The Month of December

Hi Everyone!  Happy Thursday!!!  The time is flying!!!  Let me recap what we have been learning over the past few weeks.

In Reader's Workshop, we have been focused on dramatizing characters and deepening our comprehension as we read.  We have been practicing using cues from the author as to how a sentence or part of a book should be read.  We have been paying attention to when characters are yelling, shouting, whispering, etc. and using those cues to help us understand how a character is feeling and why.  We have been trying to notice when a character is talking or when a narrator is telling part of the story.  We have thinking about the beginning, middle and end of our stories and how the character changes throughout the course of the story.  We have been practicing thinking like actors where we study the characters' feelings, words, and actions and acting out scenes in our stories with our partners.  We have also been working very hard on envisioning or picturing the details of what's happening in a story to help us understand our reading.

In Writing Workshop, we have been focused on opinion writing and more specifically writing reviews.  We have talked about why review writers write reviews, the power of persuasion, and the rating systems involved in writing reviews.  As writers we are learning to talk right to our readers and talk back (politely) to our readers who disagree.  We are watching our tone to make sure we aren't too bossy but still to the point.  We are making comparisons in our writing and we are learning to include suggestions and warnings.  We have learned to hook our readers with catchy introductions by asking questions, naming our topic, and finally giving our opinion.

In math we have moved on from our addition and subtraction facts to 12 topic and now we learning our addition facts to 20.  We start out by learning about doubles and near doubles (doubles plus one and doubles plus 2).  Our focus will be discussing the strategies that we can use to help us solve these problems.  Example, if you know 6+6=12, then you know 6+7=13 because the parts or addends are 1 number different, therefore the sums are 1 number different as well.

Have a fantastic weekend!!!!
Mrs. Mocarsky

A Few Reminders:

-early dismissal Tuesday, 12/23
-please send book baggies in DAILY so that students can swap out the books they are reading at home daily.
-have your child read every night-whether it be the book bag books or Raz-Kids, or a combination of both.
-send in an old sock to be used as a white board eraser.
-practice addition and subtraction facts to 20.

Week of 11/17/14-11/26/14

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday!!!  Let me recap what we learned last week and what we will learn during this shortened week.

Last week in Reader's Workshop, we began our unit focused on the importance of getting to know the characters in our books.  We discussed the way good readers become the characters in their books and act out what their characters are doing by thinking about the details in the book describing what characters are doing, thinking, and saying.  This week we will talk about the importance of noticing when our characters' feelings change so that we can change the reading voice in our heads as well.  We will also talk about the importance of reading and rereading a book many times until the story can be read smoothly.

Last week in Writing Workshop we brought in and wrote opinion pieces regarding our collections.  We judged the items we brought in and chose a first place or blue ribbon winner and listed reasons to support our choice.  We also enlisted the help of our classmates to help us bolster our position and even include their reasons as quotes in our pieces.  This week in writing we will learn to utilize a checklist to help make our writing the best it can be and become more independent writers.

Last week in math we finished up our subtraction unit and moved on to our unit on addition and subtraction facts to 12.  We learned about adding doubles, near doubles, and facts with 5 and 10 on a ten-frame.  This week in the few days that we have, we will learn to use doubles addition facts to master related subtraction facts.

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving and long weekend!!!!!!

A Few Reminders:

-early dismissal Wednesday, 11/26, no school Thursday, 11/27 and Friday, 11/28.
-please send book baggies in DAILY so that students can swap out the books they are reading at home daily.
-have your child read every night-whether it be the book bag books or Raz-Kids, or a combination of both.
-send in an old sock to be used as a white board eraser.
-practice addition and subtraction facts to 20.

Have a great week!!!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Mocarsky

Week of 11/3/14

Hi Everyone!  I apologize for the late post this week.  Its been a crazy week for sure!  Here is what we have been learning this week:

In Reading Workshop, we have been working on retelling a book to make sure we understand what happened.  We practice retelling in order saying what happened first, next, then, and finally.  Readers can open the book and touch the parts of it as they retell.  Please encourage them to do this with you at home as well.  We learned to use what we know about other words to figure out new words, figure out tricky words by saying the sounds of the beginning letters, and also looking at the end of a word to help figure it out.

In Writing Workshop, we are working on finishing up our unit on writing small moments.  We will spend some time focusing on stretching out our most important part in our piece, trying our hand at using craft moves we've noticed other authors use in our own writing (such as pop out words, ellipses, and exact actions), and editing our work with a writer's checklist.

In math we are still plugging away at our subtraction unit.  This week we are learning to write related addition and subtraction problems, write and identify different subtraction sentences that are true for the same model, and use counters to act out and solve subtraction story problems.

A Few Reminders:
-please send book baggies in daily so that students can swap out the books they are reading at home daily.
-have your child read every night-whether it be the book bag books or Raz-Kids, or a combination of both.
-send in an old sock to be used as a white board eraser.
-practice addition and subtraction facts to 10.

Have a great week!!!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Mocarsky

Week of 10/27/14

Hi everyone!  Happy last Monday in October!  Here is what's happening in first grade this week:

In Reading Workshop this week we will spend time talking about tackling tricky words as well as thinking about what makes as we read.  We will talk about the importance of thinking about what the book will be about, looking at the pictures and thinking about who is in the story, and the importance of retelling to check for understanding.

In Writing Workshop this week we will continue to focus on making our stories come to life.  The students will learn to include their character's thoughts and feelings.  They will learn to use the words they do know how to spell to help them spell new, more challenging words.  The students will look to author's they know and love to see what special things these authors do that they could try in their own writing.

This week in math we will continue working on subtraction.  The students will write subtraction sentences to represent different kinds of subtraction stories.  They will find the missing part when one part and the whole are given, and write and identify different subtraction sentences that are true for the same model.

A Few Reminders:
-please send book baggies in daily so that students can swap out the books they are reading at home daily.
-have your child read every night-whether it be the book bag books or Raz-Kids, or a combination of both.
-send in an old sock to be used as a white board eraser.
-practice addition and subtraction facts to 10.

Have a wonderful week!!
Kelly Mocarsky

Hi everyone!  Here is what's happening in first grade this week:

In Reading Workshop this week we will spend time talking about working cooperatively with partners.  We will discuss how partners should sit, how to plan ways to read together, how to take turns and make decisions together, and how to solve problems together.

In Writing Workshop this week we will focus on making our stories come to life.  The students will learn how to to unfreeze their characters.  They will learn techniques to help their characters move and speak.  They will learn how to make it clear to their readers who is talking in their stories.

This week in math we will continue working on subtraction.  The students will tell and act out stories about taking away, comparing, and finding the missing part.  They will also learn to write subtraction sentences to represent different types of subtraction stories.

A Few Reminders:
-please send book baggies in daily so that students can swap out the books they are reading at home daily.
-have your child read every night-whether it be the book baggie books or Raz-Kids, or a combination of both.
-send in an old sock to be used as a white board eraser.
-practice addition and subtraction facts to 10.

Have a wonderful week!!
Kelly Mocarsky

Week of 10/14/14

Happy Tuesday!!! I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!  Here is what's happening in first grade this week:

In Reading Workshop this week we will talk about how good readers read the story by looking at the pictures, recognizing patterns, and getting a sense of what the story is about.  We will also discuss why good readers act out their stories, notice details or new things when they reread, and how they can be reminded of things as they read.

In Writing Workshop this week we will discuss the importance of staying in our small moments even as we write the ending, we will begin working with partners to talk about our writing with other writers and storytelling their ideas out loud.  We will learn to utilize our partners to help us become better writers.

This week in math we will continue working on subtraction.  The students will learn to find the missing part of 8 and 9 when 1 part is known, and they will write and solve subtraction sentences.

A Few Reminders:
-please send book baggies in daily so that students can swap out the books they are reading at home daily.
-have your child read every night-whether it be the book baggie books or Raz-Kids, or a combination of both.
-send in an old sock to be used as a white board eraser.
-practice addition and subtraction facts to 10.

Have a wonderful week!!
Kelly Mocarsky

What's the News in Room 10? Week of 10/6/14

Happy Monday Families!!!
I hope everyone had a restful weekend!!  Here is what's happening in first grade this week:

This week in Reader's Workshop we will talk about why it is important for readers to focus on their own reading without disrupting or distracting other readers, how to make smooth transitions from one reading activity to another (such as moving from private reading to partner reading, or from partner reading to independent reading on the computer using Raz-Kids).  We will also discuss how to be a strong reader by not only reading the words but searching the illustrations for context clues as well.

In Writer's Workshop this week the students will learn to use the word wall to write words and check spelling, how to zoom in on one small moment (a small part of an event or experience) and write with detail rather than telling about an entire event or experience.   We will also talk about the importance of staying in the moment as they add detail about the event or experience they are describing.

This week in Math we will wrap up our unit on addition and move on to subtraction.  The students will learn to find the missing part of 8 & 9 when one part is known.  We will continue our daily practice of math facts to 10.  Please continue to practice these at home as well.  Please be on the look out for log-in info for a website called Xtra Math which is another tool students can use (and will use at school) to strengthen fact recall.

***A few reminders:

-Please read with your child each night and fill in the books read on the reading log form located in their green folders which should be kept in their reading bags.

-Please make sure their reading bags are returned to school each day because they should be reading a variety of books throughout the week and they will also read the books they take home during their private (independent) reading time at school.

-All lunch money baggies or envelopes should be labeled with your child's first and last name written clearly.

-Birthdays and holidays can no longer be celebrated with food-related items.  If your child would like to bring something in for one of those occasions, I recommend pencils, erasers, stickers, etc.

-Please email me (mocarskyk@plainvilleschools.org) if you would prefer to continue to get a print out each week of What's the News in Room 10.

WELCOME TO FIRST GRADE!!

Hi Families!!!
I am so thrilled to be your child's teacher this year!!!  We will have fun learning from one another, I always tell my students that I learn from them just as much if not more than they learn from me!  I'm looking forward to a wonderful school year together!!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Mocarsky