Michinard, Tracey
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- Riker Hill Elementary School
- What we Learn in First Grade-September and October
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In Unit 1, Launching with Small Moments, students will learn routines for Writing Workshop to launch our writing program! They will be writing personal narratives (“small moment” stories) during this unit. Students will review the writing process. They will work on following the steps of choosing a topic, planning out loud, planning by sketching pictures, writing words to match their illustrations, rereading, elaborating with more detail in the pictures and words, and then beginning a new story! They will learn spelling strategies to aid in their writing, such as stretching out words, reading the room, and using the word wall. They will also learn mechanics such as putting spaces between words, starting sentences with a capital letter, and ending with punctuation.
Reading – September
Our first unit of the year is called Readers Build Good Habits.
Our goal is to inspire kids, to help them feel secure, safe, and confident that they will become strong readers. We push children to read longer each day, helping them grow to be stronger and stronger. We also encourage children to reread their books, staying focused for longer stretches of time. We teach children to reread to gather information from the pictures, noticing things they may have missed in the first reading. We also show children that rereading helps them to be more fluent and sound like the character speaking in the story. Partner work is also part of the reading workshop time. After reading independently, children may share their book with a partner: they may tell each other about their book, show their favorite part, and then read it together.
Another goal is to teach children that readers make pictures in their minds as they read. Before readers read a book, they look at the cover, read the title, look at the first page and begin making pictures in their minds of how the story might go. They learn that the picture in our mind might not match the story as we read, and we get ready to revise it when that happens, to ensure that we get the text’s intended meaning.
Read-alouds play a very big role in first grade. Children are taught they have an important responsibility to think and talk about the book that is being read. Teachers model how to make a prediction in a book by looking at the pictures and title and envisioning what you think it will be about. We teach how to predict and revise and/or confirm that prediction as we read through the text.
Reading – October / November
Math- Numbers to Twenty and Addition and Subtraction to 10Children begin the year reviewing numbers from 1 to 10 and the formations these numbers make on ten-frames. They will be exposed to number words as well. Children will practice "counting on" from 5 with various representations such as unfix cubes on ten-frames. Children will also learn how to compare numbers to tell which number is greater and which number is less. We will work on number patterns (1 more, 1 less or 2 more, 2 less) and practice finding missing numbers in a number pattern.In October, students will be learning how to use number bonds to grasp addition and subtraction concepts. They will learn how to use math vocabulary to communicate the parts and the whole of addition and subtraction problems. They will use manipulatives such as unifix cubes to help them develop a concrete understanding of addition and subtraction. Children will also learn addition strategies such as "counting on" from the greater number to add and subtraction strategies such as "counting back" to subtract. We will learn to tell and solve addition and subtraction number stories and write addition and subtraction number sentences as well!Social Studies
In September, we have been building our classroom community. We have created class rules which help the children to work independently, cooperatively and safely. We have also been choosing a king or queen for the day. To start this daily activity, the children will ask the king or queen questions to try to learn more about them. After all questions have been answered, we look at the child’s name and discuss what we notice. We look at consonants, vowels, blends and digraphs and use names as a reference for spelling and writing. Then we write about the king or queen during shared writing, where the teacher and the children share the pen and each write part of the interview. Here, we practice recalling and writing sight words, rules of capitalization and punctuation, and spaces between words. Finally, we choral read what we wrote.
Science
In September, we will be learning about the life cycle of an apple. We will read nonfiction and fiction books about apples. We also hope to visit Riamede Farm where the children will hear more about the life cycle of an apple, go on a hayride and pick their own apples.
In October, we will continue to study life cycles. We will be studying pumpkins. We will compare and contrast the life cycles of a pumpkin and an apple.
Handwriting
In handwriting, we will continue to work on appropriate pencil grip, proper sitting position for writing and proper number and letter formation.