November 22nd Newsletter

                    

Important Dates

November

          26 – Report Cards Go Home

      27, 28, & 29 – No School –

                             Thanksgiving Break

December

          17 – Early Dismissal

          20 – Classroom Holiday Party – 2:00

          23 – Winter Break Begins

     Izzy will be our “student of the week” for the week of December 2.

        Since next week is a short week due to the Thanksgiving Break, there won't be a newsletter or a spelling test.  Our next spelling test will be on Friday, December 6. The words for that week are listed below. I hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving with your families.

Spelling Words

bed, wet, prod, holly, party, story, happy, so, my, family

Comprehension Strategies

     We will be working on visualizing what you read without using pictures from a book.  I have been reading poems to the students.  They need to think about them, turn to their partner, and share what they pictured.  This activity is called, “Think, Pair, Share.”

We also drew a picture of what they visualized.  These activities are a part of our “Making Meaning” books/reading curriculum.

Phonics Skills

     We will be working on initial blends (grin, crab, flag, etc.).  We will also work on using a 'y' at the end of a multisyllable word.

Grammar Lesson

     We will work on reviewing pronouns.

Report Cards

       Report cards will be going home on Tuesday, November 26.  You may keep the paper that is inside the envelope.  Please sign the envelope and return it after Thanksgiving break.  Thanks.

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

November 15th Newsletter

            

 Important Dates

November

          15 – Movie Night

          20 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

          26 – Report Cards Go Home

27, 28, & 29 – No School –

                             Thanksgiving Break

December

          17 – Early Dismissal

          20 – Classroom Holiday Party – 2:00

          23 – Winter Break Begins

   Math

   In math, we have been working on addition and subtraction strategies.  In our centers we made subtraction flash cards and practiced learning the facts with a partner.  We also worked on fact families some more.  We used triangular flashcards to practice how to make 2 addition problems and 2 subtraction problems using the 3 numbers on the card.  The children did a nice job with this activity.

Emilija will be our “student of the week” for the week of November 18th.

Spelling Words

hop, fit, grin, duck, neck,

clock, lick, go, no, broomstick

Author of the Month

  We have been reading Leo Lionni books during the month of November.  The children are getting good at figuring out the moral to each story.  We visited the Random House website about Leo Lionni and were able to watch a couple of short videos explaining how he made his drawings and what he was like growing up.  It was very interesting.

    

Reading

     During the Daily 5, we have been working on reading unknown words using reading strategies such as “eagle eye,” “fish lips,” “chunky monkey,” and “skippy Scott.”  Ask your child to explain to you how to use these strategies while reading.

Comprehension Strategies

     We will be using poetry to visualize in order to make sense of the text.  We will also be using schema and inference as the children visualize the poems they are listening to.

Phonics Skills

     We will be working on –ck.  We will also be reviewing the short vowel sounds.

Grammar Lesson

We will be working on blends at the beginning of words.

Have a nice weekend!

November 7th Newsletter

Important Dates

November

8 – No School

            11 – No School – Veteran's Day

          15 – Movie Night

          20 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

          26 – Report Cards

27, 28, & 29 – No School –

                             Thanksgiving Break

Math

     In math, we have been working on subtraction strategies such as counting up, using ten frames to subtract, and using fact families to figure out answers.

      Our student of the week for the week of November 12-15 will be Tyler.

      

Exploration Station

     We will be starting a new unit in science dealing with weather.  Our first topic that will be covered is hurricanes & tornadoes.  We will be reading books and then comparing & contrasting the 2 types of weather using a Venn diagram.  We will also be playing on a website which allows the children to change the size & strength of a tornado and see what happens. 

Comprehension Strategies

  We will be working on the comprehension strategies of sequencing/retelling and referring to the story to support their thinking,

Phonics Skills

     We will be working on words that end in –ss and –zz.  We will also work on clusters with “l” (block, plan, etc.), blending short “o” words, clusters with “r” (train, crow, etc.) and contractions.

Grammar Lesson

     We will be working on pronouns (he, she, it, you, we, I, and they).

Spelling Words

ox, run, from, buzz, cross, less, miss, there, they, crossroad

Fire Safety

      Last week, a firefighter/paramedic, came to our school and talked about fire safety.  We learned about choosing a special meeting place in case of a fire, how to “stop, drop, and roll,” and that we should never go back inside to get something we forgot.  He also showed us the special gear that firemen wear and we talked about how it sounds when firemen speak with their oxygen tanks on. 

Have a Happy Veteran’s Day!