Week of March 18-22

Hello parents!

We had another great week in the Youngest Friend's room! This week we began our two-week unit on The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We loved learning about this story written by Eric Carle!

Our daily fix-it!

In reading this week we continued to focus on syllables. We practice clapping out the syllables in different words. We practice this in many ways, including verbally and on paper. When practicing syllables, remind your child to clap as this really helps their brain connect this information. 

We also did a retelling of the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Students cut out and pasted the events that happened in the story in the correct order. This is a very important skill in reading and also something that must be mastered as a student progresses in reading.

Working on our retelling posters.

In writing this week we focused on writing about the most important part of our small moments. We talked about how writers are often like photographers in the sense that they "zoom in" and focus on the part they want to capture. They did a great job with this! This is something we will continue to work on throughout the year. 

We also did a fun writing piece to go with out Hungry Caterpillar theme. It was called "If I were a caterpillar..." Students had so much fun writing about what they would do if they were a caterpillar!

Working on our caterpillar books.

In math this week we continued to work on math equations and especially focused on math partners. Students are working on being able to identify partners of all numbers 2-10 while also beginning to identify partners of teen numbers. They are doing so well with this concept! We even did a fun math game to work on math partners. Students rolled 2 dice, added the numbers and colored in the correct number on their worksheet. Each number was a different food that the hungry caterpillar ate.

In science this week we talked about what happens to an object when it is thrown in the air and why different forces affect certain objects differently. We had fun experimenting and finding the answers to our questions while also writing in our journals!

Balance boards in Brain Blast!

A notes from Ms. Natalia

In Spanish this week we will be finishing La Familia

This week we began counting up to 20 as well as began doing calendar. We learned the following concepts: in, out, long, short and the letter Hh.

Vocabulary Words to practice at home:

-tio (uncle)

-tia (aunt)

-hermano (brother)

-hermana (sister)

-calendario (calendar)

-day (dia)

-today (hoy)

-Marzo (March)

-adentro (in)

-afuera (out)

-largo (long)

-corto (short)

Notes/Reminders:

-conferences are this Monday and Tuesday

-please stop by our lost and found during conferences. We will be sending everything home before Spring Break. Anything that is not claimed will be brought to Goodwill this Friday

Youngest Friend's lost and found

Have a great week, can't wait to see you all for conferences!

Ms. Monica

Week of March 11-15

Greetings from the light blue room!

We had a great week this week! We are continuing to talk about and use the habit "Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood." We talk about listening with our eyes, our ears and our heart. This helps us be a good friend to others. To go along with this, we read Rainbow Fish this week. In this story, Rainbow Fish learns that sharing with others leads to having more friends and being happier. We celebrated on Friday by making our own Rainbow FIsh and watching the short Rainbow Fish film!

Making our Rainbow Fish!

In reading this week we studied syllables. As an introduction, we clapped out the syllables in everyone's name in the room. Each day, we have been practicing "clapping out" words. As an activity, we looked at pictures and colored the correct number of syllables each picture had. We also did a syllable sort. Students cut our pictures, clapped them out, and pasted them in the correct column baed on number of syllables. Students did a great job with this! We continue to practice our fix-it, sight words and spelling words each day. Right now we are really focusing on handwriting with lowercase letters. Please encourage your child to write in lowercase letters and remind them that uppercase letters are only needed in special situations, such as names and the beginning of a sentence.

We love writing!

In writing this week we focused on telling our stories to a partner while touching each page before writing. Students were encouraged to talk about their story with someone next to them before beginning. This ensures that they have their writing set up to make sense before they begin. We also focused on writing with details to make our stories more interesting. We talked about writing words in a "snap." This means there are some words that students just know, like the for example. I pointed to the word wall and reminded students that the wall is a tool they can use to write words in a "snap."

Discussing our ideas before we begin writing!

In math this week we continued to review equations and talked about the 3D shape of a cube. Our equations are a little more difficult than they were in the beginning. Students are now able to add and subtract partners of 10 rather than just partners of 5. I introduced the cube and we talked about how it is different from a square and that is has  6 sides. We discussed where we see cubes in real life. I asked students to keep an eye out for cubes over the weekend. On Monday, we will discuss where we spotted cubes outside of school.

Experimenting during Science!

In science this week we continued to talk about gravity and force by using a push or a pull. We experimented with ramps, golf balls and ping pong balls. Students made predictions about which ball would roll down faster, slower and why. These little scientists had so much fun experimenting!

iPads during Friday Fun Centers!

In Brain Blast we talked about how we each have our own unique fingerprints which makes us special. We made fun fingerprint art!

A note from Ms. Natalia:

This week in Spanish we studies "los animales" y "la familia." (Animals and Family) 
Next week we will finish "la familia."
Please review the following vocabulary terms with your child:

-el perro (dog)
-el gato (cat)
-el chivo (goat)
-el pato (duck)
-el pajaro (bird

-abuelo/abuela (grandpa/grandma)
-bebe (baby)
-mama/papa (mom/dad)
-hermano/hermana (brother/sister)

-the verb dibujar, which means "to draw"
-the question "Que es?" which means "What is.."

Notes/Reminders:

-please send your child to school with a snack for our daily 10:00 snack time

-please check the lost and found near our room for missing items. We have many unclaimed items!

Have a great week!

Ms. Monica

Week of March 4-8

We had such a fun week! This week we read the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We did some Chicka Chicka Boom Boom writing and reading activities to go along with this theme. On Friday we had our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom celebration. We broke open real coconuts and tried them! We also tried shaved sugary coconut and coconut milk. What a treat! We watched the movie to this story and ate Chicka Boom Boom soup which we made as a class with ABC noodles. What a fun way to kick off March is Reading Month after celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday!

Getting ready to break open a coconut for tasting!

Passing around the coconuts.

Enjoying our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom soup!

In reading this week we reviewed all of the short vowels as we wrap up learning about the short vowels. We will continue to review and use these all year. Students completed their very own Short /u/ books where they wrote words with the short /u/ sound and crossed off pictures that did not contain the short /u/ sound. We also continue to practice a few fix-its every day to learn about proper punctuation. I am so proud of these kiddos! By now your child should be able to recognize, use and explain what a period, exclamation point, question mark, quotation marks and commas are. I am even beginning to see students using these marks in their writing! We continue to study sight words on a daily basis which is one of the foundations in reading as your child progresses. This week we focused on the words you and see.

Completing our short /u/ books.

In writing this week we learned about how writer's stretch out one small moment, how they stretch our words when writing an how they sketch rather than draw. We practiced brainstorming a small moment and really stretching it out across all four pages of our booklets. This was the example I demonstrated for the students, I told them I would be writing about getting my flu shot.

I went to the doctor to get my flu shot. I felt scared as I hopped up onto the metal table.
The nurse told me to pull up my sleeve. I closed my eyes and I felt a tiny prick.
"You're done!" said the nurse. I opened my eyes and she was smiling.
I smiled back. The shot did not hurt so bad after all!

Students were able to see me stretch out each event of the one small moment across four pages.  In another lesson we learned about sketching rather than drawing. Students learned to sketch out their ideas on their paper, write their words with details, and finally go back to add more to their drawings when they were done writing. We are transitioning into spending the majority of our time on writing words. Drawing and "fancying up" should be left for the final completion of a writing piece.

Writing our small moments!

In math this week we practiced creating equations from pictures and we also studied shapes, including 3D shapes. In one lesson, I would put counters on the board using the "sleeping bug" concept. For example: "Ten bugs are sleeping. Two wake up. What is my equation?" Students would then write 8+2=10 on their white boards and show me. They did such a great job with this! They are beginning to form their own equations and apply math to a real-life situation. We also learned about 3D shapes. We sorted shapes and discussed attributes of shapes such as roundness, corners, sides, flat, 3D, etc. Students learned what a sphere, cylinder,  and cube are.

Maylee helping us see differences in shapes.

Writing equations!

In science this week we continued to study motion, force and gravity. This week we focused on gravity. Students observed different things falling down. We discussed how when you drop something or throw it in the air, it will come down due to gravity. As we observed the objects falling, we predicted which would fall the fastest and the slowest and why. We used a golf ball, ping pong ball, paper and a bean bag. These little scientists did a great job with this experiment! Later, we wrote about and labeled our findings in our science journals.

Brody brought his German Shepard dog to school for show and tell!

Notes/reminders:

-Please send your child with a change of clothes they can keep at school

-Please send your child with a snack, even if they have hot lunch

-Please continue to review spelling and sight words every night. Sight word testing is on Tuesdays and spelling tests are on Fridays

Have a great week!

Ms. Monica

Week of February 25-March 1

Greetings from the Youngest Friend's room!

We had another great week together! This week kicked off the beginning of March is Reading month. We celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday this Friday with our very own green eggs! We also made Dr. Seuss books that went along with the story Green Eggs and Ham. Student's filled in the missing words and drew pictures to go along with the story. We read several Dr. Seuss books this week, including Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, The Foot Book and many others. We loved learning about Dr. Seuss and his love for rhyming words!

We love our green eggs!

Reading and writing in our Dr. Seuss books!

In reading this week we studied the short /u/ sound. We did a picture sort with the short /u/ and the short /o/ sound. Students sorted the pictures depending on which sound they had. We also continue to study word families, sight words and complete our fix-its. Students are becoming more fluent in reading as they begin to build their sight word vocabulary. Please continue to study sight words at home, I love seeing the kiddos grow each week! As we continue to work on fix-its and reading each week, students are very familiar with concepts of print. They now understand many aspects of punctuation, including the question mark, exclamation point, period, quotation marks and the comma. Try to talk about these marks while reading with your child. Also, environmental print is everywhere. You can talk about what different signs say while you are driving, what the cereal box says, what commercial logos say, etc. Students are beginning to understand that  reading is a part of their every day life.

Working on on our spelling words and reading activity.

In writing this week we continued to work on writing small moments. We also conferred in partners for the first time this week! Once writers finished writing their small moments, they met with a partner and shared their story. They then heard feedback and gave feedback to their partner. They talked with each other about how they could make their writing even better. Students did a great job with this! Once they had gotten feedback from their partner, they went back to their small moment story and revised it. Some students found they had so much to write they needed more room and paper. In that case, we staple more paper to their story and they continue to write until they are finished. It is so fun to read their stories. At this point on the year we can really see our writers have come a long way. Great job writers!

Conferring in partners during writing time!

In math this week we worked on building teen numbers using ten sticks and then building different equations using the number 10. Students worked in partners using ten centimeter sticks and centimeter cubes. They chose a teen number, built it using these math manipulatives and then wrote the equation with it. For example, 19 needs one ten centimeter stick and 9 centimeter cubes. Therefore, 10+9=19.

Working in partners on our math equations!

In Science this week we continue to discuss the many aspects of motion. This week we focused on force using a push or a pull. We discussed the difference between a push and a pull. Students also reviewed what happens when we move a ping pong ball with a golf ball. Our young scientists concluded that a golf ball can move a ping pong ball when you push the golf ball toward the ping pong ball because it is heavier. Students wrote their conclusions in their science journals along with questions they want to investigate next week.

Reading and spelling on iPads during Friday Fun Centers!

Fun in Brain Blast!

Notes/Reminders:

-Please send a change of clothes to school with your child to keep in their locker

-Please send your child to school with the appropriate winter gear

-Please send your child to school with a snack every day

Have a great week!

Ms. Monica