Reading: We are working on
“mental images” right now. This is a way
that children can picture in their minds what is happening in their stories to
help them better understand the story.
The first thing we’ve talked about is “still pictures.” I will read part of a book and stop and ask
the children to describe what they picture in their minds. Sometimes the kids have a different picture
than their friend and this is because our schema is different. The next thing we’ll work on is making a
movie in our heads. This is when we can
picture what is happening from one page to the next since the illustrators
don’t draw every little detail. We do
this especially when we read a chapter book.
Next
week we will also start new book clubs – this time focusing on a character.
Math: Our new unit has
introduced the children to place value (adding the hundreds place) and counting
back change. We will also learn about
dividing pennies and shapes evenly (fractions).
The children seem to have a good understanding of dividing things into
halves or fourths. Some of the children
have even practiced this skill on the computer.
Writing: We are finishing our unit of informational
stories. For the last few weeks the
children will get to choose what genre of story they want to write. We’ve worked on small moments (true stories
about the children), realistic fiction (a made-up character) and informational
stories. They will choose one and our
emphasis will be on correct punctuation and spelling sight words
correctly. We will also spend a few days
on writing poetry.
Fun
to Be Fit Day: On
May 24, we’ll have our fun to be fit activity up on the track from 1:00 –
1:30. The children who ordered shirts
will get them on that day. Please make
sure that your child has a water bottle that day. Let me know if you’d be willing to send in a
healthy snack for the children to eat when we get back to the room. Some suggestions are fruit, granola bars,
cheese sticks or crackers.
Special
Person Day: On Friday, May 31, your child may invite one
adult (no small children please) to our classroom to celebrate our reading
skills. It will be from 1:30 – 2:30. We will read together and share some special
treats. More info will follow.
Up Coming Events:
May
17 –
Surprise Mail day
May
20 –
delayed start
May
24 – Fun
to be Fit day activities are planned to start at 1:00 p.m.
May
27 –
Memorial Day
May
31 –
Special Person day (more info to follow)
June
3 – Track
and Field day for K-1
