Hello 1P Familes!

I can't believe how quickly January is going by!  We are so busy working and learning in 1P!  Here are some highlights of what we have been up to in January and will be starting as February begins!

Science
We will continue our study of the moon and observations of the patterns and phases of the moon.  Hopefully you have been able to get outside in the evenings with your child to observe the moon and for them to draw what they see in their moon journals. 

We will also be starting to talk about sound and how it is made by vibrations.  We had a great introduction to this last week when the Acton Discovery Museum came to visit and had us exploring vibrations in different sound stations.  Check out the pictures below!

**Special Note - Check out the Super Blue Moon Eclipse on January 31st!!

Math
In Math, we are working on data collection and representation.  We are asking survey questions and then figuring out the best way to represent that data to share our results.  At the end of this week, we will be collecting data about groundhog predictions and then comparing it with what happens on Friday with Puxatoney Phil. 

Throughout the year, we will continue to work on subtraction.  We will work on strategies for subtraction, ways to represent our thinking on paper and accurate ways to use our math knowledge for more efficient problem solving.

Literacy
In both Reader's and Writer's Workshop, we are working on non-fiction.  In reading, we are noticing text features, practicing how to reread non-fiction to make our voice smooth, as well as taking notes on important information that we read that we want to remember.  Our Reading is helping us with our writing as we get ideas for our non-fiction All About books that we are writing.  We are learning to use some non-fiction text features, for example - table of contents, diagrams, labels, fun facts, glossaries.  Some of us are adding some of these to our books.  We are also learning how many non-fiction authors do research to learn more about their topics but still write the information in their own words.  We are also learning about openings and conclusions for our writing pieces.  We are all very excited about our non-fiction work.  See below.

We are getting close to the 100th Day of School.  First Grade invloves some fun at school activities but we do not do the 100 collections as were done in Kindergarten. 

Mrs. P