Hi folks!
It's been a really busy start to the year! I've been working on the fall assessments...the Developmental Spelling Assessment (DSA) is done! I'm nearly done with the Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment. I'm learning a lot about your child's reading strengths and finding the very best place to begin reading instruction. I plan to complete the reading assessments by the middle of next week. Reading groups will begin soon after. Then you can expect to find a book or two in the homework folder each night for practice. Each book is carefully chosen for a variety of reasons and has been read at school. The book should not be challenging to read each night but is more of an opportunity for your child to "show off" and practice reading fluently. Please plan to read for 10-20 minutes each evening! Part of that time your child may be reading to you, but part of that time should be you reading high quality literature to your child...modeling fluent reading and talking about the book! Enjoy that snuggly nightly ritual as long as it last!
In your child's homework bag, you will find the fundraising envelope I emailed about last night. You will also find a poster for a golf tournament being held to raise funds for more playground equipment. The big, white envelope fundraiser is to fund classroom field trips.
Our math unit (BUGS!) is buzzing right along! This week students learned to sort bugs by different categories. We played a game called "There's a bug in my pocket"...ask your child to tell you all about it!
We've begun phonics and spelling work and our first Fundations Unit Test is coming up soon. The first test is mainly to check sounds and alphabetical order. Future tests are skill specific and will be kept here at school to share with you at conference time or whenever you request a peek!
This week we learned about the US Constitution and listened to (tried to learn) the Schoolhouse Rock song We the People!
Finally, on Fantastic Friday, we had a visit from Anna's mom and her cat, Lila. Anna was our Star of the Week and we had great fun getting to know Anna better! Thanks!
Have a great weekend! Love the cooler weather! Apple picking time is finally here!
Michelle
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Back to School!
The first-very short-week is done! It was a busy, busy week! In fact, I overheard one young friend tell another friend he was "exhausted" at 9:30 Friday morning! The first three days were even better than I'd hoped! Despite the heat in our room, the kids worked hard and played hard.
We've been reading lots of great books and reviewing Fundations skills. As you may remember from kindergarten, Fundations is our spelling/phonics program. For the next week or two, the lessons are a review of the skills students learned last year with an emphasis on handwriting...properly forming the letters in the lines and spacing on writing paper. Our daily work is practicing sounds and "tapping" words as well as practicing "trick words." Trick words are words that are phonetically irregular and can't be "tapped." When children learn to tap words, they are learning to tap once for each sound heard in a word. To tap a word like "bat", students tap three times: /t/ and /a/ and /p/. But students also tap three times for a word like "fish" because fish also has only three sounds: /f/ and /i/ and /sh/. Although the sound /sh/ has two letters, it makes only one sound so one tap. As the units progress, I'll send you information about the current skill being learned.
Our first math unit starts with explorations of the many fun math manipulatives that we'll use throughout the school year. This first unit uses "bugs" as the vehicle for addition and subtraction learning. Our discussions and activities are often related to beetles, ladybugs or butterflies. Our first week of Number Corner has been an introduction to the daily routines (focusing on calendar skills), but next week your child will be introduced to day of the week routines: Money Monday; Time, Temperature, Tally Tuesday; Workout Wednesday; Thursday Thinking; and Friday's Figuring. Each day the group is presented with a content specific task or game to learn. All of the activities are meant to be engaging to young learners and often students are completely unaware of the complexity of the tasks they're being asked to complete because of the fun they're having while learning! Math homework doesn't begin for a few weeks and then is sent home once a week in the form of a game or family activity. On occasion, I may send your family and "extra" game based on need, following an assessment. These extra games are meant to help your child master a skill and I hope you'll find time to play at home!
And speaking of homework...the most important thing that you can do at home with your child is READ! I know days can be short and before you know it, it's almost time for bed. Please try to find time each day to spend with books. It's equally important for you to read to your child as it is for your child to practice reading to him/herself. We've already begun the reading assessments which will help me determine the best place to begin reading instruction for your child. Reading involves two very important steps: reading the words (decoding) and understanding what those words mean (comprehension). Many early readers learn to read many words but don't have a deep understanding of what is read. It's very important for both processes to be well developed! We'll be working on both this year!
I'm very excited to get back to school on Tuesday! I hope you and your children have a restful and fun weekend!
Stay dry!
Michelle
We've been reading lots of great books and reviewing Fundations skills. As you may remember from kindergarten, Fundations is our spelling/phonics program. For the next week or two, the lessons are a review of the skills students learned last year with an emphasis on handwriting...properly forming the letters in the lines and spacing on writing paper. Our daily work is practicing sounds and "tapping" words as well as practicing "trick words." Trick words are words that are phonetically irregular and can't be "tapped." When children learn to tap words, they are learning to tap once for each sound heard in a word. To tap a word like "bat", students tap three times: /t/ and /a/ and /p/. But students also tap three times for a word like "fish" because fish also has only three sounds: /f/ and /i/ and /sh/. Although the sound /sh/ has two letters, it makes only one sound so one tap. As the units progress, I'll send you information about the current skill being learned.
Our first math unit starts with explorations of the many fun math manipulatives that we'll use throughout the school year. This first unit uses "bugs" as the vehicle for addition and subtraction learning. Our discussions and activities are often related to beetles, ladybugs or butterflies. Our first week of Number Corner has been an introduction to the daily routines (focusing on calendar skills), but next week your child will be introduced to day of the week routines: Money Monday; Time, Temperature, Tally Tuesday; Workout Wednesday; Thursday Thinking; and Friday's Figuring. Each day the group is presented with a content specific task or game to learn. All of the activities are meant to be engaging to young learners and often students are completely unaware of the complexity of the tasks they're being asked to complete because of the fun they're having while learning! Math homework doesn't begin for a few weeks and then is sent home once a week in the form of a game or family activity. On occasion, I may send your family and "extra" game based on need, following an assessment. These extra games are meant to help your child master a skill and I hope you'll find time to play at home!
And speaking of homework...the most important thing that you can do at home with your child is READ! I know days can be short and before you know it, it's almost time for bed. Please try to find time each day to spend with books. It's equally important for you to read to your child as it is for your child to practice reading to him/herself. We've already begun the reading assessments which will help me determine the best place to begin reading instruction for your child. Reading involves two very important steps: reading the words (decoding) and understanding what those words mean (comprehension). Many early readers learn to read many words but don't have a deep understanding of what is read. It's very important for both processes to be well developed! We'll be working on both this year!
I'm very excited to get back to school on Tuesday! I hope you and your children have a restful and fun weekend!
Stay dry!
Michelle
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