We are Kind and Helpful!

This week, the children learned that one way we can be kind and helpful is by donating items to a local food bank.  As children have brought in their donations, we have counted the items and graphed the number of items donated by our class.  Families, thank you for all the donations you have been made!

This week during Reading Workshop we:

• learned to read a shared text, I am Thankful.  We reviewed that readers point crisply under each word as they read, and they hop from one word to the next.
• used the book I am Thankful to learn the words "am," "for," and "my."  We also used this text to play "guess the covered word."  Children used the pictures to think of words that could make sense for the covered word.  We then uncovered the word to determine which word matched.  This lesson helped children practice using Eagle Eye (pictures), Lips the Fish (saying the first sound in the word), Stretchy Snake (saying all the sounds in a word), and thinking of what would make sense.
• learned that when we get stuck on a word, we can go back to the part we know and reread it to get a running start.
• learned that readers can use sticky notes to mark how a part of a story made them feel.  We can share those parts with our buddy during buddy reading.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

This week during Writing Workshop we:

• learned that the last page in a pattern book can be different than the rest, just like the pattern books we read.
• learned that since pattern books have the same words on each page except for one or two words that change, we should be able to write at least one book every day.  Many of the words in our pattern books are on our word wall.
• learned that when we are having trouble thinking of a topic to write about, we can browse through the pattern books in our classroom library to get ideas.
• added to the I am Thankful book we read during reading workshop.  Children wrote two pages about what they are thankful for.
• reviewed that the pictures in our pattern books need to help our readers figure out the changing word on each page. 
  
  
  

This week during Math we:

• practiced counting-on as an addition strategy.  Children rolled two dice, named the die with more dots, then counted on from there.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• noticed patterns on a number-grid.  Through our observations and discussions, the children learned that when you go across a row, the digit in the tens' place stays the same while the digit in the ones' place increases by one (except for the last box which changes to the next decade).  When you move down a column, the digit in the ones' place stays the same while the digit in the tens' place increases by one ten.
• practiced reading and finding two-digit numbers on a number grid.  Children worked on using the patterns they learned about the number grid to find numbers efficiently. 
  
   
• practiced solving subtraction number stories and writing the corresponding number models.
• used Cuisenaire Rods to learn about the visual representation of numbers 1-10.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

This week during Science we continued our study of rocks.  Our little scientists did an experiment in which they observed what happened to three different types of rocks when they were immersed in water.  They then compared the dry rocks to the wet rocks.   They love science time!!

Since we only have two days of school next week, I will not post to the blog next week.  My next post will be at the end of the school week that follows Thanksgiving break.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  I am so thankful to be the teacher of so many amazing children!

Thankfully,
Katie