Ms. Soulas' Classroom 2019-2020

We ended our non-fiction reading unit and started our new reading unit! This unit focuses on "Being the boss of your reading!" The first graders will be adding and practicing fluency and comprehension strategies to become stronger and stronger readers! The first grade readers are understanding the power and control they have over their reading :) In writing, w e are beginning our opinion writing unit. First graders can be very opinionated :). This unit helps them develop their opinions and plan/write their reasons to support them! To kick off our opinion writing we started with "Stephenson is the best school." Then, we had a VERY generous 3rd grade donation of girl scout cookies (thank you Leona!) The first graders got to try 2 of the cookies and write about which one they liked better and why! It was a delicious way to kick off our new unit.  In math, we have been building on our place value understanding by comparing and adding bigger numbers. Not only are we ...

Here are some highlights from the week... We wrapped up our non-fiction reading & writing units this week. As a culmination check-in, the first graders had an hour to plan, write and revise an informational piece of writing - and wow, was I amazed! They were so focused, some of their pencils never even left the page! Their passion, knowledge and research on their topics has been incredible to see! They are becoming such strong writers, readers and teachers! In math this week, we began to use our understanding of place value to compare and change numbers. The first graders built and wrote numbers and saw how they changed when you add 10 and take away 10. Our goal in first grade is to mentally be able to add and take away 10 from any number. We have been working on adding two digit numbers. We use "quick ten" drawings to make this concept concrete and visual. If you are practicing adding 2 digit numbers at home, I encourage you to ask your first grader to "prove it!...