Hello Parents,
Thank you for visiting today! We've had a wonderful week! I am going to be taking the next couple of weeks before report cards to ensure that each child in my class has had ample opportunity to show me that they know and fully understand our concepts and skills. For some, this may require a skill or concept to be retaught another way and for others, it may mean that I provide extension and challenge activities. Please check out below to see what we have focused on this week!
Phonics/Grammar: We learned all about simple and compound sentences. We completed an activity on the smartboard to take simple sentences with related ideas and make them into compound sentences using connecting words. We also learned all about the two sounds of the letter g. We generated word webs to help us study, we sorted a list of words in our journal, and we played sparkle with our words. Since the children are getting the actual list of words that will be on the test at the beginning of the week, I'm not as inclined to give extra opportunities to pull up that grade for the report card. Please help your child study these words if he/she is having difficulty on these tests so we can come up with a plan.
Writing: This week, the children worked in small groups to research an animal. They then completed an organizer and wrote an informational paper on that animal. My expectations for a "3" are beginning with a topic sentence (hook), writing a minimum of 5 detail sentences, and ending with a closing sentence. Please be on the lookout for graded writing to come home early next week.
Reading: We read a variety of nonfiction articles to help us with our research for our informational writing. We also read several very challenging stories out of an anthology. We focused on using context clues to help us determine the meaning of difficult words. We completed our chapter book read aloud, Lone Wolf, and we wrote events from the story and illustrated. We voted on our new chapter book. We will be reading The White Giraffe next! We also learned a new game called spelling squares! This game is a fun way to improve our sight word vocabulary. Since we all know our first grade words, we learned how to play this game with challenging words!
Math: We revisited graphing and interpreting data in a graph. We learned about the use of a key on a graph. We used our smartboard to work together to answer questions about picture graphs in which each picture represents 2, 5, or 10 items. We answered comparing questions and learned two different strategies to help us solve this type of question.
Science: We learned all about the needs of plants. We read a big book, watched a short video, and created an information web on plant needs. We then made our own plant needs books and read them with a partner.
Classroom News and Information:
Don't forget, all field trip forms and money are due next Friday, March 2nd. If you plan on attending the zoo, don't forget to add the extra $6 per person for your ticket into the zoo! All parents are welcome to attend. Sorry, no siblings will be allowed.
Mrs. Huffstetler will be our one chaperone to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help out!
Okay, are you really crafty??? I need a parent volunteer who is willing to tie-dye our white shirts for our upcoming field trips. We have all the t-shirts, so all you'll need to do is get the tie-dye kit and have at it! I would be VERY grateful to anyone willing to take on this project!
Thank you to all the students who completed and turned in the challenge project! We will be sharing those projects next week!
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