One Last Mystery Reader

Thanks to Liz Anvari for being a special 

Mystery Guest Reader this year.  

Mrs. Anvari read the book, I Am Peace, and led the children in some mindfulness activities!

Stone Zoo Field Trip Reminders - June 18th

 

Dear Families,

The children are looking forward to visiting the Stone Zoo tomorrow!  Here are some reminders to help you get ready for our field trip:

      

1.  Please have your child wear a RED shirt if possible.  This can be a Steward Spirit shirt or another red shirt.

2.  Remember to bring a BROWN PAPER BAG LUNCH with your name labeled on it. 

No nuts please! 

Bring lots of WATER (It's going to be in the 90s!)

                                  

3.  Don’t forget to apply sunblock and bug spray BEFORE coming to school. If you need to reapply during the field trip, please bring it in a bag with your NAME labeled on it.                                                                                                 

4. Please wear COMFORTABLE shoes! 
                            

   

5.Don’t forget to bring your smile for this amazing day!

Fun with First Grade Friends!

Having some fun with friends on Friday after finishing a challenging Math test!

Raise the Roof STEM Challenge

Recently, the children participated in the Raise the Roof STEM challenge! The groups were so engaged during this project. I was thrilled to see such wonderful collaboration, creativity, and perseverance!

Teacher Appreciation Week

Dear Families,

     Thank you for making Teacher Appreciation Week so special for me! I love the creative artwork and all the lovely cards from the children! The surprise lunch from Panera was such a wonderful treat, it was enjoyed for several days.  Your thoughtfulness was greatly appreciated!

                                                Sincerely,
                                                Kathleen Gouzie
                                                                               

Animal Habitats

Today the children were treated to a program about Animal Habitats, which was presented by the 

Museum of Science.  The Museum brought live animals for the children to observe for clues that determined the animals' ideal shelter and food.  

The children were then challenged to pick the suitable habitat for each animal.  At the end of the presentation, the children had the opportunity to touch skin, bones and feathers so they could feel some of the characteristics that help each animal survive.  

You might want to ask your child about what they observed today, as well as the predictions and inferences they made about the optimal habitat for the animals they saw.  Special thanks to the members of TESPTO for funding this wonderful educational program for our First Graders! 

Doubles and Doubles Plus and Minus One, Lets Have Some Fun!

During our Math Workshop times, we have been learning lots of new math strategies while learning our doubles facts.  Learning our doubles facts helps us solve problems quickly.  If we know that 7+ 7 = 14, then 14-7=7.  When solving 7+8, we can use the doubles plus one strategy.  If we know that 7+7=14, then 7+8=7+7+1, which equals 15.  We could also use the doubles minus one strategy to solve this problem.  If we know that 8+8=16, then 7+8=8+8-1, which equals 15! Knowing our doubles facts and using the doubles plus and minus one strategies makes solving problems much easier!  Here's a picture of some of the games I made to help us learn our doubles facts and to help us practice our doubles plus and minus one strategies while making our Math Workshop times so much fun!

Here are some of our favorite Doubles Games!

Here's some games that help us practice the Doubles Plus and Minus One Strategies while having fun!

Here we are during our Math Workshop times and W.I.N. times playing games while learning our 

Doubles facts and using the Double Plus and Minus One strategies while having some fun!

During our unit on Addition and Subtraction to 20, we also learned the Make a 10 strategy to help us solve problems quickly.  For example, when solving 8+5 we can break the 5 into a 2 and a 3, and add the 2 to the 8 to make a 10.  By taking the 2 from the 5 and adding it to the 8, we have made 8+5 equal to 10+3, which equals 13.  We have been using cubes to build problems and quickly regroup to make a ten, which makes problems much easier to solve.  When children become more comfortable using this strategy, they start to automatically look at equations in a different way.  When solving 9+6 they quickly see that they can mentally make a 10 and 9+6 becomes 10+5, which equals 15!

You can have your child show you how we use this strategy and practice this strategy at home by having your child use pennies instead of cubes, just remind them to build the problems by making a ten frame so they can see how to make a ten quickly. Some of the children may even be ready to use mental math strategies to automatically make a ten.  

You can even use a deck of cards to play a fun card game to reinforce the doubles plus and minus one and make a ten strategies! Simply take out the Jacks, Queens and Kings in a deck of cards and place the rest of the cards in a pile between you and your child.  Have your child flip over 2 cards and find the sum as quickly as possible.  If your child gets an 8 and a 6 for example, instead of watching them count on from the 8, encourage them to make a 10 by taking 2 from the 6 and adding it to the 8 to make a 10.  Now 8+6 becomes 10+4, which equals 14.  

If your child isn't ready to do this using mental math strategies, then they can use pennies, buttons or any other small counters to help them work the problem out.  Again, just remind them to build the problems by making a ten frame.  You can play a game with a child similar to "war", where each person take turns flipping over two cards, finding the sum as quickly as possible using our new strategies.  The person with the greatest sum wins that round and takes all 4 cards!