Hello Everyone!
I can’t believe that January has raced by so quickly! Here are some of the fun things we have been working on since the New Year!
Reader's Workshop
We are really enjoying our Nonfiction unit. The children have been working on:
-Identifying Nonfiction Text Features (Why are they important? What can you learn from them?)
-Generating Questions
-Stop and Jots (recording their new learning and thoughts)
-Finding the meaning of unfamiliar words
-Author's Purpose
New Year’s Resolutions
The children worked on writing New Year’s Resolutions. They came up with two or three goals they have for the new year and wrote them down. They worked very hard on their writing and came up with some wonderful resolutions!
Martin Luther King, Jr.
On the Friday before MLK day, the children watched a short brainpopjr video on Martin Luther King, Jr. We also read the book, Martin’s Big Words. The children discussed what Martin Luther King’s dreams were. Then, they had the opportunity to complete an organizer expressing a dream that they have. The children completed a writing titled, My Dream.
Social Studies and Writing
We started our new social studies/ writing unit on U.S. Symbols, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. The children listened to a book about citizens and rights and responsibilities. They learned about the qualities and responsibilities of a good citizen. The children then discussed how they are good citizens at school, home, and in their community. Each child wrote about what makes them a good citizen.
The children researched George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They listened to books and as a class we wrote a list of important facts about their lives. The children then chose five important facts to record on their facts sheet about each George and Abraham. Next week, the children will write about their favorite president (George Washington or Abraham Lincoln) that we researched. Using their graphic organizer, they will write a paragraph about their president. They will complete their paper by turning it into a replica of George or Abe.
Over the last few weeks, each child chose one symbol to research using pebblego. Then, they wrote a report about their symbol. The children each had the opportunity to present their report to the class. We continued our research on the symbols books and short video clips. It was so exciting to see how excited the children got. Several children brought in extra pages of research they completed at home and a few even made projects to go along with their reports. We will conclude our unit next week.
Math
In Math, we started Unit 5. The children worked with base-10 blocks to model whole numbers less than 100. They also identified whole numbers modeled by base-10 blocks. They exchanged base-10 cubes and longs to show different representations of the same numbers.
Star Students
Joanna, Will, and Amelia were our star students this month. Thanks Connor, Joanna, Will, and Amelia for sharing all about you!
Royal Readers
A special thank you to Joanna’s mom and sister, Will’s parents, and Amelia’s mom who all joined us this month as our Royal Readers. The children loved listening to all the stories that you read!
Global School Play Day
Just a reminder, Wednesday, February 1st is Global School Play Day. Our classroom will be playing in the afternoon, after lunch recess. Please have your child bring a game or toy to school. Remember NO ELECTRONIC GAMES/TOYS PLEASE! Also, please DO NOT send in anything that your child does not want other children to play with. We will do our very best to ensure that the games and toys are returned in the same fashion that they came to school.
Notes:
-Please continue to send your child to school each day with all their winter gear. The children will go outside to play as long as the temperature is not to cold! It also helps to label all their boots, mittens, hats, and coats. Sometimes the children have the exact same ones and it is hard for them to determine whose is whose!
-Thank you to those of you who sent in paper towel rolls for math. We now have enough! Thank you!
Have a great rest of the weekend!
