FEBRUARY 8TH-12TH
Sunshine Smiles
Writing
Workshop
Presidents Day
Creating Crafts Based on Learning
This week, the SUNSHINES
learned all about Presidents
day. After studying George
Washington and Abraham
Lincoln through literature,
magazines, and videos on
Brainpop Jr., they wrote
nonfiction facts about new
information that they
learned. They practiced
writing conventions, too. Check out the
learning that is
radiating from
the SUNSHINE
room this week!
Themes of the
Week:
* President’s
Day
The Sunshines continue
to work with their
accountability partners
to create purposeful talk
and reading responses.
* New Word
Wall Words
* Flexible Word
Solving
Reading
Groups
* Shapes on the
Move
Making Interests
Portraits
Words of the Week:
really, done, next, last,
draw, beautiful, regulate
learn, sister, brother,
zipper, us
Sharing Our INTERESTS1
Science/Social Studies/Health
Reading
* This week, we did several different reading
* What a week of experimentation! The
check-ins. We continue to work on being
flexible word solvers and use multiple
strategies to decode words.
SUNSHINES made predictions based on how they
think different 3D shapes would move down a
ramp. We tried different sides of the shapes and
various forces to compare and contrast concepts.
We charted the information and wrote what we
observed in our science journals.
* We also focused heavily on individual
comprehension goals. Ask your SUNSHINE
what they are working on. Our class
comprehension goal for the week was
“identifying character feelings and proving our
thinking through evidence in the story.”
Math
* We did a lot of games this week that focused on
missing addends. Some of the assessments
should have come home. To ensure the best
understanding, please go over the answers that
are wrong and see if your SUNSHINE can prove
why they got their answer.
Writing
* * We continued to have free choice in writing workshop.
The kids are producing all different types of writings
including: narratives, magazines, biographies, opinion,
informational, ABC books, songs, poems, math, fairy tales,
and more!
* For our rich problem this week, the kids
participated in a PENTOMINOES game! They had
to put 5 squares together to make 12 different
ways (without flipping, turning, or sliding the
original). If they figured this part out, they were
challenged more to try to use the shapes that they
* We worked really hard this week to practice our
made to make a rectangle. All of the kids showed
new word wall words. We are targeting making
great perseverance during this activity!
connections to other words and being able to use
the words that we know to help us spell tricky
words.
Technology
* Many students completed
books on Pixie. The
expectations to print a book
are raising. Ask your Sunsh
* We used fiction and nonfiction books to form
opinions based on character feelings.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND REMINDERS
* Conferences are on February 23rd and 25th. All families have received a yellow conference request
sheet. On that sheet, I marked whether or not I am requesting a conference with you at this time. All
families are welcome to have a conference. If I marked “no conference needed at this time,” you will
still get a conference packet that goes over a lot of the learning throughout the 2nd Trimester. Don’t
forget to check Progress Book weekly. Individual notes are written about your child and his/her
learning.
* Don’t forget about the Image of the Week and the February Reading Response on my website.
* Our Valentines Day Party will be on Friday, February 12th at 10:15 a.m. You are welcome to send in
Valentines for the class on this day.
* There will be NO SCHOOL on Monday, February 15th.
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