Classroom Update

Dear Families,

Greetings from Denver! Mrs. Opp and I are having a great time discovering some new strategies for teaching math! I hope that your weeks are going well.

Can you believe that the first half of the school year is almost finished? It has gone by surprisingly fast. The students have accomplished a lot since September.

So, what are we learning about?

Reading Workshop: The students are continuing to add tools to their “reading toolboxes.” As of right now, they have many tools to help them work their way through hard words, such as turtle talking (moving slowly through a word, like sounding a word out), flip the sound (switching one vowel sound for another until they say a word that they recognize), and cross checking (checking hard words with clues from the pictures). Most of what they have so far are decoding strategies, but we are beginning to add comprehension strategies also, such as check for understanding (asking yourself “Hhhmm, does that make sense?”), and questioning (asking yourself questions like “Why did that character do that?”).

Writing Workshop: In writing workshop, we have branched out of true stories and into fiction writing. The students are enjoying writing about imaginary topics. To go along with our expedition, the students also have written about how our town got its name.

Math (First grade): After finishing up our geometry unit, the first graders have been refining their addition skills. They are practicing finding different combinations of numbers that add up to a specific number, as well as solving addition story problems. Right before winter break, we will begin subtraction.

Expedition: Our expedition is coming to a close. We have almost completed two case studies. Our first case study was on Moscow, Idaho, and recently we have been looking at other Moscows around the world. Did you know that there are 20 total Moscows in the world? The students have looked at how people live (which in these cases we are assuming to be limited to homes, clothing, and food) in our Moscow and in Moscow, Russia. We will be spending the next few days comparing the two places.

Please join us for an Expedition Celebration on Thursday evening, December 16th from 6:00-7:00. The 1-2 crews will be singing songs and showing you their expedition work. We will be meeting in the back room. Many students are also eager to show you some of their writing workshop pieces (though you will also have a chance to see this work during student-led conferenes), so come about 15 minutes early if you’d like to spend some time looking at your child’s writing.

Thanks so much for supporting your child's learning!