Our final week of winter before spring introduced First Graders to the Second Open Court Reader. The first reader was a collection of selections about weather, to compliment our “big book” of Weather. This second reader wraps up our unit called Journeys. It has included a variety of stories about journeys that we can take as we read! The increased fluency and decoding skills students demonstrated while reading these is evidence of the significant progress they each have made to broaden sight vocabularies, expand decoding skills, and deepen comprehension through explicit strategies good readers use.
Our math unit on money is also completed. Students can identify and tell the value of coins as well as sequence a group of mixed coins to count on from greatest to least. They are providing multiple ways to make a given value using quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.
Students have completed their extensive research from reading non-fiction selections and taking virtual fieldtrips to create an American Symbols scrapbook. They each have included summaries from their notes which were then pasted into the scrapbook with beautiful pictures of the symbols that show our pride as American citizens.
After spring break we will embark on a new group of topics! In math we will explore weight. In reading we will begin reading longer selections from the first of two hard cover basal readers. In social studies we will begin to consider the earth and if it has always looked the way it does today. World geography will include a study of continents and oceans.
First Graders are most excited to welcome Olivia Halverson back the first week of May to provide activities and projects about the world’s oceans. What a great two months to look forward to enjoying together!