This past Wednesday, I had a wonderful time introducing the class to essential life skills using the brilliant picture book: Spend It! (A Money Bunny Book) by Cinders McLeod. This charming story was a perfect way to continue our classroom discussion on financial literacy!
We met Sonny the Money Bunny, who received a weekly allowance of a modest three carrots. Like many of us, he wanted everything! His wish list included a cool toy rocket, a bouncy pogo stick, and a massive bouncy castle!
Sonny quickly learned a valuable lesson: three carrots didn't go very far, especially when that bouncy castle cost a whopping one hundred carrots! With a little help from his mom, Sonny discovered he had to make some tough choices about what to spend his allowance on.
He paused, thought things through (and did some bunny-math!), and ultimately decided on the pogo stick. He realized that being a smart spender meant figuring out what was truly valuable to him.
We used Sonny's story as a fun, effective lesson in money management. Here's what we focused on:
1. Wants vs. Needs & Prioritizing
The main concept we discussed was that you can't buy everything! Sonny's journey perfectly illustrated the difference between wants and the need for prioritizing purchases. We talked about having a limited budget.
2. Impulse Control
The book gently addressed the natural urge for impulse buying and encouraged a more rational approach to spending. We asked students what they might have bought immediately and what they might have chosen after thinking about it.
3. Early Math and Value
Using "carrots" as currency helped keep the concepts simple. The varying prices of the items naturally introduced ideas of value and basic math, showing that bigger items cost more.
During our lesson, we used Sonny's adventures as a springboard for discussions: "What would you have bought with three carrots?" and "Which items were your biggest priorities?" It was a great start to talking about saving, spending, and sharing! Ask your child what they remember about Sonny and his carrots!
Global Read-A-Loud
This Week's Global Read-A-Loud book was Saturday by Oge Mora. This is a heartwarming picture book about a mother and daughter whose carefully planned special day together goes completely wrong, ultimately revealing the true source of their joy. Ava and her mother eagerly look forward to Saturdays, as it is the only day her mother doesn't work. They have a splendid routine planned: story time at the library, a new hairdo at the salon, and a special, one-night-only puppet show. However, this particular Saturday is one mishap after another:- They arrive at the library only to find story time is canceled.
- On their way to the salon, a passing car splashes a puddle and ruins their freshly done hair.
- Their planned picnic in the park is spoiled by loud, noisy crowds.
- Finally, after rushing to catch the bus to the puppet show, they discover Mom forgot the tickets at home.
The story highlights the themes of resilience, flexible thinking, and the priceless value of spending quality time with loved ones over perfect plans.
Math
This week the 1st grade math students were all about the dominoes. Using dominoes to teach the counting on addition strategy is highly effective because they are a concrete, tactile, and visually partitioned manipulative that reinforces core mathematical principles.1. Visual Partitioning Reinforces the StrategyThe physical design of a domino directly supports the "counting on" concept:
Clear Distinction: The line in the center of the domino naturally separates the two addends, or parts of the whole. This allows the child to easily identify which side is the "starting number" (the larger group) and which side contains the dots they will "count on" (the smaller group).
Encourages Efficiency: The child is visually prompted to start with the group that has more dots, and then simply use the dots on the second, smaller side for the remaining count. This avoids the time-consuming and often confusing process of counting all the dots from one.
Clear Distinction: The line in the center of the domino naturally separates the two addends, or parts of the whole. This allows the child to easily identify which side is the "starting number" (the larger group) and which side contains the dots they will "count on" (the smaller group).
Encourages Efficiency: The child is visually prompted to start with the group that has more dots, and then simply use the dots on the second, smaller side for the remaining count. This avoids the time-consuming and often confusing process of counting all the dots from one.
2. Supports Core Number SenseDominoes help bridge the gap between concrete objects and abstract numbers:
Subitizing: The patterned arrangement of dots (pips) on a domino helps children practice subitizing—instantly recognizing the quantity of a small group without having to count. When they see a side with 5 dots, they immediately know it's "5," which speeds up the counting on process (say "5," then count the rest).
The Commutative Property: When a domino is flipped (e.g., from a 2∣5 to a 5∣2), the total remains the same (7). This provides a concrete, self-correcting way to teach the Commutative Property of Addition (a+b=b+a). This principle is fundamental to the counting on strategy, as it assures the child that it’s always easier and correct to start with the larger number.
3. Tactile and Engaging Learning
Dominoes turn math practice into an enjoyable, hands-on experience:
Manipulative: The chunky, tactile nature of dominoes allows children to physically touch the dots as they count, which utilizes kinesthetic learning and strengthens memory retention.
Dominoes turn math practice into an enjoyable, hands-on experience:
Manipulative: The chunky, tactile nature of dominoes allows children to physically touch the dots as they count, which utilizes kinesthetic learning and strengthens memory retention.
Game-Based Learning: Dominoes are widely recognized as a game, which makes the activity fun and reduces the anxiety associated with formal math instruction. This increases engagement and the willingness to practice the "counting on" strategy repeatedly.This week's narrative unit focused on the crucial writing habit of revision and elaboration. The primary teaching point is to shift the students' mindset from simply completing a task to actively improving their work. The main goal of this lesson is to teach students that writers don't stop after the first draft. They must look back at their writing to see where they can add more detail to make their stories clearer and more compelling for the reader.The second graders completed their Unit 1 assessment. The majority of their focus was on finding complements of 20.
Knowing the complements of 20 (pairs of numbers that add up to 20, like $12+8$ or $15+5$) is crucial for young math students because it significantly boosts their number sense and arithmetic fluency.Key Benefits for Math Students
- Builds Mental Math Fluency: It allows students to perform addition and subtraction problems within 20 faster and without relying on counting (e.g., they know $20 - 7 = 13$ because $7$ and $13$ are complements). This skill serves as a foundation for solving larger problems.
- Strengthens Number Sense: The number 20 acts as an important benchmark, often visualized using a double ten-frame , which reinforces the organization of numbers and begins to establish early place value concepts (the '2' in 20).
- Supports Subtraction: Students learn to view subtraction as finding the missing part of 20, cementing the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction (fact families).
- Extends Key Strategies: It's a natural progression from the vital "make a ten" strategy, allowing students to efficiently use grouping to solve more complex calculations.
The main goal of this week's instruction was to teach students that writers don't stop after the first draft.They must look back at their writing to see where they can add more detail to make their stories clearer and more compelling for the reader.
The focus equips students with a concrete revision strategy: to re-read their work and ask questions about the events in their pictures and text. This week's lessons were vital for establishing the expectation of elaboration—stretching out a single small moment across multiple pages rather than simply listing many large events.
STUDENT OF THE WEEKThis week's Read-A-Louds were (they are once again linked):
This week's books focused on how to calm yourself using a variety of techniques. It is important to teach the students how to self regulate and let them know that we all have moments that requires us to use a technique to help calm our bodies and minds.
NOTES:
*As the weather turns please make sure your child has appropriate clothing and boots for mud and snow. Your child is welcomed to leave a pair of shoes at school if they wish to. Just let them know and have them tell me.
*I will be out of school on Tuesday and Friday of next week. I have a longer eye appointment on Tuesday and I am taking a personal day on Friday. My wife and I are going to go visit my oldest daughter. She chose to live 6 hours away so we like to spend a full day there and have two half days of driving. Once basketball season starts, I can't get out to see her, so this is a great time for me to go. *Your child has their homework bag with a book and their Weekly News Journal in it. Please take time to read it with them and initial it after reading.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
