Math: 

Our first graders have solved addition stories by drawing pictures, using circle drawings, and writing equations. This week, they also learned how to count on, an effective strategy for solving equations with missing totals. In counting on, the first step is to underline the greater number and draw dots above the smaller number. Next, they clap the greater number and count on by using the circles over the smaller number. This is an important strategy that we will continue to use throughout the year.

Reading:

With beginning readers, it is important to use effective strategies when encountering tricky words. Our class has reviewed several of these strategies that were taught in kindergarten. When stuck on a word, we’ve learned to always study the picture first like Eagle Eye. We also use Lips the Fish and say the first sounds of the word. We can look for a chunk that we know (ing, at, it, sh, ch, and) and use Chunky Monkey. We can also use Stretchy the Snake and zoom in on the tricky word, s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the sounds and crash the sounds together. If we still can’t figure the word out, we can skip it like Skippy the Frog and read the rest of the sentence. Next, we can try the line again like Tryin’ Lion and use the context clues from the sentence. Most importantly, we have learned that readers need to flexible and persistent!

Mind Up:

This week we concluded our study of the brain with three important lessons: mindful moving, mindful seeing, and optimistic thinking. When we use mindful seeing, we notice people’s expressions, giving us a better understanding of their feelings. We also discussed being mindful movers. First graders are often on the move and bump into people or furniture without even realizing it. We have learned that slowing down and being observant helps to avoid those “crashes”. Most importantly, we learned that having an optimistic attitude helps learning. Our class practiced using phrases such as, “I can try that.” and “I can do that.”