One Hundred Thirty-Eighth Day of School

We have been hard at work writing our informational pieces. Ten students have begun work on their scripts which they will use to make their final presentation. We will probably begin taping presentations the week of 04/07 so that editing can begin during spring break. Students will need to consider what they would like to be wearing the day of their taping. It is important that they wear nothing green and best if longer hairstyles are tied back behind the head. Students who have given me a flash drive will be given a finished digital copy of their project for their portfolio.

Completed scripts will be typed and sent home for rehearsal some time next week.

One Hundred Twenty-Seventh Day of School

Contest Reading Logs are due tomorrow. Students returning these logs on the appropriate form will receive credit for the month of February and March. Your child's last Reading Log will be for the month of April.

The following tested concepts have been covered in science so far this unit:

• The main elements of weather are heat, water, and air. A fourth significant element is land formations (geography).
• Air can push and pull objects. 
• Air and water can push and pull each other.
• Air pressure can be very strong.
• Hot air rises, cold air sinks.
• Air can be used to propel objects.

Recently we again discussed the idea of needs vs. wants. This time we discussed human's hierarchy of needs for survival (tested):

1. Air
2. Water
3. Food
4. Shelter
5. Companionship/Love

We are currently working with the four cardinal directions in Social Science, namely, north, south, east and west (tested). Later we will use the intermediate or ordinal directions.

If you have not yet turned in your child's Final Project topic, please get that to me by Tuesday at the latest. Choosing a topic makes the learning more meaningful for the student.

Unit 5 Week 1 Preview

We will be looking towards the sky to see what we can learn this week in our new unit on nature. We will read pourquoi tales from a few indigenous cultures. Our vocabulary words are: discover, dusk, mysterious, pale, and scatter. We will spell with r-controlled vowels. Our comprehension strategy will be to generate questions in order to develop the skill of identifying cause and effect. Our high frequency words will be: another, climbed, full, poor, and through. We will discuss "voice" as a writing trait.

Final Project

Real World Informative Writing

For their final project, all 1st graders will be creating a piece of informative writing in a product which could be used for audiences outside of the classroom setting. With parent's and the teacher's guidance, students will become an expert on a chosen topic (see below) and produce a public service announcement (PBA), an interview segment, or a brochure to exhibit their verbal, research, creative, and possibly, speaking skills.

Students will chose a topic/essential question from the following disciplines/areas of study:

• Health Science: example essential questions: 
• How can smoking affect your health?
• Why is exercise an important part of a healthy lifestyle?
• Earth Science and Conservation: example essential questions:
• What can families do to reduce air pollution in their community?
• How do shopping choices impact the environment?

In order to facilitate the process in the classroom, parents should discuss the areas of study with their child in order to find an area of interest within the topic. Once the topic has been decided, work with your child to develop an essential question. Have your child write the question down and return it to class. Students should also start to think about what they would like their final product to be. Research materials may also be located with family assistance and brought to class. If necessary, research materials will be provided by the teacher.

In the classroom, students will develop a topic sentence based on their essential question. They will review the research materials to write details to support the topic sentence. Finally, they will write a conclusion based on what they have learned. Information on the grade level reading and writing standards for this project can be found on pages 7 and 14 of this document.

Please have topics chosen and returned to the classroom as soon as possible so that research materials may be gathered.

Information on the environment and conservation can be found here. Information on 1st grade Health Science standards can be found on pages 7-9 of this document. Information on fitness, nutrition and health can be found on this Webpage.