In Reading...
The children have been working on the letter t. In addition to finding pictures that start with t, they have been reading and writing words that include all of the letters learned to date. As they listen to stories on our CD/SmartBoard, they follow long in their workbooks, pausing throughout to fill in missing letter in the words they read. We also continue to do word work verbally, where children listen for and say sounds and rhymes aloud. We will be including more and more reading and writing as the year progresses though. Our mid year DIBELS test with the Reading Center, a quick check of some Kindergarten skills, is over and our class performed very well. We will continue to work on any weak areas in our afternoon small groups.
Next week we will wrap up the letter Tt and move on to Unit 10 and the letter Ff.
In Math...
We are nearly finished Topic 5, which is a very quick overview of the numbers 11-20. On Wednesday, we'll move on to Topic 6 in which the students will continue to work with these numbers. They will focus on more/greater than, fewer/less than, and putting numbers in order. I've discussed with the children that careful counting is important and they can practice anytime at home. They can practice counting steps as they walk up and down. Count toys as they put them away, blocks as they build, pennies, cereal, jumps with a jump rope. Counting practice can be done anywhere. Naming numbers encountered in the environment (food packages, mailboxes, street signs, house numbers...) is also helpful.
In Science...
We have been working on a brief investigation of water. They children learned about sources of water, the water cycle and some properties of water. They learned to use pipettes and practiced counting water drops. We will do a little more work with water and the states of matter next week.
In Social Studies...
Behavior and PRIDE rules has been a big focus this past week. With the many changes in routine due to snow days and increasingly challenging work in class, I have been noticing an increase in behavior issues in class. Videos, stories, and discussions of kind and respectful behavior and our school rules now through Valentines day should help. Please remind your child of the importance of being respectful and following adult directions quickly at school!
We also have many fun activities coming up next week. In addition to our regular Math curriculum, we will do some extra Super Bowl and 100th day themed fun graphing and counting activities. Of course, we'll also cover Groundhog's day. I can't believe it will already be February.
If you are planning on purchasing valentine cards, please remember that no food or candy can be attached to valentines or sent in separately. Cards, stickers, pencils or any non-edible treats are fine.
Enjoy your weekend!