Research Papers

The practicum student that is visiting our classroom was shocked to learn that 1st graders are expected write research papers. The answer is....YES!!!

We are currently working on writing research papers about animals. Students were put into 7 different groups and given a specific animal to research. Over the next two weeks, we will be researching the animals using a website called "Pebble Go".  They will bring writing their papers and creating a power point presentation to go along with their topic. Students will also be painting an illustration on the computer to include in their power point. We are very excited about this project!!!! :)

Also, we will not be working with our literature circle groups as much over the next two weeks. Our main focus is going to be our research papers, and we will be spending a lot of time in the computer lab.

I will let everyone know how they turn out! :)

Spelling Words Feb. 21-24

Penguins: heard, third, dirt, blurt, shirt, squirt, skirt, desert, alert, turn
Seals: again, want, any, under, both, bare, water, tall, old, between
Walruses: about, teacher, arms, seven, put, because, part, body, saw, warn
Polar Bears: person, draw, tiny, eight, carry butter, happy, always, ready, were

Here are your words for next week! A few of the kids were very worried about not having their spelling words over a 3 day weekend. They are too funny! :)

Spelling Words: February 13-17

Penguins:near, shout, climb, door, wall, forest, soon, cow, there, been
Seals: dirt, heard, third, blurt, shirt, squirt, skirt, desert, alert, turn
Walruses: better, spider, earlier, power, younger, slower, faster, longer, shorter, bigger
Polar Bears: about, teacher, arms, seven, put, because, part, body, saw, warn

(I haven't been the best at updating it on the blog. I will try to do better!!)

New Spelling Requirements

Since we are more than halfway through our school year, we are starting a new writing component with our spelling tests. We have focused a lot of time on capitalization and punctuation, and now students will be responsible for doing this on the test. Each week, I will dictate a sentence for students to write on their test. They are responsible for 5 parts of the sentence:

1 point- Capitalization (first letter in each sentence)
1 point- Spelling the spelling word only correct (they can miss other words in the sentence, but not their spelling word)
1 point- Punctuation (it must be correct punctuation)
1- All words are in the sentence (they cannot leave out any words that I say to them)
1- Spacing (spaces between all of their words)

Example:

I said, "I want to wear a blue dress."
Student wrote, "i to wear a blu dress." Their score would be a 3/5 for writing. The did not capitalize the first word and left out a word in the sentence. You may notice that the word "blue" is spelling incorrectly. They are not counted off for this because their spelled the spelling word correct--they are allowed to miss other words in the sentence (this gives them practice sounding out words).

Our goal is to create better writers! Your child will have a chance to practice this new skill each week if they chose to write their spelling words in a sentence or write a letter to someone. :)

Personal Narrative

We are working on writing our personal narratives for the next couple of weeks in class.  This concept is a little tricky for my kids, so I would like your help! If you could help your child think of one event (i.e. going on vacation, trip to the zoo, visiting Grandma's house, etc) and fill out the "All About____" book at home, I would greatly appreciate it. :)  Please remind your child that the event must be true since it is a personal narrative (story about themselves). A lot of times students want to write about make believe stories or things they would like to do, so it can be a little confusing. Please have your child return the book by Wednesday, Feb. 1st so we can begin writing our narratives. This book does not have to be a work of art, just a starting place for our narratives.

I have included a couple of pictures of the "narrative" (ok...mine is not actually true, but the kids won't know that!!) I wrote for you to use as an example. You may want to glue in actual pictures from the event or they can simply illustrate it themselves. Thanks for your continued help! :)

(The boxes are for the illustrations/photographs.)

If you would like to read some personal narratives at home to your child this week, here are a couple of great examples:

A Chair for My Mother

Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs

Thundercake

Spelling Words for January 23-27

At the Curriculum Night we hosted in December, a few parents requested the spelling words the weekend before the test so the kids would have plenty of time to practice the words. I will post the spelling words for the next week at least by Friday. Here are next week's words:

Penguins: how, world, little, our, more, these, over, give, try, children

Seals: fork, sword, stork, corn, toward, four, award, bored, scored

Walruses: heard, third, dirt, blurt, shirt, squirt, skirt, desert, alert, turn

Polar Bears: again, want, any, under, both, bare, water, any, tall, old

Nouns!!!

We have been working on nouns for the past several weeks. We have learned about common nouns, proper nouns, and possessive nouns. Recently, we have been learning about singular and plural nouns. To help better understand the different between the two, we played a little game!!

They class was divided into groups of 4. Each group was given a set of "Memory Match: Noun Style" cards. The game is very similar to the traditional Memory game. However, in this game students had to match the singular noun to the plural noun. We they made the match, they had to tell their teammates which noun was singular and which was plural AND why (the plural noun has an "s" at the end). They really had a great time reinforcing this new skill! :)

This was a "cookie" noun sort we also played.  One student suggested we make real sugar cookies as a class and write nouns on them with icing. (I think she might be a teacher someday!)

Spelling Words for the Week of January 2-6

It has come to my attention that I gave out a spelling list today that they kids have already taken. The last time they had a spelling test it was given by a sub, and I couldn't remember what test they needed. I will give them a new word list tomorrow!! If they aren't ready for the test by Friday, then we can always take it on Monday. Sorry!!!

Also, I included a "Spelling Star Work Mat" to the spelling packet. Please keep it at home or in their folder. Many parents requested another copy of the sheet at our Curriculum Night in December. Please keep it as a reference, and if you want to do something that is not on the list, then just write me a quick note. Thanks!

Snow Day Case Files: Inferencing Investigators

We have been working on a new comprehension skill called, "inferencing" this week. Students have learned that inferencing is when we have to take our best guess when a story does not give us all the information we need to know about an event.  Therefore, we must 'infer' what is happening in the story by using clues from the author.

To help my students learn how to infer while reading, we had a mystery to solve in our classroom. Below you will find the background information about the mystery. :)

A student named Tim woke up one morning to six inches of snow. He was ecstatic to learn that his Grandma Sue would be staying with him on the snow day.  When Tim's mother came home from work that evening, Tim and Grandma Sue were nowhere to be found!  Tim's mom collected some "evidence" from around the house to help figure out what Tim and Grandma Sue had done on the snow day. This is where my class got involved! We were given 5 case files filled with evidence collected by Tim's mom. Each group was asked to remove one piece of evidence, write it down on the paper, and use their inferencing skills to decide what Tim and Grandma Sue had done that day.

Case file group working together to solve the problem!

Here is an example of the case file inferencing sheet. They wrote their evidence in the left column, and their inference in the right column.

Hot chocolate is evidence???

The Inference Investigators are working together to solve the problem!

Some evidence! What do you think Tim and Grandma Sue did on the snow day?

This is the case file each group was given (they all had similar evidence).

Once each group observed their evidence, we created a timeline of what we infer Tim and Grandma Sue did on the snow day. We were able to answer questions about their day based on the evidence that was collected. The best part was that my students truly believed they were solving a mystery! They had so much fun and didn't even realize they were doing school work. I just love to watch them learn! :)

Daily Five

You may have heard your child say they are doing "Daily Five" every day while they are in their flexible reading group. You are probably wondering what Daily Five consists of and means. Well, Daily Five is a reading structure to help teach students how to be independent. There are five different choices they have been taught and can make every day. Each choice is an authentic learning experience, and allows them to be responsible for their own learning. While students are making their Daily Five choice, I am either reading with a literature circle group, working with a small group on a certain skill, or reading with individual students. Here is a brief description of the Daily Five choices:

Read to Self:

Students are expected to read independently to themselves for that round of Daily Five (approximatley 25 minutes). They may read books from their book bags (books they are reading daily like chapter books) or books from our classroom library. Students may also choose to read their literature circle book. They will find a quiet spot in the room to curl up with their favorite book. Many of them are reading chapter books, and enjoy reading on in their books each day. Students also practice comprehension, accuracy, and fluency strategies during this time.

                                          Max is practicing "Read to Self" with his chapter book.
Read to Someone:

Students practice reading with a partner. They each take turns reading by reading one page at a time. They keep each other accountable by "checking for understanding" at the end of the page. They ask each other comprehension questions and help their partner to solve unknown words. They really enjoy this Daily Five choice because they are working together with a partner. I have seen lots of reading growth with the kids because they are helping each other to decode the words. Sometimes a peer can help more than a teacher!

Listen to Reading:

Students listen to a book on the computer during this choice. Two students share a computer and listen to the same book. The words are printed on the bottom so they can follow along with what they hear. This promotes fluency because they are able to hear an experienced reader read the text. The kids especially love this choice!! The books they listen to are similar to movies, but are based on quality children's books. Their favorite is Knuffle Bunny!!

Work on Words:

Students are allowed to use a variety of materials to practice making words. They choose words from the word wall to practice spelling. This helps them find spelling patterns and sounding out words. Some of the materials they are allowed to use are: magnetic letters, dry erase boards, dried beans, play dough, Wiki sticks, fuzzy sticks, and alphabet stamps. These things are very inexpensive and are a great choice to practice spelling words as well!

Kharis is using Wiki sticks to make her words. Wiki sticks are wax sticks that can be used to form shapes.

DeAnna is using play dough to make her word. She is using the "snake method" to form her letters.

Work on Writing:

Students practice their writing during this choice. We brainstormed a list of writing topics, and they can use their imagination to work on writing. They are expected to write the whole time. If they come to a word they don't know, they should sound it out and underline it. Then, move on! They are allowed to spell words incorrectly, but should focus on writing down all of the sounds they hear in the word. Please have them practice this at home. They are not expected to be perfect spellers!

We just learned Work on Writing last week. Cameran was so excited about it that she decided to teach it to another friend during indoor recess. It was so precious I just couldn't resist taking a picture. I love to see how excited they are about learning!

Each day we have 3 rounds of Daily Five. If a student is not working with me or another adult during this time, then they will be making a Daily Five choice. They are allowed to choose one of the five options for each round. I record their choice, and they must do all five before they may start over again. Daily Five has helped my students become independent and self sufficient. I love to see them grow and learn!