Room 235 Newsletter
11/2/15-11/6/15
Interactive Read Aloud
Each Living Thing
Nuts to You!
Squirrels
Raccoons and Ripe Corn
Leaf Man
Fiction & nonfiction, having questions after reading
stories & sharing different opinions, thinking about the
animals portrayed in the texts—what they eat, where they
live, what helps them survive (thinking about their
bodies/body parts/camouflage). We thought about our
knowledge of the seasons and how they affect animals in
order to understand some of the texts we read this week.
Workboard
Writing: responses to stories, using a list format to write
what we know about squirrels, letter to a story character,
Math: Apartment Buildings
ABC: reading words with digraphs, trick words
Poetry: “Water Cycle”
Write Around the Room: finding words with digraphs
Also: browsing boxes, independent reading, chart reading
Interactive/Shared Writing, Word Study
Writing Workshop
Fundations Unit 3: continued work with words that have
Small Moments: Making characters think and feel, using
digraphs (wh, ch, sh, th, ck), trick words this week are we, dialogue to bring stories to life, sharing strategies to use
he, she, be, me, or and for.
when spelling new or challenging words.
Word study: make, break & write trick words, reading
words with digraphs (with a partner)
Math
Continued work with story problems using pictures (simple
drawings such as circles to represent counters), words and
numbers to show our thinking along with unit boxes (to
show what we’re talking about) and an answer space. We
solved some problems together so we could share
strategies and then worked on some independently. We
reviewed Unit 2 and had the progress check.
Science
Integrating fiction/nonfiction texts with our Backyard
Explorers science unit. This week we talked about
squirrels and raccoons—what they look like, where they
might live and what is special about their bodies that help
them survive. We had an interesting discussion about
mammals, marsupials and mammals that lay eggs. We
really like the word camouflage! We reviewed the water
cycle and included the song in our poetry books.
Notes
Special Work Note
*It’s been wonderful to share your child’s work and
On Wednesday, we made a chart of what we know about
discuss his/her progress at our fall conference. Your input squirrels and the class wrote their ideas in a list format.
is valued.
On Thursday they reread their work, used a checklist as
they edited using colored pencils and then wrote a final
*We made a visit to the Book Fair for a preview and will
copy. You will find this work in your child’s folder today.
visit next Friday morning to make purchases.
*Everyone enjoyed a concert including Brazilian,
Caribbean, African and Flamenco music by Crocodile River
Music Friday morning. During P.E., the class worked with
the musicians on African dances.
*Next week: no school Wednesday in honor of Veterans
Day. Tuesday morning we’ll have a “Veterans Recognition
Ceremony”.