Reading Strategies

During our reading block, your child has been learning new strategies to help them become a better reader.  We have focused on asking questions before, during, and after reading.  We have taught your child to ask questions about things they are curious about ("I wonder"), words or sentences they don't understand, what the story is about, and what may happen next. 
In addition to asking questions, we have asked students to make predictions while they read about what the story may be about or what may happen next.  We explained that students should be using their schema (personal knowledge and experiences) as well as clues from the text to make predictions.  They are encouraged to explain their thinking behind their predictions because we all know that good readers think while they read! 
Being good thinkers is important while they read because sometimes answers to questions or the meaning to words may not be written in the book.  In these situations, we now have to teach your child how to INFER!  We have defined inferring as filling in, in your head, what is not written on the page.  This is connected to asking deep-thinking questions because the answers to deep thinking questions will not be in the book and readers are forced to think about the answer.  Just like predicting, they need to use the clues from the text (e.g., pictures and words) and their schema to help them make sense of the text. 
This is a very difficult strategy for young and developing readers and requires lots of practice!  With your help at home to reinforce this strategy, your child will continue to grow into fabulous readers!

Math- Number Sense

Currently, your child is learning how to add and subtract numbers using a number of different strategies.  We are practicing to determine the names of numbers (different ways to add a number, e.g., 2+3=5, 1+4=5, etc...).  Also, we will be teaching your child how to count on from a number to add and count back from a number to subtract.  As well as to add more than one number together (e.g., 2+3+4+3=12).
Please practice any strategies you can show your child to add and subtract numbers.  Use tools around your home (e.g., socks, utensils, crayons, etc...) to add groups together and turn everyday events into math stories for your child to act out and solve.  For example: "There are 6 slices of bread left in the bag.  If you take 2 slices out to make a sandwich, how many are left?". 
The more ways you try to use math in everyday situations, the easier your child will be at solving mathematical problems at school!

We Are Learning...

The students are having fun learning our current units. Here is an update of what we are currently learning...

In reading, students are learning to ask questions to deepen their understanding of a story. We have a really fun song that we sing - ask them to perform it for you! The students have learned about question words and have practiced asking questions. We are currently focusing on sorting questions into "quick questions" where the answers are found in the book and "deep thinking questions" where we have to use our heads (eg. prior knowledge and clues from the text to infer an answer).

In writing, students are writing procedures. They really enjoy writing about how to do something properly! We have written some together and they have practiced writing a couple independently (eg. how to wash your hands, how to log onto the computer). We've also introduced a success criteria checklist for the students to self-assess their work and practice making it better before submitting to the teacher for feedback.

In math, we finished up our unit on measurement and have started learning about money. Students are learning the names of the coins and their value. We are practicing counting money in various combinations (eg. how much money is 2 dimes and 1 nickel) and by practicing making a money amount in different ways (eg. 25 cents can be made up with 1 quarter or 25 pennies or 2 dimes and 1 nickel). We'll be practicing making purchases and figuring out how we can pay for the items we want. They are having a lot of fun with this!

In social studies, we have been learning about community helpers. We've talked about many jobs in our community, how they help meet our needs and wants, the buildings they work at and the tools they  use in their jobs. Each student made a community building and we put it together into a mini-city in our classroom! They loved it! We'll be moving on soon to our Science Unit on Living Things.

In art, they have been learning about the life of Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet and replicating some of their work using oil pastels. Our room is decorated with their versions of Van Gogh sunflowers and it has us all happy are ready for Spring :)

In gym, we have been learning how to throw and catch various objects.  We have been practicing this skill in order to play a variety of cooperative games.  Our next few units will focus on balancing poses, obstacle courses, and soccer skills.

100th Day Projects

On Tuesday, February 14th, we had a very busy day in room 108.  Not only did we celebrate Valentine's day but it was also our 100th day of school!  As you know, the children were at home with you working hard on their 100th day projects to help them practice counting to 100.  The projects were done beautifully! There were many unique and interesting ideas you and your child came up with to represent the number 100!  I've posted the pictures for all of you to see the wonderful projects each child completed! 

Thank you all for your efforts at home.  I hope you enjoyed the experience of helping your child count to 100!

Valentine's Day

We will be having a Valentine's Day Celebration on Tuesday! Please feel free to send in Valentine's day cards for children in our class.  We have 16 students in total and I know the kids love exchanging Valentine's!

100th Day Projects

I hope you are all enjoying working on your 100th day project. I am really looking forward to seeing all the students' creations!! Please remember to send the work in on Tuesday so we can share them with the class.

Here are some examples to help you!

Writing

Currently in writing, your child is learning to write a recount.  A recount is a written piece about a personal experience.  Students are asked to either think of a personal experience of their own they would like to write about or are given a specific experience that we may all have had as a class.  Similar to retelling a story, we have divided a recount into 3 parts; a beginning, middle, and end.  In the beginning, students are asked to write about who, what, where, and when their experience was.  In the middle, we would like students to write important steps during their experience.  Each step should begin with the following time clue words: First, next, then, and finally.  In the end, students are asked to describe the feelings they had during or after their experience and why. 

As we do with all of our writing pieces, students are required to follow the success criteria.  The success criteria for writing is for students to write using capital letters correctly, include finger spaces between their words, write sentences that make sense, check to see if words look right and sound right (especially high frequency words), and end each sentence with a period. 

For extra practice, have your child write a recount about their day at school and encourage your child to follow the success criteria to continue to improve their writing.

I hope you're looking forward to reading your child's recount! I know I am!