Week of December 13, 2010

We had another busy week, and we learned so much!

• Math: We learned a new math game called, "Top-It." This is played like the card game, "War." Two cards are flipped, and the person with the largest card keeps both cards. The person with the most cards at the end of the game wins. We also worked with Pattern-Block Templates, which are stencils with the shapes: trapezoid, hexagon, circle, triangle, and square. We made patterns on sentence strips with the templates. We also learned about the addition symbol and practiced some basic addition problems with teddy bear counters.
• Handwriting: We learned the letter Z and reviewed the "Frog Jump Capitals."

• Phonics and Word Study: We practiced tracing, building, and writing several high frequency words.
• Reader's and Writer's Workshop: Unfortunately this week these two areas were not covered because we had Officer Norcross come to visit on Thursday. Instead we did extra work with our high frequency words and enjoyed reading several Christmas stories.
• Social Studies: We had Officer Norcross visit our room to talk about 911, "stranger danger," and what to do if you get lost. We also learned about needs and wants. We read a story that described needs and wants and gave examples. Then we sorted pictures on a T-Chart.

(Our visit with Officer Norcross)

ABC/Word Study Workstation - the students matched letters to pictures that start with the same letter

Writing Workstation - the students wrote letters to Santa Claus

Week of December 6, 2010

The holiday cheer is growing and growing! We have Twinkles, the library elf on a shelf, visiting our classroom for the next two weeks. The children are very excited to see where he is each day as they arrive to school.

This week we learned:

• Math: We learned how to count by 10s. This is very easy for the children because we have been counting by 10s since the 10th day of school as we count each day that we have been in school. The students can count to 100 by 10s! We played the "Teen Frame" game. We This game helps us to practice counting to 20 using one-to-one correspondence. We also learned how to use a number line to add and subtract.

• Reader's Workshop: We compared "The Mitten" by Jon Ayelsworth and "The Hat" by Jan Brett. We looked at the similarities in the characters and the plot.
• Writer's Workshop: We continue to practice using our Alphabet Linking Chart to write the sounds that we hear in words.

• Phonics and Word Study: We learned that you can connect the sound you hear at the beginning of a word to look for that word. To do this we matched pictures and words by listening to the sounds in the words.

• Handwriting: We learned how to write X and Y.
• Social Studies: We learned about mail carriers and practiced memorizing our address.

Library Workstation - the students get to read books quietly

Writing Workstation - the students completed gingerbread man books

ABC/Word Study Workstation - the students had to find rhyming word pairs

Pocket Chart Workstation - the students were building words from "The Gingerbread Man"

Week of November 29, 2010

The holiday buzz is in the air! The students have started their countdowns to Christmas, and most have an elf visiting their homes that returned from the North Pole! Despite the excitement, we are still hard at work. We learned:

• Math: We completed a follow-up lesson on probability by using red cubes and blue cubes. The students had to determine if they would pick a red cube, could pick a red cube, or it would be impossible to pick a red cube when ten red cubes were placed in a box. The activity was repeated with all blue cubes. Then the red cubes and blue cubes were placed in the box together. The students then needed to identify that you could pick a red cube or a blue cube. The students also completed a follow-up lesson using the pan balance. The students had to compare the weight of teddy bear counters and playdough. We also completed a graph of our favorite colors.
• Phonics and Word Study: We are continuing to work on beginning consonants and sounds. The principles for this week's lesson are: 1) "You can hear the sound at the beginning of a word." 2) "You can match letters and sounds at the beginning of a word." To practice these principles, we matched pictures and letters by listening to the sound at the beginning of a word.
• Reader's Workshop: We read two versions of "The Gingerbread Man." After we read each story, we created a list of the characters. We compared the differences and similarities between the two stories.
• Writer's Workshop: We learned how to use our Alphabet Linking Chart to help spell words that we are trying to write. The students listened to the sound at the beginning of the word that they tried to write, then said the pictures on the Alphabet Linking Chart until they said the name of a picture that had the same sound as the word they tried to write.
• Handwriting: The students learned how to write W and X.
• Social Studies: We learned about a doctor and the tools that a doctor needs. We made books that show a variety of these tools.