Wow, doesn't this cooler weather feel amazing!!! I know my family and I have enjoyed being outside and not sweating to death. Below is a wrap up of all the fabulous things your learners have been up to the last two weeks.
Math
In math, students have been exploring telling time to the hour, counting back by 1's, and counting by 2s and 5s. We have also been reviewing compliments of ten. Being able to understand how to make 10 in different ways is an important math skill. We have just begun exploring counting pennies and nickels. This is where counting by 5s and 1s becomes such an important skill. Start collecting nickels and pennies at home and have your mathematician help you count the change. At my house, if you can count it, you can keep it. This really motivates my children to do their best thinking.
Reading
In reading students have been learning about how readers choose books. This is preparation for their big day to shop for books themselves at the end of the week. Students will learn that we P.I.C.K books by looking for these for things.
Purpose- Am I reading for fun, or to learn something?
Interest- Is this something I like or what to know more about?
Comprehension- Do I understand what I am reading?
Know all the words- Am I able to read most or all of the words?
We continue to add to our reading toolbox. We have been focusing on checking the picture and thinking about what makes sense. Our comprehension focus has been making connections. Readers have been sharing personal stories that help them understand the stories they are reading. We have done this whole class with The Bear Who Wouldn't Share and individually with books from our book tubs. Encourage your reader to make connections at home to things you read together. We say "This story reminds me of ________ because____________." Share your connections with your reader during a favorite read aloud. Make sure to tell them which part of the story reminds you of that event or story. Then have them do the same.
Writing
As writers we have been spending time investigating through various books and stories, and we were answering the question "What do writers write about?". We have discovered that writers write about:
People they know-Julius Baby of the World
Favorite things-Owen
Everyday lives-Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Feelings- Today I feel Silly
Special times-A Birthday for Frances
Places we've been-When I Grew Up in the Mountains
We are beginning a new unit in writing that will focus on "small moments", also known as personal narratives. We continue to look at conventions that published authors use such as spacing, capital letters only at the beginning of sentences and names, and an ending punctuation mark. We will continue to work on these as we journey through this next unit as well.
Word Study
We continue to review high frequency words from the story. We are also studying the ap and ag word families. We are learning how knowing these families helps us as readers and writers. Please continue to review high frequency words. If your student can read them, begin working on having them learn to write them from memory. We will begin having a spelling progress check each Friday with the words of the week and the word family of the week.
Historians
In social studies we have begun looking at schools long ago and today. Our featured big book this week was Schools Then and Now. Students have been comparing and contrasting schools today and long ago. They have been discussing things like the size of classes, how students got to school, who went to school, supplies,
lunch, helping out, and music and art. Be on the look out for some student work to be posted to the blog later this week.
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