Current Events
Report Cards
Report cards are coming home. Please remove your child’s report card to keep for your records. Then sign and return the envelop it came in in your child’s folder. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
100th Day
As the 100th Day of school approaches, we will be preparing for a fun day of activities! In past years, we have had fun dressing up as if we are 100 years old! The kids get a kick out of seeing each other, and I like to join in on the fun! Start planning outfits now!
SNACK
Thank you to everyone who continues to supply our class with snacks! Any and all donations are welcome and very much appreciated at all times!
ELA
All of this snow has really slowed our progress through Unit 5: By the Sea. This week we will finish our study of the sea and ocean life. We have had fun learning about different creatures that live in the sea, and the various places that the land meets the sea! As we have read, I have been encouraging students to ask questions as they read. Please help them with this good reader skill by encouraging them to 'wonder' about stories and things in stories that confuse them or that they find interesting or want to know more about.
Yesterday, a packet of sight word homework was sent home. This is not homework that needs to be sent back to school. These are suggested practice activities for you to use at home! The ability to read sight words at 'flash speed' (typically considered less than three seconds without decoding) is key to building fluency and strong comprehension skills. We will work on these words at school, but need the practice at home as well. Thank you for your support!
Yesterday, a packet of sight word homework was sent home. This is not homework that needs to be sent back to school. These are suggested practice activities for you to use at home! The ability to read sight words at 'flash speed' (typically considered less than three seconds without decoding) is key to building fluency and strong comprehension skills. We will work on these words at school, but need the practice at home as well. Thank you for your support!
MATHEMATICS
In Math, we continue our work in Unit 4, but as we near the end, we are focusing on activities that lend themselves to primitive addition. Games such as Build On actually build off of a previous game we've learned called Build It! In Build It, students drew a card from a pile (0-10) and 'built it' on a ten's frame. In Build On, students draw a card (this time from 0-7) and 'build it' with magnetic chips on the tens frame. Then, they roll a 'die' with 1, 2, or 3 dots on each face and 'build on' that many more chips to the tens frame. Soon we will be playing Double Compare, which is much like the traditional card game 'War' but without face cards and by flipping two cards over each, and adding the totals.
We will also continue to work with counting, sorting, set building, numeral formation and identification. We are measuring with non-standard units such as bears and paperclips to gain a basic understanding of the concept. Your children have also really enjoyed Number Talks. During number talks, we have conversations about what numbers look like in various forms, how to write them, and how we compose and decompose them. (4 and 2 more make 6. 7 take 1 away makes 6.) Ask your child what they’ve learned today!
We are working a lot on subitizing dot images on tens frames as well! We are using the structure of a tens frame as a familiar reference tool for this skill! Students are given 2-3 seconds to look at a tens frame and then to identify how many dots were on it. It is important to ask how they saw it so that the can start to understand and verbalize their thinking. For instance, 6 dots on a tens frame as shown here would be described as, "I saw 5 on top and 1 on the bottom." (We are also encouraging students to set items up in the tens frame format when they are counting quantities of objects.)
Below is a link to a video that shows practice with subitizing the tens frames. There are many more examples you can watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRR9LK3zfho
We will also continue to work with counting, sorting, set building, numeral formation and identification. We are measuring with non-standard units such as bears and paperclips to gain a basic understanding of the concept. Your children have also really enjoyed Number Talks. During number talks, we have conversations about what numbers look like in various forms, how to write them, and how we compose and decompose them. (4 and 2 more make 6. 7 take 1 away makes 6.) Ask your child what they’ve learned today!
We are working a lot on subitizing dot images on tens frames as well! We are using the structure of a tens frame as a familiar reference tool for this skill! Students are given 2-3 seconds to look at a tens frame and then to identify how many dots were on it. It is important to ask how they saw it so that the can start to understand and verbalize their thinking. For instance, 6 dots on a tens frame as shown here would be described as, "I saw 5 on top and 1 on the bottom." (We are also encouraging students to set items up in the tens frame format when they are counting quantities of objects.)
Below is a link to a video that shows practice with subitizing the tens frames. There are many more examples you can watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRR9LK3zfho
SCIENCE
Wood and Paper
We have been working with our new science unit Wood and Paper. In our investigations, we have introduced five different types of wood: redwood, basswood, pine, plywood, and particle board. We have begun to examine their properties, and experimented with putting water on different types of wood and sanding others. As a culminating activity, we will be building small structures.
Next, we will begin work with paper and will make connections between wood, paper, and trees.
We have been working with our new science unit Wood and Paper. In our investigations, we have introduced five different types of wood: redwood, basswood, pine, plywood, and particle board. We have begun to examine their properties, and experimented with putting water on different types of wood and sanding others. As a culminating activity, we will be building small structures.
Next, we will begin work with paper and will make connections between wood, paper, and trees.
RSS Feed
