First Grade News

March 7, 2016

Curriculum Highlights
Math Subtraction strategies
Writing Information Reports
Compound words two separate words, each make sense and have
a meaning of their own, join together to make one new word. This new word will
have a meaning that is related to its components.
Science Living Things Adaptations appearance and behaviour
Reading Determining Importance/ Visualizing
Reminders
Friday March 11 Zoo field trip
pack snack and water bottle (no school snack)
wear sunscreen, hat, uniform, insect repellent
Word Study

nowhere everywhere
something
someone

nothing
whoever

another
daytime

somewhere
whatever

News From Ms. Tindalls Class

In math we continually review and attempt to do different types of story problems. It can
be quite a challenge to switch between problems. This week Ive attached examples of
different types of problems. For your own knowledge of how well your child does in
understanding a variety of problems you can do the following. Assist your child by asking
him/her to form a picture in his/her head of what is actually happening in the problem
(make a movie in your mind). Ask your child to build the problem with counters, and
retell the problem in her/his own words and what the problem is asking you to find out.
This needs to be clarified before any answer is reached. Then encourage your child to
show how they solved the problem on paper. I used my brain or fingers is not a
sufficient answer. Children need to verbalize what they actually did. For example, for the
problem, How many hands on 4 children? a child might say, First I drew four groups of
two dots. Four because there were four people, and two because they have two hands
each. I then counted the dots by twos to get the answer of eight. Have children check
their work to see if it shows clearly how they went about solving the problem. Writing a
number model such as 2+2+2+2=8 is also fine as long as it represents the problem. In this
case the 2s represent the number of hands on each child, there are four 2s because there
were 4 children and 8 is the number of hands on the children altogether. A final step is to
ask your child to check their work using a different strategy. The thinking about how to
get the final answer, understanding the problem and the strategies used are just as
important as the final answer.
In partnership, Ms. Tindall

Story problems (show your working) (THINK before you print! Does this
really require a brand new piece of paper? Can it be done on a white board,
chalk board?)

Monday
There were 20 monkeys and 12 lions in the zoo. How many more monkeys than
lions?

In the park there are 3 cats and 2 people. How many feet are there? (for
first graders think repeated addition, not multiplication EG 4 + 4 + 4 not 3 x
4)

I bought 12 apples at the store. I ate 3 and my sister ate 2 of them. How
many did I have left?

Tuesday
Harry is reading a 30 page book. He has already read 23 pages. How many
pages does he have left to read?

5 children and 3 dogs were at the beach. How many feet altogether?

* Challenge: There were 15 pieces of fruit in the bowl. Some were bananas
and some were apples. There were less bananas than apples. How many of
each could you have? (multiple answers)

Wednesday
My friend has 7 cars. How many wheels altogether?

Hannah had 25 cents. She bought a piece of candy for 6 cents. How much
money does she have left?

Ms. Tindall has 6 dresses. Mrs. Martin has 13 dresses. Who has the most
dresses? How many more?

Thursday
On Monday there were 5 roses in the garden. On Wednesday 6 more roses
grew and on Friday another 3 grew. How many roses altogether?

A chocolate bar cost 25 cents. A candy cane cost 17 cents. Which costs
less? How much less?

I had 20 cents. I bought a candy that cost 11 cents and a piece of gum that
cost 3 cents. How much money did I have left?

Youll Know Youve Done Well If:

You think about the problem. Make a mental picture.
Highlight important information

I have 10 crayons.
Some are red and some are blue. I have
more red than blue. How many of each
could I have?

Think about what strategy to

use
Draw a representation I I I I I I

Write a number model

Show your answer/s

IIII

5-2=3

6 + 4 = 10

She had 25 cents left.

Check your work using a different strategy.

Check with a friend

Monday
Reading: Tell what you think is the most important idea from the book you read.
(Determining Importance)
Word Study: Read each word aloud. Highlight the two words in different colours that make
the one word. What are these types of words called?
Math: Story problems
Tuesday
Reading: Tell what you think is the most important idea from the book you read.
(Determining Importance)
Word Study: Reread the words. Practice saying the two words separately and then joined
together. What other compound words can you think of? Eg cow plus boy makes cowboy.
How do the meanings of each word combine to form a new word? That is, how is the new
word related in meaning to the smaller parts?
Math: story problems
Wednesday
Reading: Tell what you think is the most important idea from the book you read.
(Determining Importance)
Word Study: Look at the words below. Which words are compound words (what two words
are they made from?) Which words are not compound words? Why?
starfish under sadly
daytime undercover
luckily running beehive
daydream unkind teacher
computer undo sometimes
sunshine
Math: Story problems
Thursday
Reading: Tell what you think is the most important idea from the book you read.
(Determining Importance)
Word Study: Cut and sort the attached words to make compound words. (no need to cut
really, you can also just look at the words and use them to write your own compound words
on a white board or reusable paper.)
Math: story problems
Friday
Reading: Tell what you think is the most important idea from the book you read.
(Determining Importance)
Poem Collection: Read and return to school on Monday.

star
no
where
some
day
what
an
in
out

fish
one
thing
time
ever
other
every
side
to