1st Grade MP3 Campus

School Data is open on the first of each month for parent reviews. These are due by the 5th. We hope the cut and paste grade level newsletter will be helpful to supplement your remote learning plan reviews. Thank you for submitting in a timely manner and if you need help, please reach out to your SLPC.

Topics: equal means the same, missing addends, sums of 10, algebraic reasoning

Activities: This month's big idea was that equal means the same. We used math balances to model the equations and we tested whether a given equation was true or false. Students are gaining confidence with this idea, but many still struggled when they transitioned to just the equations without the manipulatives. Getting past the idea that an equal sign means the answer is a challenge for many students and we will continue to circle back to this idea. Another part of our focus this month was finding the missing addend when given two equations that are equal. Students used place value knowledge as well as knowledge of how addends increase or decrease when the other addend changes (for example if 8+10 changes to 9+?). This month we also played a variety of games and activities to help increase fluency with both addition and subtraction. We also enjoyed several math themed picture books that highlighted some amazing mathematicians and some core math concepts like equivalence.

Students worked on daily openers with visual algebraic equations and the class is getting so fast with these types of problems!

Teacher Tip: A great way to help students make the connection between addition and subtraction is to focus on number bonds. Students can use the three related numbers to create addition and subtraction problems. You can also leave one of numbers blank and write an equation with the unknown.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Kurashige, skurashige@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: informational books, web plan, title, topic sentence, detail sentences, writing process (i.e., plan, draft, conference, publish, share), adding to and taking away from writing with adult support, nonfiction text features (ex., Table of Content, diagrams, maps, glossary, index, photographs, captions, bolded words), neat handwriting

Activities: In this review period, we continued to work hard on our nonfiction writing. We focused on writing chapters for our information books that teach our readers a lot. Students are working with me during our writing conferences and with their classmates to add facts and details. As students complete their books, they enjoy reading their work to the class during Author's Chair, and then hanging the books up around our classroom. We have also been shining a big light on neat writing. We talked about the importance of tracing the guide letters when we are working in our handwriting curriculum. We practiced tracing each letter or word seven times to build the habit of writing each letter with the correct shape and size. We also took time this month to celebrate Valentine's Day. We had so much fun decorating bags, passing out our valentines, and enjoying the wonderful valentines and treats!

Teacher Tips: 1.) This is a great time of the year to check in on your child’s handwriting. If they are struggling with letter size or shape, forgetting to hang hanging letters (p g y), writing some letters backwards, and/or writing capital letters when they should be lowercase, you may want to refocus on proper form to build good habits. Please do not hesitate to reach out if I can help in any way!

2.) I encourage everyone to participate in our Silverwood Theme Park’s reading program, Read 2 Ride! During the month of March, students in Kindergarten through 6th grade are invited to read for 10 hours (600 minutes) to earn a free ticket to Silverwood Theme Park and Boulder Beach Waterpark. Please return the completed logs to any campus teacher by March 30th! Look for all the details (and the reading logs) in your MP3 Weekly Updates! Note: Even if you do not need a ticket to Silverwood, keeping a reading log can be a fun and motivating celebration of reading.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Giesen, jgiesen@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Describe what plants need to grow, Identify parts of a plant that help it grow and survive, understand that roots take in water and nutrients and leaves make food from sunlight, find out what happens when they grow rye grass and alfalfa plants, mow them and allow them to grow again, observe daily weather and record observations, use a calendar to monitor daily weather, begin understanding that months are made up of differing amounts of days, learn to read a calendar accurately.

Activities: Students observed rye grass and alfalfa seeds. They used these seeds to plant a lawn. Students are recording observations of their lawn’s progress using observation sheets. They are learning “best science practice” by dating each entry and drawing accurate representations of their lawns, as well as writing a sentence or word to describe key observations. We discovered our lawns were planted 16 days before we “mowed” them. Students “mowed” their lawns with scissors, and they are waiting to see what will happen next? We have reviewed five things that plants need: water, sunlight, air, space and nutrients. Students have created a monthly calendar, learning that months have different amounts of days. They are also recording campus weather on their weather calendars.

Teacher Info: Mrs. DeWaard, hdewaard@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Dr. Seuss, rhyming words, descriptive/riddle writing, inference, number/color words, antonyms, sight words, phonics, reader's theatre

Activities: First graders are celebrating the work of Dr. Seuss! They listened to two books and participated in a variety of engaging activities: Fox in Socks – Students colored a pair of socks and wrote descriptive sentences about them. Next, their socks were displayed while riddles were read aloud. Students then used the writing clues to guess which socks matched each riddle. A major focus this month has been on rhyming words. Students practiced matching word cards, paying close attention to when words begin or end with the same letters, which can sometimes be tricky. They also worked through two short booklets, Socks for Mr. Fox and Mr. Fox Has Ten Socks, reinforcing number words, color words, and rhyming skills. The Foot Book – After reviewing sight words and phonics rules, students are preparing to participate in a reader’s theater performance of the entire book while practicing fluency and tracking text with their fingers. Valentine’s Day Connections – Students engaged in a rhyming word activity and also learned how to “infer.” They learned that being an inference detective means using clues and what you already know to figure something out. For example, during a “Valentine Mix-Up,” students determined which treat was brought by each classmate based on clues read aloud to them.

Teacher Tip: Take the time to read through the short booklets that have come home. These are excellent ways to practice sight words, rhyming words and number words. I have started assessing first graders’ knowledge of letter sounds, rhyming words, the first 50 sight words and their ability to sound out three/four letter short vowel words. Mastery of the first 100 sight words greatly supports reading fluency. You can find sight word lists and other valuable resources at sightwords.com. We will continue tracking progress on campus, with a goal of reaching 100 words by the end of the school year.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Elgersma- gelgersma@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Elements of Art: Color, Shape, Texture, & Form; Principles of Design: Pattern, Balance, & Contrast; Techniques: Printmaking, art critique; Featured Artists: Alma Thomas, Jim Dine, Maya Freelon & Sam Gilliam

Activities: Welcome to a new semester and an exciting introduction to art! We began by learning about Alma Thomas, the first Black woman to have artwork included in the White House’s permanent collection. Students explored several of her vibrant paintings, read the book Ablaze with Color, and worked collaboratively to create a mural that now brightens our classroom. Each week, we start with an art critique called “Masterpiece Monday.” Students jumped right in by examining heart-themed artwork by Jim Dine. His piece Four Hearts inspired our first project. Using tempera paint sticks, students created patterned backgrounds, then learned how to cut heart shapes from paper. They incorporated both the positive and negative shapes into their designs, added scribbled textures, and applied highlights and shadows to make their hearts appear three-dimensional. Next, we explored how artists can use traditional materials in innovative ways. Maya Freelon creates sculptures and paintings with bleeding tissue paper, while Sam Gilliam transformed painted canvas by draping it from ceilings and walls. Inspired by these artists, students drew on tissue paper and observed how the colors blended when sprayed with water. They then accordion-folded the paper, folded it in half to form a heart shape, and glued it onto a background printed with heart designs. It has been a vibrant and joyful celebration of Black History Month in the art room!

Teacher Tip: Please mark your calendars! April 27th from 6:00-7:30 is the Meridian School District Art Show, and YOUR STUDENT’S WORK will be on display! I hope you can save the date!

Teacher Info: Mrs. Warnock, swarnock@meridian.wednet.edu