News You Can Use!

Enjoy reading about all our learning adventures from this week!

Reading

This week, we continued to build our classroom reading community. At the beginning of the week, the children were introduced to their responsibilities and expectations to follow during reading workshop. We will continue to work on these responsibilities and expectations during our launch unit.

The children were also introduced to the best place to read. They practiced picking the best place to read in the classroom. The children were encouraged to think about these questions:

-Is it a comfortable spot?

-Is the atmosphere good?

-Is it a quiet area?

-Is it an area where I won’t be interrupted frequently?

-Is there proper lighting?

After, the children chose the best place to read, they practiced building their stamina. The class is very excited that they made it to 8 minutes today! We will continue working on building our reading stamina. The goal is for the children to be able to read independently for 20 minutes.

The children also created posters to share their favorite reading spot. The children chose to illustrate pictures of their favorite reading spot at home or at school. We would love for you to tweet us a picture of your child’s favorite reading spot at home. We will share these with the class next week. Tweet your pictures to @mrsmjohnson11 or email them to me! We can’t wait to celebrate our home/school reading connections. 

Today, the children worked on sharing strategies. We discussed what it looks and sounds like when you share with the class versus when you participate in partner turn-and-talk discussions.

Writing

This week, we continued our Autobiography unit. The children each started their own mini autobiography. They chose to write about either their favorite pet or animal. Then, they wrote a page about their favorite toy or game. The children continue to practice using the writing process that authors go through: Think, Draw, Label, and Write.

Math

In Math, the children continued working with number sense. They compared numbers, practiced writing numbers correctly, and practiced representing numbers using tally marks. The children were excited to create a Tally Chart to organize data. They created a class pet tally chart on the mimio. 

Today, the children used the laptops to log into everydaymathonline.com. The children practiced logging in using their username and password. Once on line, they were able to practice navigating the site to play some math games. The children may play these same games at home to practice their math skills. I sent home directions and your child’s login card in your child’s yellow curriculum night folder.

                                        

Social Studies

We finished our first social studies unit this on community helpers. The children learned about how letter carriers help our community. They listened to a book and then brainstormed ideas about how they help our community. The children completed their community helpers packet and brought it home to share with you. We are looking forward to our STEAM Career Day next Friday morning. The children will have the chance to rotate through 3 job presentations given by our very own Dryden Community members. We are excited to have a few of our 1-1 parents presenting! 

Next week we kick off our Maps Unit. If you have any family members or friends who live out of the state or country, ask them to visit our blog. The children will be very excited to view our different pin drops from all over the world on our blog map! Thanks for your help!

International Dot Day

On Thursday, the children had a wonderful time celebrating International Dot Day. They listened to, The Dot, by Peter Reynolds. We talked about how each of us can make a mark. The children shared ways that they will make their mark this year by doing something brave or something creative. The children also enjoyed creating their own dot art. They started with a blank canvas and used crayons and markers to create their own dot.  We have some remarkable artists in our room!

Notes:

-We started spelling this. Thank you for helping your child practice their words throughout the week. They took their posttest today. It will come home corrected on Monday. I will post spelling lists to the class blog starting Monday by chance your child’s list gets misplaced.

-Today, the children added their first poem to their Purple Poetry Folder. They will bring their folder home on Friday, please have your child read the poem with you over the weekend. Send the folder back to school on Monday. We will add many poems throughout the year.

-Please be sure to check your child’s red take home folder nightly. Encourage your child to show you the work they are bringing home.