Newsletter: January 26

Next Week's Specials:

Monday - STEAM

Tuesday - Music

Wednesday - Art, Library

Thursday - PE

Friday - No Special due to School Families

Coming Up...

• Early Release: Friday, February 2 (12:15pm dismissal)  
• Mid-Winter Break: Monday, February 5 & Tuesday, February 6
• Valentine's Day Party & Wear Red/Pink: Wednesday, February 14 @ 12:15pm
• Father/Daughter Dance: Saturday, February 24th from 6:30-8:30pm

Reading:

This week we have been working on reading through the whole word and sounding it out rather than guessing the word.   

Writing:

This week we finished a small moment story that we wrote all together about our trip to the library last week.  After that, we began thinking of our own small moment stories and planning out what we will write on each page.  Next, we will begin sketching out pictures and writing the words to our stories. 

Word Study:

This week we learned five different spellings for /ee/.  The picture shows what each child wrote on his/her whiteboard.

Math:

This week we learned how to use several different tools to solve math problems.  Some tools we are using include ten frames, number lines, cubes, counters, rekenreks, and numeral cards.  

Here is a photo of all the kids with their stuffed animals and blankets!

And, here are some photos from PE.  They did disco bowling on Friday!  So fun!!

  

  

Newsletter: January 19

Next Week's Specials:

Monday - PE

Tuesday - STEAM

Wednesday - Music, Library

Thursday - Art

Friday - PE

Coming Up...

• Early Release: Friday, February 2 (12:15pm dismissal)  
• Mid-Winter Break: Monday, February 5 & Tuesday, February 6
• Valentine's Day Party & Wear Red/Pink: Wednesday, February 14

Reading:

This week we have been reading some fun winter books such as Sneezy the Snowman and The Mitten.  We are focusing on retelling these stories.  On Friday, we cut out paper animals from The Mitten and next week we will use these as we retell the story.  Here are some photos of the kids while they were working on cutting.     

Writing:

This week we began a new unit on personal narratives.  We first practiced telling a small moment story about ourselves out loud.  We learned that a small moment story is about a short period of time...not a whole day.  We also began to write a small moment story all together about our trip to the library on Wednesday.  We will finish this shared story next week and then the kids will start writing their own small moment personal narratives.      

Word Study:

Each day we have a Word Study time.  The curriculum we use is called EBLI (Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction).  This week we learned two different spellings for /ou/.  The picture below shows a few sentences that we practiced reading all together.  

We also learned that the 'ow' can make the /ou/ sound or the /oa/ sound.  Each student had a whiteboard and wrote all of these words on his/her own whiteboard.  

Math:

This week we worked on finding number partners.  We played a game called the "Unknown Partner Game" for the number 7.  Partner 1 had to close his/her eyes while Partner 2 took some square tiles away.  Partner 1 then opened his/her eyes and had to figure out how many tiles Partner 2 had taken away.  They had a lot of fun with this game!   

Newsletter: January 12

Next Week's Specials:

Monday - Art

Tuesday - PE

Wednesday - STEAM, Library

Thursday - Music

Friday - Art

Coming Up...

• Jet's Pizza Night: Tuesday, January 16 (Don't forget to mention my name when ordering)
• Popcorn and PJ Day: Friday, January 19
• Early Release: Friday, February 2 (12:15pm dismissal)  
• Mid-Winter Break: Monday, February 5 & Tuesday, February 6

Reading:

This week we finished up our unit on pattern books.  We learned that some books can have a growing pattern, like The Mitten, because the animals get bigger and bigger on each page.  We also read The Hat and realized it has a growing pattern too.  We finally cleaned out our book bins...which explains why Friday folders were FULL of paper booklets this week!!  Next week we will focus on retelling stories using The Mitten and a few other winter themed books.   

Writing:

This week we wrote two new pattern books.  One pattern book was about winter.  We came up with many ideas of things that we see in winter.  Each student decided on 3 things that he/she wanted to write about and wrote his/her book using the pattern "I see a...".  We have been focusing on forming letters correctly and using the handwriting lines to help us as we write too.  

Math:

This week we practiced classifying (sorting) objects.  First, we practiced classifying a set of picture cards by color, shape, and size all together on the rug.  Then, partners got a new set of picture cards with various kinds of insects and had to figure out how to classify them.  They did well and came up with so many creative ways to classify!  We also practiced solving addition problems using a ten frame this week.