1st Grade

Current Unit:

Tomie Depaola Author Study/Persuasive Writing

Summary of Unit: 

Students will participate in an author's study using three of Tomie Depaola’s books (Strega Nona, The Art Lesson, Adelita). First, students will dive deep into each book by Tomie Depaola. Students will revisit previous skills learned while reading and analyzing the three books. In addition, students will learn new reading skills while we are reading and analyzing the three books. After reading and analyzing three books by Tomie Depaola, students will then look deeper into the texts and compare the illustrations, point of view, and the moral of all three stories. Students will also continue to learn about opinion writing through persuasive letters. Students will use what they learned in reading about Tomie Depaolo’s books and write a letter to a friend to convince them to read one of Tomie’s books.

Reading:

In Unit 6, the students will be participating in an author study of Tomie Depaola. We will read and analyze three of Depaola’s works: Strega Nona, The Art Lesson, and Adelita. The students will be able to compare and contrast the three books based on morals, illustrations, and point of view. They will be able to ask and answer questions about the stories read. First graders will then practice the skills they have learned by reading books on their reading level. 

Home Connection: 

       READ! READ! READ! In addition to being read to, first graders are expected to read books of their choice for 20 minutes each day at home. They can choose to read books at home, Epic! or on RAZKids.  Please make sure they are logging into iReady for reading as well!

        Please encourage your child to retell the story back to you!  This is very important and will help with their comprehension skills.  As your child reads, check in with them to make sure they are understanding what they are reading. Ask questions after each couple of pages to make sure that information is not getting lost. Encourage them to respond in complete sentences.

Materials:

Question Stems:

Who are the characters this book? What do we know about them? • When did (event) happen? Where is that in the book? • Why did (event) happen? How do you know? • What does (character) think about (event)? How do you know? • What was the big problem or event in this story? How did they solve the problem? • What do you think (character) will do differently next time?

What happened at the beginning of the story? • What happened in the middle of the story? • What happened at the end of the story? • If you tell a friend about this story, what will you say? • What can you learn from (character)? • Whas is the lesson you should learn from this story?

Where does (character) live in this story? • What is the setting for this story? How do you know? • Who is (character name)? What happened to him/her in the story? • How is (character 1) different from (character 2)? Where does the book show or say that? • How are (character 1) and (character 2) the same? Where does the book show or say that? • Where is this story happening? How do you know? • Who is talking in the story?

What does this word mean? How do you know? • What words in the story tell how (character) feels? • What word in the story tells what sound ______ makes? • What does (phrase) mean? • Can you think of another word to use instead of _____? • Are there any words that confuse you?

What kind of story is this? • What makes this story fiction/nonfiction? • Is this a real (nonfiction) story or a made-up (fiction) story? How do you know? • Is this story realistic or fantasy? How do you know? • What words or character actions help you know this is nonfiction?

Who is telling this story? How do you know? • Who is speaking in this part? Who are they talking to? • Are the narrator and the author the same person? How do you know?

Writing: 

Students will continue to learn about the importance of using the writing process while writing. This unit, the students will learn about opinion writing through persuasive letters.  First, the students will use the mentor text “I Wanna Iguana” to help them see how persuasive letters are written and why they are written. They will decide on an animal that they would want as a pet. They will then go through the writing process to write a letter to their family to try to convince them to get them the animal they want. Then, students will use what they learned in reading about Tomie Depaolo’s books and write a letter to a friend to convince them to read one of Tomie’s books. The students will include an introduction sentence to introduce their opinion, 3 details to support their opinion with partner sentences, and a closing sentence to restate their opinion. In addition, students will also continue to learn the importance of revising and editing their writing.

As your child is working on writing at home, please have your child try their best at sounding out unknown words to spell on their own. Encourage your child to use the personal word wall to help spell common words. Also, guide your child to always use an uppercase letter to start each sentence, the correct punctuation at the end of each sentence, and finger spaces between words. In addition, encourage your child to reread their sentences to make sure the sentences are complete and make sense. 

Materials:

Revising Checklist: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jWVJa_-6lCx_30CER759smvu4KTI7QP-aaOaOJ0xsdY/edit?usp=sharing

Writing Checklist for Editing: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p05p2Iq0XANV5VaMiU-WO8kEPvyzSD1p-ErhXlZBXNE/edit?usp=sharing

Personal Word Wall: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CnpzrCnKqLwJx0u0s8xzWoXVYeydkAv10M84lHtg96I/edit?usp=sharing

Math:

• • In this unit, students will be introduced to time and money. Students will learn that each coin has a different value, it takes a different combination of each coin to make one dollar. Students will be interacting with play coins  as math tools, they will analyze the similarities and differences of each of the coins. They will then learn the hour and minute hand. The hour hand tells the hour, and the minute hand tells the number of minutes before or after the hour when telling time on a clock. Students will be able to tell the difference between which clock is an analog clock and a digital clock.  Using their understanding of time, students will be able to use reasoning to tell and write time. As mathematicians, students will continue to engage in conversations within their groups to communicate their understanding. Encouraging the use of math vocabulary and how they came to their answer. 

    Home Connection: As your child is working on math at home, please have your child try their best with the new strategy being taught. Bring the math to life by having your child make connections to money and time. Students can help sort out coins to buy a treat or help parents figure how much more coins are needed to buy something for one dollar. You can establish routines that require using set times throughout the day and have students check the time using an analog clock. In addition, encourage your child to explain their work to someone in the home. They can practice by saying “ the steps I took were,” “my answer is,” “ I know because ___.” 

    Materials:

    Math Vocabulary 

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LWYHzeDIe7GjldW_goeXVM7qlaZnLGpY/view?usp=sharing

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NhnPkFmbNXUaS1b2Fn8lxxh3poUtDQRV/view?usp=sharing

ART

First grade artists are working on creating their “Rainbow Fish” using the elements of art: shape, line and color. Students are able to identify the central message of the story and describe the process and outcome of their artwork.

Music

First grade musicians will be working on identifying musical phrases, and connect their knowledge to poetry and reading. Their analysis will connect to their study of Tomie Depaola’s literary works. They will be discovering rhythm patterns in music including quarter notes (ta), eighth notes (ti-ti) and quarter rests.

Home Connection:  See the video resource below for making rhythm patterns with possible sticks with Ms. Florio!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18tQj0KCGRmTM1yOtzqxlloRxMCSyoS1V/view?usp=sharing

Parent & Student Voice

Students in first grade shared what their favorite part of Unit 5 was! Check out some of their responses below!

Jorge:  “My favorite topic I learned in writing is editing our  writing.”

Melody:  “My favorite topic in reading is gathering key details about the solar system.” 

Zaidan:  “My favorite topic I learned in math is the vertical way to add.”

Jailah: “My favorite topic I learned is writing because I can edit our writing.”

Valentino: “I liked learning about nonfiction books about the solar system because its fun to learn about planets.”

Jace: “ I like gather information because I like to write.”

Mateo: “I liked learning about regrouping with addition because it makes 2 digit numbers easier”

Lailah: “In math, I liked learning about making a numberline.” “In reading, I liked learning about the planets. 

Maryam: “ In math I liked learning about standard algorithms.” “ In reading, I liked learning about the Solar System.” “ In writing, I liked learning about editing.” 

Elijah: “In math, I liked learning about place value.” “In reading, I liked learning about the Solar System.”