Here we are into almost October and it looks like next week might be a little cooler! Soon we will be wishing for warmer days again once winter is fully upon us.
The weeks seem to be flying by. I can't believe that we have finished the sixth week of school. They have already matured and learned so much in such a short period of time. I am very proud of them and know that much of it is a testament to their wonderful parents. Thank you for your continuous support both in and outside of the classroom.
Overview of this week:
Centers:
Orange Table: Math! Math! Math... and gummi bears? After listening to a tasty counting story about gummi bears, the kids sorted gummi bears by color, counted them, recorded the results and then graphed the results. Oh yes and the best part they ate 5 gummi bears after they were finished! Who knew math could be so tasty and fun. You should have found their results in the backpack.
Yellow Table: Art! Art! Art! All of you have seen their paper plate faces by now. The kids worked on coloring a plate with a "people" colored crayon, cutting hair, a nose, and a smile. They sorted through buttons to find two that were the color of their eyes.
Green Table: Math! Math! Math... ten apples up on top! After listening to the story Ten Apples On Top, the kids drew a picture of themselves. Then they traced numbers on apples and colored them in an ab pattern. They glued the apples on top of their heads. The work will be hung up in the classroom so come by and check it out!
Red Table: Handwriting! Handwriting! Handwriting! The kids worked with the salt boxes to work on review their letter and numbers.
Handwriting: Our letter of the week was Aa. Please remind your child that the capital A always starts from the top to the bottom and then they make a bridge to connect the two lines. For a lower case a remind your child to make a magic c from the belt line (or the dot dot line) go up to the belt line and dive back down to the grass.
Monday: Aa white board practice and an Aa worksheet
Tuesday: Alphabet Books- read an Aa story, brainstormed Aa words, wrote Aa words in their alphabet book, illustrated their Aa words and did Aa practice in their alphabet book.
Thursday: Sentence Book- wrote an Aa sentence in their best handwriting.
Friday: Drew a directed draw picture of an A word using the letter a
Worked on the A cut and paste page for their own ABC book.
Next weeks letter of the week is Dd.
Open Court:
Rhyming: Put rhyming picture puzzles together as a class
Letter of the Day: Worked on the letter of the day-Gg,Hh,Ii,Jj,Kk, and Ll. We practice the letters on white boards and in the handwriting work book to give the kids more experience with the letters before we get to the letter of the week.
Alphabet Work: Worked on letter sounds and the ABC book. The kids were given a plastic bag with the letters A-G in them.They had to put them in alphabetical order from left to right.
Sight Words: We introduced our first three "star words" to the kids. The words are the, a, I. You should find small white books that they made. Please keep them so that the kids can read them and work with them. We call these words star words because the kids are expected to be able to read and write them by the end of the year.
Math:
The kids started in the math books this week. We continued working on patterns and shapes. Some of the kids are still having difficulty with the different kinds of patterns. Everyone seems to AB,ABC, AAB, or ABB patterns with colors and shapes but they are having some real difficulties with size patterns. The standard for patterning in identifying, extending, and creating their own.
Homework Next Week:
In the homework folder is a letter with the first star word list. This is a self paced program between now and the end of the year. Your child is expected to complete all 7 lists between now and June. Don't worry if they are not ready right now we have plenty of time. On the other hand if your child is ready to read the first list of sight words please send them back and we will read them together in class. They need to know them on sight not sounding them out, and you should mix up the words to make sure the kids know them and don't just have them memorized in order. Every time your child brings in a new list they will have to read all the old lists as well so keep practicing all of the words. Save your half of the star word sheet.
Please sign-up to volunteer for the Rancho Round-Up if you haven't. It would be sad if games had to be pulled because their weren't enough volunteers.
Also you may send one check no matter which order forms you order from. Please send them in by Friday.
I will be at the Novato Rotaract booth at Blues by the Lake all day if you are going tomorrow. Please stop by and say hello!
Sarah
