Ninety-Seventh Day

Today we began our second selection, Jafta, which led us to discuss an author choice to use vivid verbs to help create pictures in their reader's minds. We also learned that some games don't necessarily have rules but that most games do in order to make them more fun and to regulate behavior. We described a best imagination game in our journals.

We are all abuzz with 100th day anticipation!

We continued today with related facts in math. I have to say I've never had such a high number of students pass so many math tests before. On the Topic 14 math test, of the 23 students taking the test, 21 students passed with a score of 15 or better. Three students scored perfectly, 6 students scored 20, 2 students scored 19, and 3 students scored 18. Way to go!

The neighborhood maps I've received so far look good. The printouts were sized perfectly. One note: if you can, try not to mark your house on the printout or indicate your address. It would be best if you do not use the home-value style maps which tend to give too much information.

Please keep in mind that first graders should be going to bed no later than 8:00 p.m. on school nights no matter what happens to be on television.

Please remember that this Tuesday's dismissal is the regular 2:04 time.

Ninety-Fifth Day

We accomplished a lot today. We reviewed long-u and long-oo spellings. We read the first selection of our games unit entitled Piggle by Bonsall. We learned that not all games, while still fun, necessarily have a winner. Someone offered tag and jump rope as other examples of games without clear winners. We devised a list of rules for the game Piggle. Each table had the chance to play the game and then share out their results which were then posted on the concept/question board. We then made our first Brace Map, our fifth type of thinking map. While Tree Maps are used to classify various nouns, objects, words, etc. into categories, a Brace Map is used to break up one particular noun into its various parts.

In math we worked on two step problems which closes our current unit. We will take the test for this unit tomorrow.

For social studies we worked on neighborhood maps. At this point in the year I like to suggest that parents direct students to a mapping program on the Internet and locate your home's satellite photograph. Magnify the view to approximately 100ft/inch. Size to show their block and a portion of surrounding blocks. Have your child make a simple map with legend (key) under your direction but in their hand. On your child's map, buildings could be shown as simple rectangles. Print a view of the satellite picture and attach to the hand-drawn map and send with your child to class.

We will be breaking many years of tradition this year by changing our 100th day celebration activities. Hopefully we will still be able to make a memorable impact and we will still share treats in the afternoon.

Eighty-First Day

Today we blended with /ow/ spelled 'ow' (now, flower). We learned that a commitment is a powerful promise. One of the students in class even had a commitment of their own to share. We created a tree map listing sensory details for a place we have been but do not want to return. One at home project you may want to consider for this unit is to have your child share a presentation of some place they have been before. This could be a local experience or perhaps an adventure out of the country.

In math we estimated using a number number line. This is our homework as well as a spelling paper.

For social studies we started mapping our classroom.

Eightieth Day

We began the day today with a visit from a counselor from Carson's Family Center. At my request, the counselor took us through some exercises on asserting yourself when confronted with unreasonable or bothersome behavior from another child.

We also began discussing Captain Bill Pinkney's single-man journey around the world. Captain Pinkney was the first African American man to sail solo around the world via Cape Horn. He named his ship The Commitment. In this unit we will explore the meaning of the word commitment as well as delve into mapping skills and imagine what Capt. Bill saw as he visited many of the world's continents. During this unit we will memorize the names of the continents and oceans and learn to locate them on a map as well as where we live. At the end of the unit we will take a test to show what we have learned. In order to achieve a passing grade all continents, oceans, and the approximate location of Los Angeles needs to be located. Maps will be sent home in order for us to study with family.

In math and for homework we continued work on ordering numbers to 100. Our math scores have been tabulated. Twenty students passed the test with a score of 10 or better. A record 6 students achieved a perfect score. This was surprising as this proves to be one of our more challenging topics and one reason why I did not bother with a performance assessment piece.

Seventy-Fourth Day

Today we competed with other tables to be the quickest at listening for and categorizing short and long vowel sounds. We then blended with long-o spelled 'oa_' and '_ow'. We read our last transportation selection about trucks and discussed art selections with the theme transportation. We created the beginning of a tree map which categorized forms of transportation according to their sphere/mode: air, water, land, space.

We continued examining two digit numbers and the meaning of place value. Our homework is math.

We began working with maps and using our mind's eye to view from different perspectives. Using found objects we made a map for our desk. Our next task will be to create a simple map of the classroom. Much more will follow.