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Literacy

Treasures: 

This week, in Treasures the children worked with ending blends (nd, st, nt, nk). They enjoyed a sorting activity called, “Stop Those Silly Blends.” The children had to place soccer balls (with words containing ending blends) into the correct net (labeled with one of the four blends). 

The children listened to and read different stories about teamwork. They learned that teamwork happens when: we work together, while playing sports, when working together on a project, we help one another, or when we cooperate to complete a task. The children read three different genres this week: fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. After each reading, the children worked on determining the author's purpose. Why did they write their story? Was it to teach the reader something or to entertain the reader. After reading, the children looked back in the text for clues and came up with the author's purpose. They determined that for two of our pieces this week, the purpose was to teach the reader about soccer and what happens during the game. 

Grammar Packets:

The children continued to work with writing sentences in our grammar packet this week. They had to proofread sentences and check for capitals at the beginning and to make sure that each sentence had a special end mark (period, question mark, or exclamation mark). They also had to unscramble a few sentences and write them in the correct word order.

Guided Reading:

We will be taking a short break from guided reading groups next week. I will be meeting with the children one on one to do a second round of running records. Reassessing allows me to make sure that each child is receiving reading instruction that best fits their instructional reading level. 

Writing

This week, the 1-1 authors published their narrative writing pieces. They worked extremely hard at rewriting their story in their best handwriting and adding careful, colorful, and detailed illustrations to support their writing. The authors also added an opening and closing sentence to complete their small moment piece. These will be on display in the hallway at conference time so you can enjoy them!  

Math 

In Math, the children worked with recognizing, describing, and creating visual patterns. They found patterns around our classroom and then worked with a partner to create their own patterns using craft sticks. 

The children were also introduced to even and odd numbers. They worked with their tool kit pennies to explore even and odd number patterns. The children noticed the following patterns:

-Even numbers end in 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8.

-Odd numbers end in 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9.

-Even numbers are counts by 2s, starting with 0.

Later in the week, the children worked with their number grids to describe and compare number patterns. They looked at number patterns for counts of 2s, 5s, and 10s. 

Science

The scientists worked hard this week to complete three exploration lessons. On Tuesday, they worked with identifying plant parts: the stem, leaf, fruit, and seeds. The scientists learned that we call the part of the plant containing the seeds, the fruit. They worked in small groups to dissect three fruits: an apple, corn, and green bean. They observed the fruits and discussed what the fruit and seeds looked like. They chose one to observe further and wrote about it in their science journal. 

On Wednesday, the scientists enjoyed a lesson on seed dispersal. They learned that seed dispersal is the way that a seed travels away from the parent plant. The scientists watched a short video showing the three ways that seeds are dispersed: by animals, wind, and water. After, they worked together to complete a seed sort where they had to move different seeds into the correct seed dispersal category. 

On Friday, the scientists continued their study of seeds, they observed and dissected a lima bean seed to see what was inside. Then they prepared the lima bean and some corn seeds to try and sprout in a moist paper towel. Over the next week, the scientists will observe and monitor the growth of the sprouts.  

Pumpkin Math and Pumpkin Carving

The children had a great time on their pumpkin fun Friday. In the morning, they enjoyed a trip to the Dryden Pumpkin Patch to select their very own pumpkin. Then they became a pumpkin investigator as they used their pumpkin to complete a pumpkin math packet. The investigators began by estimating the height, weight, measurement, and number of lines on their pumpkin. Then using their investigative tools they found out the correct height, weight, measurement, and number of lines on their pumpkin. They also drew a picture of what they wanted their carved pumpkin to look like.  

In the afternoon, the children loved having a family member or volunteer come in to help them carve their pumpkin. What a sight it was to see the children and volunteers hard at work carving so many pumpkins. Thank you to everyone for coming and making this an enjoyable event for the children. The pumpkins looked great! Enjoy a slide show below of the day’s activities. 

Star Student

Jackson was our star student this week. Thanks Jackson for sharing all about you!

Royal Reader

A special thank you to Jackson’s Mom, she joined us this week as our Royal Reader. The children enjoyed listening to two wonderful books, Pigs Can’t Fly! and I’m So Embarrassed. 

Notes:

-Monday, October 29th- November 15th: Dryden Food Drive, please read the flyer from the last post for more information.

-Wednesday, October 31st: The Halloween Parade will start at about 1:15. We will parade out the front doors and head north on Dryden to Fairview, west on Fairview to Bristol, south on Bristol to Rockwell, east on Rockwell to Lincoln, returning to the school  playground area. Following the parade, the students will have a brief recess period, then return to our classroom for some fun activities. For more information on Halloween lunch procedures and costume questions, read this weeks Dolphin Splash. 

-Here are some Halloween Safety tips: 

 Have a great rest of the weekend!