Learning in First - Week 2
Weekly Overview:
This week has been full of new experiences! We have been continuing to get to know one another and have been reviewing our classroom routine and rules. we have talked a lot this week about listening to the speaker and following directions quickly. Additionally, out class has been working on staying on task while doing independent work. Below you can see how hard our class has been working and how their effort and hard work has been rewarded. They have been building up Brag Tags left and right! We are still working on staying focused and following directions with fewer reminders. Additionally, we have been continuing to build our stamina in reading to self! We made it up to 19 minutes this week! Our goal is to be able to read independently for 20 minutes at a time! We have been working EXTREMELY hard this week!
Spelling/ Phonics:
As you read earlier this week in our parent letter, each week throughout the school year we will be focusing on a particular phonics skill. This week our focus was on the short a sound, as in bat, cap, man, etc. Each week we will be working on similar practice and review strategies that will help to build consistency and routine in how we learn and practice these skills. This will also help us to become successful when working on practicing these phonics skills independently! As a reminder, a spelling/reading list will be sent home each week. This is not 'homework.' Rather, this is a suggestion of something to practice with your child. Just like in class, the more these skills are practiced at home, the more the will be remembered and used appropriately in speech and writing! We have tons of fun ways to practice, so if you are stumped or need some new ideas just ask!
Reading:
This week and next week's reading focus is on the story Chester's Way. We have been discussing the theme, which is about being respectful. We have been and will continue talking about 2 essential question - Why is it important to treat others respectfully? How can we treat others respectfully? These kiddos have some wonderful insight into both of these questions. Not only is this a topic of discussion, but we have been working on how to find evidence to support our findings. Additionally, we will learn new vocabulary words with each weeks focus story. This week's new words are
* Diagonally * Miniature * Duplicated * Rarely * Disguises
Writing:
We have been doing a lot of review this week with a focus on handwriting. The topic of our group discussions has been how we form our letters on the lines. We have practiced in a variety of ways and will continue throughout the coming weeks. We have also been working on remembering to add capital letters to the beginning of our sentences and a punctuation mark to the ending of our sentences!
Math:
Our focus this week in math has also been a review of concepts we learned last year in Kindergarten. We have been building number sense. This week we focused on the numbers 2-5. We talked about how to write the number as well as various was to represent the number. These representations include drawing pictures, tally marks, ten-frames, and math mountains. Additionally, we have been working on recognizing and writing the number names.
Reminders:
*If you have not done so already, please send a pair of headphones to school for your child, with their name on them. These will be kept at school all year. We will be using them often during computer time.
*Picture day is next Friday, September, 23rd. Bring those smiling faces!!
*Scholastic orders have been sent home. You can place either send in a check with your book order OR place an order online using our class code MCVDY. Orders are due September 30th!
