Welcome back! I hope everyone had a restful and filling long weekend. I really enjoyed spending time with my family, but it was also wonderful to open the door to my first graders again on Monday. I surprised the class with a new friend yesterday. Paddington the Teddy Bear hamster was very shy yesterday, but hopefully as he adjusts to life here he will show us more of his personality.
This week we are learning about subtraction strategies. Many of them are related to the addition strategies we learned in the last chapter. Yesterday we learned the "think addition" strategy. This is very similar to the "count up" strategy for addition with the extra step of completing the subtraction sentence. For example, with the equation 8 - 3, we could start at 3, count up to 8, then finish the addition with the missing part of 5: 3 + 5 = 8. Since addition and subtraction are related, we also know that the difference of 8 - 3 is 5. The remaining strategies in this short chapter build on that relationship.
This month we are going to extend our learning about responsibility. This week we are reading some of my favorite stories, starting with Arthur's Pet Business. As we read we will be looking for examples of characters being or not being responsible. We are also in the middle of the chapter book, Roscoe Riley Rules: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs. The first graders learned today how to state their opinion and respond to another person's statement. So far, the class seems divided about the main character and his mischief. I look forward to reading some of their opinions later this week!
This week we are learning about subtraction strategies. Many of them are related to the addition strategies we learned in the last chapter. Yesterday we learned the "think addition" strategy. This is very similar to the "count up" strategy for addition with the extra step of completing the subtraction sentence. For example, with the equation 8 - 3, we could start at 3, count up to 8, then finish the addition with the missing part of 5: 3 + 5 = 8. Since addition and subtraction are related, we also know that the difference of 8 - 3 is 5. The remaining strategies in this short chapter build on that relationship.
This month we are going to extend our learning about responsibility. This week we are reading some of my favorite stories, starting with Arthur's Pet Business. As we read we will be looking for examples of characters being or not being responsible. We are also in the middle of the chapter book, Roscoe Riley Rules: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs. The first graders learned today how to state their opinion and respond to another person's statement. So far, the class seems divided about the main character and his mischief. I look forward to reading some of their opinions later this week!