We are starting to slowly settle into a routine as we all learn about each other. But we are off to a great start. Our link system seems to be working well. Lots of students are earning links for doing the right thing and showing good character throughout the day. Links are also being taken away for various reasons; when students are not following directions, shouting out of turn, and being disrespectful. Each afternoon your child will count their total links for the day. Their total count may be higher than it was the previous day, but they still may have lost a link. The reason for them losing a link will be recorded at the bottom. NFD means not following directions. It may be written more than once or x2 beside it, meaning multiple links were lost for the same reason. Please sign the bottom of your child's sheet daily. This lets me know you are aware of how your child's day was based on their links. If there is anything else important to share, I will record it in the larger box towards the top where the assignments are written.
Letterland/ word study seems to be going well. I just graded our first spelling test and everyone did great!! For the most part each week we will do the assignments listed on the main page with the spelling words on it. Monday-day 1; read the words twice, Tuesday-day 2; look/say/cover/write (I will be sending home a copy this week in a sheet protector and markers so we can save some paper each week), Wednesday-day 3; write 6 sentences using your words (these can be done on the back of the weekly words), Thursday-day 4; practice test (this can also be done using whiteboards at home and doesn't necessarily have to be pencil and paper.) We also have some games we are learning how to play in class. We will also be using list A throughout the year. List B and C are listed in case there is a particularly difficult unit, then we can use those lists as additional practice. You may also reference the pink sheet sent home the first week of school for additional information.
Wednesday math games! Yay! As a whole, Wednesday's homework will be to play a math game. This is a great way to practice the various skills we are learning in class at home. ***All the materials you need will be sent home. PLEASE KEEP THE VARIOUS MATERIALS SENT HOME ON CARDSTOCK AND KEEP THEM IN A SAFE PLACE! These will be used throughout the year. The dice sent home this past week will be used in a later week. This week I will be sending home some number cards. These will be needed for the games we will be playing over the next few weeks.
Please make sure either you or your child is recording the number of minutes read each night. I collected all the sheets on Friday and children who read and recorded their reading each night will earn a homework pass. As we get further into the year, they will have to do more to earn them.
Moving on to this past week....
Writing-This week we looked at different ways to make our narratives better. We used sticky notes to add more details to our writing, practiced editing and revising, and did some peer conferences.
Reading-We continue working on building stamina and staying on task during our read to self time. As a whole, the class is doing a great job. There are still a few things we need to work on like making sure we have several books in our book boxes and that we get started right away. This is a very important foundational skill that we will be building on throughout the year. We have read several books this week, two of the class favorites are from the Walter the farting dog collection. Yes, you read that right. It's a big dog that has really bad gas and gets kicked out of various places, but somehow his farts always save the day. They are great books that the kids think are hysterical, who wouldn't! But there are great pictures, characters, settings, problem, and solutions. All the basic story elements we are working on as a class.
Math-we continue working with addition using various strategies. This week we took our first test. The computation part was great, the kids know basic addition facts and know how to use different methods to solve problems. The weakest area is the written part. They had to explain how they used the counting up method to find their answer. Unfortunately, not everyone explained. For the most part on each test the class will take, there will be one to two word problems to explain. Full credit will not be awarded for just a correct answer. How the answer was achieved also needs to be explained completely.
Letterland/word study- we worked on the difference between short and long vowels based on open and closed vowels. We compared open and closed to a train (which is another anchor of letterland), and looked at basic differences.
So=open (nothing after the vowel, makes a long vowel)
sock=closed (ck comes after the vowel, making it short)
no vs not, go vs got...
Looking ahead...
Specials for the week:
Computer, Art, PE, Music, and Guidance
We are becoming story detectives and breaking down what we have read:
Our CAFE wall. These are some reading strategies we are working on.
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