Tuesday, January 21, 2014

What is my child learning? 3rd Quarter Focus-Common Core

3rd Quarter Curriculum Focus

Math
-Represent and solve addition/subtraction problems
-Add and subtract within 20
-Work with addition and subtraction equations
-Use place value and properties to add/subtract
-Reason with shapes and their attributes
-Tell time to the hour and half hour

Science-Comparing and measuring
-Understand that comparing involves observing and describing similarities and differences.
-Explain the importance of using beginning and ending points and placing units end to end when measuring
-Understand the use of standard units produces consistent measurement results
-Understand different calibrated devices may be used to measure distances and the lengths of objects of different sizes and shapes.

Language Arts
-Ask and answer questions about key details in text.
-Identify words or phrases in stories or poems that suggest feeling.
-Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types.
-With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for 1st grade.
-Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
-Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, taables of contents, glossaries, electronic menues, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.
-Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.
-Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).
-Know final-e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.
-Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word.
-Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables.
-Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.
-Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. -Read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
-Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
-Write informative/ explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
-Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
-With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
-With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including collaboration with peers.
-Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of "how-to" books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions.
-With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
-Build on others’ talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges.
-Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion.
-Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood.
-Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
-Use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences (e.g., He hops; We hop).
-Use frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so, because).
-Use determiners (e.g., articles, demonstratives).
-Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.
-Capitalize dates and names of people.
-Use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series.
Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at home that are cozy).
-Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs differing in manner (e.g., look, peek, glance, stare, glare, scowl) and adjectives differing in intensity (e.g., large, gigantic) by defining or choosing them or by acting out the meanings.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Scholastic Book Fair

Class preview day-February 11th

Class purchase day-February 13th


Thursday, January 2, 2014

Message from Ms. Stephenson-Artist Residency Program

Volunteers Needed for this year's Artist Residency Program
January 21-28 the Banks Road Art Room will host artist Bryant Holsenbeck for this year's Artist in Residency program. Together, Bryant and the students will create random weave forms that will become a beautiful new art instillation for our school.

A few volunteers would be very helpful, especially during the morning sessions with the younger students. The morning volunteer hours are from 9:15-12:00 and the afternoon hours are from 1:00-3:45. If you would like to work for the whole day, feel free to sign up for both the morning and afternoon sessions.

To volunteer:
1. Use the following link to find our sign-up genius and sign-up for your desired time slot. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E094BAAA82FA75-weaving
2. Make sure you have filled out the registered to be a volunteer in Wake County. This can be done on Mondays in the computer lab at Banks Road.

Thanks,
Megan Stephenson
Visual Art
Banks Road Elementary School

Friday, December 13, 2013

Winter Donations

THANK YOU to those who contributed towards our classroom service project and THANK YOU to Mrs. Walters for organizing this project and delivering all of the items to those in need!.  I am so pleased to announce that we collected the following items:

8 men's coats
2 men's sweatshirts
2 women's jackets
5 women's sweaters
7 blankets
2 pair of boots
7 boys coats
12 girls coats
dozens of hats, scarves, and mittens

What a great learning opportunity for our first grade students!



Monday, December 2, 2013

Spirit Week Dec. 2-6

Monday-Holiday Colors
Tuesday-Dress as your favorite holiday character
Wednesday-Pajama Day (holiday or any)
Thursday-Dress as a holiday gift
Friday-Wear your candy cane colors

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Winter Service Project

The First Grade Team at Banks Road has decided on our winter service project for this year. We would like to try and bless people in our community that may not otherwise be blessed this holiday season. The children voted and have decided to collect items to help those less fortunate keep warm this winter. Please look through your closets for items like coats, sweatshirts, hats, mittens, and blankets that you and your family have either outgrown or, like many of us,  just have a few too many of.  You can even recruit neighbors and other family members to clean out their closets and donate as well.
Please send in clean, gently-used items by Friday, December 5th. We will donate these items to various homeless shelters and outreach centers throughout our community.
This is a great opportunity to teach your children about the joys of giving and helping those in need. Thank you so much for your generosity.

The First Grade Team


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Message from Ms. Stephenson-Art Teacher

Another Exciting Art Residency Coming To Banks Road—

During this year’s Artist in Residency, every student at Banks Road will get to experience working with a professional artist during their art special.  January 21st through 28th  we will be hosting the environmental artist Bryant Holsenbeck. The students will participate in her “Weaving Like a Bird” residency where they will use recycled materials, string, yarn, old sheets etc to weave a wall sculpture that will be installed in the school.

We need everyone’s help collecting fabric for us to use in our artwork! Please send in scrap fabric, old sheets or curtains, ribbons, and yarn! The more colorful, the better! If you would like to contribute but don’t have these things lying around, gift cards to fabric stores like Joanne’s Fabric would be very helpful and much appreciated as well.  Also, keep a look out for information on ways to volunteer to help with this residency.

Our art teacher, Ms. Stephenson, will collect all contributions. Please send in contributions through your child or bring them in to the office with Attn: Ms. Stephenson. She will begin accepting them immediately. Thank you for your support of Banks Road Visual Arts!

For more information about Bryant Holsenbeck’s Residencies check out her web page at:


Contact Ms. Stephenson with any questions- mstephenson@wcpss.net

Thanks everyone!!

Megan Stephenson
Visual Art
Banks Road Elementary School