Theme: We used the pumpkins brought by students to make observations about the outside and inside of a pumpkin and learned specific names for the parts we observed. We labeled the parts of the pumpkin using these new names. Did you know that a pumpkin has a belly button and why? We learned that pumpkins can be all shapes, colors, and sizes. We worked together to make different parts of the pumpkin life cycle and then put it in the correct order. We also ordered our pumpkins by size. Next week we will activate our schema on spiders, talk about vocabulary words we might see in books about spiders, write down our new learning, and then use our reading strategies to read books about spiders.
Reading: We read non-fiction books about pumpkins focusing on non-fiction features we find in them. Bold words give us important words we need to know such as ribs and vine and are often the chapter titles. We read about the sequence in the life cycle of a pumpkin. We learned that we can use transition words (first, next, then, finally) when we sequence. We ended the week by using our reading strategies (Lips the Fish, Eagle Eye, and Rereading) to help us read a new book. Sight Words: we, in Next Week: have, look, the Writing: We talked about what makes writing easy to read and learned that readers want to read our most interesting books - ideas that make us go “oooohh, ooohh, I can’t wait to tell you about this.” Next week we will practice sketching pictures quickly in our rough draft to help us remember our stories, editing writing, making writing easy to read and writing stories readers really want to read. Students will get to share their completed books with the class then begin new narrative stories. Handwriting and Word Work: Making words from the letters in "Pumpkin", the letter Jj, changing one letter in a word to create a new word (sequence the sound), more practice repeating words to hear the beginning, middle, and ending sounds. Math: Patterns in our world, creating patterns, determining if a line of items or colors is a pattern. Next week we will make patterns from various math materials. I've had a goal set for my class since late September that 15 out of 17 students would have the capital letters, lowercase letters, and sounds mastered before Christmas. This goal was met two weeks ago! We have a new class goal - 15 of 17 students will know ALL 12 sight words from list A. The word lists are under the parent informational links tab under the tab High Frequency Word Lists. We will be discussing what students can do and what I can do to help us reach our goal. Conferences: It is difficult to cram all we want to talk about into 14 minutes. I plan to give you an overview quickly, then use the remainder of our time to focus on your questions or concerns. Please understand our time frame is controlled due to families with more than one conference as well as respect for other families. We an schedule a follow-up conference if needed. Important Dates to Remember
Learning this Week:
Weekly Theme: Maps & Christopher Columbus - kids shared their knowledge of maps, found Missouri on a map of the United States, identified our state and capital, explored Google Earth to find Willard South and Mrs. Bailey's house. We read Me on the Map to learn about our place in the world and made text-to-text connections between this book and A Place Called Home. Reading: Using the student book A Place Called Home students practiced tracking words as text is being read, rereading to check, review of Lips the Fish and Eagle Eye to read words such as "city," "country," "street," comparing non-fiction texts, drawing conclusions. This book will be sent home next week. Be sure to ask your child to read it to you! Sight Words: this, ending -ed is past tense Writing: Using speech bubbles to bring dialogue to life, making writing the best it can be, editing and completing a book. Handwriting and Word Work: Ii, review of Aa through Hh, writing neatly using lines, a new game "Where's the Sound" which uses cvc words to change the beginning letter to make a new word (word families), using only lowercase letters in writing unless a capital letter is required, using spaces between words Math: The end of Unit 2 - grab & count four groups of cubes then compare towers, fill in the missing numbers, ordering names independently A Peek at Next Week: Theme: Pumpkins: life cycle, descriptive words, math and science experiments Thank you to those who were able to send pumpkins for this theme! My request for help was very short notice, and I am grateful for your help. Your pumpkins will be sent back after Friday. Reading: Next week we will work on sequencing and using transition words (first, next, then, finally, etc.) as we sequence the life cycle of a pumpkin. We will also learn about how and why bold print is used in non-fiction books. Sight Words: we, in Writing: editing writing, making writing easy to read and writing stories readers really want to read. Students will get to share their completed books with the class then begin new narrative stories Handwriting and Word Work: Making words from the letters in "Pumpkin", the letter Jj, changing one letter in a word to create a new word (sequence the sound) Math: Patterns in our world, creating patterns, determining if a line of items or colors is a pattern Upcoming Events: October 22- Picture Retakes October 27 & 29- Parent Teacher Conferences - Please contact me if you are unable to attend our conference. October 27 – Tiger Pride Assembly October 27 – Fundraiser Pick Up 4:00-7:00 October 29- Book It Due October 30-November 3… NO SCHOOL Book It is due by October 29th - If you lose the sheet for recording books read, you can use any paper you have. Learning this Week:
Weekly Theme: Apples - the stages of an apple tree's growth, seasons of the year and how the tree looks in each season, descriptive words for the taste of green and red apples We tested which would make an apple slice turn brown faster: milk, water, lemon juice, soda. The soda dissolved the center quickly turning it brown. We learned there are 7,500 types of apples! Green apples won for the favorite apple taste when compared to red apples. We made applesauce - only 4 kids didn't like it. Reading: Using non-fiction books to learn information about apples and the seasons of a tree, using diagrams to learn, building a tree map to share what we have learned about apples, sequencing letters to spell a word - order matters Sight Words: this, is and a review of he, she, is, up, on, went, using -ing Writing: Add more details to pictures and stories (where, who, what), write and draw so others can see the story in their minds, be brave and attack spelling the best you can, repeat the word over and over clearly to hear sounds Handwriting and Word Work: Hh, review of Aa – Gg, numbers, stretching words to hear the sound and writing it, then repeating the word to hear the next sound, identifying words that begin with Hh and spelling them without help Math: Comparing two groups of items using "most" and "fewest", number of letters in our names, comparing lengths of name towers, comparing names to determine if a friend's name tower is shorter/the same/longer, ordering name towers from shortest to longest The fall party was perfect! The kids ate sweets, had two fun crafts, and played musical chairs very nicely. No one cried or got upset about not having a chair! Thank you, Jennifer (Sam's mom), for planning and Lisa (Jayden's aunt) for sending tattoos and fruit snacks. Thank you Heather (Makenzie's mom) and Viviana (Elyssa's mom) for coming to help. One of my girls said "This is the best day ever!" A Peek at Next Week: Weekly Theme: Maps & Christopher Columbus - identify a map and a globe, find the United States and Missouri on a map, finding out state and the capital, what maps can tell us Reading: tracking words as text is being read, rereading to check, review of Lips the Fish and Eagle Eye, comparing non-fiction texts, drawing conclusions Sight Words: this, ending -ed is past tense Writing: Using speech bubbles to bring dialogue to life, making writing the best it can be, editing and completing a book. Handwriting and Word Work: Ii, review of Aa through Hh, writing neatly using lines, a new game "Where's the Sound" which uses cvc words to change the beginning letter to make a new word (word families), using only lowercase letters in writing unless a capital letter is required Math: The end of Unit 2 - grab & count four groups of cubes then compare towers, fill in the missing numbers, ordering names independently Upcoming Events: Book It is due by October 29th - If you lose the sheet for recording books read, you can use any paper you have. Conferences October 27 and 29 October 30 - No school November 2 & 3 - No school Learning this Week:
Weekly Theme: Community Helpers and Firefighters. We read books about fire and fire fighters then compared and contrasted the books. We added new learning to our schema chart (schema is: stuff we already know). Kids learned safety tips from the book Officer Buckle and Gloria and from the “Fire Safety Rap”. Our guest speakers taught about their job responsibilities. We learned about being a dental assistant, a conservation volunteer, a nurse, and a firemen. Students chose what they want to be when they grow up. These pages are hanging in our hallway. Reading: Focus lessons were about making connections across texts, connecting texts to ourselves, and practicing reading strategies “Lips the Fish" and "Eagle Eye". Sight Words he, she, up, is, on Handwriting: Gg, Numbers 1-20, Always begin letters and numbers at the top. If your child is beginning at the bottom and moving the pencil upward, writing is more difficult and taking a lot of thinking to form letters. Help them practice moving their pencil downward over and over to break the habit of writing incorrectly. Writing: Students learned how to think of a small moment from their lives and make that moment into a story. They learned how to plan their story page by page and separate pages that don’t go together. We talked about how the beginning of a story is like the bottom bun of a hamburger, the events are the middle or all the stuff that happened, and the end is like the top bun that finishes their stories. Kids wrote their first narrative for a pre-assessment. I will share these at conferences. We should see dramatic improvement as I teach expectations and how to plan each part of a narrative. Math Lessons: How do we measure correctly?, counting backward can help us double check an answer, comparing cube towers, comparing numbers and numbers of items using the terms “fewer,” “more,” “shortest,” “longest,” “tallest,” A Peek at Next Week: Weekly Theme: Apples – the life cycle of an apple seed, seasons of the year and how the tree looks in each season **We will be taste testing Monday. Please email me if you can send a small bag of yellow, red, or green apples. We will also be making applesauce Thursday. If you want to help, I can use another set of hands. This project will start at 12:45 and take until 1:15. We won’t get to taste it until Friday though. Reading: Focus lessons are about non-fiction text features, table of contents, diagrams, tree map, labeling pictures, sequencing letters to spell a word Sight Words: this, is and a review of he, she, is, up, on Writing: Adding more details to pictures and stories (where, who, what) drawing to show action, try spelling anyway even if it the word is hard Handwriting and Word Work: Hh, review of Aa – Gg, numbers, stretching words to hear the sound and writing it, then repeating the word to hear the next sound, Math: Comparing two groups of items, letters in our names, name towers, comparing names Upcoming Events: Book It begins this month! Every month your homework is to read 10 books to or with your child. Turn in the list and get a coupon for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut! The form is in your child's mail today. If you lose the sheet, you can write the list on any paper, even scrap! Extra books can be listed on the back and additional sheets. Only one coupon is allowed per month, but the true reward is your child's reading progress. October 9 from 10 – 10:30 Fall Party **Sam’s mom, Jennifer, is homeroom mom. She has the party planned, but helping hands are always appreciated! If you want to help by sending items or attending the party to help, please email her at: [email protected] October 9 - Book orders are due online or by returning the order forms October 9- End of First Quarter October 9- Early Dismissal at 12:30 |
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May 2019
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