Hi Parents,
We had a very busy short week! I want to thank Mr. Garcia, Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Gohlke for reading to the children and helping them take AR tests this week. The children love this special time. If you are interested in volunteering to read, be on the lookout for information coming soon from Mrs. Tovar or Mrs. Henry. They will be scheduling our November readers soon. We also have two open dates that were not filled at Open House. If you are "kid-free" and available to read to a small group from 9:40-10:15 on Sept. 16th or Oct. 21st, let me know and I'll add you to our AR calendar. Check out below to see what we've been learning this week. Also, there is a special secret code word written in this blog somewhere. Find it, write in on a piece of paper, and have your child give it to me by TUESDAY, September 14th for a special treat! (Yes, this is my silly way of rewarding my kids of the parents who are reading the blog on a weekly basis!)
Phonics/Grammar: This week, we learned the s, t, and st sounds. We sorted picture cards containing these sounds and we wrote sentences containing words with these sounds. We played a dice game to review our four digraphs and our new sounds from this week. We also discussed question words and question marks and we played a game during centers to help us practice generating questions.
Reading: We finished up our chapter book, Judy Moody. We voted on our next chapter book, which will be Because of Winn-Dixie. The children are very excited about this book. I will be having a movie night at my house as a special culminating activity for this chapter book. The date will be coming soon. In reading, we worked on our independent reading contracts to sharpen our reading and writing skills. We also worked in small groups to improve our comprehension strategies. In whole group, we listened to stories and then used props to help us retell the important events.
Math: We completed our basic subtraction unit. We learned the strategy of counting up from the smaller number to the larger number as well as drawing a math picture of both numbers in a subtraction problem and comparing them. We worked on a method for solving word problems (four-square method), which will be our strategy throughout the year. This method involves finding the information (numbers) and circling them, underlining the clue words that tell us what operation to perform, drawing a math picture to solve, writing the corresponding number sentence, and then answering the word problem in sentence form. You will see an example of this on your child's math test that was in the blue folder today. We are emphasizing the PROCESS, not simply the ANSWER. The secret code word is "four-square".
Science: We talked about the four seasons and various activities that we often do during those seasons. We made a flip book about the seasons, writing sentences and illustrating.
Classroom News and Reminders...
Lauren Garner was our teacher's helper this week! Way to go, Lauren, for being a great example to your fellow classmates. Lauren will also be teacher's helper next week, as she was out sick a few days and we want her to fully enjoy the benefits that come with this honor!
Beginnning next week with our +4 math facts, your child will only advance to the next set of facts if a score of 80% or higher is achieved. If your child scores lower than an 80%, he/she will remain on the +4's for the following week. Please remember to practice these facts with your child. This is one proven way to increase your child's math fluency!
Encourage your child to read AR books at least twice before returning them to school and taking AR tests. Also, it is a great idea to question your child on the book. Remember, we are reading for understanding, not simply word recognition.
If you were unable to join us for Open House and would like a copy of the power point, please let me know and I'll get that to you.
Conversation Starters...
*Ask your child to retell you the story of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed the Sea. Can they remember all the things she swallowed?
*Ask your child where Opal was when she first met Winn-Dixie.
*Ask your child what a right pointing arrow means in arrow math (+1). Can he/she tell you what a downward pointing arrow means? (+10)
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