Wrapping up Our Inquiry into Where We Are in Place and Time and Tuning-in to How We Organize Ourselves

First Grade had a busy week wrapping up our Where We Are In Place and Time unit on the Past and Present and starting to think about our new unit on shelters. 

In Maths we were thinking about using units to measure our world by considering units to measure, estimating, thinking of strategies to find out if our estimate works, and recording what we found:

Then we had the extra challenge: How many units more is one than the other?

In Writer's Workshop, we are thinking about how we can teach our readers by thinking about what questions our readers might have.

In Unit of Inquiry we thought about the factors that lead to a change from the past to the present.

Then we started thinking about shelters and all the wonderings we can't wait to explore!

Upcoming:

Mondays: 

• Turn in Word Study books (remember to not only sort and paste, but practice writing/using your words!)
• Reading Log check

Tuesdays:

• Library

PE Wednesdays and Fridays

School Calendar Modification

April 10th - NO SCHOOL/Fair due to COVID-19

April 12th - Regular School Day

We are Goal Setters and Published Authors!

This week in Grade 1 we wrapped up our How We Organize Ourselves unit by publishing non-fiction books showing what we know about the past and the present. We have been studying non-fiction texts in Reader's and Writer's Workshop and tied them all together in these books. Our facts came from information we learned throughout the unit and from the interviews with family members we conducted. Check us out reading our books on Seesaw! 

Also in Seesaw you can find our goals and reflection for the week. We tried something new this week, making a goal for ourselves, thinking about how we will reach this goal and reflecting on Friday.

Check our goals and reflections out in Seesaw!

All of our Matisse collages are finally on display on our gallery wall:

Next week we will do a final reflection on the Unit and begin our next Unit of Inquiry: How We Organize Ourselves!

Upcoming:

Mondays: 

• Turn in Word Study books (remember to not only sort and paste, but practice writing/using your words!)
• Reading Log check
• February 22nd: Last Swimming Day

Tuesday February 23rd 

• No School: The Emperor's Birthday

Thursday February 25th

• Library

Week of March 1st

• PE Wednesdays and Fridays

School Calendar Modification

April 10th - NO SCHOOL/Fair due to COVID-19

April 12th - Regular School Day

100th Day of School!

First Grade Celebrated being 100 Days Smarter on Monday of Last Week!

We are so proud of all the learning and growing our minds, hearts, and bodies have done since August!

How many times can you touch your toes in 100 seconds?

We also began working on taking all we have learned about the past and the present - including our interviews with parents and grandparents - to create our past and present books.

As part of our How We Express Ourselves year-long unit, we looked at each other's and our own Matisse-inspired collages and shared what it made us think and feel. 

Upcoming:

Mondays: 

• Turn in Word Study books (remember to not only sort and paste, but practice writing/using your words!)
• Reading Log check
• Swimming (Last Swimming February 22nd)

Tuesdays 

• Library

February 23rd (Tuesday) No School: The Emperor's Birthday

Hope you enjoy the lovely weather this weekend!

We are Reflective and Social!

Grade 1 reflected on their learning for conferences this week and set some goals for themselves! I invite parents and students to look through the "I can" statements for the approaches to learning in Seesaw together with your student and ask them questions about how they learn, what skill they would like to focus on for the second term, and one action that might help them achieve that goal. 

Last week we spent some extra time thinking about our Social and Self-Management skills as this is a big part of learning in lower elementary. We did our usual reading with Danny to think about choices.

We had a class meeting to talk about things people do to make friends at recess:

We reviewed tattling and how to solve our own problem with our Peace Table.

In Unit of Inquiry we looked at some items from daily life in the past and wondered what they were used for and what we use for them now:

We also tried out how school might have been in the past!

Watch our recitations!

Reminders:

Please also read the Scholastic Book Club Letter and browse to order books here. This order closes February 12th and is a great opportunity to support your child's development while supporting your school! DSKI earns books for our collection while you add to yours!

Monday: 

• Turn in Word Study books (remember to not only sort and paste, but practice writing/using your words!)
• Reading Log check
• Swimming

Tuesday 

• Library

Have a great week everyone!

Half-way through the Year!

In literacy this week we honed our sentence writing skills and continued to learn how to get super smart about nonfiction topics:

In Unit of Inquiry we tracked how things like toys and dance changed over time using timelines:

We hit our 90th day in school this week!

In arts we looked at the collages of French artist Henri Matisse and began creating our own:

In maths we are talking about time, introducing the concepts of whole, half, and a fourth (or quarter) and always practicing our number sense. 

Of course, we always make time for a brain break to dance!

In preparation for conferences we took some time to reflect on our skills and make goals for the second term.

Please take a minute to review our updated Coronavirus Health & Safety Policy. 

Please also read the Scholastic Book Club Letter and browse to order books here. This order closes February 12th and is a great opportunity to support your child's development while supporting your school! DSKI earns books for our collection while you add to yours!

Reminders:

Monday: 

• Turn in Word Study books (remember to not only sort and paste, but practice writing/using your words!)
• Reading Log check
• Swimming

Tuesday 

• Library

Next week: 3-Way Conferences 

Thank you for booking your conference. As mentioned, these will be with the parent this time due to the state of emergency and all held online. I will send a Zoom invitation to you. 

Each conference is 20 minutes so please be prompt and understand that I have to end at the scheduled time due to the next conference beginning. If there is something further to discuss we will have to make an appointment to meet the following week. 

We are Flexible Risk-Takers!

Grade 1 didn't miss a beat this week even when we found out the evening before that we had to move to remote learning the very next day. The learning didn't stop and we were all risk-takers trying out a new video conferencing software and using breakout rooms for our small group sharing. 

Conferences

They will be a bit different this year. Usually it is a time for parents, teachers and students to sit down together and reflect on the year so far and work together on goal setting for the coming months.

But due to the current state of emergency, we will have the conferences online this year. To make it easier to schedule, it will be only teachers and parents together. Students are of course in class in the day and after school are traveling home.

Teachers though will meet with students before the conference to talk about progress and goals they would like to set, which can be discussed at the conference. We would like to ask you as parents to also have this conversation at home.

Please book your time here. Each conference is 20 minutes so please be prompt and understand that I have to end at the scheduled time due to the next conference beginning. If there is something further to discuss we will have to make an appointment to meet the following week.

Upcoming:

Monday: 

• Turn in Word Study books (remember to not only sort and paste, but practice writing/using your words!)
• Reading Log check
• NO Swimming lesson - Regular PE - COVID-19 related closure

Tuesday:  Library

Have a great weekend!

Where We Are in Place and Time: Past and Present

Where We Are in Place and Time: Inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationship between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives. 

Central Idea: Children in the past lived differently from how we live today.

Lines of Inquiry:
Daily life then and now
School then and now
Factors influencing lifestyle change

Concepts: Change, Perspective 

Approaches to Learning: Thinking, Research

Learner Profile: Knowledgeable, Inquirer, Reflective

Learning Goals/Success Criteria:   

• learners can give 2-3 examples of how daily life has changed from the recent past to now and 
• learners can give reasonable ideas as to why those changes have occurred
• learners can give examples of what is the same and different in schools between then and now
• learners can place items on a timeline in order from past to present or present to past

How to support your child at home

The curiosity about histories of their families and how things were done in the past will likely come naturally to you child so be prepared for questions and discussions about it. One of the activities from this unit will be to interview a grandparent (if possible) or elder friend or relative to find out more about the difference between daily life in the past and now. Possibly have a couple ideas of who and give them a heads up so they might provide photographs to share. 

In the class:

This week we began tuning-in and seeing what we knew about the past and present. 

Reminders:

Monday: 

• Turn in Word Study books (remember to not only sort and paste, but practice writing/using your words!)
• Reading Log check
• NO Swimming lesson January 18th - we have just been notified of a COVID-19 related closure

Tuesday Library

February 1st-5th: 3-Way Conferences (I will be sending out more details soon)