Week of April 8, 2019

What We’re Learning This Week:

Reading: The students will be reading the animal fantasy story, “Mole and Baby Bird,” a story about a mole that finds and takes care of a wild bird. We will be using illustrations to demonstrate the students’ understanding of characters, setting, and plot. The students will also list character traits for Mole and Bird using evidence from the text.  Lastly, in their reader response journals, the children will need to identify the central message or lesson that can be learned from this story.  As always, we will be reading poetry for fluency and expression practice.

*Please continue to read your child’s book-in-a-bag nightly with them.

Writing:  The first graders will continue their writing unit for fourth quarter, realistic fiction.  We introduced this unit by discussing story elements in realistic fiction.  Each story will include a character, place (setting), and plot (trouble) that their character gets into. By the end of this unit, the children will be expected to write a story that has an introduction, a middle with two or more detailed events using transition words, and an ending.  We will also be continuing to work on capitalization, end marks and writing detailed sentences through mini-lessons.  During this unit, each child will write a made up story with characters doing realistic things and revisit his or her writing to self-assess and revise.

Word Study/Spelling: 

Fry Words:  did, get, down, day, long

Feature/Pattern of the week: short vowels with beginning blends 

   Ex: flip, sled, plug, spot

Grammar: Review singular and plural nouns with matching verbs

Phonics: spr blend ; r controlled vowels- er

Math: Our math lessons each day will include computational fluency, fact fluency, and core math instruction focused on the first grade common core math standards. Computational fluency will help the students to use the most effective and efficient strategies.  Fact Fluency is working with both addition and subtraction facts within 10.  Our end-of-the-year goal is to have students complete 15 addition facts in one minute and 15 subtraction facts in one minute. Our core lessons will include hands-on math activities and games that support the common core.  This week we will play “Jeopardy” to review skills we have learned (solving word problems, adding and subtracting within 20, structuring to 10, counting and writing numbers to 120, adding a 1 digit number to a 2 digit number). 

4th grading period Science and Social Studies:
Science: Plants
Social Studies:  Historical Thinking and Skills & Heritage

Extras:

Please return your child’s report card envelope (signed)!  Thank you!