Week 15 & 16

It was a great work filled two weeks in room 177.

We began a study of sea creatures, in preparation for our field trip to the New England Aquarium.

Thanks to all of our volunteers. Unfortunately we can only take four chaperones.
Thanks to Mrs. Currier, Mr. Cline, Ms. Spinale, and Mrs. Cassidy. Get your sneakers ready this is a busy trip. The chaperone fee, $4.80, is due as soon as possible.

Throughout this unit, we hope to gain knowledge of fish, sea mammals, penguins and the ocean environment. This theme affords us an opportunity to explore both fiction and non fiction texts.  Students are learning to extract facts from fiction. Although it is easier to talk about story elements, many children are motivated by real facts.

                                  

             

     

Centers are up and running with guided reading as our new focus. Student have been meeting with a teacher for leveled reading instruction three times per week. Student will continue to take home small guided reading books in his/her plastic book bag. These books must be returned to school the very next day. They are part of our core instruction. Many students, are reading at similar levels; therefore they are in high demand. If your child does not return a guided reading book to school they will not be allowed to take home a book that day. This home connection is important in building confidence, fluency and communicating progress to families. It is awesome to watch students progress through levels and practice "good reader reading strategies".
I would like to remind you that students not working with a teacher at guided reading must manage time and complete centers with less teacher support. Please help us by reinforcing when your child brings work home that displays his/her personal best. Compliment your child's good letter formation, illustrations, detailed answers on a reader's response or guided writing. Your kind words are really motivational.

Sight word Folders are in full swing. Some students returned red sight word folders early others spent time utilizing the resources provided. One student found over twenty words and glued them on the "I Spy" page. Please keep the envelope in your child's folder. We will add five new words each week. If your child is having difficulty keeping pace we will talk about reducing the number. Our first week is going well. If your child is proficiently reading and spelling these words please feel free to return them regularly. We will do our best to add new words. We will extend the word list into first grade words.  Thanks for your help.

Monday homework is designed to reinforce sound by sound spelling and short vowel sounds. Please dictate a few words and ask your child to build the words with the letter tiles. If your child would like to write the words on the page with the three boxes, please do so. Please see the homework help post to follow.

The "Good News" coupons are working well. Thanks for helping the kids pick simple show and share items.

Phonemic Awareness:
Listening for medial sounds.
Tapping CVC words

Phonics: 
Writing uppercase letters: A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H
Counting words in sentences

Sight words: 
I, the, is, go, can, to, an, you, a, be

Writing: 
Taking notes from text
Turning a bullet into a sentence
Using describing words

Science: 
Ocean life
Features of fish vs mammals  ( What are sharks?)
Vocabulary: appearance, prey, food source, predator, adaptations

Math:
Addition stories to ten
Writing number sentences
Using symbols, (+, =)

Guiding Questions:
Tell me about the character Big Al? Would you like to be friends with big Al? Why?
How are sharks different from other fish?
Why did Rainbow Fish share his scales?
Can you retell the story of Swimmy?
Tell me a story about adding or joining numbers?