January 23, 2015

Dear Families,

We have finished an author study of Jan Brett and jumped into many different versions on The Gingerbread Man. The gingerbread boys and girls you have been creating at home are fabulous! If your child hasn't brought theirs in yet, please send them in next week!

Books Read: About 20 assorted Gingerbread variations, The Umbrella, The Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Friends, and Honey, Honey, Lion!

During writing time they are; becoming familiar with vowels and learning that every word has at least 1 vowel in it, visualizing places and people to write about, adding words (letters) to their pictures, rehearsing what they want to say about what they wrote, take turns sharing their ideas and writing with partners, going back into their writing pieces and revising what they have written by changing or adding to what they wrote and continuing to build up their confidence as writers. We also wrote a personal letter to Jan Brett and we are excited to get a letter back from her soon!

Animated Alphabet is our approach to phonemic awareness and spelling. The letters are taught through a multi sensory approach of music, dance, characters and signs which help the students hold onto that information. The character we learned this week was Nellie Newt.

In math we are working with teen numbers, formation of numbers, making pictures to match the number written, addition and subtraction practice, describing patterns, counting and number recognition, learned a new game called Top It (it is the game you might know as "war") and continuing our calendar routines. Our routines at calendar time include; counting to the calendar number of the day, weather observations, tracking the number of days we have been in school and days of the week.

We are continuing to practice the Woolwich Way! The Woolwich Way is made up of 6 qualities that will help us to be the best we can be! (Courtesy- I can use good manners, Compassion-I can help others, Respect- I can treat others kindly, Honesty-I can tell the truth, Responsibility- I can take care of myself and my stuff, Quality- I can do my best even when things are hard)

Upcoming Events:

January 30- Report cards home

January 14, 2015

This has been such a busy week! We have continued with our author study of Jan Brett and have been working hard to complete reading, writing, phonemic awareness and math assessments. I am so proud of each and every one of your students!

"Bean" the hedgehog paid us a visit this week. Ask your child about her!

We ended our short week with a visit from author Sarah Albee. She was quite an inspiration for our young readers and writers.

Remember there is no school tomorrow or Monday. Enjoy~

January 9, 2015

Happy 2015! I hope you all had a restful and adventurous break! For the rest of January we will be very busy with assessments as the end of the 2nd quarter is quickly upon us. We have started an author study of Jan Brett. Her stories and illustrations are perfect for this time of the year!

Books Read: The Mitten, Honey,Honey Lion!, Armadillo Rodeo, The Three Snow Bears and Cinders

During writing time they are; visualizing places and people to write about, adding words (letters) to their pictures, rehearsing what they want to say about what they wrote, take turns sharing their ideas and writing with partners, going back into their writing pieces and revising what they have written by changing or adding to what they wrote and continuing to build up their confidence as writers.

Animated Alphabet is our approach to phonemic awareness and spelling. The letters are taught through a multi sensory approach of music, dance, characters and signs which help the students hold onto that information. The characters we learned this week were; Ellie Elephant and The Thick Thorny Thing

In math we are working with teen numbers, formation of numbers, making pictures to match the number written, addition and subtraction practice, describing patterns, counting and number recognition through graphing , using a pan balance as a tool to compare the weights of objects and continuing our calendar routines. Our routines at calendar time include; counting to the calendar number of the day, weather observations, tracking the number of days we have been in school and days of the week.

We are learning about the Woolwich Way! The Woolwich Way is made up of 6 qualities that will help us to be the best we can be! (Courtesy- I can use good manners, Compassion-I can help others, Respect- I can treat others kindly, Honesty-I can tell the truth, Responsibility- I can take care of myself and my stuff, Quality- I can do my best even when things are hard)

Upcoming Events:

January 16- Professional Day- NO SCHOOL

January 19- Martin Luther King Jr. Day- No School

January 23- End of 2^nd quarter