Hellloooo Weckie Parents,
Yikes! It has been awhile since our last Blog post!! We have just been super busy doing so many fantastic things and I wanted to give you all sorts of updates.
Thank you to everyone who has already sent in their field trip permission slip, $10 for students, $8 for adults and interest in chaperoning! We have had more than 2 parents ask to ride the bus so I'll be having one of the kids pull names out of a hat next week. If you are still interested in chaperoning and being on the bus, please fill out the form and return it ASAP. Due to some necessary steps we must take to get payment to the THV we need to have ALL permission slips and payments in to the school by Friday, May 5th. While I realize this is quite far from our field trip on May 30th, it sounds like it can take a couple of weeks for the district to cut a check and we want to make sure the payment is in our hands when arrive at Troy on the 30th.
Phonics
In our phonics we have been working diligently on tackling big words! We have spent time learning to:
- read across a word methodically from beginning to middle to ending
- break words into two parts between the two consonants in the middle
- learn when a double consonant signals a short-vowel sound
- how to break up challenging words that end in consonant + le
Then we moved on to looking at letters that camouflage themselves into words! For example, we talked about the silent consonant in words that begin with: wr, kn and gn. We spent a lot of time noticing how the w in 'wr', the k in 'kn' and the g in 'gn' are actually silent! We learned that just like animals who can camouflage, some consonants can use camouflage to make sounds you wouldn't expect! To wrap it up, we even took some time to work with partners using word cards that fell into these three categories as we practiced reading and learning new words.
Next we moved on to the soft and hard sounds of c and g!
- c can make a soft sound like: cider, cylinder, cycle
- c can make a hard sound (more like a k) like: carton, common, camp
- g can make a soft sound like: gym, gem, ginormous
- g can make a hard sound like: garden, goose, gobble
After each lesson we have taken time to find examples of these words in our own independent reading books and we have revisited some classroom favorite books to see how we read words all the time with the hard and soft c and/or g!
Readers' Workshop
In Readers' Workshop we wrapped up a brand new unit that coincided nicely with our phonics unit! We learned about tackling longer word and tackling longer stories! We applied strategies we learned in phonics into our reading but also dug deeper with shorter chapter books. "Sadiq and the Perfect Play" was our mentor text by author, Siman Nuurali. We learned different ways we could hold onto the important parts of a longer text by: jotting a post-it note that told about characters (names and features), practice retelling the parts of a story before reading the next portion (orally or mentally), jotting post it notes of main ideas down to keep track of what's being read and reading with fluency to practice acting out a part of a story to help you remember all that has happened.
We are approaching another round of iReady testing in May. We believe we will be starting around the first week in May for second grade and will communicate this a bit more as the time gets closer. It's a great idea to not only use the practice lessons at school but also try them out at home. I have been working with our kids who are on IRIPS in smaller guided reading groups and really trying to get them the additional support they need before the diagnostic as well!
Writers' Workshop
In Writers' Workshop we have been learning all about opinion writing. We have learned how to: state our opinion clearly, give three reasons why we have that opinion and write more about each reason, and then restate our position in the ending! First we took our opinions and wrote about books in the form of a letter as we tried to persuade someone about a book award we were giving and why. I heard from all of our writers and boy did they give out some great awards to some incredible books! Award topics included: Funniest Book, Most Exciting Character, Best Graphic Novel, Best Graphic Novel Character, Calmest Book, Coolest Illustrations and more!
Once we had the form set for how to write an opinion piece about a book, we moved onto giving awards for other things. Popular topics included: favorite restaurant, favorite video game, favorite toy, favorite vacation spot, favorite summer sport and more! We have some pretty persuasive writers in Room 202!
Math Workshop
Math Workshop has been a VERY busy place! Double Digit Addition and Number Stories have CONSUMED us!! We have spent time learning different strategies for solving double-digit addition and have focused on: using base ten blocks to add, using open number lines and using the partial sums method. We have also taken time to learn about ballpark estimates and determining when to round up or round down! Lastly we have incorporated a lot of this into number stories for addition and subtraction. Unit 6 Math Assessments were completed last Thursday and MOST will come home tomorrow in Friday packets. I have a few kids with a few parts to still finish up and those may not come home until next week. Overall, the kids did really well with this! You'll see if I have marked anything on the test for your child to continue to review at home.
Social Studies
We are learning all about the economy in social studies! We started with a lesson on needs and wants, and then moved on to learning all about goods and services! With goods and services came work on producers and consumers. It was interesting to hear from the kids about times they were producers and consumers at local businesses, as well as what businesses they find to be important in our community! We will conclude this unit with a Market Day (way more info to come on that) probably some time around the beginning of June!
Upcoming Important Dates:
Thursday, April 27th: 1/2 Day of School - Staff Professional Development
Friday, May 5th: Field Trip forms/Chaperone papers/Payment DUE
Tuesday, May 16th: 1/2 Day of School - Staff Professional Development
