Hello Everyone!
I can’t believe that January has raced by so quickly and we’re already in February! 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
-Using the Table of Contents
-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 three to four 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 and the Tuesday after, 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. The children also used Seesaw to take a photo of themselves and record their own “big words” around it.
Social Studies and Writing
During the month of January, our social studies/ writing unit focused 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. This past week, the children wrote about their favorite president (George Washington or Abraham Lincoln) that we researched. Using their graphic organizer, they wrote a paragraph about their president. They completed their paper by turning it into a replica of George or Abe.
Each child also 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 using books and short video clips. It was so exciting to see how excited the children got.
Math
The children completed Unit 8 in math. Their math test came home at the start of last week. This unit focused on working with adding and subtracting within 20, solving real word number stories, and using a variety of strategies to reach an answer. The test was a little tricky for the children, so we spent some extra time reviewing the concepts in class and going over the most missed test problems. Please continue to review these concepts at home. We have now moved on to Unit 9 and the children are working on comparing objects by looking at their length and height. The students enjoyed documenting some of their learning using Seesaw.
Gumball Math
The children have enjoyed starting gumball math. They groan after lunch if I tell them, "today's not a gumball math day." As we continue to work on building our additon fact fluency, please use their gumball math tests to help them practice. They can use whatever problems they did not complete as practice. If you are looking for additional pages, please use this website:
The facts are listed by number and you can click and print only the pages you need. Remember the goal is for the child to complete 48, 49, or 50 problems in 3 minutes to move on to the next level.
Star Students
Ryelan, Miko, and Henry were our star students this month. Thanks Ryelan, Miko, and Henry for sharing all about you!
Royal Readers
A special thank you to Ryelan’s mom and Henry's parents who all joined us this month as our Royal Readers. The children loved listening to all the stories that you read!
Happy Birthday
A very happy birthday to Sophia. We hope you had a wonderful day!
Global School Play Day
Just a reminder, Wednesday, February 7th is Global School Play Day. Our classroom will be playing in the morning, until lunch. 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!
-100th Day is this Friday, February 9th. Don’t forget that your child is allowed to dress up like they are 100 years old.We have a full day of 100th day fun planned. I promise to share lots of fun photos from the day!
-Valentine’s Day is Wednesday, February 14th. We will have a small class party in the afternoon. Look for a letter coming home tomorrow that has directions for making a Valentine’s Day box with your child and our procedures for Valentines.
