Math Unit 2

Greetings Owl Families!  Below you will find an explanation of unit 2 for math.

This unit will focus on addition, subtraction, and equations.  These concepts are introduced with stories that capture children's interest and help them to see adding and subtracting as real-life processes.  

At the beginning of the unit, children show a story problem by drawing a picture of objects.  If they are adding 4 balloons and 2 balloons, for example, their pictures might look like the top one shown below.  If they are subtracting, their pictures might look like the bottom one shown below.  

In a short time, children will show objects quickly with circles rather than pictures.  From there, children are asked to show partners (4+2) as well as give the total (6).  Then they will be a small step away from writing the equation, such as 4+2=6 and 6-4=2.

If you have any questions regarding this unit, please do not hesitate to ask!

The "H" Brothers

Greetings Owl Families!

It was another successful week of learning in the Owl Room!  We are really starting to get into the role of being good role models and great first graders!  This week, we had the exciting opportunity to meet some new friends... The "H" Brothers!  Please take a look below at the poster we created that is up in our room as a reminder.  

Please let me know if you would like a copy of The "H" Brothers to have at home!

Clip Chart Explanation

During the first week of school, we have worked as a class to create a Class Promise that all students will be expected to follow on a daily basis.  

Student choices are being tracked using a behavior clip chart as shown below.  All students will begin every day on “Green,” which means that they are ready to learn.  Throughout the day, students will have the opportunity to move their clips up for positive choices and down for negative choices or not following the Class Promise.  Students always have the chance to move up or down, regardless of where they currently fall on the chart.  For example, if a student drops down twice to orange but turns around his/her behavior, he/she then has the chance to move back up to yellow, then green, and possibly above.

If a student gets to yellow, he/she will receive a verbal warning.  If a student drops down to orange, he/she will lose 5 minutes of their recess and may have to fill out a behavior reflection form.  If a student reaches red, parents will be contacted and further action may be taken.  Students will also be rewarded for reaching beyond the chart!

The color that your student landed on will be colored in their planner on a daily basis, so be sure to check their planners every day!

Thank you for your support!  As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

     

PINK (Super Student!)

PURPLE (Way to Go!)

BLUE (Excellent Effort!)

GREEN (Ready to Learn)

YELLOW (Make better Choices)

ORANGE (Teacher’s Choice)

RED (Parent Contact)

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 5th 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 August 31, from 5:00-6:30 PM.  Hope to see you all there!

Unit 7/Questioning

Hello Owl Families,

Below are full explanations of our current math unit and our current reading comprehension strategy.  Have a wonderful, warm weekend! :)

Math

The first graders have begun a unit that focuses on measurement and geometry.  We began the unit by learning to tell and write time in hours and half-hours on an analog and digital clock.

Later in the unit, children will work with both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapres.  They will learn to distinguish defining and non-definining 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.  The shapes below are different sizes, colors, and orientations, but they are all rectangles.

Later in this unit, they will learn to compose shapes to create new shapes.

Children will also learn to partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares.  They describe the shares using the words halves, fourths, and quarters.

Children generalize that partitioning a shape into more equal shares creates smaller shares: one fourth of the circle above is smaller than one half of the circle.

Another concept in this unit is length measurement.  Children order three objects by length.

Reading

Our reading comprehension strategy of the month is known as Questioning.  Questioning helps a reader clarify ideas and deepen understanding of the books they're reading.  If you ask questions as you read, you are awake and thinking.  Diving in with question--even those that are unanswerable--enriches the reading experiences.  In their quest to make sense of their word, first graders bombard those around them with questions; Why are there clouds? Do fish sleep? Why is the sky blue?  Frequently, parents have no idea how to answer these endless questions.  In desperation they might change the subject of come up with a feeble dodge to get off the hook.  In fact, those questions show a child's brilliance.  As a parent, you want to encourage your child to ask the real questions, those questions that really puzzle them, even if you can't answer them!

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's 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!

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

~Mrs. Vos

Math Unit

Hello Owl Families,

Here is an in depth look at our math unit.  We will be finishing this up before spring break!

To begin this unit, the first graders learned to organize, represent, and interpret data with two and three categories.  In the example below, they 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.

Currently, the first graders are solve compare story problems using comparison bars.  Two examples are given below.

While working on these sorts of problems, ask your child to explain to you how to use comparison bars to solve these types of story problems.  As always, if you have any questions feel feel to contact me!

Mrs. Vos :)

Inferring

Hello Owl Families,

Our reading comprehension strategy this month focuses on inferring.  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 some 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.

Another way some teachers explain it to children is like this: something happens on a page of the book and when you turn the page and ask what just happened, it's as if someone ripped out the middle page and you must decide what happened.  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!

Good books to read to your child to practice inferring are:
-Something Beautiful (Sharon Dennis Wyeth)
-Big Al (Andrew Clements Yoshi)
-The Royal Bee (Francis Park and Ginger Park)
-Tight Times (Barbara Shook Hazan)
-Because of Winn Dixie (Kate DiCamillo)

Thank you for your support in and out of school!

Math Update and QR codes

Hello Families,

Below is the in depth explanation of the math unit we are currently in.  There are also QR codes for their recording of their personal narrative stories--enjoy!  They did a great job on these!

In the previous unit, your child learned the Make a Ten strategy to find teen totals.  Now, your child builds on previous knowledge to use make a ten to find an unknown partner.  The Make a Ten strategy in explained below.

In a teen addition problem such as 9+5, children break apart the lesser number to make a ten with the greater number.  Because 9+1=10, they break apart 5 into 1+4.  Then they add the extra 4 onto 10 to find the total.  A similar method is used to find unknown partners with teen totals.  Children look for ways to make a ten because it is easier to add onto 10.

Please let me know if you have any other questions!

Avery:

Brooke:

Berrett:

Matthew:

Layla:

Alivia:

Lily:

Ellery:

Jesse:

Connor:

Rogue:

Meredith:

Cole:

Andrew:

Alex:

Jacob O.:

Raniah:

Alliyah:

Brayden:

Jace:

Gavin:

Elijah:

Visualization

Dear Families,

The comprehension strategy of Visualizing is also know as making mental images or creating mind movies.  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 helps a reader increase comprehension.

Opportunities for students to discuss and share their visualizations of text will be our focus for this month.  Visualization helps students to:
*Realize personal prior knowledge
*Check their mental images against ext for discrepancies and detail to gain a more complete understanding
*Match language to the images and improve processing of ideas
*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 everyone's mental images are different because everyone's schema for text is different!

Thank you again for your continued support in and outside of school!
Sarah Vos

Updates

Hello Owl Families,

Here are the updates and in-depth explanations that were mentioned in the newsletter sent home Friday January 8.

Homework notebooks will resume next week.  We will be adding another component to our homework each week.  Xtramath will now be an expectation to complete each week.  I will be looking to make sure they have logged on at least once during the week and done a practice.  Please look for a letter to be sent home on how to access Xtramath.  Your child's password will be taped on the inside cover of their homework notebook.  Thank you for your participation!

I have had some parents ask about the math worksheets that have been coming home each week and why they are not finished and yet still sent home.  These sheets are done during our math workshop time.  During this time, students are expected to do these sheets during their independent work time.  My philosophy during this time is that these sheets are meant for the children to apply and practice what was taught in the lesson and unfinished work is OKAY.  It is not about completion, but application.  Hopefully this clears up questions you may have regarding these sheets.

Math: Your child is learning about place value and numbers to 100.  In this program, children begin by counting tens: 10, 20, 30, 40, and so on.  They use a 10 x 10 grid to help them "see" the relationship between the tens digit in a decade number and the number of tens it has. (See picture below).

Soon, children will link 2-digit numbers to tens and extra ones.  They will learn that a 2-digit number, such as 46, is made up of tens and ones, such as 40 and 6.  Next, children will use what they know about adding 1-digit numbers to add 2-digit numbers (3+4=7, so 30+40=70).  Finally, they will learning to regroup and count on to find a total (see picture below for an example).

Right now, your child may enjoy counting by tens for you.  They may also enjoy using household items to make groups of ten and extra ones, and then telling you the total number.

To help children "see" the tens and ones in 2-digit numbers, we use special drawings of 10-sticks to show tens, and circles to show ones.  These images help children learn place value.  Below are the numbers 27 and 52 shown with 10-sticks and ones.

10-sticks and circles will also be used later to help children solve addition problems that require regrouping.  When there are enough circles to make a new ten, they are circled and then added like a 10-stick.  The problem below shoes 38+5.

Reading:  Each month for the rest of the year we will focus on a very specific comprehension strategy.  This month we are focusing on connections.  Readers make connections all the time when they read, so we will continue to apply this strategy throughout the rest of the year.  Making connections means that a reader connects their background knowledge (known as "schema") to the text they are reading.  The purpose of this strategy is that readers comprehend better when they actively think about and apply their knowledge of the book's topic, their own experiences and the world around them.

How to help your child use this strategy:  Ask these questions:
*What does the book remind you of?
*What do you know about the book's topic?
*Does this book remind you of another book?

Thank you again for your support inside and outside the classroom!  Please let me know if you have any questions! :)