This Week in the Pond

Hello Parents! This week begins the 3rd nine weeks... the year is flying by! We are focusing, over the next several weeks, on influential African Americans. We've learned about MLK and now we are learning about Rosa Parks and what it meant for her to stand up for what she believed.

Reading We will identify the author's purpose, retell important facts from nonfiction books, and use our background knowledge/details from text to determine if a story is fact or fiction. We continue to segment and blend phonemes (sounds in words)... students use a slinky for this skill- fun for everyone! Our letter sound of the week is Q /kw/ and they should be able to identify words that begin with the target sound.

Language Arts We have a writing prompt this week. The topic is Putting First Things First. Students will think of habits that help them to be successful in school (being on time, on-task, staying organized, using time well) and explain why it is important to "Put First Things First." At this point in the year, children should be able to space their words apart, use capitalization where needed, and add ending punctuation. I strongly encourage students to think about what they want to write, and then sound out the words as they write.

Math This week we are beginning addition and learning how to join and count two groups together. Children are counting groups of stickers on index cards (adding numbers together) and locating the sum on a "parking lot," where they park their cars. We will also use snowman mats to tell addition story problems. Centers will continue to focus on patterns, counting and making groups of numbers with manipulatives, and writing numbers.

Science/Social Studies What is matter and how can we change the way matter looks? Children will learn about matter and how we can change it (physical change). They will be able to change the way paper looks (by cutting, tearing, crumpling) and change the shape of a cookie... without making too much of a mess, hopefully. :) In social studies, the focus is influential African Americans and character traits that these Americans possessed (good citizenship, courage, responsibility, integrity). This theme will continue over the next few weeks.

All About Winter!

Hello parents!  This week we are doing all things Winter!  What we're working on:

Reading  We are reading books about winter, weather, and arctic animals.  Primary focus is on penguins and polar bears.  We are doing KWL charts with facts we've learned about animals, as well as identify the author's purpose.  We will also read the Mitten, a story about a boy who loses his mitten and the animals that have another idea in mind for the mitten.  Your child will have his/her very own mitten to take home- ask your child to retell the story to you!

Language Arts  We are now adding adjectives to our writing.  This week's writings include: snowman descriptions, the Mitten (choose an animal that might crawl inside), and facts about penguins. 

Math  This week we are ordering numbers 0-10.  You can help with this task by creating a number line with several missing numbers and having your child fill in the spaces.  We will also identify an object in line by its ordinal position (first through tenth).  Have your child line up objects (toy cars, stuffed animals, hair clips, coins, buttons) and ask him/her to point to the object that is third, seventh, tenth, etc.

Science  During this nine weeks, we have learned to sort materials by observable properties (size, shape, color) and recorded our observations in a journal.  This week we will continue to sort objects by: temperature, weight, and texture.  Tomorrow we will try different ways to melt an ice cube!