Current Instruction

{Quarter Four}

Reading

During reading workshop, we will be continuing our study of overcomers, specifically how they have made a difference in our world.  Throughout this study, we will be concentrating on:

     • asking and answering important questions about the topic

     • determining cause and effect relationships within texts

     • identifying the main idea and key details in texts

     • comparing and contrasting historical figures

     • analyzing character traits and feelings

     • uncovering problems and solutions in the books we're reading

     • predicting outcomes, making inferences, and synthesizing information across whole texts

Toward the middle of the quarter, we will be shifting our focus away from biographies and back on fictional texts to the end of the year.

Writing

In our writing workshop this quarter, we'll begin with a reading connection as we research and construct biography projects for our "Overcomers Hall of Fame."  Teams of students will be researching information about the following people in history and discovering their impact on the world:

     • George Washington Carver

     • Jane Goodall

     • The Wright Brothers

     • Sally Ride

     • Christopher Columbus

During this project, the children will be constructing character maps, writing facts, learning related vocabulary, practicing inferential thinking, comparing and contrasting information, and writing letters where they ask questions of the individual.  

Mid-April, we'll shift our attention back to personal narratives, writing stories about the interesting things that happen in our lives.  We will be focusing on the following writing skills to prepare for 2nd grade:

     • effective "hooks" or leads (sounds, questions, quote, or setting)

     • a tight focus on one topic

     • an organized sequence of events, including a beginning, a well-developed middle, and an ending

     • specific, vivid language including sensory details

     • effective use of dialogue

     • elaboration, particularly in the middle of the story to develop the plot

     • capital letters at the beginning of sentences and people's names

     • punctuation at the end of each sentence

     • correct spelling of word wall words, phonetic spelling otherwise

Math

During math workshop, we will be studying and reviewing the following concepts:

     • Place Value (adding/subtracting 2-digit numbers)

     • Time (to the hour and half hour)

     • Money (coin combinations up to 25¢)

     • Measurement (linear and volume)

     • Geometry (2-D and 3-D shapes)

     • Problem Solving

     • Basic Facts (adding/subtracting to 20)

Science and Social Studies

• Economics (Social Studies) 

• Living Things (Science)

     

  

{Quarter Three}

Reading

During reading workshop, we are studying fiction again and we are:

• Deeply studying the characters in our stories, particularly their feelings.
• Identifying the main ideas and themes in the stories we're reading.
• Using our background knowledge to predict and anticipate characters' feelings and actions.
• Distinguishing between important ideas and interesting details.
• Supporting our ideas and opinions with evidence from the text and meaningful inferences.
• Continuing to use our comprehension strategies of questioning, visualizing, and inferring.
• Increasing our stamina for independent reading, aiming for at least 20 minutes per day.
• Using word-solving strategies when we get to tricky words we don't know. 

Writing

During writing workshop, we are writing about our opinions as we draft persuasive reviews about books, movies, toys, and more!

We will also be learning how to write persuasive letters.

Math

During math workshop, we are continuing to review skills from the first two quarters.  We are also:

• Learning about place value (hundreds, tens, and ones).
• Comparing values of numbers (greater than / less than).
• Adding and subtracting two-digit numbers.
• Studying measurement.
• Continuing to practice problem-solving strategies to solve real-world problems.

Science / Social Studies

Social Studies Unit:  Timelines and Maps & Globes

Science Unit:  Living / Non-Living

{Quarter Two}

Reading

During reading workshop, we are studying nonfiction and we are learning that:

• Readers are curious and ask important questions before, during, and after they read.
• Readers think of what they already know about a topic before reading the text.
• Readers think about the purpose of the text... "Why did the author write this book?"
• Authors of nonfiction use special text features to help us understand new information.  {Bold words, maps, timelines, captions, labels & arrows, chapters, "WOW Facts," etc.}
• Readers can identify the main idea and key details in a nonfiction text.
• Readers have opinions about topics.  They can share their opinions and explain the reasons for their opinions.
• Readers read and reread texts closely to help them understand and remember new information. They can share facts and ideas with others.
• Readers use strategies independently to figure out unknown words when reading their "just-right" books.
• Readers can share their thoughts, take notes, and record new learning by writing in a reading journal.

Writing

During writing workshop, we are also studying nonfiction texts and learning how to write two types of nonfiction texts:  How-To Books and All-About Books {informative books about nonfiction topics, specifically Animals People Love to Hate}.

Math

During math workshop, we are continuing to review skills from the first quarter.  We are also:

• Learning doubles facts {1+1, 2+2, 3+3, 4+4, etc.} 
• Understanding strategies for adding three numbers together
• Learning about Fact Families and how addition equations help us solve subtraction equations

Science / Social Studies

Social Studies Unit:  Long Ago and Today  {Comparing the Past to the Present}

Science Unit:  Forces and Motion

{Quarter One}

Reading

During reading workshop, we are learning that:

• Readers are curious and ask questions before, during, and after they read.
• Readers refer back to the story to answer text-based questions.  They "tell the truth from the text."
• When an answer can't be found in the story, readers infer the answer, thinking about what would make sense.
• Fiction stories have settings, characters, events, problems, and solutions.
• Characters have feelings.  Readers can name those feelings and notice how and why they change throughout the story.
• Some events in a story are interesting while other events are super important to the story.  Readers can tell the difference and can name the major events in a story.
• Readers share their opinions about events and characters and can give a reason to explain their opinion.  They use the word "because" when explaining.
• Readers visualize to remember the stories they read and can retell the events, elaborating with specific details and language from the text.
• Readers use strategies independently to figure out unknown words when reading their "just-right" books.
• Readers can share their thoughts by talking with other readers and by writing their ideas in a reading journal.

Writing

During writing workshop, we are learning how to write personal narratives about our life experiences.  We are studying and learning how:

• Writers plan out and rehearse their stories before writing them, thinking about what happens in the beginning, the middle, and the end.
• Writers can begin a story in a different ways, such as with dialogue, by asking a question, by describing the setting, or by naming the time.
• Writers use "moving along" words to keep the story moving, such as then, next, one time, suddenly, and finally.
• Writers use specific details to make their stories more interesting.
• Writers use the word-wall and stretch out words carefully so their writing is easy to read.
• Writers revise their stories to make them stronger.

Math

During math workshop, we are:

• Understanding the different strategies mathematicians use to solve math problems.
• Learning how to understand a real-world math problem, decide which operation is needed, think of a strategy to solve the problem, and share the answer(s).
• Becoming more fluent with addition and subtraction facts to 10.
• Figuring missing numbers in mathematical equations, such as 2 + ___ = 9.

Science

During this first science unit, we will be learning about:

• Famous scientists and what scientists do.
• How scientists are curious, ask a lot of questions, and explore the world around them.
• Different types of tools scientists use and how they use them.
• Our five senses and how scientists use their senses to observe objects and explore questions.
• Scientific processes and how scientists use notebooks to record their observations and ideas.

{Check out our lab coats, our "Einstein Hair," our science tools, and our curiosity!}

Dear Parents,

Thank you for joining us for this fall's "Family Curriculum Night."  As promised, here are the slides from that evening.  (Click on the link below the picture.)  I don't believe Sean and Delaney's retelling will play, but I'm working on uploading their video separately.  The file size of the original show was too large.  I think if I upload it on its own, you'll be able to view it.

Family Curriculum Night Slides