Remember: Next week is Counselor Appreciation Week. Please send in a flower with your child, on Tuesday morning, for our grade level recognition of our wonderful counselors.

First in Math Rankings: We’re still in 1st place for first grade teams at Rocky Mount! We’re in 3rd place in Cobb county; 9th place in Georgia; 61st place in the U.S.

Writing: Our class has been working on honing their opinion writing skills and creating stories that will grab the reader’s attention and pique their curiosity. This week, the focus was on ‘saying hello with a catchy  introduction.’ Students worked on beginning their introductions by asking a question to make the reader wonder. The writing format for the body of their compositions has remained the same; however, in the conclusion, our young writers have been imploring the reader to take action and do something. Closing their writing pieces with this persuasive tone has proven to provide a pretty powerful ‘punch’ at the end.

Reading: In Reading, seasonal topics of penguins and winter have been explored, with students independently completing flip charts in addition to participating in small reading groups, targeting certain skills, such as reading comprehension, determining the main topic, author’s intent, making inferences, analyzing character traits, along with more fundamental skills work in Phonics and certain grammatical skills.

Math: In Math, work involved word problem solving, in addition to focusing on 10 more, 10 less, one more and one less, from any number on the number chart (1-120). Taking this concept of counting on, students applied it when using manipulatives, such as 100 squares, 10 rods and unit cubes, in addition to working with the number line and listening to oral, multi-step directions in an effort to discover on which final number they will land.

Social Studies: Harriet Tubman’s historical contributions to human rights was, the focus of instruction for most of the week. Lessons have transitioned on to Teddy Roosevelt, with students being encouraged to bring their teddy bears to class today.

Our class had the pleasure of viewing the Drama Club’s performance of If …, a must-see for the whole family, with shows taking place Friday night and over the weekend. Remember to have students practice their lines for their Famous American project, so that they are able to independently present their famous American on Thursday, February 4.

Let is snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! 

First in Math Rankings: 1st place in first grade at Rocky Mount; 3rd place in Cobb county; 9th place in Georgia; 58th place in the U.S. With the threat of snow, this is the perfect weekend for students to get some math skills practice in, when they’ve taking a break from snow play, thawing out fireside, while drinking hot cocoa. First in Math is a great way to work on math accuracy and fluency.

Science Lab: Our class visited the Science Lab this morning and experienced a hands-on lesson on light. Ask your child to share what they learned about transparent, translucent, and opaque items. They were thrilled while making shadows on the walls, ceiling and tables, using flashlights and cut-out shapes, which were glued to popsicle sticks, for ease of holding. Creating similar items, using ends of paper/scraps, paper shopping bags, etc. found around the house would provide a great way for students to extend this lesson.

Social Studies: Next week we will finish up our unit on Harriet Tubman and move into Theodore Roosevelt. We would like for your child to bring in their teddy bears next Friday, Jan. 29th. Teddy bears need to be able to fit in their backpacks. We will not tell students about the teddy bears until Thursday and would appreciate it if you would wait until then also.

Math: Students are working on 10 more and 10 less, learning the ‘making 10 to subtract’ strategy, and honing their skills with greater than, less than, and equal to. The week concluded with our weekly addition Pop Math, 1-minute assessment, to check for addition fluency and accuracy. And, the much-anticipated estimation jar was filled with individually-wrapped chocolates, making for a sweet treat to close out this week in Math.

Reading: In Phonics, students learned about The Borrowers – those letters that borrow their sound from other letters (for example, exam = e-g-z-a-m; quick = k-w-i-k; cap = k-a-p). During Reading, students completed prefix books, obtained more information on penguins and completed activities in their penguin flip books. In small groups, students rotated through various reading centers, focusing on event sequencing, analyzing character, making inferences, informational passage comprehension, describing how characters respond to various events and challenges, identifying problem & resolution, retelling key details in text, identifying the main topic, identifying and creating rhyming words,  and the list goes on ….

Writing: During our Writing segment, students worked to complete their opinion pieces on their favorite movie, restaurant, or book, making sure to state their opinion in their introduction, incorporate at least three reasons and supporting details for each reason, and to restate their opinion in their closing. They have also been working on writing to persuade others and revising their essays to make them stronger.

DON’T FORGET: Next Friday, students should bring in a teddy bear that is small enough to fit in their backpack. Shhhh! We’ll let them know of our plan on Thursday, so please help us to keep it a surprise.

It takes all of us – teachers, parents, students – working together to achieve greatness. Thanks for all that you do to help support what we’re doing in the classroom.

See how we will look at 100

REMEMBER: In observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, school will be closed on Monday, January 18.

First in Math Rankings: Rocky Mount is 3rd place in Cobb county; 9th in Georgia; 59th in the U.S.A.

This week in Writing, students worked fervently on their opinion pieces, using their favorite items, which they brought in, to inspire them in creating their opinion essays. They’ve been working diligently at supporting their opinions with a few reasons and a key detail for each reason, before their closing.

In Reading, students have had Phonics lessons on the blends (beginning, ending). They’ve been working on various grammatical concepts: identifying adjectives; pronoun usage; plural versus possessive nouns; prefixes; conjunctions. They have also been continuing to work on using context cues to figure out the meaning of an unknown word(s) in text.

In Math, lessons focused on counting backwards for subtraction; using the number line to help add/subtract; making a ten to subtract; and daily subtraction word problems. They also reviewed some concepts to which they had already been exposed, such as using number bonds to solve math problems and working with place value.

In Social Studies, students worked on preparing their continents booklets, to help them study the continents and the major oceans, in preparation for their map quiz on Friday. They also experienced a Guidance lesson with Mrs. Fotinakes on the power of positivity and closed out the week with a trip to the Media Center to check-out books on their Lexile level.

Many thanks to Mrs. Reid, this week’s Mystery Reader, for visiting our class and sharing two great stories with our students!

Happy New Year!

Welcome back all students and a special welcome to our newest student, who joined us on Tuesday! Students have been easing back into our daily routines. It was great to see their smiling faces and to hear their stories of time spent with family during the holiday break.

First in Math Rankings: 3rd place in Cobb county; 9th place in Georgia; 60th in the nation. It was great to see that some students worked on their math skills over the holiday. More importantly, on an on-going basis, it’s important for students to continue to get math fact practice by playing First in Math regularly, throughout the week. It’s a fun way for them to boost their skills.

Writing: This next nine weeks, students will be preparing opinion pieces and providing reasons to strengthen their argument(s). Remember to have your student bring in a small, favorite item on Monday, as they’ll be preparing an opinion writing piece that centers around that object.

Reading: In Reading, students read the poem, A Chubby Little Snowman, and worked on rhyming. This week, they also focused on compound words, reviewing common/proper nouns, pronouns, in addition to plural and possessive nouns.

Math: In Math, students shared problem solving strategies for 2-digit and 3-digit addition problems. They solved word problems and showed multiple ways in which to visually represent their answer. Students also worked on subtraction fluency.

Science/Social Studies: Handmade instruments were created for our sound unit in Science. Students enjoyed a visit to the Science Lab, where they had the opportunity to experience some more hands-on activities, on the topic of Sound. In Social Studies, students worked on their continents map and identifying the major oceans.

Special thanks to Eli Long, for paying our class a visit and reading to students on Friday! What a treat for them, to have him also lead them in a real-time, exercise brain break.