Little Red Riding Hood & More!

This week we had a great time reading some classics! We read Tom Thumb, Thumbelina, and Issun Boshi (the one inch boy). They are all tales of tiny people who do great things. We loved reading and comparing/constrasting these stories using a Venn Diagram.

Our stories that we have been reading are from all over the world. Our first graders are enjoying looking at a world map and finding the where our stories originated. They are getting really good at finding places on the map and saying "We have to travel across the Atlantic Ocean!" Recently, our stories have 'taken us' to Japan, Germany, Denmark, France, Ireland, the U.K. and Hong Kong. It is fun to travel around the world! We had a ton of fun with Little Red Riding Hood this week as well!

Students demonstrated their understanding of Little Red Riding Hood and participated in a couple of extension STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) activities. They practiced re-telling Little Red Riding Hood on their SeeSaw account by making a video or voice recorded re-telling. Check out your child's posts. Here's a great example of a re-telling with lots of detail from beginning to end!

Our first grade scholars also worked with a partner to engineer a basket for Little Red Riding Hood to carry food to her Grandmother's house. Students had to build a basket out of materials provided that would hold 50 counting cubes and withstand 120 steps. They had to plan and sketch out their basket, build it, test it, re-evaluate and rebuild if necessary, and reflect on the process. It was a TON OF FUN! Some teams really showed a lot of grit and perseverance when their models did not work and they had to revise it. It was fun to see that every team created a completely different basket that met the requirements of the project. No baskets were exactly the same - check it out! I loved seeing all the teamwork, thinking, building, counting, and creativity with this project.

Forest View needs your help!!!! Driver’s Choice in Cadillac has sponsored a Tree Decorating Contest for each of the Cadillac elementary schools. Our Forest View kindergarten and 1st grade classes worked to create the decorations on our tree which is complemented by the Forest View sign made by Mrs. Perrin. Voting for your favorite tree takes place by placing canned goods under the tree. Driver’s Choice is then going to donate Christmas dinners and the food baskets to five families from each of the elementaries. Canned goods can be dropped off until Dec. 16th. The trees, which are potted, will be auctioned off in a silent auction with the money going to Toys for Tots.

Driver's Choice is located at: 319 N Mitchell St, Cadillac, MI 49601

In math, we have been learning to find unknowns in an equation or story problem. Students are doing really well with this. Typically, it is a tough concept for first graders, but these friends have caught on quick!

Be on the look out for a 120 chart to come home. Many students need practice working with the 120 chart in new ways that are different than Kindergarten. Students should be able to count forward and backwards by ones, tens, count forward by 5's, count forward by 2's - as well as do other skills such as: find a number and count forward 2, or find a number and count backward 2 (ie: start at 67 and count on 2 to get to 68, or start at 67 and count backward 2 to get to 65). Additionally, students can do the same with any number on the chart and count forward 5 to find the new number, and count backward 5 to find the new number. You can also locate a number and ask your child what one less is than that number, and what is one more than that number. This will really help continue to build number sense and come in really handy for the future when we use the 120 chart to learn to do 10 more and 10 less than a number.

Look for this 120 chart (front and back) to come home this week! We will use it a lot at school. Remember that these math foundations continue to build over the years and will help your child not only with addition and subtraction fluency, but also lead into multiplication and division skills in the next couple of years. If you would like any 120 chart games that you can play with your child, please let me know! I am happy to send home games that you can play with your child to combine family fun + learning!