Week 13 - November 30, 2018

Curriculum

Reading:
In reading this week, we learned about the short u sound.  Students identified words with short u and wrote words with the short u.  In addition, we learned more ways to help us decode words.  We talked about covering part of the word and slowly sliding our hand across the word saying the different sounds.  We talked about getting our lips ready to say the first sounds.  Next week, we will continue learning to decode words by reminding students to look at the beginning and end of the word, skipping a word and coming back to it or flipping the vowel sound to see what makes sense.  In addition, we will review all of the short vowel sounds.

Book Baggies:
Many students forgot their book baggies today.  Please help them remember them next week Friday.  I would like them to have an opportunity to read different books.

Writing:
In writing we finished our personal narrative unit.  We will have another personal narrative unit later in the year to help the students build more skills.  However, next week we will begin our How to...informational writing unit.  We will begin by reading mentor texts.  We will notice and wonder about them to see what we might do in our own writing.

Math:
This week we reviewed more skills.  We practiced adding and subtracting within 10, solving number stories within 10, and counting and representing numbers up to 60.  We also worked a bit on skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s.  Keep working on this at home.  Next week, we will begin working on using strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems to 20.  Students should continue to work on building fluency with addition and subtraction within 10.

IXL Skills - Use these activities as you wish to help your child with the skills we will be working on throughout this first trimester.

Science/Social Studies:
This week we learned more about maps.  Students identified the continents, we looked at different map features and learned about what an aerial or birds eye view is.  Next week, we will begin our science unit on Sound and Light.  We will begin just by finding out what we already know.

Purposeful Play
Please see the Purposeful Play tab on the blog to learn more about our weekly Play Time and donation items we could use for it!

Homework

• Read every night (you can read with your child, listen to them read or read to them - all of it helps).  Then talk about the book - who are the characters, what happened, why did it happen, make connections, what's the main idea, why did the author write the book, how did the author give you information, what features did the author use to help you as a reader
• Work on a math skill  
• counting forwards and backwards within 120 (and skip counting)
• adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this
• telling time (What are the hands on the clock? How is a clock set up?)
• identify and count coins
• measuring - length and volume -  have your child cook with you to practice this
• talk about shapes - 2D and 3D - find items around your house, etc.) 

Specials Schedule

Monday: P.E. (Wear tennis shoes)
Tuesday: Art (Bring an Art shirt labeled with your child's name)
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: Media/Library
Friday: Rotates (See the back of your child's OWL folder (everyday folder) for a schedule.)

Important Dates

December 12: Holiday Shop (4:30-8)
December 20: Holiday Celebration (more information to come)

December 24-January 6: No School - Winter Break
January 7: School Resumes
January 21: No School - MLK Day
January 31: Multicultural Night (6:00-8:00pm)