K-2's Weekly News (Oct. 22-26)

Read on to see what we have been up to in K-2!

All About Me
This week we had a great time learning about some of Travis's favorite things.  He loves learning about the Titanic and dinosaurs. He also enjoys Spongebob, Spiderman, and Thomas the Train.  Thanks so much for sharing Travis!

Math
Many of our math activities this week were Halloween themed!  The students had fun counting and writing the number for different amounts of candy corn.  They also played a "Roll the Dice" game where they practiced counting the number of dots on two dice and coloring in the corresponding number on a pumpkin game board.  They LOVED this game.  We will try and play it again next week!  We also took a closer look at the penny, nickel, and dime this week when we worked on a coin sorting activity.  Some students also created a coin rubbing art project during center time this week.  

Jolly Phonics Review
We spent some time each day this week reviewing our Jolly Phonics sounds.  We will begin learning the sounds from Book #4 next week!

Literacy
Each week the students become more and more confident in themselves as readers and writers.  They should be proud!!  We completed Unit 2 in Treasures this week, and student workbooks went home today.  I also met with all students for guided reading during the week.  Please continue to have your child read the books in their baggie and practice their sight words and sounds using their ABC chart.  Have your child show you how we "Chant the Chart"--A, /a/, apple, B, /b/, bear, etc.   We also continue to play our phonemic awareness listening games each day.

The children had a great time writing about what they are going to be for Halloween.  They did a great job drawing a picture of their costume and writing a sentence to match!  I can tell they are looking forward to next week!

The kids really enjoyed the books we read during read aloud this week:

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman 
Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White
Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting

Science
We concluded our Rainbows, Color, and Light unit this week with two exciting activities.  First, we explored the rainbow swirling patterns you see when blowing bubbles.  The children were not only fascinated by the colors we could see in the bubbles, they were also fascinated by the size of the bubbles we were able to blow!!  We also explored our shadows this week by going outside to see how our bodies block the sunlight from passing through, causing a shadow.  We also experimented with a flashlight and a dollhouse figurine to show how the length and direction of our shadow changes throughout the day.

Have a great weekend!!

K-2's Weekly Update (Oct. 15-19)

Is Halloween really right around the corner?  My how time is flying in Kindergarten!  We have had another busy and productive week in K-2.

All About Me

This week Cayden brought in his "Me Box" and shared several items that helped us get to know him even better.  We learned that Cayden plays soccer for the Arlington Aces, and he LOVES building with LEGOS.  He is also a big fan of Angry Birds, and he likes to read about trains.  Thanks for sharing with us Cayden!

Math

This week in math we played several games to reinforce counting, and we also learned all about patterns in the world around us.  We watched a slideshow that depicted different patterns that are found in nature and our everyday lives, and the students identified and discussed some of the patterns we saw--stripes on a zebra, swirls on a seashell, stripes on a pair of socks, and a checkerboard pattern on a kitchen floor.  We also learned how to write the numbers 8 and 9 with the rhymes, "Make an S but do not wait. Go straight back up to make an 8!" and "A loop and down line.  That's the way to make a nine!"

Jolly Phonics

This week we finished learning all the sounds in the 3rd book of Jolly Phonics.  We learned the following sounds;

Ff as in "fish"

Bb as in "bat"

Next week we will not introduce any new sounds, so that we can focus on reviewing and mastering the sounds that have already been introduced.  Next week will be a great time to go back through your child's notebook and review all the sounds we have learned.

Literacy

This week in Treasures we continued to focus on the theme of "friendship."  We introduced the new sight word "a" which is pronounced "uh," and we also worked in our Treasures workbooks.  I met with all students again this week in guided reading groups, and each student brought home a new book to read that you can find in their Ziploc bag.  Thank you parents for doing such a GREAT job keeping your child's literacy materials organized in their Ziplocs and for practicing and reviewing at home!  

The students also spent some time this week making a pumpkin book that highlighted the following positional words: under, behind, on, above, and in.  These went home in your child's folder today.  We enjoyed many read aloud stories this week too including:

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll

My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

Scarecrow's Hat by Ken Brown

If you happened to find yourself at the library over the weekend, check out one of these books.  The children love hearing familiar stories again and again!!

Thanks for reading!

Have a great weekend!

K-2's Weekly Update (Oct. 8-12)

Math
This week the students played a game called "Spin the Number," which helped students practice identifying the numbers 1-10 and counting spaces on a game board that matched the number on the spinner.  They LOVED this game so much that we used it as one of our math centers so they could play it again!  We continue to review the following shapes in the classroom: triangle, rectangle, square, circle, oval, and diamond.  I hope you had fun playing the "I Spy Shapes" game at home!  This is a great game to continue to play at home, in the car, at the park, or wherever you can squeeze in a few minutes of review!

Jolly Phonics
The students are becoming more confident and fluent with the sounds we have already introduced, which has really been helpful during our Writer's Workshop time.  These are the sounds introduced this week:

Uu as in "umbrella"
Ll as in "lollipop"

Literacy
This week the theme for our Treasures reading program was friendship.  The students listened to stories about what friends like to do together, and they talked about the things they like to do with their own friends.  We introduced a new sight word this week---like, which we used during Writer's Workshop to complete the sentence starter, "We like to_____."  The students drew a picture, made labels, and wrote about something they like to do with their friends.  

I continued to meet with students during guided reading this week as well. All students have a new book in their Ziploc bags, so please take some time to have your child read their new book to you and anyone else who will listen! :)  I collected the students' old books from their bags, but there were a few missing.  If you still have a book from last week, please send it back to school next week.  I thank you all so much for the support you are providing your child at home.  Your time and energy is tremendously appreciated and valued!!!

All About Me

This week we were excited to learn all about Olivia W.  We learned that one of her favorite holidays is Halloween, she loves the movie Rio, and she likes cats.  Thanks so much for sharing Olivia!







Computer Lab
This week in the computer lab, the students used an online researching program called Pebble Go, to listen to two informational texts about apples and pumpkins.  Then working together as a class, the students used the information they learned to complete a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting apples and pumpkins.  As you can see below, they did an AWESOME job!

Have a great weekend!

K-2's Weekly News (Oct. 1-5)

Math

The children were very excited this week during calendar time when we reached our 30th day of school.  Each day we add a straw to our place value pocket chart (see sample picture below).  When we collect 10 straws, we bundle them together to make a "ten."  So far we have 3 bundles of ten that represent the 30 days we have been in school.  We celebrated our 30th day by practicing our counts by 10!

We worked in our number books again this week to learn how to write the number 5.  Here is the poem for the number 5:

Fat old five goes down and around.
Put a flag on top and see what you've found!

We also reviewed some of our shapes as we made ships in honor of Christopher Columbus!

Jolly Phonics

We frequently review the Jolly Phonics sounds that have been introduced so far.  Please continue to review them at home as well.  It has been great to see the students carrying over the sounds they are learning into their writing.  Keep up the great work K-2!  We introduced the following new sounds this week:

Gg as in "giggle"

Oo as in "on"

Writer's Workshop

The students are becoming more and more comfortable following the steps to our Writer's Workshop routine: Think, Draw, Label, and Write.  We will continue to focus on this writing routine each week.  The students are beginning to add more labels to their drawings, which help them extend their ideas for their writing.

Treasures Reading

This week we finished Unit 1 in Treasures.  We spent time reviewing all of the sight words that have been introduced including: I, can, we, and the.  We also used pictures to practice sequencing the events in a story.  Next week we will begin Unit 2, which focuses on the theme of friendship.    

Guided Reading
All the time we spent practicing "center time" really paid off this week, as I began meeting with students in small groups for guided reading.  I am targeting specific literacy skills and using books that match the literacy needs of the children in each group.  Each child brought home a guided reading book this week in their Ziploc bag.  Please look for this book over the weekend and encourage your child to read it to you as many times as they are willing!  Repeated reading practice is a great way to build confidence and fluency.  To mix things up a bit, have your child read their book over the phone to a special relative or friend, or have your child read to a pet or their favorite stuffed animal.  While your child is reading, please remind him or her to point carefully to each word so their voice matches the print on the page.  Please keep the book in your child's Ziploc bag until I take it out.  At times, your child may have more than one book in their bag.  Your support at home encouraging your child to read these books will really help your child continue to move forward with his or her reading development.  

All About Me

This week we were so excited to learn all about J.T.!  He did a great job bringing in items that really helped us learn about his interests and hobbies.  Here are a few of the items that J.T. shared.  Can you tell what he loves to eat and do?

Apple Tree Project
As part of a yearlong project, the students will be making an art book that depicts the changes of an apple tree throughout the four seasons of the year.  Here are few students creating their fall trees!

As always, thanks for reading!  

Have a great weekend!!