Ms. Soulas' Classroom 2019-2020

It was a busy first week back! We have s tarted our new reading unit! We are going to be focusing on reading, decoding and comprehending non-fiction text. In this unit we get to soar through space, swim in the sea, travel around the world and study lots of different topics - here we go!  During one of our interactive read alouds this week, we discussed compasses and how they help us know directions. We dove a little deeper, and talked about how people found their way before compasses. So, we ended the week with a Mystery Science and  we learned about the sun’s daily “path” across the sky, including how the sun rises on the eastern side of the sky, and sets on the western side. You can encourage your child’s curiosity by helping them make the personal connection to these directions, as seen from their own home. Give them a clear sense of where east and west are, in relation to:  the driveway or sidewalk, any front-facing windows, bedroom walls, etc.  For example,...

We have finished our 12 Days of Kindness, here are the lyrics so you can sing-a-long! A great big smile to everyone 2 helping hands 3 friendly greetings 4 heartfelt compliments 5 fabulous hugs 6 notes of nice thoughts 7 gracious thank yous 8 acts of encouragement 9 lively laughs 10 simple surprises 11 sky high fives 12 winter wishes The first grade word detectives have been practicing lots of strategies to help them become stronger readers and earned their badges! They aren't afraid to persevere and solve m ystery words and long words  because they've got tools they can use! Read words you do know in a snap Break long words into smaller parts Break the ending off the word and solve the root word Look out for vowel teams Watch out for unusual suspects (contractions and compound words) When your first grader is reading at home, encourage them to use all their tools to solve tricky words, and if one tool doesn't work, they can always try another!  Wh...

Here is our 12 Days of Kindness so far, so you can practice at home!  (To the tune of 12 days of Christmas) 8 acts of encouragement 7 gracious thank yous 6 notes of nice thoughts 5 fabulous hugs 4 heartfelt compliments 3 friendly greetings 2 helping hands A great big smile to everyone On Thursday, we spent our writer's workshop writing notes of nice thoughts to each other. The students spent time writing kind words to their table partner, reading/writing partner and whoever else they wanted. The first graders now have a great start to their very own smile file (a place to keep sweet notes) at home.  For our full bucket reward, the class voted on Mystery Science. We took a quick break from studying rocks. In our Mystery Science lesson, students answered the question, why is snow white? They got to see how the shape of snowflakes causes them to look like the color of the light that is shining on them. In the activity, Wax Paper Snowflake, students created a decora...

Here are some highlights... We have started our 12 Days of Kindness, which coincides with the 12 days before winter break. We will be adding to our song each day (to the tune of the 12 days of Christmas) and practicing both the song and acts of kindness. We are up to our 3rd day of kindness! Here they are so you can practice at home: A great big smile to everyone 2 helping hands 3 friendly greetings Science is off to a great start! We have started our Rocks, Pebbles, Sand and Silt Unit, and the Room 112 geologists got their official rock journals. They explored and sorted different  rocks, and we will continue exploring rocks and learning how they are formed. The first grade geologists ROCK -- pun intended :) We are continuing to build the relationship between addition and subtraction with extra fact family practice. You can practice at home by rolling 2 dice, adding them together and making a number bond. From the number bond, have your first grader write the 4 numbe...