Week 16 - December 20, 2019

Curriculum

Reading:
Ask your child about what it means to be a fluent reader!
Students have been learning to read like the character.  They are learning to use the punctuation and quotation marks to help them read fluently.  We will continue to work no reading fluently after break.

Book Baggies:
Ask your child what books they chose yesterday.
Students brought home six books.  Two books below their level so that they can practice fluency, two books on their level to help them practice decoding strategies and other skills we're learning in class, and two books above level to help students push themselves as readers.  Books should be returned every Thursday.  If your child feels the books are too easy for them, that is okay.  They can build their fluency and confidence as readers.  Levels will change throughout the year, but they will NOT change weekly.

Writing:
Ask your child what a How to book is and what it has in it.
This week, the students came up with ideas and ways to make the Grinch Grin.  They wrote an introduction, steps and a conclusion.  After the break, students will continue to write how to books.

Math:
Ask your child the rules for measurement.
This week we learned to add problems with 3 addends.  Students learned to use doubles facts or make 10 facts to help them solve these problems.  After the break, we will continue to do this and then take our Unit 4 assessment.

Science/Social Studies:
Ask your child what sound is and how it is made.
As scientists, the students reviewed their exploration with the tuning fork and what they learned.  We also did some describing of sounds to learn about sound words.  When we return we will continue to learn about sound and begin to learn about light.

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
• Work on a math skill (i.e. counting forwards and backwards within 120, adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this, telling time, counting 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 23-January 5: No School - Winter Break

January 16: Family Movie Night (4:30-6:00)
January 20: No School
January 30: Multicultural Night (6-8pm)

Week 15 - December 13, 2019

Curriculum

Holiday Week Dress Up Days:

Tuesday, December 17: Grinch Day - wear green

Wednesday, December 18: Snow - wear white

Thursday, December 19: Wear holiday best for our holiday celebration

Friday, December 20: Pajama Day

Reading:
Ask your child about what it means to be a fluent reader!
Students learned to use the punctuation to help them as readers as well as to read at a good rate by reading several words in one breath.  They also learned that sometimes you read something the first time and learn all the words and then you reread it to become more fluent.  Next week, we will continue to work on reading fluently.

Book Baggies:
Ask your child what books they chose yesterday.
Students brought home six books.  Two books below their level so that they can practice fluency, two books on their level to help them practice decoding strategies and other skills we're learning in class, and two books above level to help students push themselves as readers.  Books should be returned every Thursday.  If your child feels the books are too easy for them, that is okay.  They can build their fluency and confidence as readers.  Levels will change throughout the year, but they will NOT change weekly.

Writing:
Ask your child what a How to book is and what it has in it.
Students worked hard to write How to Make Gingerbread Playdough.  Several students also had the opportunity to start a how to of their choice.  They worked to plan their writing and then draft it.  They also learned to include introductions and conclusions in their writing.  Next week, we will continue to write how to's.  Students will write about how to Make the Grinch Grin.  They will also have the opportunity to revise and edit the how to's they chose to write last week.

Math:
Ask your child the rules for measurement.
This week the students learned to measure items with nonstandard units.  Next week, we will learn to add with three addends.

Science/Social Studies:
Ask your child what sound is and how it is made.
This week, we explored what sound is and what we wondered about sound.  Students had the opportunity to explore with different items to learn about what causes sound and what sound is.  Next week we will continue to build on this learning.

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
• Work on a math skill (i.e. counting forwards and backwards within 120, adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this, telling time, counting 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 23-January 5: No School - Winter Break

January 16: Family Movie Night (4:30-6:00)
January 20: No School
January 30: Multicultural Night (6-8pm)

Week 14 - December 5, 2019

Curriculum

Reading:
Ask your child about what it means to be a fluent reader!
This week we learned about what it means to be a fluent reader.  We will continue to work on this.  Students have learned that now that they know how to decode words, they should reread sentences after decoding to make it sound smooth when they read. Next week, we will continue to work on fluency as readers by working on our rate and using the punctuation to help us as readers. 

Book Baggies:
Ask your child what books they got today.
Students brought home six books.  Two books below their level so that they can practice fluency, two books on their level to help them practice decoding strategies and other skills we're learning in class, and two books above level to help students push themselves as readers.  Books should be returned every Thursday.  If your child feels the books are too easy for them, that is okay.  They can build their fluency and confidence as readers.  Levels will change throughout the year, but they will NOT change weekly.

Writing:
Ask your child what a How to book is and what it has in it.
As writers this week, we learned what a how to book is and why authors write them.  We also learned some of the features that how to books include (ie. introduction, steps in order, conclusion, materials listed, etc.).  This week, we wrote a how to on How To Build a Snowman.  Next week, we will be writing about How to Make Gingerbread Playdough or How to Catch a Gingerbread Man.

Math:
Ask your child what strategy they like to use when solving addition or subtraction number stories.
We are continuing to practice solving addition and subtraction word problems within 10 and showing our thinking.  The students are learning to use number lines, number grids, and different diagrams (part-total, change to more/less) to help them when they solve word problems.  They are also learning to write number models (equations) to represent their thinking.  

Science/Social Studies:
Ask your child what families are for.
This week, we wrapped up our thinking about families by discussing what families are for.  The kids came up with some great ideas about what we need our families for.  Next week, we will begin our science unit on Sound and Light.

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
• Work on a math skill (i.e. counting forwards and backwards within 120, adding and subtracting to 20 - play a board game for this, telling time, counting 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 6: No School - Record's Day

December 11: Holiday Shop (4:30-8:00)
December 23-January 5: No School - Winter Break
January 16: Family Movie Night (4:30-6:00)