MAP Testing
This week, the first graders will begin MAP testing for the second time this year. As a reminder, this is a computerized test that all kids in Novato are taking. The kids are able to wear headphones and listen to directions before choosing an answer. Since first graders don’t do STAR testing, this is our "standardized" test that we can look at to see growth over the school year (on that test). This is absolutely not the end-all as far as your child’s academic performance. The student’s daily performance in class is much more heavily weighted than in this one assessment. I will send home their progress on the MAP test in the next few weeks.
We do ask that you try to have your child get a good night’s sleep on Tuesday night and eat a good breakfast (and pack a snack). These are helpful things for everyday performance, not just on the MAP test.
Curriculum
We have been working on all the spellings for long vowels. This is really where phonics gets tough! Before break, we will send home all of the sound cards/spellings that your child has learned and is expected to use correctly. This is where it is really beneficial to correct your child’s spelling, so be sure to look for those in the Friday Folder.
In writing, we are always practicing writing complete sentences while using correct conventions (capitalization, punctuation, finger spaces, etc.). We are working on writing with a prompt and completing a full paragraph. The kids know that a "green sentence" is their topic sentence and makes the reader want to keep going. The "yellow sentences" are the detail sentences that make the reader slow down and get a better understanding of the topic. The "red sentence" is the concluding sentence, or WOW! sentence that completes the paragraph.
In math, we have been working a lot on place value (tens and ones) as well as figuring out what ten more, ten less, one more, and one less. We are now taking timed tests too, which I have written about below.
In science, we are wrapping up our unit on animals in winter. We will soon begin investigations in weather.
Timed Tests
Last week, we started taking real timed tests (we’ve had a lot of practice ones). Everybody starts with 30 addition problems. The kids have 2 minutes to do as many as they can. The goal is to complete it accurately, which means that they have to memorize facts. Once the kids have completed it 3 times, they move on to another test. You will see these tests coming home in the Friday Folder. We try to make it fun for the kids, not competitive. We tell them that as long as they do their best, it is fine. We want them to get further in a test than they did the previous week.
