Dear Fish Families:

I added some pictures to our FLICKR account. You can access them by clicking on the FLICKR tab at the top of our blog page.

Thank you to our field trip volunteers! What an amazing show we got to see. I hope your children told you all about it.

Here is a glimpse into our week:

Literacy Centers:  We worked on our third sight word this week. We used David Shannon's book  No, David! to do a lot of our work. The children learned the correct way to write D & P. We are focusing on starting our letters at the top when writing. We continue to play rhyming games.

Readers' Workshop:  We have been working on how readers connect the pages of a book by using linking works like "and then." This reinforces the concept that the pages in a book go together and helps readers retell a book.  We talked about how readers read to think. The children used Post-It notes to mark a place in a book that made them think. Many of them marked pages that reminded them of their lives which is perfect! We sketched quick pictures of our faces and called it "adding a pinch of you" to a book. They then shared their thinking with partners. 

Writers' Workshop:  Like Lois Ehlert, your writers are beginning to label their writing. This week we began to take our pages and make them into books. Our reading work is helping to reinforce that pages should go together in a book. This is a concept some writers are beginning to grasp and other will be working on more in the weeks to come. 

Math:  It's hard to believe we are already working on our 2nd math unit. This week we matched dot cards showing equal numbers of dots in different arrangements. This focuses on Common Core Standard K.CC.4B (understanding conservation of number).  We spent some time learning about the triangle. Some of the children were tricked when I turned a triangle upside down and asked if it was still a triangle. They now know that it is!  We searched for triangles in magazines and cut them out for a triangle collage. I am finishing up our end of Unit 1 assessments and will be sending the results home by the end of next week.

Visual Arts:  We made Pete the Cat from various shapes this week.

Song of the Week:  Freeze Dance

Some Books We Read:  Growing Vegetable Soup, Class Clown, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes, Actual Size 

Up-Coming Events:

• No School-10/10
• Word of the Week-in
• Phonics- k & g
• Handwriting- B and R 
• Early Release for Conferences-10/26 & 11/2

Wish List:

• Rice (an inexpensive kind for our texture table)

Fondly,
Kristen

September 25, 2016

Dear Fish Families:

Here is a glimpse into our week:

Literacy:  Your children worked in the book Little Brother by Joy Cowley this week. This was our shared reading book of the week. It featured our sight word, he. We also stamped and traced our sight word of the week. We have been playing rhyming games during literacy center time.  The children worked in their handwriting journal for the first time practicing F & E.

Readers' Workshop: This week we learned about how readers re-read to notice or learn more. The are sharing "wow" pages (or pages that remind them of something in their lives) with partners.

Writers' Workshop: The children are telling lots of stories through pictures. This week we practiced stretching out words to write the sounds we hear. This labeling is an important first step to writing. Some children are ready to attempt labeling with beginning sounds and some are hearing ending sounds, too. Others are writing their names or other familiar names. We have new alphabet charts in our folders to use as a writing tool. These fish are beginning to take risks and leave their writing comfort zones!

Math:  This week we did some "quick looks" at groups of dots. The children are working on looking at sets and telling how many dots they saw, but trying not to count them. They are composing and decomposing numbers by looking quickly at dots in different arrangements. This skill is called subitizing. We also worked on describing shapes. The children used important math language (ie: curvy, straight, line, corner, point, long, short, round, side, wide) to describe various shapes. We also have been patterning. There are 2 types of patterns we are working on. 

The first is growing. 

The second is repeating. 

We have completed our first math unit!

Song of the Week:  Pop See Ko 2.0 (GoNoodle.com)

Some Books We Have Read:  Rhyming Dust Bunnies, Corduroy, Pete the Cat Rocking in my School Shoes, Caps for Sale, Seven Blind Mice, Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes

Up-Coming Events:

• Early Release- 9/28
• Music Hall Field Trip- 9/28
• Word of the Week-no
• Phonics- f & v
• Handwriting- D and P 
• No School- 10/10
• Early Release- 10/26 

Wish List:

• foam hand soap
• sandwich sized "ziploc" type bags

Have a great weekend!
Kristen