Weekly Update

Hello Families,

Thank goodness for warmer temperatures! We were finally able to get out for recess on Thursday and Friday this week. We’re working hard at getting ready quickly for recess and at the end of the day. Please help your child by practicing at home in this order: snow pants, boots, jacket, scarf, hat, mittens. We keep scarves and hats inside of the jacket sleeve and mittens in the baskets above the hooks.

Math

We are working hard on our basic subtraction facts. Fewer than by 0, 1, and 2 has been tricky for some. Please use “fewer than” in your daily conversations at home if possible. For example, “I have 2 fewer oranges than I need. I need 5. How many do I have?” Remind that fewer is that same as less and it is the number taken away in a subtraction problem. We learned how addition and subtraction is related and that knowing our addition facts can help us figure out a subtraction problem quicker. This concept is tricky for some also. You can practice this at home with actual objects like marbles, candy, coins etc. We will have the assessment on Wednesday and begin a unit on geometry when we return from winter break.

Reading Workshop

This week we learned how our schema helps us understand non-fiction text. We know that good readers think about the schema they have on a topic before reading, and they keep track of the new schema as they read. Good readers also read over and over and over when reading about something which they have no schema about. Good readers also realize then they have misconceptions in their schema and they delete those files and replace with the correct information.

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

Everybody should have turned in their first draft of their personal narrative story. Each student worked with me on the beginning of their story. As they dictated I wrote the first part for them. They then needed to copy that and add the middle and ending independently. These will be edited and final copies will be written sometime in January. We’ve come a long was as writers! J

This Week I Really Learned!

I hope you’re enjoying your child’s T.W.I.R.L. journals. We love reading your letters each week.  Students are more motivated to write when they know they will receive a letter back. Even a short letter is better than no letter at all. Thank you for taking the time to write each week. J

Word Workshop

We worked on 3-letter beginning blends this week. Help your child notice words that use 3-letter blends like street, stripe, squint, scrap, skip.

Grammar

We learned that days of the week, months of the year, and holidays are all capitalized all of the time. Encourage your child to transfer this information into any writing they do.

Special Events

Next week we will enjoy some festive activities. Wednesday we will make a special project that your child will bring home to you on Friday. Thursday is our snowflake making morning. Thank you for to everyone who is able to join us. I will send a letter home with the exact time and information early next week. Friday is our Polar Express day. Your child is welcome to come to school in jammies and we’ll enjoy hot chocolate while we watch the movie. J

Enjoy your weekend!