December 2-13

One more week until Christmas Break! Time is flying! Here's what we have been up to:

Math:
-We worked on lucky number 7 last week and used two sided counters to show all the different ways to make 7. We used white boards to write down the math sentences and practiced putting the plus sign and equals sign in the correct spot!
-We continue to work on ten frames and recognizing how many are in a frame without having to count.
-We learned another 2D shape: the rectangle! We talked about the similarities and differences between the rectangle and triangle and found where the rectangles four vertices and edges are.

Language Arts:
-Wagner Wolf was our letter friend last week and Yosobee Yak was our friend this week. Both of these letters have tricky sounds so we practiced really hard on identifying, saying and making words with these beginning sounds.
-We just finished the heart words for Unit 2 (the orange words that were sent home). We continue to work on writing and reading these words everyday! We will not introduce Unit 3 words until after Christmas, so reviewing Unit 1 and Unit 2 over the break would be so beneficial for your child!
-We are learning a reading strategy to help us read words we do not know. It is called Lips the Fish! Lips the Fish reminds us to get our lips ready to say the first sound in a word we come to that we do not know.
-Our word families have been -et and -eg. E is such a tricky sound but they are doing a wonderful job of blending sounds with these families to make words.

Writer's Workshop:
-After reading the book, Ain't Gonna Paint No More, we learned that our words are powerful and if we want something or want someone to know something we can write it down. We have been making posters to tell people things we want them to remember or know. Take a look :)

   

And here is a finished book! All About Planets!

 

  


   

Discovery:
-Last week we had fun doing lots of different activities with the gingerbread man! We read many different stories and compared and contrasted them. Then we voted on our favorite gingerbread book!

We also painted gingerbread houses and decorated them with dot paint.

  

And labeled a gingerbread man...

And made a gingerbread cowboy!

 

And this week we learned about different Christmas traditions. We also made a Christmas tree of our own and decorated it with lights and ornaments!

It's been a fun two weeks! Here are some backstage pictures of our Christmas concert last week!

   

End of November

This is a major catch up post! So sorry for getting behind! Here's what we have been up to!

Math:

-We learned that 2-D shapes are flat and that a triangle has 3 vertices (corners) and 3 edges (sides). We made triangle man to help us remember that and also drew pictures of real world things that are n the shape of triangles. One of the most important things to remember about a triangle is that if it has 3 vertices and 3 edges it is ALWAYS a triangle, no matter if its skinny, fat, upside down or right side up!

-We have been working on decomposing the number 6 and double checking our work so we never do the same number sentence.

-We learned what the addition sign means and what kinds of words tell us to add: altogether, total, sum, both) We have practiced listening to story problems and drawing pictures of the parts and counting both parts to find out the whole. 

- We learned what "counting on" means. When we see two numbers that need to be added together we find the biggest number first, say it, and then add the next number from there. (Ex: 6+2....we would count 6..7, 8. Instead of counting back to 1)

Language Arts:

-Letter R, M and W are the letters we have been talking about. We know that the sounds of the letters are very important because letters make up words and when we know the sounds of the letters we can sound out words!

-During Daily 5 time your child is doing an excellent job of reading books, writing stories, learning sight words and listening to books...all great things to develop their minds into readers!

-Our word families have been en, et, and ed. Letter e is a tricky sound and we are working really hard to hear the /e/ sound and say words in these families. 

Writer's Workshop

-Last week we finished our unit on "How to" writings and we started a new one called "Writing for a Reason." In this unit we are learning that our words are powerful and when we want our reader to know something, we need to use powerful words so they can understand. We are learning that we can communicate with people through written words, not just spoken ones. 

Discovery

-Our two week unit on Native American ended Friday. We studied the Plains Indians, Southwest Indians and Northwest Indians. Although each area has a lot of similarities, they used different resources based on their environment to make homes, transportation and weapons. Tipis, pueblos, totem poles, clothing, food and traditions were the topics we covered. We made our own native american apparel and had a celebration at lunch one day. We are very thankful for the Native Americans and their kindness and friendship to the Pilgrims.