Newsletter 10/14/16

We worked with reading partners for the first time in Reading Workshop this week.  We learned the difference between "private" and "partner" reading.  We also began to learn about what reading partners do: how they sit, hold the book, and what they talk about.  Ask your child to teach you how to "See-Saw" read!  See some reading partners in the photos below.

We are almost done learning the "Frog Jump" letters in our handwriting lessons.  Look for review practice to come home next week.  We are learning how to spell more sight words and trying to write with spaces between words.  We will be working on this all year.  We also learned how writers often have so much to say that they need to add more pages.  

Besides writing with spaces, we also were introduced to syllables.  Have fun listening to how many syllables are in words at home.  Who in your family has the most syllables in their name?  The least?

In our math lessons, we did a "math hands" activity, trying to replicate numbers on our fingers up to five.  We also reviewed how to organize our thinking during an Exemplars problem.  We re-did the problem we tried last week, and this time, we were SO much better!  We collected and organized data as well, finding out who our class thinks is the scariest Halloween character!

We finished our study of Christopher Columbus by meeting our 5th Grade Buddies!  They came to our room and helped us make ships.  We'll be working with them monthly, so see if your kindergartner remembers his/her buddy's name.  See some photos of our Buddy Time below.

We enjoyed an assembly about the adventures of Lewis and Clark today, too.  Some of our friends were chosen to go on stage!

News and Notes:

• Make sure you've read the Halloween note I emailed yesterday.  
• Next week:  Five senses

Reading Partners

Columbus ships with our 5th Grade Buddies

Lewis and Clark assembly

Fire truck and buddy visits today!

Surprise!  We kicked off our unit on Fire Safety with a visit from local firefighters!  Fireman Dan and Fireman Dennis taught us useful safety tips.  We also met our 5th Grade Buddies in Mr. Latona's class.  More photos of that on our Friday newsletter...   Happy Columbus Day! 

Apple Cidering Fun!

Newsletter 10/7/16

Our field trip was so much fun!  We learned that apples are meant to be eaten so animals can carry the seeds.  We went into a farm barn and pressed our own apples into cider!  Then we got to drink it!  We walked through the farm and visited the animals, had our picnic snack and then played on the playground.  See the group photo below (more photos to come soon!).

In phonics lessons we're learning new sight words: I, see, a and an.  We wrote these words using correct spelling in all of our writing this week.  We also read them in books.  We've been introduced to letters b, c, f, i, m, n, o, t and u in our phonics lessons so far.  Students are working on memorizing each letter's "story", that states the letter name, keyword and sound.  Ask your child for the "story" of these letters (i.e."b, bat, /b/").  Eventually, your child will know a "story" for every letter in the alphabet.

We're using our knowledge of letter sounds to "stretch out" words in Writing Workshop.  Ask your child to tell you how to use an imaginary rubber band to hear sounds within words.  When we write, our sight words are always spelled correctly and sometimes we can use environmental print to find correct spelling, but otherwise, we have to "stretch out" words.  We'll be working on this all year.

In our reading lessons we learned that readers look, think, read and learn!  Right now we're reading two types of books: storybooks and "learn-about-the-world" books (nonfiction).  We spent time reading nonfiction books this week and then sharing what we learned with a partner.

We did our first Exemplar problem in math this week.  We tried it alone and then spent time discussing how to do it as a group.  We learned that mathematicians can solve problems using organized diagrams.

We finished up our Johnny Appleseed lessons and moved on to Christopher Columbus!  The students were so interested in learning about his adventure.  He made a mistake, but we still honor him for his bravery!

We began recording our weather observations in a Science Journal this week.  We are so lucky to have an apple tree right outside our window!  Twice a month, we'll record our observations of how the apple tree changes over the course of the school year.  

News and Notes:

• No School next Wednesday, 10/12
• Fire Safety Homework (your family's safe meeting place) is due on MONDAY.
• Scholastic orders are due 10/13
• Please let me know if you have a veteran in your family who will be attending our school Veteran's Day celebration

Newsletter 9/30/16

Happy birthday Johnny Appleseed!  We did everything with apples this week, in celebration of Mr. John Chapman's birthday on 9/26.  We counted apples, read apple poems and studied the seasons of the apple tree.  We are so lucky to have apple trees growing right outside our window!

Our math lessons this week were about: developing strategies to accurately count and keep track of quantities up to ten, creating an equivalent set and representing quantities with pictures, numbers and words.  We counted and sorted all kinds of things- even ourselves!  We began making a counting book, too.  We are working on numeral formation in both math and handwriting lessons.

We are building our reading stamina and learning new sight words.  This week we looked for words we know in our favorite books.  We had fun retelling classic tales, like The Three Bears by Paul Galdone.  Our emergent story reading unit focuses on reading many classics.  They're great for your kids to "read" because a child can tell the story just but following what's happening in the illustrations.  No need to really be able to "read" it quite yet.  Retelling in your own words is an important skill!

Our writing is really taking off.  The students are growing more and more comfortable with taking risks with their spelling and beginning to be independent writers.  This week we learned how writers can solve their own problems, such as generate a new topic or get a new pencil.  We also learned that authors close their eyes and "make a picture in their minds" before they jump into their drawing and writing.

News and Notes:  No School on Monday

Remember to pack a disposable snack for your child next Wednesday for our field trip.  We will return to school in time for lunch.  Also, dress your child for playground fun- sneakers and pants/jeans please.

Don't forget to check out today's Second Step lesson about FOCUSING in your child's backpack.  

Coming up:  Columbus and Fire Safety (be on the lookout for fire safety homework next week)

Math and Reading

Creating equal sets in math lessons

Retelling favorite stories in Reading Workshop

Newsletter 9/23

We are really challenging ourselves as readers!  We have a "reading guage" in our classroom which measures how "long and strong" we can read during our workshop time.  This week we discussed book handling skills and vocabulary.  We use words like "title" and "cover" instead of "name" and "front".  We all agree that we want to learn to read!  We want to read books and recipes and the writing on our t-shirts, but MOST importantly...   we want to read birthday invitations!

We officially began Writing Workshop this week.  Ask your child about our "writing club".  We brainstormed ideas and voted on a name: "Mrs. Henry's Writers"!  We're so excited to be authors and share stories and ideas.  This week we learned how writers begin a piece and "when you're done, you've just begun!".

Echo and Baby Echo taught us about a few vowels this week.  We examined our name and words around the room, and found that they ALL have vowels!

We did "Wet, Dry, Try" for the first time in our handwriting lessons.  We are learning about "Frog Jump Letters".

In our math lessons, we collected and organized data and classified objects by various attributes.  Ask your child about the "Button Match Up" game!

We began Second Steps and learned our Skills for Learning.  Check out the homework sheet sent home for more information.  We also began to talk about Johnny Appleseed!  His birthday is on Monday!

In Science, we made a word web about fall.  We can't wait for everything that it brings!