Mrs. Rausch's Class: Weekly Update

Friday, February 28, 2014

Weekly Update

Fun in First Grade

These weeks have been so busy that I cannot believe it will be March already!

** Happy Birthday to BLAKE on February, 24th **

I would like to say THANK YOU to all parents for a great turn-out at Parent Teacher Conferences and for being flexible with our rescheduling! Is anybody else excited to see grass and feel the warmth of the sun?!

With the wild weather, I was unable to send out a classroom update last week! I did want to share with you that our class studied presidents last week in honor of President’s Day. We talked about the great things that presidents have done to help our country. Here is a Popplet presentation that our class made:

And below are a few examples of how we would make a difference if we were president:

First grade was LUCKY that this Wednesday was a full day of school! We had a full-day of FUN and LEARNING with our new S.T.E.M. science unit. We introduced ramps to our students, built ramps, played with ramps, researched ramps, created ramps with our bodies, found ramps around our school, read books about Ramps in the real world, and made an Animoto video.

While we had fun, we also touch academics in science, technology, math, reading and writing! Next week, we will be learning and investigating how changing the heights of our ramps will affect the speed of wooden cars as they travel down.

Here are a few pictures and videos of our day!

Next Week is READ ACROSS AMERICA week! We will begin our celebrations by working with Mrs. Mahr’s 1^st graders and Mrs. Kerian’s High School students to read and write silly books!

Have you made plans to attend our first grade Dr. Seuss Party on FRIDAY, March 7^th from 2:30-3:00?? If not, RSVP next week!

Finally, we would like to announce that our friend, Lily will be moving out of the district. Today (Friday) was her last day of school. To help her celebrate, we played "around the world" in math, continued our explorations in science with ramps, and we had a special snack at the end of the day. When Lily gets acquainted in her new school, we will plan to Skype with her!

We will miss you Lily !!

Here is a Look at Next Week:

Monday: Library

** Jump Rope for Heart Due **

** February BOOK IT Calendar DUE **

Tuesday: NO SCHOOL

Good luck Girl’s at STATE BASKETBALL!!

Wednesday: PE

Thursday: Music

Friday: PE

Reading Strategies

Determine Important Information

When students read, they should pick out the most important ideas. The most important ideas are the ones the author wants readers to remember.

Compare and Contrast

When we compare certain things, we tell how they are alike or the same. When we contrast things, we tell how they are different!!

Make Inferences

Making inferences helps readers make sense of what they read. Sometimes the author doesn't tell us everything we need to understand. We can use clues in the story and what we already know to help fill in gaps which the author has left in the text. This is called MAKING INFERENCES!

Identify Text Structure

Stories are set up in different ways. They usually are told in sequence, or the order in which events happen. Knowing how a story is set up, or its structure, can help a reader remember the story.

Identify Details & Facts

Finding small bits of information that tells us more about important ideas.

Making Predictions

Using clues from the story and what you already know to guess what will happen next.

Summarize

Tell in your own words what has happened in the story or text.

Ask and Answer Questions

Asking questions and looking for answers in the text or pictures will help you to understand what you read!

Facts and Opinions

Facts and be proven! They are TRUE!

Opinions are people's thoughts. They might not be true! When giving an opinion, you might hear "I think...."

Monitor Comprehension

Stop and think about what you are reading. Are you understanding what you are reading? If not, use an accuracy strategy to help.

Recall and Retell

Tell about the setting, characters and most important events in the beginning, middle, and end of the text. Readers gain a better understanding of what a story is about when they can recall events from a story.

Make Connections

Use what you already know to understand what you are reading. We use text to text connections. We use text to self connections. And we use text to world connections.

Mrs. Rausch's Class

Friday, February 28, 2014

Weekly Update

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