Please remember to sign up for a parent/teacher conference time if you haven't done it already. (Parent/teacher conferences are scheduled for November 23rd and 24th.) If you didn't receive the email from the office about how to sign up, please let me know. I'm looking forward to meeting with all of you.
Here's what we've been working on in the classroom :
Reading : We continued learning about different decoding strategies to use if you get stuck on a tricky word. Chunky Monkey says that one way you can figure out a tricky word is by looking for smaller 'chunks' you might know inside the big word. Skippy Frog suggests that the reader skips over the word that he/she doesn't know, reads to the end of the sentence, and then tries to go back and put in a word that makes sense and looks right. Tryin' Lion reminds you to always check if the word you came up with makes sense. Helpful Kangaroo says that if you've tried lots of decoding strategies on your own, but you still can't get it, that you can ask someone else for help.
Writing : The students have been doing a great job during our Small Moment Writing Unit. All of their writing has significantly improved now that we're focusing on the finer details of stories. Last week, we spoke about a few ways that writers add details to their stories, they tell you people's names, they tell you the setting of the story, and they use size words to convey how big something is.
Math : In unit 3, the students have been spending a lot of time focusing on adding and subtracting. First, we went over a new diagram, called 'Part, Part, Total,' that may help the students solve some number stories. Then, we spent a few days coming up with different strategies you can use you solve number stories. Finally, we took a deeper look at the number line and used it to practice skip counting.
Phonics : We've gone over the sounds n, g. h, and j. We also spend some time playing around with the beginning and ending sounds in words. We'd start with one word and change the beginning or ending sound in order to create a new word.
Technology : Last week, we starting talking about and practicing basic keyboarding. The students learned about the home row and how to correctly position their fingers. We've been using a program called Typing Club to practice proper typing technique.
Sorry, no pictures from last week. :(