Updates

Greetings Owl Families,

A couple updates and in depth explanations are below.

Math:  Your child has started a new unit on story problems.  Because most children this age are learning to read, your child may need help reading the story problems.  Offer help when it is needed, but do not give the answer.    To solve story problems, child first need to know which number is unknown.  Is it the total or one of the partners?  This program helps children focus on this important issue by using "Math Mountains".  In a math mountain, the total sits at the top and the partners sit at the bottom of the mountain.  Children can quickly see the relationship  between the partners and the total when they look at the mountain.

Math Mountains are especially helpful in showing children how to find an unknown partner, as in the following problem: I see 9 horses.  5 are black, the others are white.  How many horses are white?Children can find the answer by drawing the mountain to see which number is unknown.  Then they count on from the partner they know to the total.  In this way, they can find the partner they don't know.  See picture below.



We also have an anchor chart helping us through the steps of a story problem.  First, we need to understand the story problem; to read and think about it.  Then we need to plan it out; to choose a strategy (math mountain, circle drawing, equation.).  Finally we need to do the problem--solve it.  See the picture below for the picture of the anchor chart.



Book Exchange:  You received a note home yesterday about our classroom book exchange.  We will be doing this in the afternoon after our party and recess.  Please be sure to wrap and book and label it!  If you are unable to participate, please let me know.  I want to make sure that all of the kiddos receive a book!  You can start sending in books at any time between now and the 17th.  Our Scholastic Book Club is a great place to find cheap, first grade reading level books.  Right now, there are a lot of books for only $1!  Please be sure to place this order with our book club before the 8th, that is when I am placing the order to be shipped.  If you order any later, it may not get to us before our break!

Christmas Party:  There is a note being sent home today.  Please read over it and return it to me with a note regarding volunteering/donating by December 7th. 

Thank you for your continued support! ~Mrs. Vos

We met our buddies!

Hello Owl Families,
Please enjoy the pictures below of our first day with buddies!  We made a Venn Diagram with them and did a skittle sharing activity to find out more about each other!

Welcome!

Hello Owl Room Families!

Welcome to our First Grade Blog!

This blog will be used to communicate information about what is going on in our classroom, highlight special events and learning, and share our Owl Room Adventures!

This is my 4th year teaching First Grade in Zeeland Public Schools and I am very excited to get to know your family and your child and begin a year of wonderful learning and growth!

You may comment on this blog if you have a gmail account. I will approve comments first, to make sure no spammers have left inappropriate messages, etc.

I hope you will enjoy this blog as I am learning how to integrate it into my communicating and teaching!  Please check back here often as I will be posting updates, pictures, newsletters, etc. about the Owl Room!

I can't wait to meet you all!  Our Adams Elementary School Open House is September 1st, from 5:00-6:30 PM.  Hope to see you all there!

School's Out!

Greetings Owl Families!

Happy Summer!  I am so proud of your student and the progress each one of them has made this year!  I hope you have a wonderful summer and enjoy some family time!  Here is a link to the long awaited YouTube video of the "Red Carpet Awards"!  Enjoy!

Blessings,
Mrs. Vos

Important Information!

Hello Owl Families,

Happy Friday!  Here are some important things to note for the week of 5/26:

Monday (5/25):  Is the Memorial Day parade.  If you are attending, please drop off your child on the corner of Main St. and Centennial St.  They may wear their hats that they made! :)  When you pick them up, please meet us on the east side of Cityside Middle School.  We will be by the power box where the bus drive is.

Friday (5/29):  FIELD DAY!  Please be sure to send your first grade in layers (cool mornings, warm afternoons) and APPROPRIATE shoes (please no crocs, sandals, etc.).  Lunch will be at 12 PM.  You are more than welcome to join your first grader for lunch.  Ms. Miller is still looking for many volunteers.  If you are willing and able, please email her at rmiller@zps.org and let her know!  This year's theme is "celebrating USA" so make sure your first grader wears red, white, or blue!  We will be taking a school picture to showcase this!!  I will also be taking lots of pictures, so if you can't make it throughout the day, check back that night/weekend for pictures! :)

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
Mrs. Vos

Updates

Hello Owl Families,

Here are a couple of updates happening in the Owl Room.

ELA:
We are working on synthesizing this month.  The comprehension strategy of synthesizing is best explained  using the analogy of a moving car merging onto a speeding highway.  Like a car who heads down the on-ramp, as soon as it merges onto a freeway of other moving cars, it must adjust its speed and lanes, whether it needs to speed up or slow down, it changes depending on the flow and speed of traffic.  The car is like our thinking.  We begin thinking a story is about one thing and using our background knowledge (Schema) to help us form that prediction.  However, as we read on further, our thinking changes.  We do not let go of our original prediction, but rather we mold it, and sculpt it into something new.  By the end of the story, we have made a lot of changes to our original thinking and it has morphed into something new, bigger and different than it was... not wrong, just different and new based on our interactions with the story.

When a strong reader reads, they not only read the words on the page, but they listen to the "inner voice" that processes the meaning of the story.  Strong readers use their schema, connections, and other worldly and literary experiences to form new ideas as they read.  Strong readers know that answers are not always found in the book, but in their head.  A synthesizing reader uses details and inferences from the story and integrates them with their own ideas, evaluations and opinions.

Math:
Our last unit of math focuses on 2-digit addition.  This can be a difficult concept to understand!  Please help your first grader through these problems, but do not give them the answer!

Social Studies/Science:
Both will be wrapping up next week.  The first graders have loved being able to switch twice a week!

Summer Stretch:
Please see attached documents for more information regarding Summer Stretch.

Frederick Meijer Gardens!

Updates, 4/17/15

Hello Owl Families!

Here are a couple updates for the Owl Room.

Homework notebooks are becoming very full.  As an effort to lower our paper usage and to save you a little time and money, I will be sending home the 4 questions and the spelling homework on one page.  Please have the first graders write down the answers in the appropriate box.

May/June book orders are coming home today.  This is the LAST book order of first grade.  Books are a great investment in your child's summer!  I will extend the due date into late May, but in time for you to receive them before the end of the year!

Our field trip to FMG is fast approaching!  There will be more notes coming home on what to expect starting next week!

ELA:  
Our current comprehension strategy we are working on for the month of April is Questioning.
Here are some tips and ideas about Questioning with your child:
*Questions help a reader clarify ideas and deepen understanding.
*If you ask questions as you read, you are awake and thinking.
*Diving in with questions--even those that are unanswerable-- enriches the reading experience.
*In their quest to make sense of their world, the bombard those around them--young children are master questioners.  Why are there clouds?  Do fish sleep? Why is the sky blue?  These types of sometimes endless questions show a child's brilliance.  As a parent, encourage your child to ask the real questions, those that really puzzle them, even if you can't answer them!
*Wonder keeps the imagination alive and curiosity well-tuned.
*Questions lead you to new perspectives and additional questions.
*Some questions don't have easy answers.  But all questions inspire thinking, generate discussion or lead you to another source.
*There's no doubt about it: kids love to generate their own questions!  Questioning makes reading fun.  But to know how to question, your child needs to hear your questions first!  This is not about asking your child questions.  Instead, it is about modeling what it means to be curious by sharing the questions you have while you read.  Don't rush the answers right away.  Pose several questions and then let your child take a turn asking questions that come to his/her mind.  You're showing your child how to be an active player in the world of reading!

Math:
We are continuing our 7th unit of time, 2-D and 3-D shapes.  The kids are loving this unit!

Science:
We have started our third and final unit of science--an animal's life!  We received our caterpillars and are eagerly watching them grow!  This is a fun unit, and I'm excited for the first graders!

Social Studies:
The first graders have started to study and review history, past, present and future with Mrs. Jo.

Math Unit 7

Hello Parents,

Here is an in depth look at our upcoming math unit.

This unit focuses on measurement and geometry.  They will begin the unit by learning how to tell time in hours and half-hours using a digital clock and an analog clock.

Later in the unit, they will work with 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes.  They will learnt o distinguish between defining and non-defining attributes of shapes.  For example, rectangles have four sides and four square corners.  A square is a special kind of rectangle with all sides the same length.

They will then compose shapes to create new shapes.  They will also learn to partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares (the start of fractions).  They describe the shares using the words halves, fourths, and quarters.  They will generalize that partitioning a shape into more equal shares creates smaller shares: one fourth of the circle is smaller than one half of the circle.

Another concept in this unit is length measurement.  Children will order three objects by length.  They will also use same-size length units such as paper clips to measure the length of an object (i.e., the pencil is 6 paper clips long).  You can help your child practice these new skills at home.  Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns!

Learning for life,
Mrs. Vos

Inferring

Hello Owl Families,

Inferring is our reading strategy for the month of March.  Inferring is a skill we do all day long, similar to "reading" people or "reading" a situation.  If it has been snowing outside and some cars have snow on them and come cars do not, we infer that those without snow have been parked in the garage.  Inferring is not only about reading expressions, tones and body language, it is about "reading" text, often said as "reading between the lines" where the answers are not explicitly stated.

Inferences are more open-ended and often uncheckable, meaning that the reader is unable to truly know if an inference is correct.  When students read think and make an inference about a text they have just read they must use their schema and prior knowledge and cross-check it with clues and evidence from the text.

When students use inferring, they are making meaning of the text.  They are adding pieces that are not explicitly there, often sharing personal opinions and forming interpretations.  As children begin to make inferences out loud, they must be recognized for doing so and be told, "You just made an inference!".  When asking a student simple recall questions, some children feel like they are answering wrong if they don't use words that are exactly in the text when they are actually using inferring.

When you infer, you may say:
*I think that...because...
*Maybe it means...because...
*My clues from the text are...my schema is...so I infer that...
*It could be...because...

We always support our inferences with evidence from the text so it is a strong inference!

Math/ELA

Hello Owl Families,

Here are the two in-depth explanations for our math and ELA curriculum.

Math Update:  The Owl Friends will begin unit 6 by learning to organize, represent, and interpret data with two and three categories.  In the example below, children sort apples and bananas and represent the data using circles.  They ask and answer questions about the data and learn to express comparative statements completely.

Later in this unit, they will solve compare story problems using comparison bars.  Two examples are given below.

While working on homework, ask your child to explain to you how to use comparison bars to solve these types of story problems.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!

ELA Update:  The comprehension strategy of visualizing is also known as making mental images.  Visualization is the creation of images in the mind as a student reads, processes, and recalls what has been read.  Visualizing a picture or scene with words and phrases allows the reader to organize ideas, see relationships among ideas and make meaningful connections with them.  Using visualization and discussing the pictures to check for understanding and discrepancies help a reader increase comprehension.  Opportunities for students to discuss and share their visualizations of text will be our focus.

Visualiation helps students to:
*realize personal prior knowledge,
*check their mental images against text for discrepancies and detail to gain a more complete understanding,
*match language to the images and improve processing of ideas, and
*connect in meaningful ways to reading.

It is important that students continue making connections to activate prior knowledge well into this strategy of making mental images.  I want all children to learn that everybody's mental images are different because everybody's schema for text is different!

**Another reminder we do not have school Friday (February 13) or Monday (February 16).  I will see all my Owl Friends back here on Tuesday!

Have a great weekend!

Wrting Celebration & Valentine's Day