Welcome, November!

It's hard to believe that today is the last day of October!  Your children have been very busy learners these last two months.  

This week during Reading Workshop we:

• learned different ways to read our alphabet linking chart.  We can point and name the letters, the sounds, or both.  With a buddy, we can play different alphabet chart games.
  
  
  
  
• learned that readers get to know a book before they jump in and start reading.  Readers look at the cover and through the pages to determine what type of book it is (alphabet, familiar story, just-right book, etc.) so they can decide the type of reading they should do with that book.
  
  
  
  
• played "guess the covered" word to help us practicing using Eagle Eye and Lips the Fish as strategies for reading unknown words.
• enjoyed a read aloud and rhyming activity with Ms. Honan!
  

This week during Writing Workshop we:

• went outside to look closely at, and write about, something in our surroundings.
  
  
  
  
• learned that even if something is not right in front of us for us to observe closely, we can still draw and write about it from our memory.
• reviewed that writers leave spaces between their words so they, and others, can read their writing. 
• chose a piece of writing to fancy-up and publish.

This week during Math we:

• learned about exchanging.  We played a game that involved collecting ten cubes which we could then exchange for a long (ten). 
  
  
  
  
  
• practiced reading, building, and comparing teen numbers on a teen frame.
  
  
  
  
• learned about and practiced counting by tens.
• compared numbers using a number line.
• played Addition Top-It to improve our fluency with basic addition facts.

I hope you all enjoy the weekend with your children!
Best,
Katie

Studying Rocks

Last week, we started our Pebbles, Sand, and Silt Science unit.  All children received a magnifying glass and a bag containing six rocks.  In addition to looking closely at the rocks, the children were encouraged to rub the same type of rocks together to observe what happens.  They studied the rocks on their own, and then we came back together to discuss their observations.  They determined that each bag contained two samples of three different types of rocks.  They also noticed that one type of rock was a harder rock than the other two.  The children are excited to continue their study of rocks in the weeks ahead!

During Writing Workshop, we kicked off our Looking Closely unit.  I taught the children that scientists spend time looking closely at what they are studying then draw and write all the details they notice that other people might overlook.  The children spent time looking closely at, drawing, and writing about pieces of nature that we collected and the rocks from our science unit.  By the end of the week, many children were writing books all about one item.

Last week during Reading Workshop we:

• reviewed that when readers are trying to read an unknown word, they can use the pictures (Eagle Eye) to help them think about what that word might be.
• learned that in addition to using Eagle Eye, readers get their mouth ready with the sound the first letter makes (Lips the Fish).  They can then use the pictures and the letters in a word to help them read an unknown word.
• reviewed that when learning how to read, readers point under each word and hop crisply to the next word.  They say one word for each written word.
• learned that every word has a certain number of syllables.  Even if a word has more than one syllable, we still only point to the word once when reading.

Last week during Math we:

• learned a new game, Monster Squeeze.  This game helps children learn to compare numbers.  Player one chooses a number on a number line and writes that number on a sticky note.  Player two guesses the number.  Player one then says "yes, that is my number" or "no, my number is bigger (or smaller) than that number."  Player two squeezes the monsters closer together on the number line to show the possible numbers remaining.  Children continue until player two has guessed the number. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• used linking cubes as a tool for measuring.  Children learned that to measure accurately, you must line up the bottom of the measuring tool with the bottom of the item being measured.
• practiced solving addition and subtraction number stories on whiteboards.  Children were also encouraged to write the corresponding number model for each number story.
• learned about the words certain, possible, and impossible.

Free Exploration:

I'm excited to see that the forecast for this week does not show rain!  Although the children did very well with all the inside time we had last week, they are ready for outside recess. 


I look forward to meeting with all of you in the days ahead.





Warmly,
Katie

Writing Celebration!

Last week during Writing Workshop we finished fancying-up our small moment stories.  We celebrated the end of this unit by sharing our stories with small groups of children in our own classroom and then with our first grade reading buddies. 

We also drew and labeled the parts of a fall tree during Writing Workshop last week.

Last week during Reading Workshop we:

• reviewed that when we are learning to read, our books usually follow a pattern.  We read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, identified the pattern, and used "Eagle Eye" (the pictures) to help us figure out the changing text on each page.
• added "do" and "you" to our word wall.
• learned that readers reread the same book several times to become better at reading it.
• read with our first grade reading buddies in Mrs. Boutin's classroom!
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Last week during Math we:

• played the Ten Frame Game to help us practice recognizing numbers represented on a ten frame.
  
• played a game to help us learn about collecting and recording data and reading a bar graph.
• learned about a pan balance as a tool for comparing weights.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• used dominoes to help us learn that there are different combinations of numbers equal to a given number (from 0-12).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

I hope you enjoyed the weekend.
Warmly,
Katie