Weekly News (Feb. 23-27)

Even though it was chilly, it was great to have a full week of school! We were busy learning and keeping warm!

Math
This week we practiced counting by 5's and introduced the concept of using tally marks to show our counts of 5. Using the chant below, we practiced writing and counting a given set of tally marks. 

This week we also learned how to make an estimate, or smart guess, while trying to determine how many objects were in a container. We continued to explore the concept of measurement as well. The students practiced measuring the length of our rainbow rug using both standard and nonstandard measuring tools. 

Each day during our calendar routine, our "Hello Helper" keeps track of the temperature using our color-coded thermometer. As you can see from our calendars below, it has been an extremely chilly winter. The children and I are eager for us to begin recording some green and yellow days. Hopefully warmer days will be here soon!

Our Class Thermometer

Recording the temperature on our calendar

Literacy

The children LOVED listening to more Jan Brett books this week, and they are becoming quite the experts in identifying the unique characteristics of her writing and illustrating style.  They really enjoyed  The Three Snow Bears,and they did a great job comparing it to the familiar tale of Golidlocks and the Three Bears.  We used a Venn diagram to compare some of the similarities and differences between these two books.  Take a peek below!

During reading workshop the students are learning how to paint pictures in their mind as they listen to or read a story to help them visualize and understand the events in the story. They also helped develop some strategies to use during independent reading time when problems arise such as what to do when two students want to read the same book, how to keep focused on reading when someone is trying to distract you, and how to keep our books in good condition. They came up with some great solutions, and they are already applying them during reading time!

All About Me
The class loved learning all about Graham this week! We learned that Graham loves to play with Legos, especially Super Hero Legos. Graham also enjoys swimming and golfing. He likes to color, and he loves to play games like Monopoly. Graham had a great time at Disney, and he loves spending time with his family, especially his brother Ben!

The class loved the book that Graham's mom shared called Clark the Shark.
Thank you for coming in to read!

Centers
This week the students worked in various centers while I worked to assess students one-on-one for report cards. Looking forward to sharing their progress with you soon!

Thanks for reading!