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First Grade News

Curriculum Highlights

January 23, 2012

Science Organisms observations Writing Non-fiction/ information reports Reading What are the features on non-fiction texts and how can they help us with our comprehension? Math Addition/subtraction facts, turn around facts Word Study Long i i by itself, y

Reminders

Monday & Tuesday Jan 23 & 24 - Chinese New Year - no school


Wednesday Jan 25 Choice Time 2:10pm A chance to bring in a living thing Return information report planning sheet to school with final TOPIC SELECTION

Word Study I by

find my

kind why

climb try

wild fly

News From Ms. Tindalls Class We had some very interesting ideas last week when we began our unit on living things. One of our initial activities to get a feel for what children knew already was to sort objects into two groups living/ non-living (alive/ not alive). A concept that seems so obvious for adults can really be quite tricky for children. We had clouds, sun, rocks and a tree stump among some of the groupings for living things. We have since discussed characteristics of living things and come up with these questions: Can it grow? Can it have babies (reproduce)? Does it need food? Can it breathe (respire)? Can it move (respond to stimuli)? It would be great if you could pick a few things at home or while youre out with your child and ask these questions. Some of them are tricky especially when it comes to plants. Remind children that plants can: move/respond to stimuli by turning to the sun, flowers can open and close; breathe in carbon dioxide and out oxygen; eat by soaking up nutrients from the soil and making their own food using sunlight; have babies - seeds. You can continue to aid our work on non-fiction at home by finding print and books in your environment, talk about the purpose of the text, and decide if the information it contains is true or not. Does it contain facts? How do you know? What different types of non-fiction texts can you find? Dont just limit yourself to books, but also think about newspapers, magazines, TV programs, menus etc. Is all of the information in these texts fact? Who decides? What is an expert? How do you become an expert? What are some different sources from where you can get information? How can you know if the information is true or not? Is everything you read true? In partnership, Ms. Tindall

Monday Reading: Begin becoming an expert on your chosen topic. Word Study: Highlight the long i sound. Can you suggest a pattern for when to use a y or an i? Look at the location of each letter in the word. (No complete word in English ends in <i>, write <y> instead.) Math: Whats the difference between your age and other family members? Eg Whats the
difference between your age and your dads? Your age and your brothers? Your mums and your dads ages? What are some different strategies you can use to solve these problems? * There is quite a bit to do at home over the next few weeks. If youre short on time (or patience J) please make reading and non-fiction research the top priority. The rest can be done only if you feel its manageable.

Tuesday Reading: Begin becoming an expert on your chosen topic. Pack your Information Planning Sheet with you final TOPIC SELECTION in your folder to return to school tomorrow. Word Study: Find words in your reading book with the long i sound. What are some different ways you know to make long i? Wednesday Reading: Begin becoming an expert on your chosen topic. Word Study: Find short i words and long i words. What patterns do you notice? Math: Homelink 5.8 Thursday Reading: Begin becoming an expert on your chosen topic. Word Study: Write the correct letter to represent the long <i> sound in these words. (attached but no need to print you can write your answers on a whiteboard or piece of scrap paper) Math: Homelink 5.9

Friday Reading: Plan what you can do over the weekend to continue your learning on your chosen topic? Is there somewhere you can observe it? Is there someone you can interview? Is there a museum or information centre you can visit? Poem collection: Recite poems and sing songs to family and friends. Return the collection to school on Monday.

Insert either <i> or <y> to make the long i sound in each word.

_______ k ___ nd m____ w___ld m___nd ch___ld fr____ w_____nd b_____nd

f____nd cl____mb tr____ b_____ wh____ fl______ sk_______ m_____ld cr_____

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