Mrs. V's All Star Learners Classroom: 11/16/13 Newsletter

Dear Parents of First Grade All Stars,

I must tell you that your children worked so hard this past week that their efforts and accomplishments made this four-day week equal to a six-day week! We had a lot of academic "firsts" this week which really challenged the kiddos. I was so pleased with how they met these challenges with can-do attitudes and amazing efforts!

During our literacy work this week we started lessons on what exactly makes a complete sentence. The children practiced looking for "someone or something / doing something or feeling something" to determine if the writing was or was not a sentence. We also started our lessons on how to monitor for meaning when reading to self and how to do "book talks" about what was read. I modeled several "book talks" and many brave first graders volunteered to model "book talks" for their classmates, too. The children used sticky notes to mark places in their just-right books where they discovered something new or found something of interest. They then met with a classmate to try their first "book talks." This is a great way to practice checking for understanding and to practice building retells. Although this is not easy, as I roamed and listened I was pleased with these first attempts. Practices with checking for understanding and "book talks" will continue throughout the year. THANK YOU again for all the awesome at-home reading logs you've been sending in. The children are very proud to hand them in to me and to share what they are reading at home. Reading to, with, beside your child is not only a fun together time, but also a tremendous motivator that helps to build the love of reading as well as skills. I truly appreciate your at-home reading time with your child!

Due to the four-day week, we did not have our regular spelling routines. In place of our spelling practices we worked on not one, but two "firsts". Has your child told you about D.O.L.? Were they a "D.O.L. Star" this past week? Did your child tell you that D.O.L. stands for Daily Oral Language? Each morning there are two sentences on the board about a particular student: the "D.O.L. Star" for the day. The sentences have punctuation, capitalization, and grammatical mistakes in them that the students are challenged to find and fix. Oh, the fun of using colored chalk and acting like the teacher as they find and fix mistakes! Some of the mistakes are first-grade level and some are true challenges. (We even put fraction practice in our D.O.L. For example, if the kiddos see ?/5 they know that there are a total of five mistakes to be found and the ? means: "How many out of 5 will we find?") Warning: Cute story coming! We have not had any "formal" lessons on commas or apostrophes yet, but some students asked me about the difference re: using commas when they write their spelling words and using apostrophes for contractions. Well, on Tuesday when we were lining up for Art Class, one little girl was so excited to tell me that she discovered apostrophes on our art-smock boxes which say: "Girls' Smock Box" and "Boys' Smock Box"! Let me tell you I was MORE EXCITED than she was since this "smart cookie" was obviously listening and understood! The children will all have turns being "D.O.L. Stars" as we practice these punctuation, capitalization, and grammar skills.

For our next "first" we worked to apply this proofreading and editing practice to the students' own writing. Our lessons started with my sample personal-narrative piece, and the children helped me find and circle capitals, punctuation marks, and fix mistakes. Then the kiddos took their own personal-narrative pieces to try to proofread and edit. They had to point to each capital letter, each word, and each ending-punctuation mark as they read their pieces two times to themselves. Of course the hard task was made more fun by using colored pencils, highlighters, crayons to do the circling and fixing. Then the students met with classmates to sit EEKK and do a "peer writing conference." As I was roaming and helping, roaming and helping, I honestly lost track of the time. When I finally looked at the clock it was time to wash up for lunch and recess. The children had been working on these writing tasks for over an hour, and I didn't realize it! Even more impressive is that THEY didn't realize it! I was so proud of their writing stamina! Way to go, All-Star Editors! The children also had time to make entries in their writers' journals, and a couple more student authors were guest readers for their classmates. Warning: ANOTHER cute story coming! The end of our day is sometimes hectic. I take the blame for this because we keep working too late, and then I must rush the kiddos to clear out mailboxes and pack up. Well, on Thursday in the middle of our hurry-up-and-pack-up session, one boy was still writing a story and one girl was still "lost in her book"! Wowie-Zowie! I congratulated them on their focus and stamina...and then told them to please hurry and pack up...LOL! (The short u spelling lists will come home on Monday, 11/18, when we resume our regular spelling routines.)

Our math this week started off by reading the math big-book story "Addition at the Zoo" to begin the new chapter. We used number lines, foamy ten frames, cubes, and individual white boards as we practiced adding with zero, one and two, adding doubles, and how doubles-plus-one can help find unknown sums and help with memorizing facts. We also started to work on the connection between addition and subtraction using facts with five and how many more would be needed to fill the ten frames to make tens. Making "math domino" pictures with part/part/whole really helped with understanding these concepts. ***Next week there will be several days where the students will NOT have the regular math practice sheet for homework. This is because in place of our regular math lessons the students will be taking the B.C. Math Interim tests.

During our "Buddy Work" session yesterday the fourth graders and the first graders worked together to make holiday cards to send to our Service People. They took this project very seriously and did a great job with their words and their pictures. I'm sure their cards will bring smiles to the Service People that receive them!

Reminder: This Wednesday, November 20th, you are invited to our classroom at 10:00 so the children may present some poems and a Thanksgiving Readers' Theater and do a little Thanksgiving project, too. You may join your child for lunch immediately after, if you are able to do so.

Thank you again for all your fantastic support at home.
Respectfully,
Mrs. V.