What we have been learning

Reader's Workshop

In Reader’s Workshop this week we continued reading and learning about how humans can play a role in animals' survival. We've been specifically thinking about our Weekly Question: "How do people impact animals’ survival? and the how animals, including humans, are connected to each other and to their environments.

This week we read two main texts; National Geographic Readers: Sea Turtles, and Me... Jane.
We focused on using key details from the text (illustrations, words, and text features) to describe turtle hatching. We also thought about how an author might choose to present information in a non-fiction text. This coming week, we will use the text Daniel Finds A Poem to continue our work around understandings how animals, including humans, are connected to each other and to their environments.

Word Study

In Word Study, we have been working on reading and writing words from short /o/ word families (-ot and -op).  This coming week we will work with reading and writing words with the glued sounds -ong, -onk and -ock.

Last Week's Weekly Words:

• impact: to have an effect on someone or something
• environment: surroundings, or natural world
• responsibility: something someone is counted on to do
• endangered: at risk of becoming extinct
• wildlife: plants and animals that live without humans, in the wild
• rescue: to save from a dangerous situation

Next Week's Weekly Words:

• interconnected: having the parts linked to each other
• basic need: something that plants and animals need to survive, such as air, water, food, space, light, and shelter
• map: a flat or two-dimensional representation of a place
• urban: having to do with a city
• location: the place where something is found
• travel: to move from one place to another

Writer's Workshop

In Writer’s workshop we are finishing our non-fiction texts about animals in advance of our Publishing Party coming up on February 13th from 8:45 to 9:45.

While reading non-fiction books about sea turtles, we have talked about how author's use text features to present information in a clear and interesting way. These test features can include headings, captions, labels, diagrams, bold words, a glossary and even"interesting facts!" As we near completion of our all-about books, the authors in first-grade have had to make these same choices about how they can best present their research and information to our audience to keep them satisfied while keeping our books fun and interesting!

Math

In math, students have been working on measuring and comparing. They are practicing and developing accurate techniques for measuring the length of an object. We will also begin to work on solving problems on comparing lengths of fish and determining which fish are "keepers" and which are too short. In addition, this week we have started to work with fractions. Students are beginning to understand one half as a number that describes the quantity of one part when a whole is divided into two equal parts. 

Studios

 In art studio, we have been making ocean scenes with tissue paper collages.

Students continue to building animal habitats with Legos, Kapla Blocks, and Beautiful Stuff! In our drama, writing and drawing studios students have been encouraged to demonstrate how all animals - including humans - are interconnected on our planet.