Hello! What a beautiful week we had here at May Watts!
Language Arts- Our sight word this week was "my" We finished Jolly Phonics Sound Book 3. Please practice sounds and actions at home. We read many books about seasons. We wrote two responses: Fall is... and My favorite season is... We also talked about the 12 months in the year and how they relate to the seasons, weather and holidays. We worked in partners to make monthly posters showing what happens during that month.
Math- We continue to practice counting in a variety of forms: line counting, circle counting and scatter counting. We discussed strategies we can use to make sure we know which items were already counted. We played a game call "Handful" where you grab a handful of items and count them. We noticed that when the items were large is size, we could only grab a few. When the items were smaller, we grabbed more so our number was higher.
Social Studies - Our Cool Tool for the week was "How to Cool Off." We introduced this last week and reinforced it with stories like Mean Soup and videos like Hoppin' Mad.
Notes - Thank you to ALL who brought in donations of supplies!!!!!!! I am so appreciative of the support and everything will be put to good use!
Please make sure you bring library books back on or before Thursday. Please wear gym shoes on gym day.
If your child has chronically left items at school, know that they have whole class reminders to organize their belongings. This is an area that would be helpful to work on at home, too!
School pictures are next Thursday, October 4th. An envelope will come home soon. You can send money and order in prior to Thursday if you would like. They must have form at school by Thursday for orders.
The reading incentive calendar for the LMC program is coming home today. Keep it handy and fill out as you go. Send it in at the end of the month. The students love to receive the monthly rewards!
If you would like to place a Scholastic order online, please see the order forms in your child's folder.
Thank you! Have a great weekend!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Sept. 17-21
Language Arts: Our sight word for the week was "is." We finished Book 2 for Jolly Phonics. Eric Carle is our new author study. You will find a link to this blog that shows his website. Many of our read alouds and responses were with Eric Carle books. We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We wrote a response and we created story parts so we could retell the story at home. We read Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too? and learned about the reading strategy "Look at the picture clues." We made our own mixed up animals after we read The Mixed Up Chameleon. We learned that Eric Carle likes to have a "gimmick" in all of his stories which tend to center around animals and nature. We made our own beautiful Eric Carle collages.
Work on Writing was the Daily Five practice this week. We learned how to write in our journals the whole time. Writing can look different depending on one's skills. Maybe we are writing through a picture. Maybe we can draw a picture and add a few sounds or a label. We might even be writing words and sentences! Our picture needs to tell the story with lots of detail. We will challenge ourselves and grow into writing words too.
Math: We played lots of fun games centered around patterns, counting, instant number recognition, and number recognition.
Social Studies: Our Citizenship Cool Tool this week was I Can Problem Solve. this is a process for solving a problem. 1. Stop and Cool Off (we talked about different ways) 2. Talk and Listen (Use I Messages - I feel ___ when...) 3. Think of Ways to Solve the Problem 4. Choose the Idea You Like Best!
Science: We practiced the scientific method with a delicious experiment about secondary colors!
Notes: Thank you to Mrs. Swanson and Mrs. Ashish for organizing our Math Wall binders! It was a big job and the K teachers are so thankful for all the volunteers who helped! I will be organizing the other Helper Sign Ups and let you know when you are scheduled.
Don't forget to remind your child to bring back library books on Thursday morning so new books can be checked out.
Work on Writing was the Daily Five practice this week. We learned how to write in our journals the whole time. Writing can look different depending on one's skills. Maybe we are writing through a picture. Maybe we can draw a picture and add a few sounds or a label. We might even be writing words and sentences! Our picture needs to tell the story with lots of detail. We will challenge ourselves and grow into writing words too.
Math: We played lots of fun games centered around patterns, counting, instant number recognition, and number recognition.
Social Studies: Our Citizenship Cool Tool this week was I Can Problem Solve. this is a process for solving a problem. 1. Stop and Cool Off (we talked about different ways) 2. Talk and Listen (Use I Messages - I feel ___ when...) 3. Think of Ways to Solve the Problem 4. Choose the Idea You Like Best!
Science: We practiced the scientific method with a delicious experiment about secondary colors!
Notes: Thank you to Mrs. Swanson and Mrs. Ashish for organizing our Math Wall binders! It was a big job and the K teachers are so thankful for all the volunteers who helped! I will be organizing the other Helper Sign Ups and let you know when you are scheduled.
Don't forget to remind your child to bring back library books on Thursday morning so new books can be checked out.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Language Arts: Our sight word was " the." Notice the sight word poems that come home. We practiced
reading those all week and raised our thumbs as we heard and read the sight
word.
Our author study this week was Laura Numeroff. Please find the link to her website on our blog. We learned about one style of her writing which is a circle story. There were fun art projects and activities to go with one of her most famous books...If You Give a Mouse a Cookie! We even went on a cookie hunt and found a delicious surprise waiting for us!
We are beginning to learn about Daily 5, our management program during guided reading. This week we practiced Read to Self. The students know that the teacher's responsibility is to work with a small group. Their list of responsibilities is much longer. If they follow the expectations, they are being independent. some of the expectations are Eyes on Book, Stay Still, Zero Voices, and Build Stamina. We started reading for 3 minutes and have successfully worked our way to 5 minutes. We will continue to lengthen our time until we reach 15 minutes.
Math: Numbers and counting have been our main focus. We played a true/false game comparing a variety of ways a number can be represented. Example: True or false...the number 2 equals a picture of a hand with two fingers raised. True! True or false...five tally marks equal a domino that show 3 dots and 1 dot. False! We graphed whether we liked or did not like mice and math talked. We practiced numeral writing and number sequencing.
Notes: Thank you to all who could make it to curriculum night. If were unable to attend, please look into your child's backpack where you can find resources and materials. Please look over and let me know if you have any questions. In that stack of papers you might have found the Scholastic online book order. Ordering books is optional. Thank you for your participation.
The deadline for this month will be Monday, September 24th. I will be alerted that you placed an order, I will finalize it, and the transaction will take place.
Have a great weekend!
Our author study this week was Laura Numeroff. Please find the link to her website on our blog. We learned about one style of her writing which is a circle story. There were fun art projects and activities to go with one of her most famous books...If You Give a Mouse a Cookie! We even went on a cookie hunt and found a delicious surprise waiting for us!
We are beginning to learn about Daily 5, our management program during guided reading. This week we practiced Read to Self. The students know that the teacher's responsibility is to work with a small group. Their list of responsibilities is much longer. If they follow the expectations, they are being independent. some of the expectations are Eyes on Book, Stay Still, Zero Voices, and Build Stamina. We started reading for 3 minutes and have successfully worked our way to 5 minutes. We will continue to lengthen our time until we reach 15 minutes.
Math: Numbers and counting have been our main focus. We played a true/false game comparing a variety of ways a number can be represented. Example: True or false...the number 2 equals a picture of a hand with two fingers raised. True! True or false...five tally marks equal a domino that show 3 dots and 1 dot. False! We graphed whether we liked or did not like mice and math talked. We practiced numeral writing and number sequencing.
Notes: Thank you to all who could make it to curriculum night. If were unable to attend, please look into your child's backpack where you can find resources and materials. Please look over and let me know if you have any questions. In that stack of papers you might have found the Scholastic online book order. Ordering books is optional. Thank you for your participation.
The deadline for this month will be Monday, September 24th. I will be alerted that you placed an order, I will finalize it, and the transaction will take place.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, September 7, 2012
Sept 5-7
This was a short week so here is a short post!
Our theme this week was colors. We read stories, wrote responses, created art, and sorted and graphed colors.
We completed our first Jolly Phonics book. We made words from the sounds in that book. Our sight word this week was "a." A poem was in the pocket chart all week. We practiced daily and completed a sight work sheet that will come home next week with our next sight word.
I am looking forward to seeing parents on Curriculum Night which begins at 6:30 on Thursday, September 13th.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Our theme this week was colors. We read stories, wrote responses, created art, and sorted and graphed colors.
We completed our first Jolly Phonics book. We made words from the sounds in that book. Our sight word this week was "a." A poem was in the pocket chart all week. We practiced daily and completed a sight work sheet that will come home next week with our next sight word.
I am looking forward to seeing parents on Curriculum Night which begins at 6:30 on Thursday, September 13th.
Have a wonderful weekend!