Ms.Soulas' Classroom

Here are some highlights from the week... In reading this week, we really focused on dropping those bad reading habits and picking up good habits. We all have bad habits, but when we know what they are, we can drop them and pick up good habits instead! Some bad reading habits that we want to drop are: The Freeze The Tell Me The Mumble The Blooper  When we come to a tricky word, sometimes we freeze up, we ask someone to tell us what it is, muble through the word, or we just guess. Instead we want to pick up good habits. Some good reading habits that we want to pick up are: Check the picture Look at ALL the parts of a word Check-it (does it look right, does it sound right, does it make sense) When you are reading at home, make sure that your first grader is dropping those bad habits and practicing those good habits! In math this week we really focused on place value. The first graders are learning and identifying that the different place of a digit represents a di...

Here are some highlights... Wednesday morning the first graders performed a song at the school assembly...here is a video of the song! https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5fjAmEMDx5cUC1FOGZaY3NXQms/view?usp=sharing The first grade readers have been practicing their independent and partner reading habits. This week they practiced the three different ways to read to a partner: Echo read (take turns reading the same thing) See-Saw read (take turns reading different things) Choral read (read the same thing at the same time) When you are reading with your first grader at home, I encourage you to practice these different ways of reading together! In writing, students have been doing a great job sharing their small moments and stretching their small moments across pages. We have been focusing on being a supportive writing partner by listening, giving specific compliments and asking questions. It is awesome to see the eager and excited authors of Room 112! We met with our 4...

Here are some highlights from the week... This week in Reader's Workshop, we introduced Partner Reading! Partner reading allows for more time to practice strategies, build fluency, check for understanding, hear their own voice and time to share in this learning community. It also increases reading involvement, attention and collaboration.  In math we learned about adding "doubles and neighbors." This is a great strategy for students to use when problem solving. If they know the sum of the doubles (2+2=4), then they can figure out the sum of the neighbor numbers by adding or subtracting 1 (2+3=5). This strategy is on that they can add to their problem solving "tool kit" to help increase their fluency and build their number sense. By using the number line, counting down/up and using visuals, students can continue to build their understanding and fluency with both subtraction and addition. We ended the week with a spooky silhouette art project! They will be ...

It was a short week for me, and a busy week for the kiddos!  In reading we have been building our good reading habits! These are things that we have been practicing because as readers we want to do these things without having to be told, just like brushing our teeth!  Here they are so you can reinforce them at home: Take a sneak peek at the beginning & check your sneak peek Do something at the end of a book (go back to your favorite part, retell the story, etc.) Read more and more Set goals Reread to smooth out your voice Scoop up words in phrases In writing, we added the final step to our writing process: Revise! The first graders did an incredible job rereading, adding and fixing their small moment stories to make them even better! I encourage you to work through this process at home with your first grader.   Think of an idea (a thing that happened to you, a thing that you do) Plan (touch and tell your story with your invisible pencil) Write! ...