Newsletter 2/14/19

In Reading Workshop this week, we read Valentine books and poems.  We also reviewed the difference between fiction and nonfiction books.  We are beginning a new reading unit on nonfiction books after vacation.

We finished our How Tos and will put them out in the hallway for all to see!  We learned so many writing strategies in this unit.  After vacation, we will continue to write nonfiction pieces, but in a new style.

We began a short unit on Geometry this week.  We are learning the difference between flat and solid shapes.  We are also learning their names.  We examined solid shapes to see what flat shapes can be found on their faces.

We had so much valentine fun this week!  We did word searches and puzzles, not forgetting to mention our amazing concert.  Thank you for coming!

News and Notes:

• Have a great vacation!
• Book sleeves are due the Monday of our return- 2/25
• The week we return is our Dr. Seuss week!  Please see the email sent home to prepare your child for each day's special activities.  You can also refer to the green note being sent home today.

Decorating our headbands for our show

Decorating our Valentine bags

Teen numbers matching game

Fun Valentine crafts

Our anchor charts for writing

Examining solids for flat faces

Happy Valentines Day!

Newsletter 2/8/19

We celebrated the end of our Bigger Books, Bigger Muscles unit in Reading Workshop this week.  We "super sized" our Partner Power and Book Talk Power by predicting about and retelling, both fiction and non-fiction texts.  We learned that super readers can choral read, which means that we can read the same book at the same time.  This is tricky, because we have to use our eyes AND our ears to listen to one another.

We read some mentor texts in Writing Workshop and tried to use the same writing strategies in our writing.  How To authors often include a list of materials needed, some helpful tips or a safety warning.  We can do that in our writing, too!

We are learning more and more sight words and tapping out sounds in our phonics lessons.  Pick any CVC word (consonant, vowel, consonant- i.e. "dog") and ask your child to show you how to tap it. We are also beginning to tap words with digraphs and blends.

We finished our unit on teen numbers in math!  We put them in order, compared them and played "Guess the Number" while giving hints with words like "more than" and "less than".

We had a super fun 100th Day!  We counted our mac and cheese boxes, by ones, fives and tens.  See the photo below to know how many we collected.  We made a hundreds hat and played mystery number 1-100.  We all enjoyed watching the First Grade Centurion Parade, too.

We continued our science unit on pushes and pulls.  This week we learned that pushes and pulls can have different strengths and directions; a bigger push or pull makes things speed up or slow down more quickly; and we analyzed and interpreted what the effect will be when the balls collide.

We also had our first music rehearsal. This is going to be an ADORABLE show! You won't want to miss it!

News and Notes:

• Kindergarten Valentine Show 2/14 at 9:30. All grown ups and younger siblings invited. (Ox Ridge siblings must remain in class)
• Book bags due on Monday
• Send in your child's valentines! We'll store them here until next Thursday when we deliver.

Sight word games

Building teen numbers with tens and ones

Putting teen numbers in order

Wind is a pushing force

109 boxes of macaroni and cheese!  THANK YOU!  

Comparing and ordering numbers 1-20

Experimenting with collisions

Music Rehearsal!

Newsletter 2/1/19

Hello February!

We worked on predicting and retelling in Reading Workshop this week. We learned that Super Readers look at pictures and words, but they also stop and think about what might come next.  This helps get ideas in our brains.  We learned how to give a "Rockstar Retelling", which includes characters, actions and emotions.

In Writing Workshop this week, we learned how a partner can help us clarify our writing.  We used partners to act out our steps, to make sure we included all the details, so our readers can follow along.

We continued to work with teen numbers in math this week.  We focused on numerals 10-16.

Everyone enjoyed some hands on science fun this week during our Pushes and Pulls unit!  We built Marble Runs and raced cars on ramps!  We also sorted out photos of items that one pushes or pulls.  We also collected our January weather data this week.  We had our first purple day (which means that it was REALLY cold)!

In our social studies lessons, we made predictions about the ground hog and the Superbowl.  See your child's thoughts below.  We also enjoyed making valentines for local veterans with our 5th Grade Buddies, too.

News and Notes:

• Book sleeves are due on Monday.
• Scholastic orders are due on Tuesday.
• 5 boxes of macaroni and cheese are due by Tuesday.
• Kindergarten Valentines Concert: 2/14 at 9:30 am

We went to an assembly about making goals and the performer did basketball tricks!

Acting out one another's How To books

Pushes and Pulls fun with Marble Run

Science fun with ramps and cars