Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Pennies for Patients!


Today (January 29, 2014) the kids and I attended an assembly to learn about children diagnosed with Leukemia who need our help! We sent home a informational flyer and box for you and your community helper to donate the spare change you may have around home. We have a collection box in the classroom.

Our goal is to raise $300 to help these kids with their medical expenses and chances of success! I have included a few resources here below to help you in facilitating the conversations that may stem from this topic below!
                 
            Thank you for your support in this cause, and helping our young community members the art of altruism and compassion!

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Daily 5: Reading & Writing Instruction

Daily 5: Components of Reading and Writing Instruction

Building Reading Stamina... We are growing stronger! As a class we have defined stamina as "doing something for a long time, never giving up!" We began our ability to read silently to ourselves in our seats at 1minute and have built to 4 minutes! This is an important feature of the Daily 5 method of reading & writing instruction delivery. 

The students have learned how identify "good fit" books, and reading independently. These skills, once mastered, will allow the students and I to add on the next component of the Daily 5: Read to Someone, then Listening to Reading, Work on Writing, and Word Work. Eventually this will be the description of our afternoon. The children will be put into small groups, and given appropriate levels of autonomy to complete the expected self-directed/ teacher prescribed tasks. 


Week 20: Weather, Addition, Sequencing, & 100th Day!



Words of the Week (W.O.W.): him, her, it

Word Family of the Week (WFW): _ix (example: mix, six, fix). The initial sound referred to as an onset. The word family is referred to as a rhyme. Using this vocabulary will help in identifying the parts of the word and building familiarity with how to choose rhyming words.)

Daily Reading Log: 

I will provide three options for your reading log to meet you in the middle, as I know life gets a little crazy. For the rest of the year you will have the choice between one of the three options. Please remember this is apart of your child's homework completion. I am providing options to make it "user friendly". 

Option A) Complete the online version of the "Daily Reading Log".

Option B) Record your child's reading selection on the back of the homework packet instruction sheet.

Option C) Create a electronic book shelf using shelfari and share it with me so I can follow your collection growth! This option is super easy! All you have to do is create a profile (basically name & email) and then type the title of the book(s). See my shelf to the right of this post for an example. 




Reading Strategy: Predictions & Inferences

3) Rhyming: Please work with your child on words that rhyme. Begin with words that follow our word families. Reading poetry and seeing how others use rhyme can be a fun way to begin this journey! Dr. Seuss is a great resource for this activity!


Please continue work with both beginning sounds and segmenting words at home. 

Beginning Sound Practice: 
Kindergarten Skill Standard: RF.K.2d Student will be able to isolate and pronounce the initial sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant or CVC) words. This does not include words with the ending sounds /l/, /r/, or /x/.

Prompt: What is the first/beginning sound you hear in the word "cat"?
Answer: "C! C says /k/"

Prompt: What is the first/beginning sound you hear in the word "mom"?
Answer: "M! M says /m/"

Prompt: What is the first/beginning sound you hear in the word "bed"?
Answer: "B! B says /b/"

Phoneme Segmentation:
Kindergarten Skill Standard: RF.K.2c Student will be able to blend and segment onsets and rimes of single syllable spoken words. 
Example: Tell me the sounds in the word cat answer: /c/ /a/ /t/

Prompt: Tell me the sounds in the word man 
Answer: /m/ /a/ /n/

Prompt: Tell me the sounds in the word hit 
Answer: /h/ /i/ /t/

Prompt: Tell me the sounds in the word box 
Answer: /b/ /o/ /x/

Our Read Alouds:















Math Focus: Composing #'s 11-20! 
We will begin our conversation and exploration of how to build numbers 11-20 in a variety of combinations using manipulatives and representing the combinations with number sentences. Math time is broken down into 5 stations:
Counting Cup                                       Part-Part-Whole Mats
2 more & 2 less                                    10 Frame Unifix Build

Pictures coming soon! 

Composing & Decomposing Numbers: Composing with Legos

Science: Becoming a Meteorologist


 
Click the picture to the right for your child to investigate cloud observation techniques and expand his or her horizons in his/her development of becoming a meteorologist! 










I am loving the volunteer presence! Keep it coming! It is so fun to share our learning experiences with you! 

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Week 19: Weather, Weather, Weather! Sequencing Events, Reading Stamina & More!





Words of the Week (W.O.W.): we, be, was

Word Family of the Week (WFW): _ot (example: pot, hot, dot, and not. The initial sound referred to as an onset. The word family is referred to as a rhyme. Using this vocabulary will help in identifying the parts of the word and building familiarity with how to choose rhyming words.)





Reading Strategy: Predictions & Inferences

3) Rhyming: Please work with your child on words that rhyme. Begin with words that follow our word families. Reading poetry and seeing how others use rhyme can be a fun way to begin this journey! Dr. Seuss is a great resource for this activity!




Please continue work with both beginning sounds and segmenting words at home. 

Beginning Sound Practice: 
Kindergarten Skill Standard: RF.K.2d Student will be able to isolate and pronounce the initial sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant or CVC) words. This does not include words with the ending sounds /l/, /r/, or /x/.

Prompt: What is the first/beginning sound you hear in the word "cat"?
Answer: "C! C says /k/"

Prompt: What is the first/beginning sound you hear in the word "mom"?
Answer: "M! M says /m/"

Prompt: What is the first/beginning sound you hear in the word "bed"?
Answer: "B! B says /b/"

Phoneme Segmentation:
Kindergarten Skill Standard: RF.K.2c Student will be able to blend and segment onsets and rimes of single syllable spoken words. 
Example: Tell me the sounds in the word cat answer: /c/ /a/ /t/



Prompt: Tell me the sounds in the word man 
Answer: /m/ /a/ /n/



Prompt: Tell me the sounds in the word hit 
Answer: /h/ /i/ /t/



Prompt: Tell me the sounds in the word box 
Answer: /b/ /o/ /x/





This weeks' read alouds:





Daily 5: Components of Reading and Writing Instruction

Building Reading Stamina... We are growing stronger! As a class we have defined stamina as "doing something for a long time, never giving up!" We began our ability to read silently to ourselves in our seats at 1minute and have built to 4 minutes! This is an important feature of the Daily 5 method of reading & writing instruction delivery. 

The students have learned how identify "good fit" books, and reading independently. These skills, once mastered, will allow the students and I to add on the next component of the Daily 5: Read to Someone, then Listening to Reading, Work on Writing, and Word Work. Eventually this will be the description of our afternoon. The children will be put into small groups, and given appropriate levels of autonomy to complete the expected self-directed/ teacher prescribed tasks. 




Math Focus: Numbers to 100! 
This week we are continuing our work with numbers to 100. Math time is broken down into 6 stations:
Counting Cup                                       Part-Part-Whole Mats
Play Dough 10 Frame                           2 more & 2 less
Dice Race                                             10 Frame Unifix Build

Pictures coming soon! 

Composing & Decomposing Numbers: Composing with Legos



I am loving the volunteer presence! Keep it coming! It is so fun to share our learning experiences with you! 

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Week 18: Winter, Predictions, Inferences, Weather, & More!

Words of the Week (W.O.W.): you, in

Word Family of the Week (WFW): _ot (example: pot, hot, dot, and not. The initial sound referred to as an onset. The word family is referred to as a rhyme. Using this vocabulary will help in identifying the parts of the word and building familiarity with how to choose rhyming words.) 



This weeks' read alouds: 





Reading Strategy: Predictions & Inferences

3) Rhyming: Please work with your child on words that rhyme. Begin with words that follow our word families. Reading poetry and seeing how others use rhyme can be a fun way to begin this journey! Dr. Seuss is a great resource for this activity!




Please continue work with both beginning sounds and segmenting words at home. 

Beginning Sound Practice: 
Kindergarten Skill Standard: RF.K.2d Student will be able to isolate and pronounce the initial sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant or CVC) words. This does not include words with the ending sounds /l/, /r/, or /x/.

Prompt: What is the first/beginning sound you hear in the word "cat"?
Answer: "C! C says /k/"

Prompt: What is the first/beginning sound you hear in the word "mom"?
Answer: "M! M says /m/"

Prompt: What is the first/beginning sound you hear in the word "bed"?
Answer: "B! B says /b/"

Phoneme Segmentation:

Kindergarten Skill Standard: RF.K.2c Student will be able to blend and segment onsets and rimes of single syllable spoken words. 
Example: Tell me the sounds in the word cat answer: /c/ /a/ /t/



Prompt: Tell me the sounds in the word man 
Answer: /m/ /a/ /n/



Prompt: Tell me the sounds in the word hit 
Answer: /h/ /i/ /t/



Prompt: Tell me the sounds in the word box 
Answer: /b/ /o/ /x/


Composing & Decomposing Numbers: Composing with Legos


Symbaloo: Student Access