The first graders at SHSID are showing a tremendous amount of growth throughout the month. Each day, the students are challenged with the whole group, small group, and independent opportunities to better themselves as readers and writers. In English class, the students participated in a Show and Tell activity. The students spoke confidently about what their favorite book was. The Show and Tell unit was introduced through a read-aloud followingCharlie Cook’s Favorite Book. The students are developing their grammar skills by focusing on verbs. Over the month, the students have practiced “to be” verbs, “past tense” verbs, and also “action” verbs. The students look through new books likeThe Word Wizard’s Book of Verbsto discover how professional writers use these skills. The students then attempted to use these grammar skills in written and spoken English. The students have finished the comparative writing unit. During this unit, the students observed and noted similarities and differences of nouns. The students have been working collaboratively daily. The students know that to be independent learners, they must self-manage and monitor with the help of their peers. We are looking forward to another great month to discover more awesome chapter books likeMagic Tree House,Nate the Great,A-Z Mysteries, andGeronimo Stilton.

(Written by Nicole Efimetz Translated by Wang Yizhao Pictures by Nicole Efimetz Edited by Huang Shiyuan, Brie Polette)