Weekly Update ~ 1/16/12
-We had a review week in Language Arts. The students participated in various review games and activities based on Unit 2 skills, and completed the Unit 2 Assessment. Mrs. Swisher administered the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) Mid-Year Benchmark Assessment to the students as well. This assessment included phoneme segmentation, nonsense word fluency, and oral reading fluency.
-We also had a chance to work with our 5th grade buddies this week! The first graders independently completed the first draft of their "how-to" reports. We met with our 5th grade buddies to discuss the specific steps, and worked on editing and revising our writing. Finally, we met in the computer lab to type the final draft of our "How-To" paragraphs and added illustrations using KidPix.
-Additionally, we had an opportunity to read several books written by Laura Numeroff, our January Author of the Month. Some of her most famous books include, If you Take a Mouse to School, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, If you Give a Cat a Cupcake, and If you Give a Moose a Muffin. To learn more about Laura Numeroff, check out her website: http://lauranumeroff.com/
http://www.lauranumeroff.com/cgi-bin/postcard.cgi?code=1326757105bswisher@moonarea.net
http://www.lauranumeroff.com/cgi-bin/postcard.cgi?code=1326757105bswisher@moonarea.net
-Your first grader will soon be taking part in our pen pal partnership with first graders from Allard Elementary School! Moon Senior, Toni Zusinas, will be leading the pen pal writing activities as part of her senior project. Miss Toni has visited our classroom several times, and will soon kick-off the exciting pen pal writing project!
-In Math, we completed Chapter 9, Graphs and Tables. We also began our new chapter, Chapter 10 – Place Value to 100. With the use of base-10 blocks and connecting cubes, the children quickly grasped the concept of making numbers using tens and ones as well as writing the numbers in standard form.
-In Science, we wrapped up our unit on Magnets. The students enjoyed our Magnet Maze culminating activity! Ask your child about the results of the magnet maze. Were they able to complete the maze? Which object did they use to complete the course? Did the results differ when using a different magnet?
