Greetings and Happy New Year!!
I hope everyone had a restful vacation and enjoyed some time with family. Let me tell you what's been happening in first grade since our return.
In Reading Workshop last week, we began our unit on informational text. I began teaching the students about the text features that make nonfiction texts so different from fiction such as commonly seeing photographs being used more so than illustrations, tables of contents, headings, bolded words, glossaries, and indexes as well as the uses for these features. This week we began reading a shared text called Sunshine and Shadows which ties into our science unit about light and shadow. We will be learning about the Earth's rotation around the sun and how it causes us to experience day and night. We will also learn about how shadows are created and what allows them to move and change.
In Writing Workshop last week, we began our final opinion writing subject-book reviews. The students learned that writing book reviews are really not much different than a restaurant, toy, or movie review. This week we are continuing our book review writing with a focus on ensuring all of the elements of good review writing are present: starting our piece with a question, including a small amount of information about the book without spilling the beans, the inclusion of our own opinion, and leaving the reader with something to do (read this book today!). We will finish up this unit on Monday of next week and be moving on to informational writing.
In math this week and last we have been on addition facts to 20 learning strategies to help us add such as: learning our doubles facts, doubles plus 1 facts, doubles plus 2 facts, making 10 to add, and adding 3 numbers. We also worked on problem solving with 2 question problems and word problems with 3 number. We will be moving on to topic 6 next week which focuses on subtraction facts to 20.
Have a wonderful weekend!!!
~Mrs. Mocarsky
Please remember:
-practice +/- facts to 20
-return book bags daily
-wear sneakers on Wednesday
-return library books on Wednesday
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Thursday, December 18, 2014
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.
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:
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.
-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.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Thursday, November 6, 2014
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
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
Monday, October 27, 2014
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
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
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
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
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
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
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
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
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