GREAT WEBSITE ALERT! I love to use books to spark conversations with my class and my own children. I find it very
useful when I have a good book on hand to help discuss tough topics or just the daily peaks and pits of an elementary school child. http://booksthathealkids.blogspot.com
READING:
We have been reading great books during our reading block. Some of them are: Hen Hears Gossip by Megan McDonald; Armadillo Tattletale by Helen Ketteman; Come On, Rain! by Karen Hesse; My Brave Year of Firsts, Tries, Sighs, and High Fives by Jamie Lee Curtis & Laura Cornel; LMNO peas by Keith Baker; The Letters are Lost by Lisa Campbell Ernst; and Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White
We've continued our talk about how using our SCHEMA and making connections (text-to-text; text-to-self; and text-to-world) really helps the reader understand the story. We also have been practicing making MENTAL IMAGES as we read. You may want ask your child questions about their reading at home. What connections did you make (text-to-text, text-to-self, text-to-world)? What did you visualize?
WRITING:
We have begun our next unit of study - Personal Narratives. We have looked at the books mentioned about to get narrative ideas. Students created a topic list. We decided that we can write about a special time we spent with family, something we have done with a friend or friends, a small moment, or our "firsts" (first sleepover, first lost tooth...). We started planting our story "seeds" into our Writer's Notebooks. We have noticed that stories have Great Beginnings (that often answer Who?What?When? Where? questions, a Middle (with details that help the reader feel part of the story), and an engaging ending. We read several books that help demonstrate some of these things: Saturdays and Teacakes by Lester Laminak, Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee and Swimming with Dolphins by Lambert Davis.
MATH:
we are finishing up the last two lessons in Unit 2 this week. I will give the math assessment for this unit on Wednesday. The assessment includes reading a TALLY graph, adding nickels and pennies, drawing the hands on a clock to show the time to the hour, addition and subtraction to 10, and counts by 2s and 5s on the number line.
PBIS:
We are working toward 30 class hoots. Students are also working on showing The Willard Way.
Our Cool Tool for the week: Respecting Personal Space