How Do People Affect the Living Things in Oman?

We explored this question and more during a very special presentation given to us by Ms. Tania Al Said, founder of the Environmental Society of Oman. We learned about what pressures we all put on the living things of Oman and how we can avoid this. Ask your child what happens when a sea turtle sees a plastic bag in the sea or what happens when cars drive over turtle nests on the beach. You will also see pictures here of students measuring just how much their bean plants grew before taking them home. And, students recently explored classification baskets in class...ask your child what he or she liked best...reptile? Insect? Mammal?

How Can a Camel Live in the Desert?

Today we had a very special guest speaker visit grade one...our very own Middle School science teacher, Mrs. Johnson. She taught us all about the special adaptations of the camel which help it survive in the desert. Why do camels have TWO rows of eyelashes? What is special about its nostrils? What are those leathery patches on their knees for? Why do camels have such long legs? Big feet? What is in a camel's hump? Ask your child to answer some of these questions for you and see what he or she learned today!

Living Things Observation Journals

Students were busy making observations like scientists over the long weekend. We enjoyed sharing our findings in class and discussing the features of the plants and animals that were observed!

WOW! Read to Feed Complete

First Graders are to be congratulated on an AMAZING job participating in Read to Feed. Our goal was to be able to raise enough to purchase one cow...we have enough money to buy almost six cows! We will actually be able to purchase 5 cows, 1 goat, AND send 1 girl to school. What a difference first graders will make in the lives of others. TAISM's business department is in the process of transferring our money. Soon we will get confirmation from Heifer International and know that we have turned the power of reading into the power of feeding! Well done, First Graders.

Guess My Shape

In math we have begun to explore shapes and learn about the number of sides and corners each kind of plane shape has. Ask your child what makes a square different from a rectangle. And ask him or her to teach you how to play Guess My Shape like you see us doing in the pictures above.

Sorting Animals

This week we began talking about animals as part of our Living Things unit. Just like with plants, we are learning about the features which help animals meet their needs. Yesterday we explored many photographs of animals and came up with various ways to sort them based on the features we could observe. Groups came up with great ideas, sorting based on ways the animals move, what covers their bodies, where they live and their scientific classification (mammal, bird, etc.) Next week we have two special visitors coming to talk to all the first graders about the living things of Oman...we hope no one misses these mystery guests! Today your child brings home a Living Things Field Notebook to work on over the long weekend. Please help your child remember to observe, draw, photograph, label and write about the living things he or she encounters over the holiday. We look forward to sharing these next week.

Watching our Seeds Grow

This has been an exciting week as we wait...and watch...and wait some more for our seeds to grow! Some lucky individuals have already seen their seed coats split open, roots push down, and even sprouts reach up for sunlight. Others are trying their hardest to be patient...grow, seeds, grow! Here are some photos of students observing their seeds and some samples of their written observations in their plant journals. Our students are all growing so much as writers, whether writing their personal narrative stories or observations in science!

Thank You!

Here is a letter written by 1SM expressing our thanks to the parents who organized festivities at TAISM for Omani National Day!

Fact Families

Fact Families

In math we have been talking about fact families, which are three numbers that "go together." For each fact family, we can make two addition sentences and two subtraction sentences. Today we practiced these fact families with Fact Triangles in class. I wanted to share a website with you where your child can practice this at home...click here to practice addition and subtraction fact families with Fact Triangles.

Parts of a Seed

This afternoon we investigated the parts of a seed. We looked at beans that had been soaked in water so they would easily come apart. Students discovered that each seed has a covering like a skin...called the seed coat. We talked about how clothing protects us, and the seed coat protects the seed. Students also discovered the most exciting part...the tiny plant hiding inside the seed, called the embryo. We looked carefully with magnifying glasses to see the root and the tiny leaves of the embryo. Tomorrow we will plant seeds, so we talked about all the things our seeds will need to grow.

Living Things

Today we began talking about the differences between living and nonliving things. We went outside on a "Living and Nonliving Thing Hunt." When we came back to share and sort our findings into living and nonliving categories, we came up with some interesting questions. How do you know if it's living? Can something move if it is not a living thing? What makes it move? Do plants eat food? It was a great discussion to launch this new unit. We are also excited to do our own planting later this week. (P.S. Meanwhile, please keep encouraging your child to Read to Feed! We are halfway through the first week and from what students are sharing with me it sounds like they are doing well and are hopeful they will reach their goal.)

Sharing Our Stories

Recently, all three first grade classes got together to share our Small Moment Stories. We did this in a "Wagon Wheel" format out on the basketball court, so students got to share their stories with as many peers as possible. We came back into the classroom and made fun, wacky writers' hats to celebrate our success. Students later reflected about how it felt sharing their stories, what they were proud about in their writing, and what they would like to improve on next time. We even got to share our stories with our fourth grade reading buddies. Well done, first grade writers!

Read to Feed Starts Today!

Our Grade One Fundraiser Starts Today. It will go for two weeks, ending on November 21st. Please see the large envelope that went home in your child's backpack today for all the details. We have a grade-wide goal of raising $500 for the purchase of one heifer. Who knows, we might even surpass this goal! Please sponsor your child and help your child start finding other sponsors today. Every child is asked to find ten sponsors to each make a donation of one rial or more. For each sponsor, students pledge to read one Just Right book to their family at home. You can read more about this great program Read to Feed on the Heifer Organization website. The details of what your child should do are glued to the outside of the envelope that was sent home today. To summarize in brief...

1. Find Sponsor (Students will give each sponsor an information bookmark from inside the envelope and have the sponsor write their name on the Read to Feed log) 
2. Collect Money Right Away (Record how much on log and put money in envelope.) 
3. Read and Record on Log at home. Students will be doing this INSTEAD of their normal reading logs for the next two weeks. The large envelope should stay at home, please, so students are not carrying cash back and forth to school. They will simply bring their reading book back in their folders every day and swap it for a new one each morning, then write down the book title on their Read to Feed log at home.

 *If your child finds many sponsors in one day, that is great! He or she can read additional books from home or wait to choose additional books from school.

Thank you for helping your child turn the power of reading into the power of feeding!

Recent Class Happenings

Here are some assorted pictures of what's been happening in class recently. See students doing group word sorts and "Blind Sorts" in pairs. See a glimpse of our final Rights of a Child projects on the iPads and a recent morning message. Students are very excited as we wrap up our Rights of a Child unit...as a whole grade level we are going to do a fundraiser called Read to Feed through the Heifer International Organization. Students are inspired to help a family fulfill all the rights of their children through this project. Stay tuned...details come home Thursday. It will be a two week fundraiser ending on November 21st. Meanwhile, next week we begin a new science unit called Living Things.

Brothers in Hope

We are now reading a powerful story called Brothers in Hope. It is helping us to deepen our understanding of the rights of a child which we have been learning about...Food...Water...Protection...Identity...Education. Children were very moved by the story. They learned how many children in Sudan lost their rights when war came to their village. We were inspired to make a mural about the journey the children had to take.

Selecting Pieces to Publish

Our writers have been looking through the many (piles for some!) true stories from their lives which they have drafted so far this school year. They have especially looked for stories where they chose a small moment to zoom in on. Writers will soon begin revising and publishing these stories. One thing we have been working on in our writing is using different story starters like "One time..." or "It was..." instead of "I..." We have also learned about transition words such as "After that..." "Finally..." to help flow from one sentence to the next. Writers are even adding feelings and speech bubbles to help the reader picture the story in their minds. We are frequently sharing and discussing our stories with our partners to help us get ideas for more details to ask. Partners have practiced asking each other questions to coax out these details.

Right to Protection

Recently students wrote thank you cards to someone in their lives who helps care for them on a daily basis. We spoke about the different ways adults help protect children and keep them safe, healthy and happy. Students identified people in their lives, from moms and dads to nannies, bus drivers and nurses, who all help care for them. They chose someone to say "thank you" to by writing a card. Students are developing a sense of awareness and appreciation for the roles these caring people play in their lives. They are also building a sense of empathy for those children in the world who might not have as many people protecting and caring for them.

Reading with Raz Kids at Home

Have a wonderful Eid holiday, everyone! You'll notice that this week a Raz Kids notice was taped inside your child's home/school folder so you will always have the link handy. We have been practicing using this resource "mindfully" in class and now students are ready to practice these skills at home. In class we use Raz Kids daily (listening, reading, and answering questions about stories.) I ask that children only do one story at a time in class, and I ask that you do the same at home. What we don't want is children spending 40 minutes on Raz Kids reading several stories, possibly rushing through them and not remembering anything! Instead, we have practiced careful, attentive listening and fluent reading. There is now a recording option available even when using the app on the iPads. This is an excellent tool for children to practice reading fluently (in their best "storyteller" voice with expression) and then listen to how they sound. They can try recording again if it didn't sound as smooth and expressive as they wanted! I also can go in and listen to any recordings the students leave. So, again, please support your child in using this resource "mindfully" at home, rather than as a game where you are trying to quickly reach the next level... though it is of course fun, too! Here are the steps to reading a book on Raz Kids: First, Listen to the story. Second, read the story silently to yourself (thinking and making sure you understand it along the way.) Third, answer the questions carefully, thinking about the story. (I can also see when a child has been rushing or guessing, as attempts at questions are recorded, too.) Finally, record to hear your beautiful storytelling voice. Enjoy!

More Rights...Identity! Clean Water! Shelter!

Recently students learned a song all about rights. It is called All I Really Need by Raffi. Mr. Mongardi joined us to teach us the song and accompany us on the guitar. It is all about rights...from clean water to food and family. This week we have also talked about the right to identity, especially focusing on how people all over the world practice different religions and how we can learn about and respect them all. We learned about how religions all have their own symbols, places of worship and traditions. Next we are looking at the right to shelter and we have started looking at some books about homes all around the world.

Number Bonds and Number Sentences

This week students have taken the next step from number bonds...number sentences! We continue to model these number combinations with cubes, counters and pictures and now students have practiced completing number sentences with plus and equals symbols.

Reading Buddies!

Today we met our 4th grade Reading Buddies from Mrs. Reekie-Evan's class. Students jumped right into their new partnerships by finding out what they had in common. They then spent some time reading the books the first graders had chosen in their book boxes. We can't wait until the next time we get together!

Math Games

This week we have been playing two math games, Monster Squeeze (to practice greater than and less than) and Bunny Hop (to practice moving up and down a number line.) We also began talking about number bonds, combining numbers (parts) to make a larger number (whole.) Students modeled the number bonds with cubes and then we shared them on the board.

Sharing Our Reading Journey

Students have learned in class that reading is a journey. And sometimes, we get to share that journey with a partner. Today we practiced three ways to read with a partner - Choral Reading (reading at the same time), Take Turns (partners take turns with sentences or pages) and Echo (partner reads back the same thing.) Try these fun ways to read together at home.

Rights of the Child

From 1 out of 7 Hungry

This week we have spent time discussing the rights of every child, beginning with the right to food. In class we listened to a helpful introductory song and video. We also read a powerful book called For Every Child by Caroline Castle. The three first grade classes got together for a visual demonstration with pretend food, showing how one seventh of the world's population does not have enough food to eat. We discussed how children felt about this and some of the ways people can help.We also applied our new logging on skills to the laptops and learned about the importance of food through PebbleGo. Feel free to follow the links above and the PebbleGo link on the side of the blog to visit this material again with your child.

Reading Logs!

From Reading Log

Yesterday we began bringing home our reading logs. Please help your child remember to do his or her nightly reading (to you, with you, or listening to you...depending on how hard or just right the book is for your child) and then help him or her remember to complete the reading log each night. There is a small box where you can initial, but the rest can be done by your child. The book and reading log should be returned in the folder to school the very next day. Thanks for your support in establishing this routine!

Logging On and Sharing Stories

Today students learned to "log on" to the laptops at school. (Many kept asking which "apps" we were going to use...a sign of the iPad times our children are growing up in.) We are practicing logging on in order to get ready to use a resource later in the week called Pebblego. This is a great nonfiction resource for our Rights of a Child social studies unit. We also shared our writing with partners at the end of Writers Workshop. We practiced using eye contact to do excellent listening. We found quiet places to share with our partners all over the classroom!

Word Bingo and Number Patterns

Last week students played word bingo to practice sight words. Today you will see a practice sheet brought home where students practiced covering up and writing these words independently. We have also been looking at number patterns, modeling these with cubes and other tools in class. Ask your child what is "one more than" or "one less than" a given number.

How I Can Fill a Bucket

Check out these thoughtful and personality-filled posters about different ways we can "fill a bucket."

First Days Photos

Hooray, the blog permission slips are in! Enjoy these photos of your children in action during our first several days of school.

How to Walk in the Hallway Song

The children love this catchy tune. It helps us remember to to keep our voices off and hands by our sides when walking in the hallway.

Fill Your Bucket Song

Here is the Fill Your Bucket song, to go with the book mentioned below!

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

In class we read a wonderful book about caring for others and creating happiness around us. Ask your child to tell you more about it and enjoy the story read aloud here on YouTube. We will be working on "filling each other's buckets" all year.

First Day of First Grade!

Welcome to the school year, first-graders. We had a busy day getting to know each other and learning the routines of first grade and of our brand new class. At back to school night, I will ask parents to sign permission slips to allow me to post photos of your children on our blog. I will give you all the details at Back to School Night. Meanwhile, I will not post any photos of students. For now, here are some snapshots to let you in on our first day. Ask your child to tell you more about these photos, from morning message to September calendars, our graph about how many letters are in our names, and even a bowl of worms. Your child is bringing home many important items in his/her folder today...please look out for the Me in a Nutshell Bag (bring back anytime in the first two weeks of school), Child Information Sheet (please return as soon as you are able) and the Back to School Book Party letter (your child should bring a favorite book from home by Thursday.) We had a wonderful day together; it was a happy start to the year. I am sure your child will be tired tonight...get a good night's sleep, everyone!

End of Year Portfolio Share

We had a full house today! Thank you all for taking the time to share portfolios and pizza with us today. Your children were so proud to share their hard work with you. They have all grown and developed tremendously this year and it has been a privilege to witness that. Thank you very much for the gorgeous gift and special framed photo of the class...they will both be treasured as mementos of a great year. The children enjoyed a very long choice time this afternoon...they had been working hard in preparation for today and deserved some much needed play time with their peers in class. For those of you leaving early, have a wonderful holiday with your children and I look forward to seeing you in the hallways taking your child to second grade next year! For those of you staying through the end of the week...we have a surprise for the children - swimming on Wednesday. We do not have library this week as Ms. Catherine is taking inventory, but Ms. Kathy has offered to take the kids to the pool instead. What a treat. Please send your child's swimsuit, swim cap, towel, flip flops, etc. on Wednesday. We will also have our last meeting with our fourth grade reading buddies Wednesday. And of course, the grade 1 space-themed party for the students is on Thursday. Thank you to our room parents for organizing lots of fun right up until the last minute of first grade!

My Shadow

What causes shadows? How do shadows created by the sun change throughout the day? These are some of the questions we investigated today by tracing our shadows in chalk and observing them at different times of the day. Ask your child what s/he learned about how the position of the sun can affect our shadows.

Place Value with Base Ten Blocks

Students have been using our friendly tools the base ten blocks in class a lot these days. With these tools, students are deepening their understanding of ones, tens and even hundreds. Students have been adding and subtracting two digit numbers using these concrete objects. They can even solve addition and subtraction problems by drawing the base ten blocks, so feel free to ask for a demonstration at home!

Thank You

Thank you for a lovely teacher appreciation week... Ms. Dimple and I enjoyed our special treats all week long!

Solar System Centers

Students had fun this week learning about the solar system through songs, puzzles, books and games. Some of the questions guiding our unit are "How do the earth, sun and moon work together?" and "Why does the moon look different at different times?" Enjoy moon-gazing with your child as she or he begins recording on a moon calendar tonight!

Reading Buddies

We were happy to see our reading buddies again this week...we were so busy in recent weeks that we missed a couple of sessions. It's great to get together and just read, read, read.

Oobleck...Solid or Liquid?

What a busy week, full of science experiments, book publishing and more. The fun continued as we began to wrap up our science unit about the properties of matter. Earlier this week we read Dr. Seuss's book Bartholomew and the Ooblek. Then, of course, we had to make our own ooblek to investigate whether it was a solid or liquid. We mixed a solid and a liquid and got a...??? Things got a little messy, in a good way. Students had different points of view, and were able to defend why they thought it was a solid or a liquid. Ask your child to tell you...solid or liquid? And why!

How-To Book Authors' Celebration

Thank you so much for being at school to celebrate your child's writing today. The students were proud to share their work with you and shine in the spotlight as authors. If you weren't able to join us, don't worry...your child's books will all come home in the portfolio at the end of the year, so you will soon have these treasures to keep. After you left our celebration today we wrote reflections about what we had learned as writers during this unit. Enjoy some snippets of these reflections in the photos.

Visit from Author John Coy

First graders had the chance to do a writing session with visiting author John Coy. Mr. Coy guided the students through a series of "quick-writes" (3 to 4 minutes long each) to practice zooming into a small moment and telling more and more details. Students described every detail they could remember about having dinner the previous evening...from what they ate to who was there and what the conversation was about. And the first grade teachers agreed with Mr. Coy's message that in writing there's no such thing as "I'm done!" Ask your child how many years and how many letters to publishers it took for Mr. Coy to publish some of his books.

Area

One of the ways students showed the concept of area during our math unit on measurement was by painting. Students did their best to completely cover a section of newspaper from edge to edge. They then practiced explaining area in their own words.

From Milk to...Ice Cream

This week we made ice cream. We took solids and liquids and TRIED to make a new solid, by...dancing. We had to shake our bags of ingredients to make them solidify, so what better way to do that than to music! Some mixtures did turn into solids, which were promptly eaten with spoons...others remained liquid, so those were drunk with a straw as milkshakes. Who would have guessed that the weather would be so cool this week, so we had to warm our bodies up by doing some more dancing afterward. Ask your child to tell you more about the changes that happened in this experiment.

Weight

The most recent phase of our math unit about measurement has been weight. Students have compared the weight of different objects and learned to use a balance to find objects of equal weight. Next we will sequence groups of objects from lightest to heaviest.

Racing Drops

In our science unit about the properties of matter, we have been learning new vocabulary to help us talk about solids (flexible, rigid, rough, smooth...) and liquids (transparent, opaque...) We have practiced observing and comparing the properties of matter, exploring objects in class and jars of various mystery liquids. Students have used Venn diagrams to organize their descriptions, finding what is the same and different about two objects or substances. We even explored the viscosity (resistance, thickness) of different liquids by playing a game called Racing Drops. Ask your child to tell you about the winning and losing drops of this race!

Publishing Our How To Books

After drafting, writers go back and reread their work. We have learned several strategies for making a successful How To Book, and students are doing their best to apply these to their writing. They write, revise, share with a partner and revise some more! We are looking forward to sharing our published books with YOU next week.

Practicing our How To Steps

Writers are hard at work getting ready for our Author's Celebration with you next week. Over the last several weeks we have gathered ideas, practiced telling steps and drafted them in writing.

Capacity

This week students have continued various types of measurement, including area and capacity. We investigated the capacity of different containers, filling them with sand, beans, gravel and water. Students are beginning to understand the importance of using the same unit of measurement each time and the importance of measuring consistently.

Making Playdough

Recently students made playdough to investigate some of the ways matter can change. They mixed solids and liquids to make a new solid. Ask your child where the energy came from to create the new mixture and cause the changes in matter!

Wind Socks

Here are pictures as we observed our windsocks moving in the wind on the playground. Your child has brought his or her windsock home today. Please help find a good place to hang it at home!

How to Make Toast

In preparation for writing How-To books, students explored the steps necessary to make toast. If your child hasn't shown you already, ask for a demonstration next time you're hungry!

Temperature

Students are investigating all aspects of weather this week. We are enjoying looking at photos of each other in types of weather all around the world. Students have learned about different types of clouds and made cloud flip books. They have practiced measuring temperature and compared land, air and water temperatures in the morning and after hours of being in the sun. They next constructed wind socks and will see what these can tell us when we take them outside soon.  Next we will create mini water cycles and hopefully answer some great student questions that have come up through our inquiry. Above are pictures of students collecting their temperature data outside.

Poetry Jam

Today we started the day with our Grade One Poetry "Jam." Students shared their published poetry collections with their first grade peers. Ask your child about the wagon wheel format we used for our share. The Poetry Jam was a wonderful celebration of students' hard work and newly developed poetic prowess. Students shared their pieces with confidence and keenly listened to others. Thank you to our room parents for arranging jam-filled treats to celebrate with afterward. And your child brought home a little gift from their teachers, too, to remind them of their Poetry Jam and to keep looking at the world like poets! Well done, first graders.

Monster Squeeze to 100

Students played Monster Squeeze on a number line to 100. They practiced choosing a range of numbers, making guesses between ranges and identifying whether each others' guesses were greater or less than the mystery number. Students will be taking turns bringing this game and another math game, Roll to 50, home to play with you. Directions are included. Enjoy, and please help your child remember to bring the game back the next school day so it can continue on its rotation through our class list!

Omani Day at TAISM

Students looked amazing in their Omani clothes today. When they visited the tents set up for them, students enjoyed Omani "coffee" and sweets, henna and face painting, homemade bread, live music, dancing and even some Omani games. See our students enjoying celebrating some highlights of Omani culture.

Bausher Fort Exploration

We visited Bausher Fort. Here are some observations from students... "It smelled like dust." "We discovered a well when we were wandering around." "We crawled through a secret passageway." "We saw little tadpoles and fish swimming in the falaj." "We saw spider eggs on a hard wall."

How Many Hundreds?

Today we each had a hundred dots in our hands. There were 18 sheets of 100 dots each. How many dots is that?...Ask your child!

Natural History Museum

Students gathered fun facts about mammals, insects, reptiles, sea creatures and birds at the museum today. Ask your child about his/her favorite sighting.

100 Days of School!

Ways to make 100...

Low Tide at Shatti Beach

What a fantastic trip we had to the beach! Students splashed, dug, collected, played, snacked and splashed some more. Some worked together to dig a network of rivers, others buried each other in the sand and still others spent most of the day enjoying the shallow sea water. You will certainly have some tired children at home tonight. Enjoy the photos from our great day.

Ghala Village Hike

Our first trip of Discover Oman was a success. Students observed a falaj, felt a hot spring, and experienced climbing a bumpy, winding path up a mountain. You might have even heard about our encounter with a loud, territorial goat! When we got back to school students painted images from their hike and they are working on rhythmic poems about the experience. Some snippets so far are..."Burning hot spring, dark hot spring, in a cave hot spring," "White bones, small bones, hard old animal bones," and "Hard mountains, sunny mountains, diagonal and straight mountains."

Poets Using Senses

First graders have been discovering the many ways they can think, observe and write like poets. One of these access points we have learned about has been using our senses. Our writers recently used careful observation skills to describe seashells. They are using these descriptions to draft original poetry. See these poets in the process of gathering ideas.

Mapping Our Classroom

Students have learned many important factors in creating maps recently. They know to use a compass rose and they know to use a birds-eye view. Recently we used pattern blocks in preparation for making maps of our classroom. The students positioned and repositioned blocks to help them visualize and recreate the layout of furniture in our classroom. Finally, they drew maps of the classroom, indicating the shape, position (and sometimes relative size!) of the key items in our class.

Position Words

Some of our math standards in the current unit on shapes and fractions involve using position words to describe location and relationship. We spent some math time this week looking at the abstract art of Wassily Kandinsky and a few others. We made careful observations and practiced using position words such as left, right, down, up, top, bottom, between and middle. Students also named types of lines and shapes, size and color. We learned about parallel and intersecting lines as well as how shapes can overlap. Ask your child about playing "Pass the Painting" and about creating a group mural of lines and shapes. Next week we will reflect on this process and write down some of the observations we made using position words.

Applesauce!

Thank you for sending the apples in this week. This was a completely student-run project. I was impressed how the students came up with the idea, wrote the letter, and brought the apples in based on the student message sent home. With a little help in class today, students took turns peeling and chopping apples and adding a few key ingredients. Thanks to our pioneers in this project, Camila, Kyle and Yagmur, for serving us the applesauce. We have tied this experience into our study of poetry. Students observed and thought like poets today during the whole applesauce-making process...first noticing and describing the look and feel of the whole apples, and then the taste and texture of the finished applesauce. Stay tuned for apple-inspired poetry.

Landforms and Water

Recently students played a matching game where they learned the names, descriptions and visual features of different landforms and bodies of water found in Oman. This is part of our mapping unit, where we are learning about the different types of information we can get from maps. Next students will practice directional words to use when finding locations on maps - left, right, below, above, etc. They will also learn the cardinal directions north, east, south and west.

Shape Designs

Our shape exploration continues. Students are becoming adept at counting sides and corners, and even naming less obvious shape names like trapezoid, hexagon and rhombus. Today students made designs to cover a given outline. They then tallied the number of each type of shape they used and found the grand total of shapes used for each design.

First Week Back

Our first week of 2013 has been a full one. We have been busy with a lot of group and partner work. We have started our new writing unit. This week we learned about the parts of a letter and did some shared letter writing as a class as well as responding to the story Click Clack Moo with letters written in pairs. Our new math unit on Shapes and Fractions has begun. We played a game where students orally described a hidden design to a partner who then tried to copy the design based on the shape names, descriptions, and position words used. We also began our new Social Studies on Mapping. Students explored books and actual maps, and we brainstormed what we know about types of maps and how maps are used. Ask your child how a map might have helped Hansel and Gretel! Also stay tuned...we will be requesting some photos for the Science/Weather portion of this unit.