It's hard to believe the end of the first trimester is upon us. We have had so much fun learning and playing together. 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 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?"
Guided Reading has also been going well. I have just started meeting with two groups a day. I'm hoping to begin meeting with three groups a day after winter break. 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 soon. 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. Books will come home throughout the year for additional fluency practice.
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 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?"
Guided Reading has also been going well. I have just started meeting with two groups a day. I'm hoping to begin meeting with three groups a day after winter break. 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 soon. 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. Books will come home throughout the year for additional fluency practice.
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
- do
- did
- go
- he
- had
- here
- I
- it
- is
- in
- like
- look
- my
- on
- she
- see
- so
- the
- to
- them
- up
- will
- went
- was
- we
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 in a reading group is one thing, but when students are able to recognize words in books found in the library, students get super excited. I hope all students experience this joy of learning to read. It's truly inspiring!
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.
We wrapped up our unit on Show and Tell books. These books initially focused on drawing objects in our classroom. The goal was to make the picture look exactly like the object. Students learned the importance of adding labels to help show different parts of the object. Eventually, we moved onto drawing things abstractly, like our toys at home or a place we love. Students have been able to write show and tell books about people, places, and things. These books have graduated to, not only adding labels, but sentences. 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.). We are now currently working on All About books where students are writing all about a topic they know a lot about. The purpose of these books is to teach others. Students are applying much of what they learned in the Show and Tell unit to this unit. Many students are still using pattern sentences, although now these sentences do not tell a story so they do not include the words I and my. Students have learned about headings, diagrams, and a table of contents. They have added these items to their All About books as well. We have been studying published All About books to learn what authors do when writing these books. We have made a list of these items and have tried to incorporate them into our own books.
In addition, students have learned how important it is to reread writing to see if it makes sense. If it doesn't make sense or if it's difficult to read, my students understand that they need to make changes to their writing to make it easier to read by adding/erasing words or rewriting sloppy writing. They have also learned when to use a capital letter (beginning of a sentence, the word 'I', and names), as well as how to add punctuation to the end of their sentences. They have been asked to reread their writing to see if any changes need to be made with capital letters and/or punctuation. This is really my students' first experience with the revising and editing process, and they are doing pretty well! With some more practice, students will grow in independence.
Another aspect we have focused on has been adding details to make our writing even more interesting. Instead of just saying, 'It is a dog.' , students have learned that a few details might be, 'It is a big, brown dog.' They have also learned that if they want to add a word to their pre-existing writing, they can add a caret instead of erasing everything.
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.
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.
We wrapped up our unit on Show and Tell books. These books initially focused on drawing objects in our classroom. The goal was to make the picture look exactly like the object. Students learned the importance of adding labels to help show different parts of the object. Eventually, we moved onto drawing things abstractly, like our toys at home or a place we love. Students have been able to write show and tell books about people, places, and things. These books have graduated to, not only adding labels, but sentences. 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.). We are now currently working on All About books where students are writing all about a topic they know a lot about. The purpose of these books is to teach others. Students are applying much of what they learned in the Show and Tell unit to this unit. Many students are still using pattern sentences, although now these sentences do not tell a story so they do not include the words I and my. Students have learned about headings, diagrams, and a table of contents. They have added these items to their All About books as well. We have been studying published All About books to learn what authors do when writing these books. We have made a list of these items and have tried to incorporate them into our own books.
In addition, students have learned how important it is to reread writing to see if it makes sense. If it doesn't make sense or if it's difficult to read, my students understand that they need to make changes to their writing to make it easier to read by adding/erasing words or rewriting sloppy writing. They have also learned when to use a capital letter (beginning of a sentence, the word 'I', and names), as well as how to add punctuation to the end of their sentences. They have been asked to reread their writing to see if any changes need to be made with capital letters and/or punctuation. This is really my students' first experience with the revising and editing process, and they are doing pretty well! With some more practice, students will grow in independence.
Another aspect we have focused on has been adding details to make our writing even more interesting. Instead of just saying, 'It is a dog.' , students have learned that a few details might be, 'It is a big, brown dog.' They have also learned that if they want to add a word to their pre-existing writing, they can add a caret instead of erasing everything.
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.
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!
In addition to numbers, students have been learning a lot about shapes. Although we have learned the names of shapes, we have learned more about the characteristics of each shape and how to describe them. We have learned that shapes are all around us and that the world is made up of shapes. Students have had the opportunity to build things out of shapes as well.
Science
My students have LOVED science this year. They have learned that scientists ask questions, study the things around them, and think. We are currently learning about the weather. We have learned that the weather changes every day and that we can be weather watchers. We can observe what type of weather it is and how it affects our lives.
My students have LOVED science this year. They have learned that scientists ask questions, study the things around them, and think. We are currently learning about the weather. We have learned that the weather changes every day and that we can be weather watchers. We can observe what type of weather it is and how it affects our lives.