Opinions and More!

For the last couple of weeks we have been learning what opinions are and how we can tell other people our opinions in writing. We started out by simply having discussions about what opinions are...our feelings about a topic. We have learned that opinions are different from facts, that it doesn't mean what we feel about a topic is how other people feel and that it doesn't make it absolute. You can watch a short clip below that helped us learn about opinions. There are multiple episodes to these videos that we have watched to help us work through the whole process of writing opinions.

Our first opinion story was all about our sweet treats. We got to tell all of the reasons why we love our favorite candy! We discussed a simple and easy visual cue to help us remember the process for writing opinions. This visual involves an OREO cookie....we were able to separate each essential part of our opinion stories into part of the OREO cookie. We learned we must include our Opinion, Reasons, Examples and restate our Opinion again in order to fully tell our feelings on a topic. Our class had a blast being able to tell which candy was their favorite and provide reasons and examples why. Our class enjoyed being able to share with their classmates what they think is the best candy and why.

After we were done drafting and writing our stories, everyone had the opportunity to present their stories during Author's Chair. This is a great opportunity to build confidence in their reading and writing and share their opinions with the class.

Below you can watch a couple of friends reading their stories and see for yourself the process of writing opinion pieces in first grade!

On Wednesday, we were visited by a local author who expressed is love for writing and shared some important tips with us. This was fitting as we are in the middle of practicing being authors ourselves! Buck Wilder, an author from Traverse City, shared all about the creative stories he has written about the outdoors and wildlife and told us the most important tool an author can have - an eraser!

This was a great opportunity for our firsties to hear from a real life author that mistakes are OK and that the more they practice writing and making/fixing mistakes, the better authors they will become. We found out that it takes Buck over a year to write just 1 book! We are practicing taking our time in our writing as well! Don't forget to check out your child's Seesaw account this weekend for their published stories!

The next topic our class discussed was 'What Does My Principal Do?' We found out after making our list that Mrs. Paulen is super busy during the day and has a lot of tasks that she must do. We thought it would be a good idea to lend a helping hand and offer to help her during her busy work day. Now our class is busy writing opinion pieces about why they would be the best principal helper for a day. The best part is that when we are all finished with our writing, Mrs. Paulen is going to read the stories herself and pick a winner to help her! We can't wait to find out who showed Mrs. Paulen their best writing and shared the best reasons and examples on why they will be the best principal!

This week in Reading we have wrapped up our final Fairy Tales. We have added to the list stories like Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel and Jack and the Beanstalk. We have spent a lot of time discussing the elements of fairy tales, finding the problems and solutions and comparing the problems and solutions among the stories. Today, we had a chance to extend our knowledge of fairy tales through a hands-on, project-based learning experience. We were able to work with a partner and design an egg delivery system for Jack and the giant to use to successfully deliver golden eggs from the giant's home at the top of the beanstalk to Jack's home below. The class had to spend time planning their egg delivery system, develop two plans, draw them and then choose one to build.

Finally, they were able to take their projects outside and test them out. They had to decide which team member would climb the ladder to test out their egg deliver system and find out if the egg would remain intact when it hit the ground! We had a blast cheering our friends on!

We were able to get outside this week for Social Studies as well! We have been learnign about maps the last few weeks and have been discussing their purpose, how to use them and how to read them. We learned this week that a compass rose is very important in helping us with directions. We went outside to find our cardinal directions on the playground, draw our environment in each direction and then play a fun game to practice telling North, East, South and West!

There are some important dates coming up in May as we approach the end of the school year.

May 11th: Spring Flower Delivery

May 13th: Mother's Day

May 14th: Late Start Monday

May 18th: Last Day to Check Our Library Books

May 25th: Return Library Books to School!

May 25th: Forest View's 2nd Annual COLOR RUN (information will be sent home about this even)

May 28th: NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day

Congratulations to our essay winners in the Arbor Day contest! Izzy won 1st place and Dublin won 2nd! Way to go friends! They wrote about why trees are so important and why we should take care of the earth!!!! Keep up the great work!