Language Arts: We did not introduce a new letter. Our sight word was "like." We had lots of fun this week with our gingerbread stories! Who knew there were so many versions! By the end of the week, the kids broke into small groups and cooperatively thought of the characters, setting, problem and solution without teacher guidance! How cool is that! We also focused on beginning, middle and end.
Math: We played a few gingerbread math games: Gingerbread Number Bingo and Gingerbread Attribute Game. We made a sequence of how to make gingerbread cookies. We also counted by 2's with cookies.
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool of the week was "telling the truth."
We had fun centers which focused around the gingerbread theme, including our wonderful smelling gingerbread playdoh!
Next week we will complete our Gingerbread Unit and enjoy our Holiday Party! Have a safe and relaxing winter break!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Dec. 6 - 10
It has been a very cold week so the kids were cooped up until today! Hooray! We got to go outside! I was very proud of how independently the kids put on their snow gear. Make sure it is all labeled.
Language Arts: The letter of the week was "d" and we had two sight words: "at" and "to." We read books about dinosaurs and dogs and wrote responses. We played Doggie Bingo with sight words. The kids brought these home. If your child already knows these words you can challenge them by stated a sentence that has sight words and they can cover all the sight words they hear: I am going to the store. I am to and the are all sight words in that sentence.
We began reading a few versions of The Gingerbread Man focusing on the story elements of character, setting, problem and ending. By hearing different versions, we can compare and contrast.
Math: We continue practicing writing our numbers and we added Top It to our math boxes. The game is much like Spit where the player with the higher number gets both cards. We talked more about weight and explore the pan balance. We discussed probability and the terms "certain," "possible," and "impossible."
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool for the week was "keep your hands and feet to self." We reviewed the importance of staying in your own personal space and expressing yourself through words and I Messages, not physically.
Science: We learned about things that are Living and Non Living.
Notes: Thank you to the parents who made gingerbread playdoh for next week and to the parents who bought and brought gingerbread cookie kits! You are priceless!
Have a great weekend!
Language Arts: The letter of the week was "d" and we had two sight words: "at" and "to." We read books about dinosaurs and dogs and wrote responses. We played Doggie Bingo with sight words. The kids brought these home. If your child already knows these words you can challenge them by stated a sentence that has sight words and they can cover all the sight words they hear: I am going to the store. I am to and the are all sight words in that sentence.
We began reading a few versions of The Gingerbread Man focusing on the story elements of character, setting, problem and ending. By hearing different versions, we can compare and contrast.
Math: We continue practicing writing our numbers and we added Top It to our math boxes. The game is much like Spit where the player with the higher number gets both cards. We talked more about weight and explore the pan balance. We discussed probability and the terms "certain," "possible," and "impossible."
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool for the week was "keep your hands and feet to self." We reviewed the importance of staying in your own personal space and expressing yourself through words and I Messages, not physically.
Science: We learned about things that are Living and Non Living.
Notes: Thank you to the parents who made gingerbread playdoh for next week and to the parents who bought and brought gingerbread cookie kits! You are priceless!
Have a great weekend!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Nov. 29-Dec. 3
Language Arts: Out letter of the week was "n" and our sight word was"and." We read books like Noisy Nora and The Napping House in honor of n week. Our author and illustrator of the moth are the husband and wife team Don and Audrey Wood. We learned that The Napping House is an accumulative story that builds upon the last page, adding to the story. We created our own book called The Napping Ocean. This is a different VERSION...something we will talk more about in the weeks ahead with our gingerbread unit. (Look for the gold sheet today. We are in need of gingerbread cookie kits. Your help is much appreciated!) I hope you enjoyed the many products brought home from Writer's Workshop. There will be much more to come. We continue to make may class books for the children to enjoy at school.
Math: We learned two new games: Domino Match and Top It! We will be making our own Monster Squeeze next week to play at home. We continue to practice number problems in story form and are writing number sentences to go with them.
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool for Citizenship this week was review of all school rules. We focused on good manners that we can use at home and at school. We also discussed the difference between needs and wants. We know that there are a few things we need to survive such as water, food, shelter, and clothing. We know that toys, candy, vacations, and trips to the movies are all things that can make us happy but are NOT things that we needs.
Notes: Today we had a class meeting about tattling. The amount of tattling is about 6 times a day per child. We discussed that it adds up to be over 160 tattles a day!!!!:) We talked about 4 rules to follow when deciding whether we need to talk to an adult: 1. If a child is in danger, you should talk to an adult. 2. Try to solve the problem on your own (This is a big one because all the children have been taught how to use I Messages.) 3. Must it be handled by teacher now or can it wait till later? 4. MYOB (Mind Your Own Business) What I tell the kids is that if it doesn't have anything to do with you, it is not your problem. And I like to add that if the problem has been solved there is no need to tell me.
I know we all talked at conferences that students should come to me for support, but MOST of the time these problems can be solved by the students.
Having said all of that, your kids are a JOY to have in class. Have a wonderful weekend!
Math: We learned two new games: Domino Match and Top It! We will be making our own Monster Squeeze next week to play at home. We continue to practice number problems in story form and are writing number sentences to go with them.
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool for Citizenship this week was review of all school rules. We focused on good manners that we can use at home and at school. We also discussed the difference between needs and wants. We know that there are a few things we need to survive such as water, food, shelter, and clothing. We know that toys, candy, vacations, and trips to the movies are all things that can make us happy but are NOT things that we needs.
Notes: Today we had a class meeting about tattling. The amount of tattling is about 6 times a day per child. We discussed that it adds up to be over 160 tattles a day!!!!:) We talked about 4 rules to follow when deciding whether we need to talk to an adult: 1. If a child is in danger, you should talk to an adult. 2. Try to solve the problem on your own (This is a big one because all the children have been taught how to use I Messages.) 3. Must it be handled by teacher now or can it wait till later? 4. MYOB (Mind Your Own Business) What I tell the kids is that if it doesn't have anything to do with you, it is not your problem. And I like to add that if the problem has been solved there is no need to tell me.
I know we all talked at conferences that students should come to me for support, but MOST of the time these problems can be solved by the students.
Having said all of that, your kids are a JOY to have in class. Have a wonderful weekend!