We had a short, but super productive week! We put up our new CAFE menu board to help students identify and use good reading strategies for comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary. We expanded our learning about characters and character traits. We worked on several math games that encouraged students to use addition strategies such as counting on and decomposing numbers. And finally, we started using Raz Kids! If you haven't yet registered, please take the time to do so soon. Your child will continue to use this online reading resource here at school, but registering allows you to access their information at home.
CAFE Menu Board
The goal of the CAFE board is to highlight and anchor good reading strategies. Comprehension is understanding what you read. Accuracy is reading the words correctly. Fluency is reading smoothly and with expression. Expanding Vocabulary is finding and using interesting words.
This week I modeled check for understanding under comprehension and cross checking (does the word look right, sound right, and make sense?) under accuracy.
As I model and name a reading strategy I add it to the menu. We learn that the CAFE menu is just like a restaurant menu in that good readers choose and use many strategies at once just like ordering several courses at a restaurant!
Character Counts
As we read books, fiction and non, we learn to interact with the characters in several ways. One way is to discuss what the characters do and say in order to identify their character traits. It is so important for children to back up their thinking with evidence from the text. We brainstormed character traits then I tasked children with the job of picking a trait that described themselves. The result was an eclectic bulletin board display of first grader character traits!
Here are just a few examples close up...
Math
The focus this week was to continue to add numbers together, but also to specifically engage students in games that encourage counting on and decomposing numbers in a way that facilitates flexible math thinking. Children played a variation of games previously learned like 5 in a Row and Roll and Record but instead of using 2 dot cubes they used 1 number cube and 1 dot cube. The number cube was used as the starting point and then children counted on using the dots.
Children also learned a new game called Dot Addition. In this game children used 2 or more dot cards together to find the sum of the numbers on their game board. They could only use the game cards they had left so children had to rearrange accordingly. For example they may have originally had 4+5=9 but maybe they needed the 5 for another sum, in which case they might replace or decompose the 5 into a 2 and a 3.The ability to quickly and accurately decompose numbers aides in math fact fluency and the overall understanding of number sense.
Thank you for taking the time to read the blog! As always I hope you find the info helpful. Have a wonderful weekend!
