It's hard to believe the end of the first trimester is less than a month away! We have had so much fun learning and playing together these past few months. Read below to find out what we have been learning in each of the subject areas.
Reading
In reading, students have learned several strategies to help them decode unknown words. Decoding strategies have involved getting their mouths ready to say the first sound, as well as cross-checking by asking this question: Does it look right, sound right, and make sense? If the answer is yes to each part of that question, most likely the word being tried is correct. One thing you can do to reinforce these strategies if your child comes to an unknown word is to remind him/her to get his/her mouth ready to say the first sound (have your child say the first sound). Then have them search through the rest of the word to think of a word that looks right and makes sense. Then ask them, "Does that look right, sound right, and make sense?"
I was hoping to start meeting with reading groups by now, but with all of the assessments I needed to complete for conferences, I have been unable to meet with groups. That being said, we are getting very close. Just this week, we began to learn the last two reading stations in the Readers' Workshop. Once independence and stamina have been built for Listen to Reading and Work on Writing, I will be able to meet with groups. Every lesson involves rereading a book from the day before, word work (when students work with letters and/or words), reading a new book, and then discussing that book to check for understanding. Watch for your child's book bag to come home repeatedly throughout the year. These book bags will have a book inside that students can read to you. These books will be books we have read in Guided Reading. Your child can read that book once or twice and return that book to school within two days. This is a great opportunity for your child to practice fluency.
In addition to working on letters and sounds, students have begun to learn simple words. We call these words sight words. Throughout the year, these words will slowly be added to something called the word wall. The word wall holds words that students know how to read and write. here are the words we have added so far:
Reading
In reading, students have learned several strategies to help them decode unknown words. Decoding strategies have involved getting their mouths ready to say the first sound, as well as cross-checking by asking this question: Does it look right, sound right, and make sense? If the answer is yes to each part of that question, most likely the word being tried is correct. One thing you can do to reinforce these strategies if your child comes to an unknown word is to remind him/her to get his/her mouth ready to say the first sound (have your child say the first sound). Then have them search through the rest of the word to think of a word that looks right and makes sense. Then ask them, "Does that look right, sound right, and make sense?"
I was hoping to start meeting with reading groups by now, but with all of the assessments I needed to complete for conferences, I have been unable to meet with groups. That being said, we are getting very close. Just this week, we began to learn the last two reading stations in the Readers' Workshop. Once independence and stamina have been built for Listen to Reading and Work on Writing, I will be able to meet with groups. Every lesson involves rereading a book from the day before, word work (when students work with letters and/or words), reading a new book, and then discussing that book to check for understanding. Watch for your child's book bag to come home repeatedly throughout the year. These book bags will have a book inside that students can read to you. These books will be books we have read in Guided Reading. Your child can read that book once or twice and return that book to school within two days. This is a great opportunity for your child to practice fluency.
In addition to working on letters and sounds, students have begun to learn simple words. We call these words sight words. Throughout the year, these words will slowly be added to something called the word wall. The word wall holds words that students know how to read and write. here are the words we have added so far:
- a
- and
- at
- are
- am
- can
- I
- it
- is
- like
- my
- on
- see
- the
- to
One of my greatest joys of teaching is when students begin to see themselves as readers and writers. One student was so excited when he was able to read words from a book that was in my classroom library. Reading books given at their level is one thing, but when students are able to recognize words in books found in the classroom library, students get super excited. I hope all students experience this joy of learning to read. It's truly inspiring!
Here is a video on how our current Readers' Workshop looks. At this point, we have three stations up and running: Read to Self, Word Work, and Listen to Reading.
Here is a video on how our current Readers' Workshop looks. At this point, we have three stations up and running: Read to Self, Word Work, and Listen to Reading.
Writing
My students have continued to deepen their understanding of how letters and sounds work. They have discovered that sounds can help us when we write. If I know a letter makes a certain sound, and I hear that sound in a word, I write it down. Students have also learned that pictures and words need to match in a book and that both help tell what is happening.
I am truly blown away at my students' writing. They have learned that sight words from the word wall can help us write sentences, and we can have a repeating line throughout the book too (i.e. It is a dog. It is a cat. It is a horse.). They have also really focused on adding details to pictures. Some of these details include lots of color, the background, labels, speech bubbles, thinking bubbles, and movement lines.
One of the reasons my students have made so much growth has been through the use of conferring sessions. I meet, or confer, with each student once a week. Each session involves affirming what students are doing well and identifying one thing students can work on to make their great writing even better. This becomes their writing goal. Students have a goal page in their folder that helps them remember their new goal. If the student has applied the goal by the next time we meet, he/she receives a check mark. The goal stays in the folder until the student has received 3 check marks. At that point, the goal/strategy has become a habit, and it can come off of the chart.
I have included an example of one of my conferring sessions with a student. Click on the link below to watch the video. Here are some pictures of that student's writing goals and his completed work from that day. It's truly impressive to see how quickly students apply the strategies being taught. Students will bring writing home at the end of the trimester, and I think you will be amazed at the growth they have made from the beginning of the year until now. I sure am!!!
My students have continued to deepen their understanding of how letters and sounds work. They have discovered that sounds can help us when we write. If I know a letter makes a certain sound, and I hear that sound in a word, I write it down. Students have also learned that pictures and words need to match in a book and that both help tell what is happening.
I am truly blown away at my students' writing. They have learned that sight words from the word wall can help us write sentences, and we can have a repeating line throughout the book too (i.e. It is a dog. It is a cat. It is a horse.). They have also really focused on adding details to pictures. Some of these details include lots of color, the background, labels, speech bubbles, thinking bubbles, and movement lines.
One of the reasons my students have made so much growth has been through the use of conferring sessions. I meet, or confer, with each student once a week. Each session involves affirming what students are doing well and identifying one thing students can work on to make their great writing even better. This becomes their writing goal. Students have a goal page in their folder that helps them remember their new goal. If the student has applied the goal by the next time we meet, he/she receives a check mark. The goal stays in the folder until the student has received 3 check marks. At that point, the goal/strategy has become a habit, and it can come off of the chart.
I have included an example of one of my conferring sessions with a student. Click on the link below to watch the video. Here are some pictures of that student's writing goals and his completed work from that day. It's truly impressive to see how quickly students apply the strategies being taught. Students will bring writing home at the end of the trimester, and I think you will be amazed at the growth they have made from the beginning of the year until now. I sure am!!!
Math
We have been learning so much in the area of math too! Students have been working to efficiently identify numbers and amounts of objects within numbers 1 through 10. Students have also worked to count on from a group. For example, if they see a picture of one hand and then three more fingers, they can say 5, 6, 7, 8. Since they know one hand has 5 fingers, students can just say 5 and not count every finger.
Students have also been working on comparing numbers. Students have learned what more, less, and equal mean. They have also worked to represent amounts of objects and then tell me some comparison statements about the objects. I have included some pictures below of students using comparison mats to help us compare numbers.
We have also been working on writing and counting numbers 1-20. To help us write our numbers, students have learned number rhymes. Many of you have asked about or commented on the number rhymes we use in our classroom. Students said they wanted to share these with you, so I decided to share recordings of my students from a few years ago saying the number rhymes as they wrote their numbers. I wanted to record this year's students, but I simply ran out of time. I'm sorry for the amount of videos...I'm not talented enough to splice each video into one video!
We have been learning so much in the area of math too! Students have been working to efficiently identify numbers and amounts of objects within numbers 1 through 10. Students have also worked to count on from a group. For example, if they see a picture of one hand and then three more fingers, they can say 5, 6, 7, 8. Since they know one hand has 5 fingers, students can just say 5 and not count every finger.
Students have also been working on comparing numbers. Students have learned what more, less, and equal mean. They have also worked to represent amounts of objects and then tell me some comparison statements about the objects. I have included some pictures below of students using comparison mats to help us compare numbers.
We have also been working on writing and counting numbers 1-20. To help us write our numbers, students have learned number rhymes. Many of you have asked about or commented on the number rhymes we use in our classroom. Students said they wanted to share these with you, so I decided to share recordings of my students from a few years ago saying the number rhymes as they wrote their numbers. I wanted to record this year's students, but I simply ran out of time. I'm sorry for the amount of videos...I'm not talented enough to splice each video into one video!
We have just begun math groups this week. My students have enjoyed working with me in a small group. Each group will work on learning more about numbers, problem solving, and strategies to help them in math. I will post more about this in another post. For now, ask your child about how their math group went. When I'm meeting with math groups, students are independently working on counting. Here are some pictures from their Math By Myself and Math With Someone stations. I've also included a video from Math With Someone.
Science
My students have LOVED science this year. They have learned that scientists ask questions, study the things around them, and think. We have been learning how pushes and pulls are useful in everyday life and how a lot of machines push and pull to make life easier. We recently did an experiment where students had to use a pretend wrecking ball to knock down a wall but not knock down the paper houses behind the wall. They learned that pulling the wrecking ball back too far would add too much force to the wall. Pulling the wrecking ball back a little bit provided enough force to knock down the wall without knocking down the houses. Check out the video below to see how this worked.
My students have LOVED science this year. They have learned that scientists ask questions, study the things around them, and think. We have been learning how pushes and pulls are useful in everyday life and how a lot of machines push and pull to make life easier. We recently did an experiment where students had to use a pretend wrecking ball to knock down a wall but not knock down the paper houses behind the wall. They learned that pulling the wrecking ball back too far would add too much force to the wall. Pulling the wrecking ball back a little bit provided enough force to knock down the wall without knocking down the houses. Check out the video below to see how this worked.