We are now beginning Unit 2 in Language Arts. Below are the power words, oral vocabulary words, letters, and sounds we will be mastering during the next 3 weeks. We will continue working on syllables and identifying the beginning and ending sounds of words.
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Monday, October 14 and Tuesday, October 15. We would like to meet with each of you! Please sign up by clicking the following link: Conference Sign Up Form
Thank you!
Our class was excited to check out books from the school library for the first time today! Here are a few things to note about library:
Library books are due every Friday. Checking out books from our school library is a privilege. To check out books students are expected to:
1- Follow the library rules (be respectful, follow directions, use a library voice, etc.)
2- Return library books (no outstanding books)
3- Select a book during the allotted time
Books can easily be damaged due to leaky water bottles, so we encourage students to keep their water bottles in the side pockets of their backpack and to check them regularly for leaks. Thanks for helping us protect our library books!
*”Reading Writing Companion” workbooks will come home after we’ve finished that particular unit in Language Arts (about every three weeks). We’ve encouraged the students to share their work and read the stories to you that we’ve been practicing in class!
Looking Ahead:
Here’s a quick overview of what we learned this week:
Comprehension strategy/skill: “Ask and Answer Questions” and “Topic and Details” . We read informational texts and poems to go along with our theme “How can your senses help you learn?”
New High Frequency Word: “see” (please continue to practice “we”, “I”, “can”, “the”, “a”)
Phonics: Sound and Spelling of Ss.
Phonemic Awareness: rhyming words, syllables, first, middle and last sounds we hear in words, adding, taking away and replacing words in compound words (or prefixes and suffixes), and blending sounds we hear to make a word.
We learn 5 new vocabulary words each week. This week’s words include: senses, explore, feast, kneads, finished.
Math: Lesson 11 “Count, Show, and Write Numbers 6 to 10”. We encourage students to use the lesson 11 worksheet packets that are sent home for extra practice!
Science: We’ve been investigating the effects of sunlight on Earth’s surface. After a brief review of the unit, students gathered observations of how shade influences the warming effect of sunlight, and then used those observations to predict where sunlight can be used to cook food.
Our Ice Cream Party Countdown has officially begun! Keep up the good work!
(*30 SCHOOL Days)
Looking Ahead:
Here’s a quick overview of what we learned this week:
Comprehension strategy/skill: “Ask and Answer Questions” and “Characters”. We read a fable, a fantasy and a non-fiction selection to go along with our theme “How do baby animals move?”
New High Frequency Word: “we” (please continue to practice “I”, “can”, “the”, “a”)
Phonics: Sound and Spelling of Aa.
Phonemic Awareness: We continue to learn sounds from our sounds wall. We learn how our mouth forms these sounds including what our tongue, teeth and lips are all doing. We work all year on rhyming words, chunking words into syllables, first, middle and last sounds we hear in words, adding and taking away and replacing words in compound words, and blending 3 sounds to make a word (consonant-vowel-consonant or CVC words).
Math: Lesson 5 “Compare Numbers to 5” and we continue to practice writing our numbers. Reversals are still very common and we praise when students write the correct number, even if it’s backwards, and then have them fix it because we’ve learned that fixing our mistakes helps us learn and grow.
Science: This week our class observed an interesting experiment that uses the heat of the sun. We discovered that a car in the sun gets hot enough to melt marshmallows and chocolate to make a sticky treat called a s’more!
If anyone is interested in covering our door with paper and taping on door decorations, please let me know: lteichert@questac.org.
Thank you!
We are selling Cookie Dough & Beef Jerky to help fund student activities (ie field trips) and school improvements.
Here are some things to know:
Watch this short, instructional video to get started (there are also instructions in the student packet). The code you’ll need to enter in the app for Quest is QUE832.
Thank you for your support!
Looking Ahead:
Here’s a quick overview of new things we learned this week:
Comprehension strategy/skill: “Ask and Answer Questions” and “Characters”. We read a fable, a fantasy, and an informational text to go along with our theme “How can we get along with friends?”
Power Words: “I“, “can” “a” and “the” (please practice these)
Phonics: Sound and Spelling of Mm.
Phonemic Awareness: We work all year on rhyming words, chunking words into syllables, first and last sounds we hear in words, adding and taking away and replacing words in compound words, and blending 3 sounds to make a word (consonant-vowel-consonant or CVC words).
Math: Lesson 4 “Count, Show, and Write Numbers to 5”. We are also working in our individual math lessons in iReady, counting to 20 and reading and writing our numbers 0-10. In addition, we are identifying which number comes next when we hear any number 1-99. You can help us at home by saying a random number 1-99 and asking us which number comes next.
Science: This week, we investigated how to bring light and warmth to a cold mountain town that doesn’t see the sun throughout winter. (This lesson is actually based on the story of a real town in Norway!) Students experimented with different materials and discovered that sunlight can be redirected using reflective materials. You can encourage your child’s curiosity at home! For example, is the sidewalk hotter in the sun or in the shade? Why is it helpful to park a car in the shade during the hot summer? Encourage your child to notice the heating effects of the sun all around them!
We are sending a “Practice At Home” paper today that can be returned next Friday (Sept. 20) as an incentive for students to practice new skills at home. They can earn “super stars” when returned with a parent’s signatures which helps them earn a trip to the treasure chest!
(I just discovered a typo on the page. It says Friday, Sept. 19 but it should say Friday, Sept. 20)
We are also sending your child home with two decodable texts. We are reading decodable texts several times throughout the day: together as a class, whisper reading to ourselves, in small groups, and with a partner. I can’t stress enough the importance of decodable texts. Students feel like readers and can be successful because all the words can either be sounded out or are high frequency words (“power words”) that we’ll be learning and reviewing in class. They’ll be exposed to the power words and letter sounds many times. If they are unable to read the decodable texts, please practice the power words and letter sounds consistently. Most kids need 4-40 repetitions to learn something new, but struggling readers may need to see it 40-200 times before it becomes automatic. Please continue to read to them at home and have them start reading the decodable texts to you. I hope they’ll soon be excited to show off their new reading skills to you, grandparents, siblings, or anyone that will listen! 🙂