Every Monday we share about our weekend news. First graders are expected to share one thing they did over the weekend. This week we decided to make an anchor chart to help us remember what we did. IT would be great if you could use this as a model at home to think about what your first grader could share during morning meeting. At home you could do something similar sharing something about school, specials, recess, or content areas.
All families are invited to join us Friday, December 19th from 8:10-8:45 a.m.
We will be sharing our mapping projects as well as our tradition books. Please RSVP
Raz-Kids is a great website designed for each child to read books at his or her independent reading level. It is a great way for families to access more books and answer comprehension questions. You can find your child's Raz-Kids account on the baker School first grade website. Click on your child's name and they can read at home. I will monitor this account from school. Please let me know how it is going.
FIRST GRADE RAZ-KIDS LINKS
We learned about Pilgrims and The Wampanoag people also called Massaoit (Native to Martha's vineyard, Nantucket, and Cape Cod) children long ago. It was fun for the kids to learn about the history from different perspectives. This week we read some informational books and compared the similarities and differences with everyday chores, education, food, clothes, games, types homes, and crops.
This week we did a mini unit with author, Joseph & James Brushac. We really enjoyed these Native American Folktales that teach great lessons about teasing, bragging, and keeping your promise.
How a chipmunk got it's stripes is about a bear that brags he is the best and biggest in the forest. Squirrel is sick of all the bragging and puts him up to a challenge. The squirrel asks bear if he can keep the sun from rising and of course the bear takes the challenge. The bear sings and chants all through the story the sun won't come up, ahh! She teases bear and although he doesn't eat her he scratches her and now she has stripes.
Raccoons' Last Race is a trickster tale about how the raccoon looks like he does today. The raccoon who had the longest legs of all the animals and ran the fastest. He made fun of all the other animals because he had the longest legs and could easily beat all the other animals. All the animals grew tired of hearing him brag and tease them and then raccoon has a problem and needs all the animals to help him. Will they help him? The kids were excited to find out and talk about if they would help him if they were in this situation.
Turtle's race with beaver is a traditional Abaneki fable about the importance of keeping your promise. One day the turtle wakes from hibernation to find there is a beaver living there too. The beaver creates a challenge to see whoever can win the race will live in the pond. A clever twist on the fable Turtle and the Hare has everyone on the edge of their seats.
Thirteen Moons on a turtles back is a sophisticated story about the 13 scutes on a turtle's shell and the significance with 13 different types of moons. We read about all the moons and then students enjoyed drawing thirteen things they were thankful for in their life. The students came up with many ideas including, family, friends, teachers, food, clothes, pets, their home, toys, family, etc.
Check out our student learning blogs to see what the girls and boys are thankful for!
The Thanksgiving Assembly was so much fun. The first graders sang Mother Goony Bird!
Thank you to Ms. Sypek (Tuesdays) and Ms. Brock (Thursdays) for being our one day a week student teachers from Boston College. You both learned so much being in our classroom this fall. We loved having you and will miss you! You both did fabulous jobs and we appreciate all the time you spent with the students in 1-L.
Dear First Grade Families,
Over the past couple of weeks, all of the first grade classes have been reading the classic book, Flat Stanley, by Jeff Brown. Flat Stanley is the story of Stanley Lambchop, a little boy who was accidentally made “flat” when his bulletin board fell on top of him. His new dimensions were 4 feet tall, 1 foot wide, and half an inch thick. In the story, Stanley’s family couldn’t afford to send him on a plane trip to California, but in his new condition his family was able to put him in a big envelope and mail him instead!
As a follow-up activity to the book, all first graders made their own Flat Stanleys to take home and mail to a friend or relative from either another state or another country. The people who receive your Flat Stanley need to fill out the enclosed questionnaire, take a photo of themselves with your child’s Flat Stanley, and mail the questionnaire, the photo, and your child’s original Flat Stanley back to you. Please send your child’s Flat Stanley in an envelope big enough so he won’t get bent. When all of the Flat Stanleys return to school, we will be hanging them up on a bulletin board chronicling his travels! Below is a timetable outlining the project:
Please send you Flat Stanley back to 1-L as soon as it arrives! We will be learning where all the first grade Flat Stanley's traveled to as we continue to learn about mapping!
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