February 23, 2012

We have almost finished our unit on dinosaurs and it has been a blast!  We wrote a nonfiction book about five types of dinosaurs, measured dinosaur tails, made dinosaur fossils, measured with a t-rex tooth, excavated chocolate chips from a cookie, and did many other fun activities!  I think our whole class enjoyed learning about these reptiles.

In literacy, we continue to meet several times each week for reading groups.  I am very impressed with the way our class points to words as they read, reads sight words, and uses reading clues (like looking at the picture, trying to sound out a word, or asking for help) to figure out the words they don't know.  Many reading groups are starting to read more difficult books with lots of dialog.  We have been discussing quotation or "talking" marks and have been practicing the word SAID, even though it is not on our sight word list.  Thanks you for continuing to practice reading and sight words at home with your child each night!

We started writer's workshop this week.  I showed the class how to draw a story map as a plan for writing a story.  Everyone chose a topic for their first story and drew a few details onto their maps.  Now, we have started writing one page of the book each day.  When they are finished, we will make covers for the books and publish them in our classroom library.  I am so excited to see the great ideas coming from our students!  Story writing is a fun activity to do at home as well!

In math, we have finished chapter 8 on time and money.  We will continue to review coins and telling time to the hour and half hour.  These are tricky concepts and we need to keep practicing!  Our next chapter is on measurement.  We have done lots of measuring this year already, so this will be a great review.

Next week, we will begin a month-long author study on Dr. Seuss.  I am excited to read many of his books with the class and discuss the similarities and differences between his books.  Feel free to check out some of his books from the Edgerton library and read some at home!  You will probably notice that many of his books have tons of our sight words in them, many have rhyming words, and there are lots of silly characters in his books.  We have many fun activities planned to go along with Dr. Seuss books this month.

Reminders:
*Library is every Tuesday.  Be sure your child returns his/her books on library day!
*Conferences are next Thursday.  Thursday is also an early release day for students.
*Check out the new snack calendar to see when your child should bring snack for the class!

Pictures of February projects:

T-rex noodle skeleton

Stegosaurus noodle skeleton

A bag of candy hearts written by our class!

February 8, 2012

Yesterday we learned a little about putting words into alphabetical (ABC) order.  First, our class worked together to lay out letter circles from A to Z on the carpet.  Then, we used sight word cards and placed them on the alphabet according to the letter they started with.  We used this technique to order some dinosaur words on our own!  This is a concept that you can help your child practice at home.  You can also try putting letters in ABC order!

In math, we have started learning about coins.  We talked about the penny yesterday and practiced counting pennies.  Next, we will be practicing counting by 5s (nickel).  This is a fun activity to practice at home, too!

Jacob's collection of 100 things



Anna's 100 year old self-portrait



Nicholas's writing about $100: "If I had 100 dollars I would go to Lambeau Field."



Ellen's Snowmen at Night writing: "At night my snowman sparkles."



Monday, February 6

The last few weeks have been busy, busy, busy!!!  We have been busy reading all kinds of Jan Brett books, doing lots of reading and writing, and learning about polar animals.  We have learned new sight words over the last few weeks and have been practicing them every day.  Thank you for your help and continued practice at home!  Please add the words an, and, he, she, and said to the list of words you have been practicing.

Last week, we learned about Groundhog day and celebrated the 100TH DAY of SCHOOL!!!  We had so much fun doing activities with the number 100.  Highlights included the partner dot game, race to 100, comparing volume and mass of 100 things, putting our 100 collections onto our jars, taking 100 steps, and doing all the fun 100th day rotations on Friday. 

This week we are starting our unit on dinosaurs.  Today we learned about the Triceratops.  We learned that they were plant eaters, traveled in herds, had 3 horns, and they had a sharp beak.  Things to look forward to during our dinosaur unit include making fossils, measuring dinosaur "tails" and making dinosaur skeletons.  We have also started chapter 8 in our math series.  We will be learning about the penny, nickel, and dime and learning how to tell time!   These are great things to review at home with your child.

Reminders:
Preference sheets (single grade or multi-age) for those attending Community Elementary School next year need to be returned by this Wednesday.

Field Trip Money - $4.50 per student due next week Monday for our field trip to the Overture Center.

Library books need to be returned every Tuesday!