Keep an eye on the weebly for updated daily entries about our journey on the Mayflower, finding land and what it was like to start a new colony (the hardships, the weather, the food) etc. After spending a week talking about the similarities and differences between the Pilgrims, Wampanoag and ourselves, we are going to discuss what are needs and wants. The Pilgrim children and way of life did a great job showing the students what people need to survive and how little of anything else they had. They need shelter, so they built their own shelter but had little space for much else than sleeping and eating (which were in the same room)! What they ate they caught, hunted for or worked hard to get the grains to make. They did not waste food! The children will work together to fill out a diagram by cutting and glueing various needs and wants in the appropriate column. Then we will discuss any errors and why these things were placed into either category! They will also be assessed on their past and present with a few fun activities to show their knowledge. They will also learn some history and culture on Friday, November 15th for multicultural day!
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One of the first grade common core standards is knowing and being able to apply grade level phonics and word analysis skills to decode words. Last week we added "sh" and "ch" to our chants. Some students already have some familiarity with it because of their word study but knowing these hunks and chunks (digraphs) will help students to decode words while they read. Each day we will do our hunk and chunk chant along with some word study focused type activities to help us recognize in both reading and writing our study words. There are some fun books to read aloud too! Sheep in a Jeep Sheep in a Shop Sheep Trick or Treat Shhh Elephant and Piggie books (their fav!) Chester, Chester's Back and Chester's Masterpiece Bear Has a Visitor http://link.scholastic.com/YesConnect/ShareThis?a=WCxbg-sc9Rq8UEAtqoRfM9vc Letter from a Pilgrim aboard the Mayflower http://link.scholastic.com/YesConnect/ShareThis?a=jixb5-sc9Rq8UEAtqoRfM-DJ Letter from a Wampanoag Child You can listen to the letters online from a Pilgrim child and Wampanoag child about their struggles on the ship and how they live their daily life! We have been doing a lot of doubles work in here and adding up to 20! Not only are we working through the Envision work mats (be aware-there are some I don't like so we may skip or adapt) as well as using other supports to help us on our addition to 20. One of the activities we have been doing is some old school "Around the World" flashcards, some math games online, some fun games (caps) and double rolls! They love the games and it's a great way to reinforce the learning in the classroom! As I said last week, we are going to continue to work through the topic and as I see we need some more work, I will pause and do some extra practice! One of the areas we will focus on is doing multi-step problems. They will have my support (reading and really explaining) during this topic but this is something we will revisit all year long. If you are looking for a fun way to enhance these skills at home you can make your own game of "Caps"! It's easy and fun! What you will need is to start saving your caps (milk tops, pop bottles, anything with a small lid etc.). You can make the game any way you want! I put the numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 (TWICE) on the caps. So you should have 22 caps. We roll 2 dice and then add up the dots. We flip that number on the cap over. Who ever turns their caps over first wins! We also play that if you roll what you already have turned over you lose that turn. If you wanted to make it different numbers on the caps for doubles you could! But you'd need to make your own paper dice or something to fit those higher math problems! Today the first grade classes boarded the ship and talked about the conditions. The teachers taped out an area outside in the hallway that was around 50 ft. long and piled them all in! They sat and tried to get comfortable, tried to lay down as we talked about the hardships being abroad. They wrote about how they were bored because they were not allowed to run around the ship or really play that often, how they were making new friends because everyone at first was a stranger. They wrote about the smell from the damp wood and mats, and the chamber pots! They started to giggle when we talked about chamber pots but then really started to understand the difficulty in it! And awful it would be! "I am lonely. And I am bored. I want to go home." "I am sea sick. It is smelly and I don't want to go to the bathroom in a chamber pot." "The boat is small. I am sea sick. I feel bad." Stay tuned for a big storm tomorrow! On Monday, each child got their real Pilgrim name. I chose from a list of passengers on the Mayflower and tried to choose families so that many of the students would be related. They got their hats, quills and journals and were ready to begin! Yesterday, we journaled about what it would be like to leave the only home we have known to travel on a ship across the ocean, leaving behind family, things and friends. Here are some excerpts: "I am sad to leave. I am scared. I am afraid we might sink." " I can only take one outfit. I am scared." "I am nervous about the journey." "What if we don't make it? What if we get lost?" Today we received a letter from a letter from a pilgrim that is on the Mayflower. We so got a letter from a Wampanoag about harvesting and preparing for the winter. We also toured the boat to learn about the parts and how the boat works so we had better understanding about the journey and the boat we will be riding on. |
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