Readers respond to poetry by making inferences in their reading journals.
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Dear Families, We are looking forward to seeing all of you at Family Conferences in the afternoon and the evening of March 13th. Please note that that day is a half day and that all students will be released from school at 12:00. Attached you will find a list of available time slots for that afternoon and evening. Attached is a sign up sheet for you to print and return to school in your child's homework folder. Mark three choices. Slots will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. We look forward to discussing your child's growth in 1st grade!
We still need 2 volunteers for science lab, and the good news is that we changed the date to Tuesday, March 4th! Please post a comment if you can join us!
Also, we still need 2 10lb bags of ice! Thank you Judy and Lucia for donating supplies! Would you like to see our scientists at work as we begin cooking with the states of matter on Tuesday? We would love to have you! We need 3 volunteers from 12:45 - 2:45 on Tuesday, 3.4.14 Supplies NeededIf you can't volunteer but would like to support our scientists as they make ice cream on Monday, consider sending in the following:
If you can volunteer or send in supplies, please let us know by writing a comment on this blog post so that we can prepare. Thank you in advance for your support! Looking for a few academic activities for winter break? Here ya go!
MATH Check out the "Math Games" tab on WilloughBlog for ways to strengthen math fluency and have fun! Students are working on their mental math skills with addition and subtraction facts to 10. After the break, we will be moving on to numbers to 20, so any extra practice they have over break will set them up for success. WRITING Have your child start a writing journal at home. The journal can be used to detail events from a family vacation, write recipes, poems, fiction stories, personal narratives, letters, "If an object could talk" stories, comics - the ideas are endless! READING Here are 5 ways to help your child become a better reader and fall in love with great books - READ, READ, READ, READ, and READ! Have your child start a reading journal to record their great ideas - questions, predictions, connections, and favorite parts! RESEARCHER'S WORKSHOP Plan on doing any cooking over the break? Tap into your scientist's schema about the states of matter and ask them how matter changes in recipes you prepare! Willoughby readers are selecting texts they want to share with others and reading and discussing great books and articles in reading clubs. For 2-3 days, the reading club participates in buddy reading to read and reread the text. They promote each other's learning by using strategies such as, "Coaching or Time?" where they help buddies identify reading strategies to try when they become stuck, or give them time to work it out on their own. After buddy reading, they use their reading journals to record ideas they want to share with their club in the following day's discussion. During the discussion, members do not raise hands to participate - the group respectfully takes turns and balances voices. They also encourage each other to participate by inviting them into the conversation and asking quiet voices if they have anything they want to share. Together, students are co-constructors of knowledge as they build ideas about the text and topic during their discussions. Eli's journal entry from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Isa's journal entry from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Andreas' journal entry from Five Little Monsters Zoe's journal entry from Trucks Pearl's journal entry from Winter Sleepers Camilla's journal entry from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Willoughby writers are always looking for new inspiration for ideas. This week, we were inspired by Drew Daywalt's hilarious book, The Day the Crayons Quit - a story told through a series of letters written by a box of crayons to its owner. We brainstormed ideas about what various objects would say if they could talk, and many Willoughby authors decided to experiment with these ideas in their writer's notebook. Work on Writing in Daily 5 is a great way for students to explore topics, ideas, and genres on their own whenever the inspiration moves them. After reading this book, many students independently wrote letters and stories from an object's point-of-view. Check out this piece by Alexa, who did a quick publish of her letter in Daily 5: In writing class we have been working on How To's and learning how to add the 6 Trait "Voice" to our writing. Notice how Alexa uses all CAPS, underlined words, and exclamation points to emphasize the book's point of view!
Valentine's Day is fast approaching (next Friday!) and we have an assignment for Willoughby to prepare for our celebration.
Students will need a MAILBOX for their valentines. A decorated tissuebox (any size) is perfect! The example in the picture is one idea, but they certainly don't have to have a monster theme. Also, please have your child make (or buy) a VALENTINE CARD for EACH MEMBER of our CLASS to bring to school next Friday with their own mailbox. Here is a class list: 1. Maccabee 2. Raheem 3. Zoe 4. Sadie 5. Tyler 6. Eli 7. Oscar 8. William 9. Qadir 10. Sakai 11. Bjorn 12. Nicolas 13. Camilla 14. Isa 15. Zahir 16. Amanda 17.Alexa 18. Michael 19. Sterling 20. Zakayiah 21. Yune 22. Naomi 23. Andreas 24. Pearl 25. Stella 26. Pema |