It has been a busy couple weeks in first grade. We have wrapped up unit 5 of our Everyday Math program, as well as finished our UOI on Weather. We have begun a new maths unit on addition fact strategies, and a new unit of inquiry on storytelling. This new UOI falls under the transdisciplinary theme of 'How We Express Ourselves.'
Math
In maths, we have been doing all sorts of adding, measuring, graphing, etc. The photos above are of students measuring a path using non-standard units. Our Maths seems to be 'all over the place', and that's because it is. Everyday Math distributes learning through a spiral curriculum.
What is a spiral curriculum? In a spiral curriculum, learning is spread out over time rather than being concentrated in shorter periods. In a spiral curriculum, material is revisited repeatedly over months and across grades. Different terms are used to describe such an approach, including “distributed” and “spaced.” A spiral approach is often contrasted with “blocked” or “massed” approaches. In a massed approach, learning is concentrated in continuous blocks. In the design of instructional materials, massing is more common than spacing. Why does Everyday Mathematics spiral? Everyday Mathematics (EM) spirals because spiraling works. When implemented as intended, EM’s spiral is effective: EM students outscore comparable non-EM students on assessments of long-term learning, such as end-of-year standardized tests. Spiraling leads to better long-term mastery of facts, skills, and concepts. Spiraling is effective with all learners, including struggling learners. Learning difficulties can be identified when skills and concepts are encountered in the early phases of the spiral and interventions can be implemented when those skills and concepts are encountered again later in the spiral.
We have been working on adding two digit numbers using base 10 blocks. Students use these blocks to show 10s and 1s. We know that when we have 10 ones, we can trade for a ten. We also know that we need to add the ones first, and then the 10s. This visual representation of 2-digit numbers shows students visually how the process of adding works.
With adding in mind, we have been using addition number models to solve number stories involving how many more. Our little learners are getting much better and finding and solving for unknown addends.
Our new unit focuses on addition strategies. One strategy for young learners to build addition fluency is to use doubles facts and anchors for near doubles fact. We have been working on solving near doubles facts by adding or subtracting 1.
Language Arts
In language arts, we have been looking at parts of speech. We will continue working with phonics through the 'words their way' program. I love teaching parts of speech by playing games. So much of this type of learning is repeated practice. Board games make this more fun.
We began by learning about common and proper nouns. We learned that proper nouns need to begin with a capital because they are a name.
We also learned all about adjectives. We played a game where students had to role dice, and describe the picture that was assigned to the number on the dice. We will continue to focus on adjectives as we work on writing stories.
We began learning about root words, prefixes and suffixes. We will continue to work on this skill into next week. We learned that prefixes and suffixes are used to change the meaning of a root word.
As we worked on our research papers on weather, we learned about non-fiction text features and how to use them. We learned that we read non-fiction books differently than fiction books, and that there are 'tools' to help us read them. We explored indexes, tables of contents, diagrams, labels, glossaries, photographs, illustrations, and bold text.
Unit of Inquiry
To finish our unit of inquiry on weather, students researched about different types of weather, using the skills that they have learned about non-fiction texts. Students used an organizer and post-it notes to write down different types of facts. They were so impressed that they could do 'real research.'
They then transferred their research to a weather report format, and began to rehearse for the green screen.
To view your child's completed green screen weather report, please click on their name below. If you have any difficulty, please send me an email, and I can share it with you in another format. Weather Reporters: Lia John Min Soyane Nina Luca Angéle Enzo Noah Seoyeong Juliana Tifanny Sohan Gabriela Imran Emmy Imara Anastasia
It was a wonderful unit, and I was so impressed by all of the inquiries that we followed throughout our learning.
The day after we finished our 'Weather' unit of inquiry, we came to school to find a question mark on our UOI board, and a box that had been 'delivered.' Students knew that our new unit fell under the transdisciplinary theme of 'how we express ourselves.' We unpacked everything in the box to try and figure out what our new unit would be. It had puppets, dvds, costumes, books, toys, instruments, and other artifacts inside.
After unpacking the box, we also did a 'picture priorities' activity with different pictures relating to our unit. Students were asked to sort the pictures 4 ways, and make a guess about what the unit was based on what they all had in common. I heard some really great arguments when circulating the room about where different pictures should go and why. All of the groups came up with 'stories' or something similar. Our new unit is on 'Storytelling.'
Fairytales is one of the related concepts to this unit. We began by focusing on Cinderella, as many students know this story, and because there are so many different cultural, and other versions to this song. One of our lines of inquiry is: 'there are many ways to tell stories.' Students worked together in groups to retell the story using puppets. It was so much fun! It was also a great way to cover RL1.3 of our common core curriculum - Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
We have begun to read different versions of Cinderella stories and compare them. This helps us cover RL1.9 of our common core curriculum - compare and contrast the experiences of characters in stories. We will be focusing on this skill and assessing it throughout this unit. You can find out more about the common core standards by clicking the link in our resources section above.
All this talk about fairy godmothers led to a wonderful discussion and writing about what we would do if we had a fairy godmother. Our little learners are getting great at writing paragraphs that begin with a topic sentence, use sequencing words, and end with some type of conclusion. I have displayed their writing at the top of the stairs. Please take a minute to pop up over the next two weeks to view your child's awesome writing.
Student Agency/Planning Our Day
Our agency journey has continued with some amazing workshops and student centred passion projects. I LOVE the workshop selection, but also the passion projects that the students choose to do during that time. The green 'mess' pictured above was something that we created together out of our love for I Spy books. We studied them together and made our own page. The students have come up with some awesome writing from this activity too.
We also took this time to join the Maker Faire Miniature golf challenge. Our class is building a fairy tale themed hole. There is so much great designing, and engineering involved in this. Every child has now delivered a workshop. Before we cycle through again, I would love some feedback on what you think about this, how it went, and if you find it a good use of instructional time. Please send me an email this week if you have an opinion that could help us improve how we learn.
All of this making and the workshops make me really excited about the maker faire. If you or your children have something that you would like to showcase fill out the ASA Maker Project Proposal Form from this link.
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March 2018
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