It's hard to believe that we only have one week left of school! We have kept very busy!
Our science and language arts blended together the past two weeks as we have learned about seeds to plants. We had a few experiments to get to know the parts of a seed and the parts of a plant. We read the following books: The Tiny Seed, Seeds to Plants, The Flower Garden, The Sunflower House, Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash, How New Plants Grow, The Enormous Carrot, and A Field of Sunflowers. We sequenced the growth of a plant and observed and recorded the growth of our sunflower plants. We even planted HAIR :)
In math, we practiced the use of the function machine, which is still tricky for many so I encourage you to practice on the website I gave to you. We practiced making addition fact families and continued our math games.
Fairy tales have been another focus in our classroom. We read different versions of Cinderella and compared them using a Venn diagram. We retold the story of the Little Red Hen and The Three Little Pigs using puppets and a story map. We will continue this fun next week.
We all had a great time on the field trip to the DuPage Children's Museum. I was very impressed by the creative 3-D forms that the students put in their Geo Spaces. Thank you to Dr. Platt, Mrs. Parrilli, Mrs. McHale, and Mrs. Marron for facilitating their small groups.
Our published books have returned to the classroom. Thank you to ALL of the parents who took dictation and typed up the stories. Our authors will be illustrating them next week and taking them home after completion!
Two things to remember for Tuesday: We will be having an all school Citizenship Celebration on Tuesday to celebrate all students' efforts to learn, practice, and become better citizens in our school. The celebration will resemble Field Day so tennis shoes, comfortable clothes, and a water bottle will be necessities. Also, ALL library books must be returned on Tuesday. It's time for Mrs. May to organize the LMC and get ready for another great year. So look under beds, behind the couch, and on your shelves and send them in! :)
Have a GREAT Memorial Day weekend!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
May 2 - 13
It is hard to believe that there are only three weeks left of school. We have been working hard and will continue to have fun learning these last few weeks!
Language Arts: We completed the letter study with z, q and u. Our final sight words, have and here, were introduced. We are now using the pocket chart to read familiar nursery rhymes. During Z week, we read Zin, Zin Zin A Violin! and The Maestro Plays and created our own orchestra with musical sounds. We read Zinc the Zebra and created our own unique animal. We read stories about mothers in preparation for Mother's Day.Last week, We read Cassie's Word Quilt and made the most creative word quilts! We also showed great thinking and writing skills as we responded to the alphabet book Q is For Duck. Through the rest of the year, our students will be focusing on the various strategies found on the wheel that was sent home on Friday. So far, we have read books that have promoted the use of the strategies Picture Clues, Get Your Mouth Ready, Does It Makes Sense, and Does It Look Right. Keep that wheel handy to encourage your child to use more than Sound It Out...when your child fixes a word, ask him/her to tell you which strategy was used! We have had a lot of fun in Writer's Workshop. We continue to make lots of things and have added a large alphabet book of kindergarten spelling to the choices. The kids also had the opportunity to participate in Kinderpress. Our kindergarten authors will become PUBLISHED authors this year. Thank you to the parents who volunteered to take dictation from the kids and to type up the stories. When the books are bound, the students will illustrate them in class and bring them home at the end of the year!
Math: We have been focusing on number sense, addition and subtraction, telling time, and estimation. We have been following the "make then write" process, learning lots of games, and starting the day with math boxes that promote these skills.
Social Studies: The past two weeks our Cool Tool is to review bully behavior and the Stop, Walk, and Talk strategy.
Science: This coming week we will begin our seeds to plants unit.
Note: Thank you to Mrs. Sathianarayanan and Dr. Platt for coming in as Guest Readers. The kids always enjoy parent visits!
Language Arts: We completed the letter study with z, q and u. Our final sight words, have and here, were introduced. We are now using the pocket chart to read familiar nursery rhymes. During Z week, we read Zin, Zin Zin A Violin! and The Maestro Plays and created our own orchestra with musical sounds. We read Zinc the Zebra and created our own unique animal. We read stories about mothers in preparation for Mother's Day.Last week, We read Cassie's Word Quilt and made the most creative word quilts! We also showed great thinking and writing skills as we responded to the alphabet book Q is For Duck. Through the rest of the year, our students will be focusing on the various strategies found on the wheel that was sent home on Friday. So far, we have read books that have promoted the use of the strategies Picture Clues, Get Your Mouth Ready, Does It Makes Sense, and Does It Look Right. Keep that wheel handy to encourage your child to use more than Sound It Out...when your child fixes a word, ask him/her to tell you which strategy was used! We have had a lot of fun in Writer's Workshop. We continue to make lots of things and have added a large alphabet book of kindergarten spelling to the choices. The kids also had the opportunity to participate in Kinderpress. Our kindergarten authors will become PUBLISHED authors this year. Thank you to the parents who volunteered to take dictation from the kids and to type up the stories. When the books are bound, the students will illustrate them in class and bring them home at the end of the year!
Math: We have been focusing on number sense, addition and subtraction, telling time, and estimation. We have been following the "make then write" process, learning lots of games, and starting the day with math boxes that promote these skills.
Social Studies: The past two weeks our Cool Tool is to review bully behavior and the Stop, Walk, and Talk strategy.
Science: This coming week we will begin our seeds to plants unit.
Note: Thank you to Mrs. Sathianarayanan and Dr. Platt for coming in as Guest Readers. The kids always enjoy parent visits!