First Grade Week 22

by | Feb 20, 2016 | In The Loop

Language Arts 

We worked some more on comparing and contrasting. We reviewed when we compare we are looking for similarities and when we contrast we are looking for differences. We also reviewed plural nouns.

IMG_1275The 100th day of school

This week we celebrated the 100th day The kiddos all dressed up  in the most adorable costumes as people from  100 years ago. We also drew pictures of what the world would look like in 100 years. Some of the kids predicted that the world would be covered with ice! First, before they made their predictions they had to figure out what the year would be in a century. The kiddos figured that if you counted by tens you could find the answer or even more quickly if you simply added 100 to 2016. The children also drew pictures of what types of clothing one would wear if it were 100 degrees, 100 years ago and 100 years in the future. They also showed what types of activities were being done 100 years ago and in the future. One of the funnest things the students did was writing about what they have learned in the last 100 days.

 

Math

In math we continued our section on subtraction stragies. The kiddos practiced using the three different steps they learned last week. We also learned a similar strategy for subtracting larger numbers. They worked in groups and then independently were able to demonstrate their understanding of the concept!

Social Studies & Science

This week we started off by making an Aztec Sun for social studies. We talked about the importance of the Aztec Sun Stone that was found in Mexico City and how the Aztec used this as a calendar . On Thursday we took a pausing point in our social studies and reviewed the Maya and Aztec and 20160216_143640what we’ve learned so far. We looked at the map and found where the two civilizations lived and we read a great book about the Aztec. We began our next section on the Incas, looking at a map to find where they lived in South America. The class compared the leaders of the Maya and Aztec to the Inca Emperor. The class was fascinated about how the Inca Empire would conquer areas and then move people from one area to another in order to have them assimilate  better with the Inca civilization.   We discussed how stressful this must have been for the conquered villagers.
In science this week we did a lesson on the Earth and the Sun and talked about how the Earth orbits the Sun and how the moon orbits the earth. On Friday we combined classes with the second and third graders and created space aliens with an older partner.  Each student wrote up a description about where their alien was from and other important characteristics about it. Our class had so much fun working with the older students to do this project. We read several astronomy books about our solar system, planets, galaxies, and other celestial bodies in space.

English Spelling

We had our second spelling test this week and overall the students did great!  I am pleased that the class is putting effort into studying their words both at home and in class. I only tested them on ten of their words this week.  For sort practice this we did pyramid words, sorting, and practicing with a partner. Next week we will get  a new sort and I will send a copy home with the students.  We won’t be having a spelling test  until Friday, March 4. In our journals we wrote about the three different types of leaders from the civilizations that we have learned about thus far, comparing and contrasting their leadership and the effect it had on their citizens.  On Friday we had free choice writing. Seems like the week just flew by.

 

Art

In first grade, we talked about Romare Bearden and his collage artwork, as part of Black History month. The students learned how to cut out basic shapes to create a figure that shows movement, such as running, jumping, dancing, etc. The arms and legs had to have 2 parts to suggest knees and elbows. The students did a great job on their figures, and we’ll finish these in the next art class.