Reading : We're currently spending a little bit of time going over fluency. To help the students get a better grasp of it, we call it 'reading with a storytelling voice.' So far, we've gone over making your reading sound smooth and giving different characters different voices. (The students know that if they come across a tricky word, that once they figure out the tricky word, they should go back and re-read the sentence to make it sound smooth.) This week we'll talk about reading expression and chunking phrases together (like peanut butter and jelly).
Phonics/Word Study : This week, we're going to spend some time going over digraphs. Ch, sh, and th are tricky in the beginning, but we'll get them down-pat soon.
Writing : Wow, this 'how-to' writing unit has gotten off to a great start, and we haven't even begun to write the pieces yet! The students are so interested in various kinds of how-to texts. Many students brought in examples of how-to writing that they found at home (from lego directions to a mac and cheese recipe). If your child comes across something at home that teaches someone how to do something, urge your child to bring it in to share with the class this week.
Math : We're embarking on a very fun math unit this week. This week, the students will be using various body parts to measure objects, in addition to rulers and tape measures. Have your child measure objects at home using any form of measurement you have available.
Science : We started off our space unit last week in Discovery Lab with Mrs. Crawford by learning about the phases of the moon. Then, in class, we started learning about the planets. We'll continue learning about planets and the sun this week. If you can remember, have your child look out at the moon a few nights a week so that he/she can watch the moon phases in real life.
Enjoy your chilly week!