Weekly News (Oct. 6-9)

Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend! We had a very productive day on Friday at Dryden for our School Improvement Day. We spent the day reviewing and analyzing all of our fall assessment information and worked to plan for instruction that matches our students' individual learning needs. It was definitely time well spent!

Math
This week in math we spent a lot of time learning about those "tricky teen" numbers from 11-19.  We practiced sequencing the teen numbers and counting out each number.  We also talked about how each teen number is "10 plus some more."  Any opportunities you have at home to reinforce the teen numbers would be helpful!

We also introduced the concept of estimating, and we talked about how we can use information we know to make a "thoughtful guess."  We put 10 objects into one container and filled a second container with either more or less objects.  Then we estimated how many objects might be in the second container by comparing it to the container with 10.  The children did a GREAT job with this activity!

We practiced counting by 1's up to 100 this week as well, and for those students who were ready we practiced counting by 10's too. We will continue to work on counting patterns throughout the year, as they form the foundation for many math concepts such as telling time, counting coins, and measurement. Driving in the car is a great time to practice these skills at home!

Practice counting to 100

Jolly Phonics

We completed Jolly Phonics Book #3 this week and learned the sounds and motions for the following letters:
/l/ as in "lion"

/f/ as in "fish"

/b/ as in "bubble"

We review the sounds and motions for the letters we have learned frequently in class.  Some tricky ones to keep practicing at home are all the vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, and u), d, b, g, and r.  The children often want to make the /j/ sound for "g" and the /er/ sound for the "r" instead of the /r/ sound like you hear in the word "rug." All of their hard work learning these sounds will really pay off in learning how to read and write!

Literacy/Social Studies
We read several fall books this week including: Fall Mixed Up, Why Is It Fall?, and The Falling Leaves.  We also read a book about Christopher Columbus and sang a song called "Sail Your Ship." We added this song to our poetry folders to sing at home!

I began meeting with students in guided reading groups this week as well. All students should have brought home one or two books to read at home in their blue book bag. Please encourage your child to read and reread their book bag books throughout the week. During our Reading Workshop time this week, we learned that good readers reread books they know well so that they can become even better readers. 

Centers
The children were put to the test this week during center time to see how well they could work independently while I met with guided reading groups. We had a few hiccups, but they are on their way to working independently! 

Puzzle Time 

Coin Identification and Matching

Sight Word Hunt

Dollhouse

Listening Center: Young Christopher Columbus

Science
The children brought home a letter this week explaining our first science unit of the year--Collections in Nature. For our collection, we will be studying leaves. I can't wait to see all the different leaves the children bring in on Tuesday! 

All About Me
The class loved learning all about Dylan this week and his favorite things! Everyone loved how he decorated his "Me Box," and they thought it was really neat that Dylan's dad worked on race cars. We learned that Dylan's favorite Disney character is Stitch, and that he loves spending time with his family, especially when they get to jet ski on the lake or collect shells at the beach!

A big thank you to Dylan's mom for coming in to read to the class!

The class has also been working hard to reach the top of our class "HOORAY" board for demonstrating good character and behavior, and this week they reached the top! To celebrate, we went out for recess on Thursday. Way to go K-2!

Thanks for reading!