Weekly Update

Hello Families,

We had a busy week!  We had an All School Meeting, Vision and Hearing Screening, and some last minute conference preparations. The kids were very excited to decorate their conference folder for you. J

Math

Our focus is ADDING. We assessed sums of 10 today and will start our new unit on Monday. Topic 6 is all about basic facts to 12. We have already started 1 minute fact tests. Each child will start on adding zero and progress at his/her own pace. Flashcards will be given out at conferences to help move students along at a quicker pace.

Reading Workshop

Our retelling unit has been lots of fun. We are hearing many different fairy tales and identifying the characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end of the story. We also share this information using sentence frames such as, “In the beginning of the story ______________. We are requiring children to speak in complete sentences and support their response with evidence from the text. Having this expectation at home during conversations will help their academic language and push their learning forward.  

Good Fit Books

Most children at this age have trouble identifying good fit books independently. Please be sure your child is reading good fit books at home. If they are hard to find the little books that come home every few days are perfect! J

***Look for the following characteristics when helping your child find a "just right" book: It is read not too fast, but not too slow. He/she knows all or most of the words. The topic is age appropriate.***

Writer’s Workshop

We are working like authors during writing workshop. Our writer’s know to start a new story, add to a previous story, or add to a previous drawing when we begin each day. We learned that Stretchy the Snake can help us spell as much as he helps us read. Writers should listen to each sound in the word and write a matching letter and move on. Spelling shouldn’t get in the way of all of our good writing ideas. J Encourage your child to do this at home as well. Taking risks is one way to move a learner forward.

Word Workshop

We successful finished out first official phonics  unit. This unit taught l family blends. Students should be able to spelling any regular CCVC word that begins with an l blend. Examples are: plot, plan, glad, clam, flop. We had our first word work assessment this afternoon and those will be sent home next week. A weekly spelling list will not be coming home, because the focus is about spelling words correctly based on pattern and sounds instead of memorizing words. A letter about our new phonics program will be given out at conferences.  

This Week I Really Learned!

This week we brainstormed what we learned in a T.W.I.R.L. web. Each student was required to write at least one sentence on his/her own. We also are following the friendly letter format. Each week your child’s letter should have the date, a gretting, a sentence or 2, a closing, and a signature. We’ll work on placement later. For now we just want all of the part of the friendly letter in the letter. J From now on the line leader of the week will be taking our class T.W.I.R.L. chart home. J Thank you for taking time to write to your child. Please try to write back to your child whenever possible. They love hearing your letters during snack time.

Practice Packets

The yellow practice packet is due on Monday, and the white packet that was sent home today will be due next Friday!

Message from the Custodial Staff:

The heat is now on! J

Enjoy your weekend!