January 8 - 12
Welcome back and Happy New Year.
It has been a busy week right back into the swing of things and learning in our classroom. Ms. Gardner’s class got started right away with Inline Skating this week and had a blast. Mrs. Kosior’s class is looking forward to their time in the gym for Inline next week!
Home Literacy - As our students get back into their school routines, I would just like to remind everyone of our decodable texts. Your child should be bringing home 1 decodable text 2 different texts a week, to read at home with you. Our exchange days are Monday and Thursday. Many of our kiddos know the routine and got right back into it. We have seen so much improvement in the last few months, and at this time of the year in Grade 1, things really start to take off and reading skills move along quickly. We have made our way through all of the initial 26 alphabet sounds and will be starting into letter combinations which make other sounds when together (ex. sh, th, ch etc.). More details will be coming with our Scope and Sequence for the second term at the beginning of February as well. If you have any questions, please be sure to reach out.
Science - Shapeshifters
With coming back, we got right back into our Science topic on Matter, and wrapped up this unit, which we didn’t have time to do before the Winter Break. All students were given the same materials - pipe cleaners, googly eyes, popsicle sticks and some plasticine and needed to build their own “creature.” They then recorded some properties of this first creation. They then took this Shapeshifter apart, and needed to create a completely different creature, using the same materials. They recorded the properties for this creature and then documented how their creature had changed. The students had lots of fun building and creating with their hands and showing their understanding of their science. They also brought home their shapeshifter and materials. We encourage you to ask them about this and ask them to build their shapeshifter. They could also build their first creature for you as well. Or something completely different. You can then ask them what are some of the properties of their creation.
Examples of properties are: big, small, tall, long, short, heavy, light, shiny, bumpy, rough.
Learning Intentions:
I can identify measurable properties of objects.
I can explore actions that physically change properties of various objects.
I can describe physical changes that result from various actions.
I can discuss why physical changes do not change what an object is made of.
Math
This week in math, we have moved on to geometry and learning about 2D shapes.
What Does Sorting Shapes Involve?
You sort shapes when you put them into categories based on a particular characteristic, or attribute.
For example, you could sort the shapes below into two categories: those with straight sides and those without straight sides.
What Attributes Can Be Used for Sorting?
There are many attributes you can use to sort shapes that have nothing to do with geometry, for example, the shape’s colour or the letter the shape’s name starts with.
But, in terms of geometry, students might sort shapes by these attributes:
• | whether all the sides are straight |
• | how many sides there are |
• | how many corners there are |
• | whether there is a dent in the shape |
• | the kinds of angles at the corners |
• | whether there are equal sides, and so on |
Sorting in Different Ways
The same group of shapes can be sorted in different ways.
For example, the shapes below can be sorted by whether they have three sides.
Or they can be sorted by whether they have straight sides.
