Room 235 Newsletter 10/5/15-10/9/15 Interactive Read Aloud Workboard Leo the Late Bloomer The Art Lesson Regina’s Big Mistake Winnie the Witch What Color is Nature? Checking details in illustrations, explaining how characters feel using the illustrations and meaning of the story, noticing the use of color, looking for evidence to tell the setting, time of day, season and weather, trying the best you can, learning from mistakes, the value of lots of practice, fiction books vs. non-fiction books and describing something from nature. We had a discussion comparing the similarities/differences about the stories read this week. Writing: writing letters to main characters and our families, observation of a scallop shell Interactive/Shared Writing, Word Study Math: Top-It, working with numbers before, after and between using dice Poetry: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” ABC: Follow the Path game (providing a word that rhymes with a picture card) Also: read around the room, chart reading, independent reading Shared Reading We made more weather words using interactive writing. Interactive writing helps us learn to hear syllables in words, say words slowly in order to hear many sounds, learn about new word parts and notice letter formation. Fundations: We completed our review of letter sounds and handwriting practice on the formation of lower case letters. We’re looking closely to see how some letters are similar such as: r, n and m; c, o, a and g; l, h and k. We had the Unit 1 assessment and will begin Unit 2 next week. “1 2 3 4 5” Besides reading and noticing words that rhyme, I asked the children to think about who’s telling this story, how many people are in it and how you know. We’re working on providing evidence to support our ideas. We spent some time dramatizing this poem for a better understanding of the give and take between the characters and how our voices might sound. This rhyme provides a good opportunity to discuss different types of punctuation and what happens to our voices when we’re asking a question versus telling something. Writing Workshop Math Small Moments: We reviewed the steps of how to write a story: think, plan (touch & tell, sketch), and write; using pictures to add to our stories, rereading for understanding and spelling the best we can. Math explorations with pattern blocks, geoboards and grab bag subtraction, working with number stories and sharing strategies to solve them. We reviewed our work with Unit 1 and had the progress check. Science Conferences We had a demonstration lesson on using our science notebooks, making observations of an object and using our senses to determine how something feels (rough, smooth, hard, bumpy), looks (size, color, shape, holes, similar to something else) and smells. We also talked about hearing/tasting and when we might need to use those senses. We began with everyone observing a variety of scallop shells using a magnifying glass (after a demonstration using that tool) sketching our pictures, and then writing what we noticed. See my email from Friday, 10/9, for the link to sign up for a conference. Thank you. Notes *Things to work on at home: months of the year, days of the week, writing both 1st and last names, writing letters from the top down and using a crocodile pencil grip (the pencil is between the thumb and pointer, the middle finger supports the pencil in back and the ring/little fingers are closed and providing support in the palm of the hand.