December 7th-11th Newsletter

We have been having fun learning about part of speech, including nouns, verbs and adjectives. Surprisingly, our favorite videos have been SchoolHouse Rock! I watched these as a kid, and I'm sure many of you have also. Here are some of our favorites.
Verbs Video
Adjectives Video
Nouns Video

In phonics, we are learning all about the Bossy-R. This week is all about the -er. Our words for the week are her, herd, fern, after, term, ever, lever, under, filter, number, farmer, dumpster. We have really caught on quickly to this skill!

In math, we have been learning a lot about subtraction strategies, including thinking addition to subtract, making 10 to subtract, counting up and counting back, and finding the related facts. We have also been learning about making fact families, which is a group of 4 problems (2 addition, 2 subtraction) that are created using the same numbers.

In reading, we are learning all about the characteristics of fairy tales, including good & evil characters, talking animals, a setting, problem/solution and a lesson/moral/central message. We are also working with fractured fairy tales. A fractured fairy tale is a story that has a similar storyline, but things are fractured or broken from the original. For example, last week, we read different versions of Cinderella from around the world. They were all similar because their was a girl that was trying to find love and happiness. Many of our Cinderellas had a Fairy Godmother or a woman that helped them make it to the ball/fiesta. For our fractured version of Cinderella, we read Bubba the Cowboy Prince. You can watch another teach read it, but she doesn't have the excellent Texan accent I have :) Now, in this version, Bubba wants to find love, but his Wicked Stepdaddy and mean stepbrothers try and stand in his way. But with a little help from his Fairy Godcow (yep, Fairy Godcow), everything works out. The storyline was similar, but the characters were super different!

In writing, after a lot of patiently waiting, we have finally started working on fiction writing! This week was a focus on realistic fiction (made up characters & adventures, but things that could actually happen in read life). Next week, we get to write our own FRACTURED FAIRY TALES!!!! If you can't tell, I'm super excited about this.

Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend! Oh, and Pajama Day is next Monday, December 14th!

November 16th - 20th Newsletter

We enjoyed a fun, but busy week, learning about maps and globes. This upcoming week, we will shift our focus to cultures, customs and traditions around the world. We will learn about the U.S.A., Mexico, Africa and the Caribbean. These will lead us up to reading different versions of Cinderella that take place around the world. Our character word for the month of November is Cooperation. Cooperation is working together in a positive way to reach a desired outcome. I will get a chance to see a lot of cooperation during our time spent with our math and writing partners and small groups :)

Reading/Units of Study: We will be able to compare and contrast different parts of the world. We will be able to ask and answer questions about different countries. We will be able to identify and use proper nouns correctly. Here is a fun game we loved playing in class!
Writer's Workshop: We will be able to study an author's piece of writing and try out some of their ideas. We will be able to use pop-out words and write with exact actions. An example of this would be adding ellipses to build excitement. We can also write exact actions to make a movie in the reader's mind and write some words that pop out to tell the reader to read with a strong voice.
Math: We will be able to use the making 10 strategy to add. We will be able to add three numbers and solve word problems with three addends (numbers). Here is a quick video that will explain a little more about how we can make ten using a ten-frame to add. Here is another great video that goes over it in a different way. Also, My Daily Math Coach has a few other videos that go over some other mental math strategies we've learned about in the past.
Phonics: We will be able to read and write words with the r-controlled vowel -or. The skill this week is learning about the -or, which is an example of an r-controlled vowel. Have fun practicing this week! Here are our words for the week: for, born, pork, torn, fork, stork sport, corn, fort short, absorb, port. Don't forget about using Spelling City to practice our words in a fun way!

Phonics Videos
PBS Kids - Variety of r-controlled stuff 
Bossy R song
Geraldine the Giraffe Learns the -or
Controlling -r Song

November 2nd - 6th Newsletter

I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. I had a great time trick-or-treating with Parker, who dressed up as Sheriff Woody :) I was excited to hear about everyone's events from the weekend too :) Our current focus this week is weather and how it changes throughout the seasons. We are working on cause/effect relationships and the different observations we make during the seasons and various types of weather. Congratulations to Naleia-Rose, who was chosen as our character student for the month of October. She shows great problem solving skills, so she was a great choice! Our character word for the month of November is Cooperation. Cooperation is working together in a positive way to reach a desired outcome. I will get a chance to see a lot of cooperation during our time spent with our math and writing partners and small groups :)

Reading/Units of Study: We will be able to ask and answer questions. We will be able to make observations on the weather and seasons. We will be able to understand cause and effect relationships.
Writer's Workshop: We will be able to write a small moment personal narrative. We will be able to include details that make our writing focused and interesting. We will be able to share our ideas and story with our writing partner.
Math: We will be able to think about addition when solving subtraction problems. For example, if I am solving 6-1 . . . I can think ___ + 1 = 6. The way I think about it is when I add, I think about the part + part = whole and when I subtract, I think whole - part = part. We are using a ton of models and pictures to act these problems out. I still have the links for the doubles facts down below because that will still come in handy for topic 5, which will start Friday or Monday :)
Phonics: We will be able to read and write words with the -nk and -nt ending blends. The skill this week is learning about the -nk and -nk ending blends. We will also be reviewing various beginning blends and digraphs. Have fun practicing this week! Here are our words for the week: think, skunk, drink, bunk, absent, bunt, tent, went, front, blank, ant, rink. Don't forget about using Spelling City to practice our words in a fun way!

Math Links
Doubles 1-5
Doubles 6-10
Near Doubles . . . After you've memorized your doubles facts :)