Week of 1/6

Reading
We spent some time each day reviewing our vowels. Students should be able to tell you that a vowel makes an open-mouthed sound. Vowels are important because they can make different sounds (short, long, and other variations) and are present in every word in our language. We sang our Vowel Song (to the tune of BINGO) and used vowel cards to practice making the short and long sounds for each.

For shared reading, we read One Red Sled. We used this story to practice important reading skills such as making predictions, identifying story elements, and retelling.

Handwriting
We spent lots of time working in our handwriting books. Our focus was on "dive down" letters such as Nn, Mm, Hh and Bb. For these lowercase letters, students needed to dive down for their first stroke, then swim up to complete the letter. Students worked hard to follow the directions for each stroke and to make sure each letter was the proper size.


Writing
I read Knuffle Bunny to the class and we talked about how strong emotions, like feeling sad or mad, can lead to an interesting story. We brainstormed, wrote, illustrated and shared our own stories over the course of the week. Our young illustrators created impressive pictures by using labels and speech bubbles.

Math
We began Unit 4 in math, which is all about measurement. The family letter was sent home in red totes this week describing the specific learning goals and activities of this unit. Students learned measurement vocabulary such as "shorter," longer," and "compare." They used nonstandard units of measurement to practice finding the length of a variety of objects. Units included string, connecting cubes, paper clips, and tiles. They had opportunities to put sets of objects in order from shortest to longest. They also spent time measuring sets of fish and deciding if each fish was long enough to be a "keeper."


In addition, we spent time learning about analog clocks and and how to tell time to the hour. Students learned about the parts of a clock (face, hour hand, minute hand) and how to move the hands on a clock to show a time. Our current goal is to accurately tell time to the hour but by the end of the year, they will be able to tell time to the hour and half hour.

Upcoming Dates

• There is no school on Monday, January 20 for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Thank you,

Mrs. Bradstreet