Saturday, November 19, 2016

Week in Review--Pilgrims and Native Americans

Reading:

In reading this week, we learned the reading strategy “Analyze Characters”. With each book we read we discussed the characters in detail. We talked about how characters can change throughout a story. We also discussed if any characters had a conflict they had to deal with and learned how they dealt with the conflict. There were even a few characters that we read about that did not change at all throughout the story!

We also learned all about the -ig family. To kick off our learning of this word family, we watched a video that had us reading and learning new words that end with the -ig sound. We built words in the -ig family, we went on a word hunt where we chopped the sounds up in the word and found it in a pile of other -ig words and we practiced rhyming with all of the words in the -ig family.

Our vocabulary words this week went with the story Owl Moon. We loved learning all about the words echo, statue, bright, shadow, minute and brave.

Our new sight words: got, his

**Be sure to keep the white sight word cards from week to week and continue to practice all of them as new ones are sent home every week.

Our Poem of the Week:



iPad Fun:
Reading
  • Popplet: We used the app Popplet to write and type word family words. We then saved the image and uploaded it to Google Classroom!
  • Google Classroom: We began to turn assignments in this week using Google Classroom. This is an app where each student has a specific ID that is associated with their school Google account. When completing an assignment on the iPad, students learn how to save the assignment and turn it in using this app. We turned in two different assignments this week using Classroom.
  • Tellagami: After listening to information on the app Pebble Go, students created a video using Tellagami where they took a picture of a Thanksgiving scene and recorded their voice so the character in the video is describing something they learned about the holiday. Students then saved the video and uploaded it to Google Classroom!










Math
  • Book Creator: This week students used the app Book Creator on their own by adding a journal entry of the activity number of the day! We have been doing number of the day as a whole class since the first week of school and they are now experts and are able to do this on their own! They rolled a dice to find their number, wrote the number, the number word, drew the dice, tally marks, number of shapes and number line! They finished the activity by recording their voice explaining their thinking and what they did with the number of the day.
  • Geoboard: Students used a geoboard app to create various pictures using shapes and the rubber bands on the app!


Writing:

Writer’s Workshop this week we continued to learn how to write a True Story. We  learned the difference between writing that is easy to read and writing that is hard to read. We created a list for each option. Later in the week students helped me correct my own writing that was hard to read. My examples varied from each day. My writings were hard to read because they were too squished together and needed meatball spaces, they were too spread apart and needed to be closer, the sight words were misspelled, my picture didn’t match my words and I didn’t write down all of the sounds I heard. Sometimes I even wrote letters down that I didn’t hear in a word. All of those things are ways that make our writing hard to read.


Math:

Our math vocabulary word this week was add. We learned what it means to add two or more things together. We also finished up learning the different ways to make numbers 6-9. We will finish up our number stories next week with the number 10!

Students have a few new choices during independent work time. They are practicing subitizing with dominoes and then “driving” them into a parking lot that matches the number on the domino, they are able to do a number of the day entry using white boards and the last new choice is practicing different ways to make a number. For that last choice, students are using number bracelets or math tools to help determine different ways to make a number. The students then write the addition sentence on a recording page.











Content:

This week was all about Nocturnal Animals!
  • Monday--We read a story about the first Thanksgiving.
  • Tuesday--We focused on the Pilgrims and learned how they lived.
  • Wednesday--We focused on the Native Americans and learned how they lived.
  • Thursday--We completed Pilgrim and Native American crafts.
  • Friday--We retold the story of the first Thanksgiving using our Pilgrim and Native American puppets. Students each had a job, one was the videographer (using the iPad) and another was the director telling them to go and stop and the rest of the students were either a Pilgrim or a Native American.




Social Emotional Learning (SEL):
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.

This week’s SEL focus was continuing to learn about PERSEVERANCE. We watched the third and final video on Class Dojo where Katie does not give up and gets herself out of the dip! We practiced several ideas this week where we worked on perseverance. We tried carrying an object using a fly swatter and if the object fell we learned from our mistake and persevered to keep going and complete the task. Another day we played catch with a ball and learned that if we couldn’t catch it very well, we can keep trying and get out of the dip. On Friday, we each set a goal of something we would like to accomplish. These goals could be at school or home or anywhere! I am excited to watch these students keep trying and not giving up to achieve these goals. Ask your child what he/she chose as their goal and please let me know if they do in fact reach that goal. We plan to celebrate any students who meet their goal that they set. See the picture below to see all of our goals!



A few discussion questions to talk with your child at home about this topic:
--Often we use the word "best" as our goal. How else can we phrase our goal to allow for a growth mindset?
--How can you "learn new ways to improve?" Give an example from your week.
--What kind of attitude should we have when we see others who are rock stars and we aren't rock stars yet?

Other:
We said goodbye to our Title One teacher aide this week. Mrs. Popp has been so much fun in our classroom and she is now moving on to a new job at McCutcheon. We are so excited for her but we will miss her! She brought us yummy cookies to say goodbye!



PRACTICE AT HOME:
When reading a story, have your child make a mind movie while you are reading. Have them describe to you what is happening in their mind.
Next Week:
  • In reading we will review several strategies we have learned.
  • In writing we will continue to write a true story and a Thanksgiving writing!
  • In math we will review our ways to make 1-10!
  • Our theme next week is all about Turkeys and Thanksgiving!

 
Important Dates/Information:
**Go to our classroom webpage if you want to see important dates on a calendar! I will update this classroom calendar as dates and events come about.



  • 11/24-11/25--NO SCHOOL THANKSGIVING
  • 12/2--Spirit Day MME Gear
  • 12/8--Barnes and Noble Night
  • 12/9--Spirit Day Wear PJ’s