the fractions: halves and fourths

Measurement:

- Count money using 1, 5, 10 and 25 piece coins

- Tell time to the quarter hour (9:15, 6:45)

Data Handling

- Understand probability terms: impossible, unlikely, likely, certain

- Create and interpret graphs (bar, tally, pictographs)

Algebraic Thinking:

- State the rule and fill in missing numbers in a pattern (ie: 3, 5, 7___, 11, ___)

- Read and explain thinking to solve 2 digit addition and subtraction questions

Language Arts:

Reading:

- Read age appropriate books aloud demonstrating comprehension, accuracy and fluency

- Read sight words

- Know short vowels, consonant blends and some long vowel combinations

- Retell stories referring to setting, characters, plot, important details

- Make predictions about what they will read

Writing:

- Write independently

- Use properly formed upper and lower case letters with spaces between words

- Use capital letters at the beginning of a sentence and punctuation at the end

- Write simple stories

- Write several sentences about a topic

- Spell many sight words correctly

- Use correct phonetic spelling for short vowels, consonant blends and some long vowel combinations

- Begin to plan and edit writing

Speaking and Listening:

- Make relevant responses during discussions

- Ask thoughtful questions

- Follow oral directions

- Communicate for a variety of purposes

- Give clear instructions

- Share information with appropriate details and logical sequence

- Use a variety of sentences when speaking

Please speak to your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

We are coming to the end of an excellent year. The children did a great job and helped the school celebrate friendship. They sang ‘Count on me’ by Bruno Mars and shared their photographs form the day.  Here are two examples of their great performances from this morning;

As the end of the school year approaches, we are reviewing and practicing what we have learned in Math. One goal is to know our number facts (bonds) to 10. These are the two numbers that add together to make 10.

Here are some ways to practice at home:

A song:

Whale game

For those students who have mastered bonds to 10, try bonds to 100!

A site with printables and games:
Number bonds

A game with bonds to 5, 10 or 100

Enjoy!

Thanks again for all the parent volunteers who were able to help out on the Field trip! You were amazing and definately were invaluable. The children seemed to have a great time and I observed a great deal of learning taking place. Children were talking about addition, subtraction, more than, less than, money, healthy, unhealthy and many more. It was great to see them so involved and on task. We provided no guidance in their selection of food and are using this as our launch for Wellness. We will be discussing the affect food has on our bodies and healthy eating. We will then attend another field trip towards the end of the unit and see if their choice of snacks have changed. Here are some pictures of The All-Stars in action!

The Food the children bought…:)

You can get A LOT for 100 pesos.

We are going to make our own store.

Friendship

Enduring Understanding:
Building and maintaining relationships takes thought, effort and sensitivity.

Students are inquiring into:
1. What is a friend?
2. How can I be a friend?
3. How do I connect and relate to others?
4. What makes a friendship last?

Students will:
o Making connections to others (students, characters)
o Working in groups and accepting group decisions
o Reflect on how to communicate with others
o Using conflict resolution strategies to negotiate, take turns, etc.
o Discuss and practice accepting and responding to feedback
o Plan and prepare for activities for visitors from another school
o Focus on maintaining relationships
o Focus on the dispositions fair and caring
o Use connection and collaboration skills to work cooperatively, respect others and their ideas and make shared decisions
o Use personal management and reflection skills to set goals and develop plans

Standards and indicators taught and assessed as part of this unit:
Social Studies By the end of Grade 2 Social Studies
Standard 4 Students will understand that culture explores the inherited ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge that a group of people share.
E.SS4.1 recognize that there are similarities and differences between individuals and within groups
Standard 6 Students will understand that citizenship explores the rights and responsibilities that individuals have as members of a community.
E.SS6.1 give examples of rights and responsibilities of the individual in relation to his or her social group
E.SS6.2 recognize that individual people are part of a group
E.SS6.3 recognize appropriate and inappropriate social behavior and the impact of making choices about behavior

Integrated English Language Arts
Standard 1 Students will understand how to read fluently using the skills and strategies of the reading process.
E.E1.9 make connections between own knowledge and experience and information in texts
Standard 2 Students will understand how to comprehend, respond to, analyze and evaluate a wide variety of texts.
E.E2.6 make and confirm predications about text by using prior knowledge and ideas presented in text
Standard 4 Students will understand how write with clarity, logic, validity and effectiveness on a wide range of topics and for a variety of purposes and audiences.
E.E4.8 write in a variety of genres
Standard 5 Students will understand how listen to and respond critically to oral communication.
E.E5.5 follow oral directions
E.E5.7 communicate with an increasing range of people for a variety of purposes on both familiar and introduced topics in spontaneous and structured classroom activities
Standard 6 Students will understand how to communicate coherently and appropriately in a range of oral settings.
E.E6.11 give precise oral directions and instructions

First Grade teachers invite you to an interactive workshop on how to foster problem solving skills in Mathematics. The workshop will focus on Mathematics for meaning and strategies for solutions. We will share learning experiences practiced in first grade classrooms that can also be used at home. We hope to see you there.

During the holidays, there are many activities you can do to help your child with Math. Many of these websites will be new to your child so they may need help the first few times they try the games.

Number

We have been working with numbers to 100:

- skip counting by 2, 5 and 10

- building numbers with blocks

- using the 100 chart to play games

- using calculators to count back and forwards by numbers

Some ideas of things you can do are:

Use the 100 chart to make your own version of Snakes and Ladders.

Print the 100 chart out and cut it up into pieces like a puzzle.

Use the calculator to make patterns on the chart (count up by 3; subtract 4 etc.)

Find even and odd numbers

Here are some ideas from another website (They get progressively more difficult and our students would only be able to do the first 7 or

http://letsplaymath.net/2008/09/22/things-to-do-hundred-chart/

Some fun games online:

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/DogBone/gamebone.html

http://www.abcya.com/interactive_100_number_chart.htm

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/interactive/numbers.htm

Operations (Adding and subtracting)

We have introduced adding and subtracting through telling stories and acting out the story. It is important the students can explain what ‘7-3’ means, not just find the answer.

http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=198

http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=75

Challenge:

http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=173

Measurement

A big focus has been counting and exchanging coins. Use any coins to coin by 1s, 5s and 10s.

We have also been using the calendar to tell the date. Talk about what day of the week it is as well as the date.

Telling time to the half hour has been another focus. Ask your child to tell the time using both analogue and digital clocks.

Lastly, we have started measuring length.

Clock:

http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/503/clock.swf

Graphing

We have been using data to make simple bar graphs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/numeracy/data/index.shtml
–

There are many opportunities during holidays to have use math in real-life situations and ways. Having fun with math is our hope for you and your family!

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Flash video.

What is a number pattern?
We have been inquiring into number patterns through the use of number lines, grids, coins and clocks.

Here is a summary of what we have been focusing on, new vocabulary we have been learning and some games to try at home:

A few parents have asked me about handwriting. We teach the D’Nealian Font at ISM. It looks like this:

The students have been practicing the letters, but many are only just beginning to apply them to their independent writing. This is normal; the brain can only really focus on one thing at a time. If the students are thinking about spelling or their ideas, they may have trouble forming their letters as shown above. But what is the best way to learn to write? By writing, writing, writing!

D’Nealian printing (manuscript) has been designed to allow for an easy transition to cursive handwriting.

Here are some resources you can access on the web:

- Printable worksheets by letter

- Jan Brett Tracers (beautiful illustrations)

-Entire Alphabet in One Book

- App for iPhone and iPad (We’ve been using it in class)

- Videos on how to write each letter (here is letter ‘k’)

Handwriting is just one small component of the Grade 1 Program. If you have any concerns, please come see me!

Seeds are funny, funny things,

Some have stickers,

Some have wings,

Some are big,

Some are small,

Some are round and flat

Some like a ball.

Some are hidden inside of fruit

Some in pods or underground roots.

Some seeds are foods

And good to eat

Like corn or beans

Or nuts for a treat!

 

Allstars! What are your favourite seeds we have looked at so far? Why do you like them?

What do seeds need to grow into plants? Answers below please…:)

The All Stars Class, Smurfs Class, and Rainbow Fish Class went up to the Little Theater to learn about Tally Marks. It was a fun and exciting morning to meet some friends from other Grade One classess.

First, we watched a video about skip counting by 5s. “Blasting Off! It’s a rocket ship race… Counting by 5s as we fly into space!”

Second, we looked at Brain Pop Jr. and we watched Moby and his friend talk about how to do tally marks and make a bar chart.

Third, we talked about making our own tally chart and bar graph. We thought we would make one on our favorite color. Which color do you like? red, yellow, green, or blue?

After that we went back to our classroom and sat on the carpet. The All Stars decided to make our own Tally Mark Chart and Bar Graph on our favorite colors. Half of the class worked with Ms. Edwards and half of the class worked with Ms. Claire. Do you want to see what we made? It took a lot of work but we did it! Take a look…

We hope you enjoyed our blog post this week. There’s a really nice game we’re learning about place value and base ten blocks in class. When we’re experts at it, we might talk to you about it in another blog post!

Plants, like animals and humans, have certain requirements in order to grow and be healthy.

Students are inquiring into:

-          How do we know when something is growing?

-          What affects plant growth?

-          Why should we care for plants?

Students will:

-        Make observations of plants in the school gardens and make observations of plant parts

-        Plant and take care of seeds

-        Explain the basic parts of the plants (seeds, stems, leaves, flowers, roots) and their purpose

-        Know and explain the simple life cycle of a plant (seed, sprout, flower)

-        Measure the growth of plants

-        Follow simple experiments to determine what a plant needs to grow

-        Understanding why plants are important to our world and what we can do to help take care of our world

-        Focus on the disposition responsible

-        Use research skills to seek, use and synthesize information

Standards and indicators taught and assessed as part of this unit:

Science

Standard One – Science as Inquiry – The students will understand that scientists use the inquiry process to develop skills, concepts, and dispositions to investigate and make sense of the natural world.

-          E.S1.2 plan and conduct a simple investigation

-          E.S1.3 employ simple equipment and tools to accurately gather data

Standard Three – Life Sciences – The students will understand that life science explores the concept of living organisms and their organization, life processes, and relationships to each other and their environment.

-          E.S3.1 describe characteristics of organisms

-          E.S3.3 identify organisms and interactions with their environments

Integrated English Language Arts

Standard 2 Students will understand how to comprehend, respond to, analyze and evaluate a wide variety of texts.

-          E.E2.11 identify structural patterns found in informational texts (e.g., compare and contrast, cause and effect, sequential-chronological order) to strengthen comprehension

Standard 4 Students will understand how write with clarity, logic, validity and effectiveness on a wide range of topics and for a variety of purposes and audiences.

-          E.E4.10 identify how own texts differ according to their purpose, audience and subject matter

Standard 5 Students will understand how listen to and respond critically to oral communication.

-          E.E5.4 ask thoughtful questions and respond to relevant questions with appropriate elaboration

Standard 6 Students will understand how to communicate coherently and appropriately in a range of oral settings.

-          E.E6.12 maintain a clear focus, use logical sequence, and use details when recounting experiences or presenting information

Integrated Mathematics

Standard 2 Students will find appropriate measurements using a variety of tools.

-          E.M2.8 Estimate length with and without tools; measure length to the nearest inch and centimeter; use standard and nonstandard tools to measure and estimate weight

There has been some inquiries regarding the possibility of students leaving their bags either in or near the classrooms during After School Activities. Unfortunately due to security reasons, all students must take their bags to their activities. While this does seem difficult at first for some Grade 1 students, our role as teachers is to support them in taking responsibility and being organized. Through discussions and showing them how to pack their bags, students are learning how to make this task more manageable. Parents can help at home by ensuring students do not have unnecessary items in their bags, bags are easy to carry and practicing organizing the bags at home.  Thank you for your support in this area as we continue to develop your children’s responsibility.

Thank you very much,

Jennifer Juteau

Grade 1 Program Leader