Dear Families,
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I would like to thank all the families for their generosity. Thank you so much for the Target gift card. I love that store and can't wait to buy myself something there:)
I also wanted to welcome Raphael to our class. Raphael joined our class right after the break. The children have been so helpful making Raphael feel right at home!
A quick reminder that once there is snow on the ground, all children need to bring snow pants, boots, hats and gloves if they would like to play on the playground. If your child does not have all of these items, they will need to stay on the hardtop because no one wants to spend the afternoon in wet shoes and clothes.:)
We have been very busy these past 2 weeks in Room 24. Here are some things we are working on...
In math, we are working on Topic 5. We are learning how to add 3 addends in equations and word problems. We have talked about one strategy, which is to combine 2 addends that work well together. They may make 10 or a doubles fact. Then add the 3rd addend.
example: 6+3+6= (add the doubles fact then add 3) or 3+5+7= (add the 3+7 to make 10 and then add 5 more.
We have also worked on equations with missing addends in all parts of an equations.
example: _+5=11 or 11=_+5 (this type of equation is tricky for the children so we have talked a lot about whatever is on one side of the equals sign should be the same or equal to the other. I have also had the children circle the equals sign to help them visually.
In writing we have started our non-fiction unit. We have talked about how we re switching gears from telling stories to writing "teaching books" the children seem to love this kind of writing because it gives them the opportunity to share what they know or are an expert on. They have learned so much this past week about the differences between a story book versus a teaching book (fiction vs. non-fiction). One way you can help your child with this type of writing in the classroom is to brainstorm all the things they can "teach" their reader about. This way, they have topics ready to go when we start writing!
In Fundations, we have introduced some new glued sounds.
-ang (fang) -ong (song) -ing (ring) -ung (lung)
-ank (bank) -onk (honk) -ink (pink) -unk (junk)
These sounds are tricky because they sound so similar but the children have been doing great so far. This is also an area where practice at home could include having your child either build or write words that are dictated to them and talking about the different glued sounds.
In reading, we continue to read leveled text at each child's reading level. This week, we have continued to focus on retelling a story by using a fun tool called "Brady". Brady is used to support children in retelling a story including the characters, setting, "kickoff" (beginning of the story), the events that follow, and an ending. Ask your child to tell you about Brady and how he works:)
As always, if you ahve any questions, feel free to email me at hherring@email.medfield.net
Thank you,
Heather
