November 4-8

Important News:

• Don't forget that there is no school on Tuesday, November 5th!
• Tuesday, November 19 is Dads and Donuts!  Dads or a special guest are welcome to come and share a doughnut with your child before school. 
• Tuesday, November 14 is Picture Retake Day.

Language Arts
We will be learning about bears through both fiction and non-fiction books.  We will be comparing and contrasting the stories.  We will continue to discuss how we know if a book is fiction or non-fiction.

Sight words have also been a focus.  Please continue to practice the sight words at home.  If you child is very fluent (can say it quickly), then move on to the bonus sight words that come home monthly.

During writing workshop, we will be writing a sentence about where bears live in the winter.  We have been working hard on chopping apart the words to hear all of the sounds.

Math
We have been learning the combinations that make 5.  Also, we are working on becoming fluent within 100.  We will be playing several games this week that reinforce these skills.  We are also reinforcing recognition of the teen numbers.

Homework

• Counting to 100--Practice saying the name before and after a given number.
• Try writing a sentence at home.  We tell our students they cannot say "How do you spell..." instead they can say "Can you help me chop?"  Help your child chop out the words that they are writing.  

October 28-November 1

Important News

• No School on Tuesday, November 5
• Please practice zipping coats!  

Language Arts
This week we will be reading fiction and non-fiction books about bears.  We will be focusing on the skill of sequencing.  What happened first, second, third, and at the end?

Another skill we will be focusing on is positional words.  (on, under, beneath, in, above, etc.)

Don't forget to send back your "book in a bag" so that your child can continue to practice reading!

Math
We will be doing several activities where the children will be practicing the number combinations that make up 5.  We will also be ordering numbers.  This activity involves putting number cards in order that are not necessarily in sequence.  For example, the cards they might have are 7, 4, 2, 9.  They would have to order the cards from least to most 2, 4, 7, 9.  We will continue to work on skills such as counting, number recognition to 20 and number formation.

Star Student

Each week a child in the class will be the Star Student!  This means that they get to bring a poster to school to share with the class all the very special things about them.   Also, the students can write about the star student during literacy centers.  Mrs. Gallucci's class is on Star #2, and Mrs. Haughey's class will begin next week!

October 21-25

Upcoming Events and Reminders

• Conferences are this week!  We look forward to talking with you about your child.
• Book fair will be open all week!  Wednesday, October 23 is Family Night 4:30-7:00 if you would like to come up to shop with your child.  
• Friday, October 25 is the Fall Festival Party.  Please send your child's costume to school in a bag.  We will get dressed right before the party begins.  Please refer to the party/costume guidelines that came home in the Miller newsletter.  Remember no extra treat bags allowed!

Homework

• Please practice tying shoes.
• Don't forget to have your child switch their book in a bag.

Literacy Center Switch

We have started switching for Literacy Centers.  Your child will be in either Mrs. Gallucci's or Mrs. Haughey's class for an hour and a half for literacy centers.  Ask your child about which room they are in for centers. 

 

Language Arts

We are writing to compose opinion pieces.  We write to tell how we feel about a topic.  For example, how do you feel about the fall?

We will begin a unit on the seasons and weather.  We will be reading both non-fiction and fiction books about these topics.  While reading these books, we will focus on main idea and comparing and contrasting.  We will also be writing about the things we see during each  of the seasons.

Math
We will be playing a game called Compare.  This math game is similar to the card game "war".  The person with the highest number card keeps both cards.  This will reinforce the skill of comparing two collections.
Also, we are working on learning domino patterns.  We want the students to be able to see a domino pattern (or dice) and recognize the number it is without counting the dots.  We will be using this when we teach addition.  We encourage working with dominoes or dice when working with your child at home.