Dr. Heughins announced today that masks WILL now be allowed during the Halloween Parade. Please have your child bring it in a bag so that they can put it on just before the parade begins. Also please remember to have your child bring a change of clothes for after the parade. We will be having some fun activities that day, but being in costumes all day long is too distracting for first graders.
The PTA sent out an email about this as well, please let me know if you have any questions.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Weekly Wrap Up October 21-25
This was a week filled with excitement! The scholars had a lot of energy and enjoyed participating in the dress up days. They are abuzz with excitement about Halloween, too. Don't worry, even with all that excitement, we still managed to learn a lot this week!
We took our math unit test on Thursday covering addition strategies. I will be sending it home in Friday Folders this week. Overall the scholars did a great job, with 23/26 scoring 100% and those other 3 scholars missed just one question each (exactly the same as on our last unit test). More importantly than the test scores, however, I have seen in class that the scholars all truly understand how to use the different addition strategies independently. Understanding a concept is FAR more important to me than a test score. Please remember that all currently scheduled test dates are posted on the calendar on this website (not quizzes, although I tend to give those on Wednesdays).
In language arts we practiced the reading strategies of recognizing story structure (characters, setting, problem, solution) and using that information to summarize stories. We also spent time working on verbs (also referred to as "action words"), reading short u words (ex/ bug, butter), and reading aloud with expression. Please remind your child to use expression when they read the fluency passage aloud for Tuesday night homework assignments. That means the emotion in their voice should match the meaning of the words they read, as well as pausing at punctuation marks. Reading slowly, word by word, similar to a robot, is NOT reading with expression and can show a lack of understanding. Our Theme 2 reading skills test will be this Tuesday.
In writing we are continuing to work on descriptive writing, which is a big focus for 1st grade and lasts several months. Challenge your child to describe what they see with descriptive details. For example, if you are driving and you see a tree, ask them to tell you what the tree looks like ("I see a tall tree with a rough brown trunk and long skinny branches. It has about 1,000 little green leaves that are blowing gently in the wind, and some are falling to the ground and landing on the long gray sidewalk. I think a squirrel family might live in the tree because I see a large hole in the trunk"). If they reply simply "I see a tree" then prompt them with questions. A palm tree? A christmas tree? A short tree? Sometimes I tell them to pretend they are describing it to a blind person, a baby, or even an alien who has never seen a tree before. That pushes them to use more descriptive details. Another way to practice descriptive details that the students really enjoy is to pretend to be their "detail drawing robot." Ask them to describe something to you and draw exactly what they say. Limit your drawing to the bare minimum unless they provide you with more details. They love to do this kind of activity and give directions to an adult.
In social studies we have been discussing the different ways that we honor our country and heroes, including the holidays that celebrate them such as Independence Day and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I think you would be touched to know how many of your children said that their heroes are their parents.
Our habit of a scholar this week was to PONDER IDEAS. We defined it as taking the time to think carefully about what you are learning or ideas that interest you. Here are some examples the scholars came up with to show how they PONDER:
Something new that I introduced this week was the "ticket out the door" board. My goal is to use it to wrap up the day, provide closure on the many learning activities and lessons we cover each day, and to see what stuck with each scholar. Of course, anything with post-its is a huge hit with the scholars, and so far they are enjoying writing their notes about what they have learned. Here are a few examples from Friday. This is an informal tool so I won't be correcting students' spelling or grammar, which you may have also noticed on some of the work I send home. I want them to focus on expressing their ideas and not worrying too much about their mechanics preventing them from reflecting on their learning.
We took our math unit test on Thursday covering addition strategies. I will be sending it home in Friday Folders this week. Overall the scholars did a great job, with 23/26 scoring 100% and those other 3 scholars missed just one question each (exactly the same as on our last unit test). More importantly than the test scores, however, I have seen in class that the scholars all truly understand how to use the different addition strategies independently. Understanding a concept is FAR more important to me than a test score. Please remember that all currently scheduled test dates are posted on the calendar on this website (not quizzes, although I tend to give those on Wednesdays).
In language arts we practiced the reading strategies of recognizing story structure (characters, setting, problem, solution) and using that information to summarize stories. We also spent time working on verbs (also referred to as "action words"), reading short u words (ex/ bug, butter), and reading aloud with expression. Please remind your child to use expression when they read the fluency passage aloud for Tuesday night homework assignments. That means the emotion in their voice should match the meaning of the words they read, as well as pausing at punctuation marks. Reading slowly, word by word, similar to a robot, is NOT reading with expression and can show a lack of understanding. Our Theme 2 reading skills test will be this Tuesday.
In writing we are continuing to work on descriptive writing, which is a big focus for 1st grade and lasts several months. Challenge your child to describe what they see with descriptive details. For example, if you are driving and you see a tree, ask them to tell you what the tree looks like ("I see a tall tree with a rough brown trunk and long skinny branches. It has about 1,000 little green leaves that are blowing gently in the wind, and some are falling to the ground and landing on the long gray sidewalk. I think a squirrel family might live in the tree because I see a large hole in the trunk"). If they reply simply "I see a tree" then prompt them with questions. A palm tree? A christmas tree? A short tree? Sometimes I tell them to pretend they are describing it to a blind person, a baby, or even an alien who has never seen a tree before. That pushes them to use more descriptive details. Another way to practice descriptive details that the students really enjoy is to pretend to be their "detail drawing robot." Ask them to describe something to you and draw exactly what they say. Limit your drawing to the bare minimum unless they provide you with more details. They love to do this kind of activity and give directions to an adult.
In social studies we have been discussing the different ways that we honor our country and heroes, including the holidays that celebrate them such as Independence Day and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I think you would be touched to know how many of your children said that their heroes are their parents.
Our habit of a scholar this week was to PONDER IDEAS. We defined it as taking the time to think carefully about what you are learning or ideas that interest you. Here are some examples the scholars came up with to show how they PONDER:
Halloween :)
This Thursday will be our Halloween Parade and parents are welcome to join us. Please have your child come to school in their costume (unless they don't want to dress up, which is ok). We will go into the classroom quickly to take roll, and then head back out to the blacktop like we do for Friday Flag Ceremonies. Parents, you should feel free (and encouraged!) to dress up too, I know how excited the scholars are to see you join in the fun. I am hoping that Mr. Smith and Baby Sebastian will be joining us for the parade as well.
Please remember these important rules to keep costumes appropriate for school:
1. Absolutely no toy weapons. Even though we know they are fake it's still not allowed at school. This includes things like swords and light sabers.
2. No blood or other gore. Usually this isn't a problem for 1st graders but this rule is to help keep things fun rather than scary, especially when it comes to upper graders' costumes.
Please let me know if you have any questions! Also... since I know Halloween is on a Thursday this year and your child may be celebrating with fun activities that night, they are allowed to turn their homework in EARLY this week if they want to. They can still turn it in on Friday as usual, but I will allow them to turn it in early if they want to be able to have Thursday night free.
Please remember these important rules to keep costumes appropriate for school:
1. Absolutely no toy weapons. Even though we know they are fake it's still not allowed at school. This includes things like swords and light sabers.
2. No blood or other gore. Usually this isn't a problem for 1st graders but this rule is to help keep things fun rather than scary, especially when it comes to upper graders' costumes.
Please let me know if you have any questions! Also... since I know Halloween is on a Thursday this year and your child may be celebrating with fun activities that night, they are allowed to turn their homework in EARLY this week if they want to. They can still turn it in on Friday as usual, but I will allow them to turn it in early if they want to be able to have Thursday night free.
Smock for Art Project
I sent a note home in Friday Folders requesting that scholars bring an old shirt to serve as an artist's smock for our art project on Tuesday. After school I found two of these letters on the ground, so here's a copy of the letter in case yours didn't make it home.
Dear Parents,
On Tuesday, Oct. 29 we will
be creating painted paper. We will use
this later to create Eric Carle inspired Halloween artwork. We will be using tempura paint which can get
messy. Please send your child to school
with an old shirt or apron that they can put over their clothes in case they
get paint on them. It’s easier to get
creative when we don’t have to worry about protecting our nice school clothes.
Thanks!
Mrs. Smith
This is not a requirement, just a request to help keep your child's nice clothes clean. One of Dad or Grandpa's old shirts would work perfectly!
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Red Ribbon Week and Spirit Days
Weekly Wrap Up Oct. 14-18
This week ended on a great note with the Ethan Allen Walk-a-thon. It was nice to see so many parents and I know the scholars had a great time walking and running to support our school. I was a little disappointed not to be able to walk due to my sprained ankle, but I enjoyed cheering the scholars on. My ankle is improving daily and the scholars have done a good job "being my helpers" while I hobble around. Thank you for all of your concern, I especially loved the cards and notes that some of the scholars made for me.
Here's a little snapshot of what we worked on this week:
-This week our Habit of a Scholar was PREPARATION. We defined it as "being ready to learn with all tools necessary for the job."
-In math we have continued to work on addition strategies. These strategies include using a numberline, doubles facts, ten frames, the commutative property, and counting up. Our math unit test will be this Thursday. I've attached some of my classroom notes so you can see what I mean by these strategies.
Here are some students' examples of the commutative property:
-In language arts we focused on the skills of monitoring and clarifying (asking yourself if you understand what you are reading and knowing how to make the meaning more clear when you are confused), distinguishing fantasy and realism, short e words, and nouns ("naming words"). We are continuing to work on descriptive writing.
-In social studies we learned about map skills including the cardinal directions and using legends.
-We have continued to practice explaining our answers using evidence. The scholars are growing strong in this skill and have learned to provide evidence without prompting from me. I added an award for "providing evidence" on Class Dojo to recognize their good habits.
Here's a little snapshot of what we worked on this week:
-This week our Habit of a Scholar was PREPARATION. We defined it as "being ready to learn with all tools necessary for the job."
-In math we have continued to work on addition strategies. These strategies include using a numberline, doubles facts, ten frames, the commutative property, and counting up. Our math unit test will be this Thursday. I've attached some of my classroom notes so you can see what I mean by these strategies.
Here are some students' examples of the commutative property:
-In social studies we learned about map skills including the cardinal directions and using legends.
-We have continued to practice explaining our answers using evidence. The scholars are growing strong in this skill and have learned to provide evidence without prompting from me. I added an award for "providing evidence" on Class Dojo to recognize their good habits.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Depth and Complexity Overview
I am still working on getting the icons to show up next to their descriptions, but here is an overview of the Icons of Depth and Complexity as well as how we recently applied some of the icons to the story The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I recorded the scholars' ideas on the chart paper as we read the story together and they recognized how different story elements could be understood better through application of the different icons.
A Brief Explanation of Kaplan’s Icons of Depth and Complexity
Dimensions of Depth
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Language of the Discipline: Indicates identification and usage of appropriate language relative to the discipline.
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Details: Indicates elaboration and description of an idea or event.
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Patterns: Indicates recurring elements or repeated factors of an idea or event, as well as the order of events. Identify & predict.
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Trends: Indicates identification of changes throughout a period as well as the factors, influences & forces. Note causality & predict.
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Unanswered Questions: Indicates unclear ideas & information as well as what is unknown, unexplored, unproved. Identify & guess.
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Rules: Indicates organizational elements relevant to curriculum. Note order, determine relevance, organize, & identify learnings.
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Ethics: Indicates possible rights & wrongs of an event, idea, or issue. Reflection on bias, prejudice, discrimination. Draw conclusions, argue, and prove with evidence.
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Big Idea: Indicates a generalization, principle, or theory about the curriculum being studied. Identify theory, state principle.
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Dimensions of Complexity
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Over Time: Indicates a change over time where changes are identified and causality examined. Predict, order, & sequence.
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Points of View: Indicates multiple perspectives. Examine ideas and events from different perspectives. Think like a . . .
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Interdisciplinary Connections: Indicates a connection between the curriculum under study and other. Associate, integrate, & link.
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Habits of a Scholar: Curiosity
We have started discussing the Habits of a Scholar, which are used throughout the GATE program to help our scholars develop positive habits and behavior to support their learning. This week we started by discussing CURIOSITY. You can see an overview of the Habits of a Scholar here: Habits of a Scholar
Each week we will be discussing a new habit. Our discussion will focus on defining the habit, discussing how we can use it at school, and how we can use it at home. When I say "at home" I really mean outside of school. For example, some of the ideas we came up with for curiosity were visiting museums and exploring nature.
This last illustration was one of my favorites because I think that all parents of gifted children have felt this way at one time or another (or maybe very often!) because of their natural curiosity and seemingly endless questions. In fact, when I asked the class if it was good to be curious, one scholar replied, "No because it is annoying." We discussed how it is very good to be curious but that being curious does not mean waiting for someone else to find the answers for you. Being curious means asking good questions about the things that interest you, and then searching for the answers yourself. We also discussed the things that we might not have today if people had not been curious enough to invent them or conduct experiments. Overall the scholars had a good understanding of what it means to be curious. This is a habit that they are already quite strong in!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Sub tomorrow
I wanted to let you know that I will be out tomorrow because I sprained my ankle on Saturday. I know that gifted students can be sensitive to change so I usually try to let them know ahead of time if I will be away. I am feeling fine as long as I am sitting, just very frustrated that I can't walk! I tripped over the baby gate at the bottom of our stairs. I am hoping to be back on Tuesday if possible- I hate being away from my scholars!
Friday, October 11, 2013
Walk-a-thon update
We will be walking between 1:00-1:45 on Friday. If you join us please be sure to sign in at the office first.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Halloween Art
Last Thursday we met with our Big Buddies for the first time. Our Big Buddies are 5th and 6th grade GATE scholars from Ms. Phan's class. We will meet with our buddies about once a month for shared projects and activities, it's a great confidence builder for both the upper and lower grade students and also so much FUN! This month we created an art project that integrated positive & negative space, symmetry, and creative pumpkin designs. I don't post pictures of students on my website out of respect for privacy, but if you look on our classroom door you can see photos of the scholars proudly displaying their art with their Big Buddies. Here are a few of our pumpkins:
Depth and Complexity: Patterns
Recognizing and continuing patterns is an important skill for first graders that is taken to another level in GATE. The depth and complexity icon for patterns looks like a letter "Z" with dots- the idea is that you can continue the pattern of the icon. The students are able to very easily recognize patterns such as "star, circle, triangle, star, circle, triangle..." or "odd, even, odd, even..." but the higher level thinking comes in getting them to recognize patterns in literature, science, and even daily life. The purpose of recognizing patterns is to use that information to make predictions. Predictions are not just random guesses. Sometimes GATE students make comments like "I just know it" but we are working on being able to recognize how they know what they "just know." Patterns are a big piece of our focus on explaining thinking and supporting ideas with evidence.
This week we explored patterns by brainstorming the different patterns in our lives. Then, we categorized those into patterns that repeat daily, weekly, or yearly. We highlighted key words like "every Monday" "same" and "always." The scholars continued to add to our patterns tree map as a "May Do" activity throughout the week. Here are some of our examples:
This week we explored patterns by brainstorming the different patterns in our lives. Then, we categorized those into patterns that repeat daily, weekly, or yearly. We highlighted key words like "every Monday" "same" and "always." The scholars continued to add to our patterns tree map as a "May Do" activity throughout the week. Here are some of our examples:
I encourage the scholars to bring in examples they find of the things we discuss in class. This week Tyler brought in the book "Room on the Broom" because of the many patterns he found in the book. I read it aloud and the students really enjoyed the story! Here is a link to the story on YouTube. Feel free to share the video with your child and ask them to explain some of the patterns in the story: Room on the Broom
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Back to School Night Powerpoint
Here is the text from my Back to School Night powerpoint presentation. I tried to cover a lot of information in a short amount of time so please let me know if you have any questions. I hope it was helpful for you. I still have many left over packets explaining depth and complexity if anyone would like me to send an extra one home. I will continue to explain the icons more in depth on this website as well.
Welcome to Back to School Night!
Mrs. Smith
First Grade GATE
What makes GATE different?
*Thinking tools
*Depth and Complexity
*Content Imperatives
*Universal Themes
*Habits of a scholar
*Think like a Disciplinarian
*Keys to Learning
Same grade level standards at an
accelerated pace
Junior
Great Books
Greater opportunity for student choice,
projects
Focus on application of skills
Peers
What is the same as General Ed?
*PE, assemblies, schedule, school wide
activities
*Same standards (but explored to greater
depth)
*Same base programs (except for Junior
Great Books)
*Same assessments
*Same report card
*Same homework packet (with addition of
the reading log to develop writing skills and spelling later on)
*Mrs. Smith collaborates with the first
grade team
Daily Routine
*8:30 Calendar
(math standards integration)
*8:50 Math
*9:50 Recess
*10:10 Reading
Instruction
*11:50 Lunch
*12:30 Math
facts
*12:45 Writing
*1:30 PE/read
alouds/projects/art/JGB
(depends on the day)
*2:00 Social
Studies/Science
*2:50 Dismissal
*Music every other week, computer lab 40
minutes every Thursday
Homework
*Weekly packet, daily reading log
*1 math and 1 language arts page each
night
*Daily reading
*Write 1 sentence or more on the reading
log
*Turn BOTH in on Fridays
*Extension menu, spelling homework to come
later
*Scholars may borrow books from me
*Additional projects throughout the year (social
studies, science, Flat Stanley, Curious George weekend friend)
Helping your child succeed
*Help them stay organized with a HW folder
*Ask them questions and show an interest
in their learning/specific interests
*Encourage reading
*Check their homework and help them with
fluency practice
*Encourage academic risk taking (it’s
better to struggle through a challenge than to always excel at easy tasks)
*Keep a regular schedule for homework,
sleep
*Check Class Dojo
*Remember that they’re still kids J
Parent Participation
*School events
-I
will let you know ahead of time (Halloween, Tet, etc)
-Friday
Flag Ceremonies
*In the classroom
-Student
work is confidential
-Schedule
ahead of time with Mrs. Smith
-Not
a time to socialize
*Taking projects home
-Let
me know if you are interested
*Donations
-THANK
YOU!!!
*Schoolwide birthday policy is strongly enforced
this year
Contacting Mrs. Smith
*I will try to update the website about
once a week
*Send a note with your child
*I’m usually available before school on
Mondays and Fridays
*Friday Folders
*Call the school office
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