Hello Friends and Families!  Happy Friday!

Reading Workshop

This week in Reading Workshop we discussed taking ownership of our reading which we call "Being the BOSS of your own reading".  We celebrated signs of perseverance, discussed the importance of using ALL the strategies we know, as well as how important it is to stop when you're stuck AND when something doesn't seem right.  I also taught a reminder lesson on helping readers find the right tool for the (reading) job by asking these 3 important questions:  Does it look right?  Does it sound right?  Does it make sense?

Writing Workshop
This week we will finish up our unit on nonfiction writing.  As I mentioned in conferences, we have researched and wrote about 3 topics together:  Ponies, Owls, and Reindeer.  We will also take this week and research and write about tigers.  We have learned as writers of nonfiction, we can teach others about a topic we know all about.  We have learned about the text features used in nonfiction writing:  a big all about topic, a table of contents, headings on each page, pictures that include labels and/or captions.  We learned the purpose of an introduction and conclusion and what to include in each.  This final book will be a topic of their choosing and will be done independently.  Next week we will get back to our persuasive unit on writing reviews.

Math
This week in math we will finish up our topic on subtraction facts.  In this topic we have learned to make 10 to subtract, use related facts and fact families and using addition to help us subtract.  We will move on to our topic on counting and number patterns to 120.  We will start by making and using numbers 11-19 and counting by 10's to 120.

*Homework*

The students will receive a spelling homework packet beginning Monday, 1/23.  They will receive a menu of options to practice their spelling words and they can choose 3 different ways to practice them each week.  They will receive the packet on Monday and it is due back the following Monday.   Please continue to have them read from their book bags each night and to practice their addition and subtraction facts to 20.

Also, you have probably noticed a reading log coming home.  We have begun tracking our reading because we have a goal of individually reading 75 books by May!!  Any book they read at home may be counted as well as any books read on Raz-Kids.  Happy Reading!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

😊  Mrs. Mocarsky 😊

Please remember:
-practice +/- facts to 20-return book bags daily
-wear sneakers on Friday
-return library books on Thursday

Math Rotations








At the beginning of January, Mr. Line from High Touch High Tech kicked off our science unit on light and shadow.  We had a blast doing experiments with a flashlight!

Digital Version

Hello families!!!  Welcome to the digital version of What's the News in Room 10? !!!!

The past few days and weeks have flown by and the thrill and excitement of winter break is certainly in the air!

Reading Workshop

Last week we finished up our unit called Word Detectives where our focus was being on the lookout for difficult words, using strategies we know to solve those words, and checking our attempts.  In this unit we were able to draw on our prior knowledge, increase our acquisition of sight words, and use known words to help figure out unknown words.  We also focused on ways that readers look closely at words and use visual information effectively.  In January we will begin diving deeper in to fluency, phonics, and comprehension.

Writing Workshop
This week we will finish up our unit on nonfiction writing.  As I mentioned in conferences, we have researched and wrote about 3 topics together:  Ponies, Owls, and Reindeer.  We have learned as writers of nonfiction, we can teach others about a topic we know all about.  We have learned about the text features used in nonfiction writing:  a big all about topic, a table of contents, headings on each page, pictures that include labels and/or captions.  We learned the purpose of an introduction and conclusion and what to include in each.  This final book will be a topic of their choosing and will be done independently.  In January we will begin our persuasive unit on writing reviews.

Math
This week in math we will finish up our topic on addition facts to 20.  We learned strategies to help us such as making doubles, using doubles plus 1, doubles plus 2, and making 10 to add.  We also learned to add with 3 addends and solved word problems involving 3 addends.  We have been actively practicing our basic facts to 20 as well either by addition and subtraction quizzes or by using Xtra Math on the computer.  In January we will begin our topic on subtraction facts to 20.

Have a WONDERFUL and RESTFUL Winter Break!!
😊  Mrs. Mocarsky 😊

Please remember:
-practice +/- facts to 20-return book bags daily
-wear sneakers on Friday
-return library books on Thursday

We practiced coding on Code.org on Wednesday during math.






Creating our gingerbread houses on Thursday.


Mr. B. reading us The Polar Express                       Reading by the fire        


We made the NICE LIST!!!

week of 1/12/15

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

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