It has been a big week for us! During writer's workshop we had a big author's celebration because we finished our nonfiction writing unit. Every student in the Super Star and Turtle Troop class shared their favorite page from their book. Then, they paired up with a student from the other class to read their entire book. And then we had a book museum where the students walked around and read as many books as they could. I was so proud of the students for putting all of the time and hard work into publishing their stories. Then, we packed up this unit and placed it in our portfolios to share later in the school year. We also began our new writing unit, which is personal narratives. We spent the second half of this week discussing the difference between a watermelon story and a seed story. A watermelon story is about a long period of time, such as a trip to Disney World. A seed story is about one special moment in time, such as the first moment you met Mickey Mouse and got to shake his hand. The students will be writing "seed stories" in this unit. They are going to be adding good details and descriptive language to make their stories come alive. If you have not sent in pictures of special moments in your child's life yet, please send them in. We have put them up on a wall for inspiration during this writing unit.
Our new reading strategy this week was inferencing. The students had a chance to sort through some garbage and figure out who the garbage belonged to using clues. We practiced inferencing while reading James and the Giant Peach, as well. And to take inferencing a little further, I took the students in small groups and they used the iPads to collect pictures of evidence and categorize the evidence into what types of people these items would belong to. It was a lot of fun!
In math we are continuing our unit on place value. The students have been playing many games and completing many activities related to place value. They are adding large numbers, learning how to find the difference, and comparing numbers.
We have continued our word study groups this week. You should see your child's new words coming home at the beginning of the week. These are words they can practice and study at home. I give them a check-in at the end of the week to make sure they are understanding the word patterns.
Here are some things to ask your child about:
-What were you able to infer from the evidence you found this week?
-What was your favorite part about the author celebration?
-What is the difference between a watermelon story and a seed story? Can you please tell me a seed story?
Thank you to all of the volunteers we have had during math and literacy! I really appreciate your help. Anyone else who is interested in volunteering, let me know!
Reminders:
Valentine's Day is coming up. I will be sending home a list of the students both in our class and Mr. Schreurs' class since we spend a lot of time with them. We will have a chance to give valentines to students in both classes. I will send home a note with Valentine's Day details this week.
We will be going to Rivershire the afternoon of February 12th. Please let me or Mrs. Brooks know if you can come on the trip.
The 100th day of school is on Wednesday! I sent home a crown with your child to decorate with 100 things. There are directions in their take home folder. Hard to believe it is already the 100th day!
Our new reading strategy this week was inferencing. The students had a chance to sort through some garbage and figure out who the garbage belonged to using clues. We practiced inferencing while reading James and the Giant Peach, as well. And to take inferencing a little further, I took the students in small groups and they used the iPads to collect pictures of evidence and categorize the evidence into what types of people these items would belong to. It was a lot of fun!
In math we are continuing our unit on place value. The students have been playing many games and completing many activities related to place value. They are adding large numbers, learning how to find the difference, and comparing numbers.
We have continued our word study groups this week. You should see your child's new words coming home at the beginning of the week. These are words they can practice and study at home. I give them a check-in at the end of the week to make sure they are understanding the word patterns.
Here are some things to ask your child about:
-What were you able to infer from the evidence you found this week?
-What was your favorite part about the author celebration?
-What is the difference between a watermelon story and a seed story? Can you please tell me a seed story?
Thank you to all of the volunteers we have had during math and literacy! I really appreciate your help. Anyone else who is interested in volunteering, let me know!
Reminders:
Valentine's Day is coming up. I will be sending home a list of the students both in our class and Mr. Schreurs' class since we spend a lot of time with them. We will have a chance to give valentines to students in both classes. I will send home a note with Valentine's Day details this week.
We will be going to Rivershire the afternoon of February 12th. Please let me or Mrs. Brooks know if you can come on the trip.
The 100th day of school is on Wednesday! I sent home a crown with your child to decorate with 100 things. There are directions in their take home folder. Hard to believe it is already the 100th day!
Monday you will see a note going home about the IXL website. This website is a part of our grant for our math program and we are hoping you will take advantage of using it at home with your child. Once you get the note, let me know if you have any questions.
If you haven't turned in your Read Across America logs, please get them turned in this week.
I will be setting up a new Scholastic book order because we have not had one in a while and many of you probably still have free book coupons to use. I will let you know as soon as I have it available online and I