Week of April 12, 2010

The students continue to work hard and are learning a lot of new things.

In math, we learned about the dime and reviewed the penny and the nickel. We also played, "I Spy" with two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. To play, "I Spy" I gave clues that described items that can be found in the classroom. For example, I would say this shape is a three-dimensional shape and can be used for writing. The student would then identify the marker and tell the class the shape. The students also practiced one-to-one correspondence with the "tricky" teens at the math workstation.

In reading, we continue to practice our sight words during our class meeting and during guided reading. The students also learned how to create sensory images while reading, which helps with reading comprehension. To practice this strategy I read, "Pancakes, Pancakes" by Eric Carle. As I read, I modeled how to create a sensory image using the five senses. After I modeled this several times, I encouraged the students to create sensory images as I read. The students seemed to really enjoy working with this strategy.

In writing, we created a book about the four seasons. Also, we talked about the components of a sentence, which include a capital letter at the beginning, spaces between each word, and a period at the end of the sentence. We created several sentences together during a whole group lesson. The students could then practice rearranging the sentences while at the pocket chart workstation. The students also learned how to write the lowercase v, w, and t.

In social studies, the students learned about needs and wants. During a whole group lesson, the students and I worked together to sort pictures on a T-chart that was labeled, "needs" and "wants."

Pictures of workstations:

Sorting pictures by the beginning sounds at pocket chart workstation

Writing about a tree house the students would like to build at writing workstation

Practicing corner starter letters at handwriting workstation

Building "ay" words and finding pictures with short i at ABC/word study workstation

Week of April 5, 2010

First, I would like to take care of a few housekeeping notes. I want to apologize for the confusion with the book order from last month. When I received the initial shipment, half of the order was missing. I contacted Scholastic, and they sent the remaining orders. At this point, everyone has their books. I will not be using the online ordering option in the future because that was the root of the problem. Also, report cards will be going home this week.

The students continue to work hard each and every week. This week was no exception. We learned several new concepts in math and writing.

In math the students learned about the nickel, three-dimensional shapes, and counting beats to keep time. The students learned that a nickel is worth five cents, that it is silver, bigger than a penny and dime. The students also learned the difference between two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. The three-dimensional shapes that we learned about include the sphere, the cube, and the cylinder.

In writing, the students learned about informational writing. As a class, we wrote about the process we completed to plant our green bean seeds. In science, we illustrated the book that details the process. In reading, we learned that the illustration on a page help tell the story, so the pictures should match what is stated in the writing. Also, we worked with rhyming words by using the word "an" to build other words. In phonics and word study, we learned that we can locate number words in text. Each student had a number word, and they had to find its match in the poem that is pictured below. Once the child found the match, we worked together to make sure the two words matched by checking letter by letter.

Building rhyming words using the word "an"

Locating number words in text

In science, we completed two more pages in our plant journals and measured our plants. The little boxes on the right-hand side of the page are equal to one inch. For example, if six boxes are colored in, the plant is six inches tall.

This is the first page of our book about the process we completed to plant our green bean seeds.

Workstations:

Art Creation

Computers

Week of March 29, 2010

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this weekend, and I hope you are enjoying it! I think Spring has finally arrived.

The students worked very hard this week and learned several new concepts.

In math, the students were introduced to the number grid. They learned how it helps the count by 5's and 10's. To help reinforce this idea, the students played, "The Number Grid Game." To play, you need a copy of the number grid, a die, and a game chip or bean for each player (these are used as game pieces to keep track of each players moves). The first player rolls the die. If the student lands on a 1, he/she can move one or ten spaces. If he/she lands on a 2, he/she can move two or twenty spaces. The other numbers (3-6) can only be moved that number of spaces. The first person to 110 wins. We only played to 50. The students were also introduced to the penny this week. We observed the characteristics of a penny (its size, shape, color, and other features on the penny). We also discussed how much the penny is worth. Lastly, we talked about the "cents" symbol, and that this is the quick way to write the word, "cents."

Playing, "The Number Grid Game"

Drawing our pennies in our math workbooks

In reading, we practiced a small group discussion technique called, "Turn and Talk." To practice "turn and talk" we read a story about an Easter egg hunt. We also practiced building words. We started with the word, at. Each child had a letter that would make a word that ended with at. We made the following words: bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, and sat. We practiced sounding out the words. We also made the words plural by adding an s. In writing, we practiced responsive writing. I read, "A Pocket for Corduroy" by Don Freeman. After I read the story, the students had to write about their favorite part. We also practiced writing the lowercase s this week. In phonics and word study, the students learned how to match number words with the correct numerals.

Workstations:

Overhead workstation

ABC/Word Study workstation

Pocket Chart workstation