January 6-17

Back to school and back to work!! The last two weeks have been getting back into routine and remembering the expectations of school! We had fun doing projects of snowmen and many winter activities.

Math:
We began a new math unit when we returned from school and learned all about the numbers 8 and 9 and how to decompose them. We learned about a new 2D shape, the circle, and came up with circle shapes we see everyday in the environment. We have really been working hard on addition and using different tools to help us solve the problem. (Ex: our fingers, the number line, linking cubes, and dominos). We will begin learning and memorizing math facts to 5 so we don't need any manipulative to solve it, we will just know it! Here are some fun games we play during our math time:

                Roll-A-Dice Addition                                     Domino Addition

   

              Domino Addition                                               Mystery Number

   

Language Arts
We have gotten into such a great routine during our Language Arts time. While I meet with small groups each day, the students are busy around the room visiting a variety of different learning activities. They work on writing, heart words, reading, word families, letters, sounds and so much more! They get to do 3 stations a day and continue working throughout the week to visit all 9 stations. In our small group time we are reading books, writing sentences with heart words and learning reading strategies. I love this time of the day and it is fun to see the learning taking place in each of them!

Writer's Workshop
We did not start a new writer's workshop unit, but instead worked on different writing prompts for our winter unit. "If I lived in a snow globe..." was one of our favorites to think and write about.

 

Discovery:
During our discovery time we discussed the season of winter. We read lots of great snowman books and compared and contrasted the different books.

 

We made lots of snowmen, did a winter drawing and talked about what we like to do in the snow.

This week we are beginning our study of penguins! It will be a fun week!