Congratulations to Jack B. and Hana M. who will be our new Student Council representatives. These children received the most votes from our class community. Good job!
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Esther R. is 6 years old tomorrow! Today we celebrated in class with a delicious chocolate cake. Happy birthday Esther!
Today Grade 1AC had the chance to elect two members of our class to represent us on the Student Council. All students were invited to participate in our mini-campaign. 11 members of our class prepared posters and made short speeches seeking to convince the class that they were the best possible representative. Each individual had their own approach. Evangelina was all about putting safety first. Scarlett promoted her ability to be caring. Jack D. advertised his strong sense of responsibility.Georgia's campaign had a 3-point approach: to be caring, have good ideas, and be fair. Jack B. explained how he could be caring and responsible. Hana T. showed us she was a good thinker and shared her love of princesses and butterflies. Emilie told us she was caring and liked drawing. Esther R. encouraged us to think about safety and being caring. Hana M. talked about being caring with your friends. Chloe demonstrated a strong sense of responsibility and ability to be caring. And finally, Jakob explained to us how he would share his ideas. Everyone did an EXCELLENT job representing themselves and our class community! The votes are in and unfortunately only two children can represent Grade 1AC on the Student Council. Visit our blog tomorrow to find out which students have been chosen. Writing words as a study technique for spelling is well established. Writing sorts are different than the traditional copying of spelling words however because they require students to write words into categories. By writing their word list into categories, students attend to the sounds or patterns of letters and think about how those words connect with their key words or headers. (The key words or headers are the word cards glued at the beginning of the week.) What does a writing sort look like at SCHOOL (Wednesday in-class activity)?
What does a writing sort look like at HOME (Thursday homework activity)?
Students do not automatically see the relationship between spelling words and reading words. Word hunts help them make this important connection. In word hunts, students hunt through their reading and writing for words that are additional examples of their spelling sound(s) or pattern(s) of the week. (from: Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction) What does a word hunt look like at SCHOOL (Thursday in-class activity)?
What does a word hunt look like at HOME (Wednesday homework activity)?
Today is the first day of our new Words Their Way spelling programme...including homework! In class, children were introduced to the concept of a sort and completed a basic word sort as a whole class. They received their individual word lists and practiced them during mini-lessons and individual work time. Each child sorted their words at least once independently and had their work checked by a teacher. For homework tonight, we ask that parents support their children in re-sorting their words. Once the sort is complete, ask your child why they sorted the words in this way and what it tells them about spelling patterns. (Please see the homework section of our blog for more information, including the homework schedule.) Have fun and please don't forget that the word cards must be placed back in the transparent zip bag in the envelope at the back of the Activity book. To support your work at home, I have posted photos of what a completed sort looks like for each group. Since the beginning of school, Grade 1 has been focusing on how illustrations help us to understand stories. We explored early readers (without words) and covered up the words when reading Elmer by David McKee. By taking our attention away from the text in books, we began to understand how much information is available to us in pictures. We used these sentence starters to guide our explorations:
In one of our different activities, we compared PERSPECTIVEs. After independently working to record our own thinking on post-it notes in an early reader, we found a partner who had the same book. We compared notes (observations, ideas, and questions) to understand how different points of view and different personal connections can lead to different understandings of the same story. After two weeks of exploring only pictures between home and school, we added words. We read Elmer again -- this time with the words! The question we sought to answer was how words and pictures work together to tell a story. Here are some highlights from our class discussion:
In the second week of school, Grade 1 continued their introduction to our 5 senses unit by making popcorn. We discussed what we saw, heard, smelled, felt, and tasted at various stages of the popping process. The green words represent our observations of the corn kernels, the blue words represent our observations during cooking, and the red words represent our observations once the cooking was complete and the corn kernels had popped.
Friday is poetry day in Grade 1! After reading through a poem in class, it is taken home for weekend reading. Our poem is usually connected to what we are exploring in Literacy or our Unit of Inquiry. Before starting this routine though, Grade 1AC wanted to dig a little deeper into exactly what poetry is. We used the FORM concept key to unlock our thinking. By comparing poetry to "a river of words" we were able to understand the structure of poetry, including how each phrase and idea flows from one line to the next. So that we could connect with our at-home poetry reading on a deeper level, we decided to write our own poem using the river. We were even able to include rhyme! Here is the first poetry creation of Grade 1AC... Flying bird Flying so high On top of the river Floating down Flying down Do not drown Under the blue sky Over the blue sky Every morning during snack time Ms. Alison reads a chapter from the book Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry. Gooney Bird is not your average student. She wears pink tutus, green tights, and likes to be right smack dab in the middle of everything. She is a super story teller and loves sharing "absolutely true" stories with her teacher and classmates. What do you think Gooney Bird will tell us about next? Do you know anyone like her? Does this story remind you of anything in your own life? |
Grade 1ACWe are a group of Grade 1 students at the ISS International School in Singapore. Our teacher is Ms. Alison. Take a look at how much we're growing and learning! VisitorsWhat's happening in PE?What's happening in Art?What's our Principal up to?What's happening in Literacy?Grade 1 Classes We Follow:Ms. Cassidy's Class (Moose Jaw, Canada)
Mr. David Bullio's Class (Tokyo, Japan) Mrs. Frazier's Class (Ohio, USA) Archives
August 2013
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