Mrs. Henry's Classroom: Newsletter 10/27

We began a new writing unit this week called Looking Closely. In this unit, we will learn how to write a nonfiction piece that describes a special item. We all went outside to collect our first "specimens"- leaves! We are writing just like scientists. We learned to use our senses, and our knowledge of sight words, to describe our leaves. Scientific authors look, record, and label. They describe colors they see, sizes, textures and shapes.

We also began a new reading unit: SUPER POWERS! We are becoming super readers and learning how to activate our super reading powers. This week we learned about Pointer Power, how it helps us read carefully and recognize words. We even got plastic pointer fingers to strengthen our powers!

In math, we did an Exemplar called Anna's Apples. Ask your child about it. We had to compare two amounts and describe how we know which is more. We made manipulative models of the problem with connecting cubes. Everyone's was unique (see photo). Then we worked as a team to come up with a diagram that would show our thinking. We also learned the correct formation for numerals 0-9, so now we can write ANY number! See the numeral writing practice sheet coming home in back pack mail. This is not mandatory, but great extra practice. Correct numeral formation is hard to master. It's normal to have reversals at this age. If your child is reversing numerals while writing, please correct him/her, as now we have learned the correct formation.

We learned a bit about syllables in our phonics lessons this week, but most of our focus was on sight words and sentence structure. We worked on building sentences with word frames, using spaces between the words, beginning with a capital letter and including punctuation (see photo).

We finished our study of severe weather in science this week. We watched a news cast and learned what a meteorologist is. What does s/he do and how is s/he helpful? Then we discussed ways to stay safe in extreme weather and what items we should have on hand. A meteorologist tells us when the weather is coming, so we should be ready.

We celebrated our five senses and Halloween by carving pumpkins! Everyone helped build a Table Teamwork Pumpkin.

Lastly, we had a super fun race with our 5th Grade Buddies, building skeletons outside!

News and Notes:

10/31 HALLOWEEN! All students should bring costumes in a sturdy bag. No masks or weapons, please. Parade outside at 9:45 am. Everyone's invited!
11/3 The Darien Environmental Group will speak to the class about recycling.
11/7 NO SCHOOL
On 11/9, Kindergarten will be singing for local veterans at the breakfast we have at school. This is an event for veterans and their family only. If you have a veteran in your family who would like to attend, please contact the office, and let me know as well.