Happy Valentine's Day!

We ended the week dressed in pink and red, eating pink pancakes, playing riddle bingo, exchanging valentines, and enjoying a fun movie!

Journals: How to be a Dino-Mite Friend

I love the book, We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins. After reading the book we had a class discussion on the best ways to be a good friend. After brainstorming together as a class, the kids completed their writing, "How to be a Dino-Mite Friend." Then they decorated and attached their dinosaur toppers.

Literacy: Building Sentences & Fix the Sentance

Fundations: L-Blends – bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, & sl

A consonant blend is a unit comprised of two or three consonants adjacent to each other (not separated by a vowel), with each consonant representing a different speech sound (phoneme) e.g. the consonant blend 'sl' is /s/ blended with /l/. A digraph is two consonants that come together to make ONE sound. For example, think about the sh in the word sheep. You can hear that sh makes one sound /sh/.

Math: 10-Frames & Math Fingers

In this unit, students explore different ways to compose and decompose numbers within 10 and to represent the compositions and decompositions. Previously, students counted and compared groups and images of up to 10 objects. They solved addition and subtraction story problems and wrote expressions to represent the problems. Here, they use those experiences to compose and decompose numbers within 10. (The terms “make” or “break apart” are used with students.). Special attention is given to composing and decomposing 10, as it is the basis of place value in our number system. To support their reasoning, students use their fingers and a 10-frame—created by putting together two 5-frames. They use these tools to think about pairs of numbers that make 10. The work here prepares students to make sense of teen numbers in the next unit and lays the groundwork for students to develop fluency with addition and subtraction facts within 10 in grade 1. (For example, to find the sum of 9 + 5, they can decompose 5 into 1 + 4 and find 9 + 1 + 4 or 10 + 4.). Much of the addition and subtraction work in future grades also hinges on the idea of composing and decomposing numbers, 10 in particular.

PE: Olympic Games

Art: Keith Haring

Keith Haring was known for his animated imagery and colorful larger scale murals. He often drew chalk outlines of figures, dogs, and other stylized images. This week the kids helped create a large mural of their own figures.

French: Colors, Fruits & Numbers

Library:

Mystery Reader:

This week our mystery reader was Alexandra's dad. Thank you for reading to us!

Recess:

Reminders:

NO SCHOOL Friday, February 18th

Recycled ROBOTS!

STEM Challenge: Design and build a robot out of recycled materials.

Using recycled materials is a great way to use your imagination and teaches resourcefulness, working with what you already have! Look how cool these robots turned out!

February Calendars:

Can anyone else believe it's already February!? February is such a fun month with our Valentine's Day party next week and many birthday celebrations!

Journals: What is your favorite food?

This week we read the book, "The Very Hungry Bear" by Nick Bland. The book is about a cranky bear who is very hungry! When the Very Hungry Bear goes fishing, he ends up catching more than he bargained for — a polar bear! After reading the story, we talked about our favorite foods and decided this would be a great writing prompt!

Fundations:

The kids are continuing to work hard on correct letter formation, uppercase letters, Magic E words, CVC words, digraphs, the C or K rule, and blends! We are becoming great writers and encoders! Encoding in writing is the process of hearing a sound and being able to write the symbol that makes that sound.

DEAR: Drop Everything & Read

During DEAR the kids engage with books of their choosing. The kids also work with teachers individually or in small groups to practice their reading skills.

Math: Word Story Problems, Both Addends Unknown

The students are continuing to work hard on listening to word story problems that share the total but leave out either one or both addends. The students have to work backward to solve the equation, starting with the total. They are instructed to first draw circles, then label the circles and then write the equation.

Art: Polar Bears

During art class, the students participated in a Directed Drawing. Mrs. Lorenz showed the students step-by-step how to draw the polar bear and the students followed her directions using a pencil. Then the kids traced the pencil using a Crayola black marker. After, the kids used a wet paintbrush to softy smear the black lines to create an interesting shadow effect. Finally, the kids painted the background using watercolor and sprinkled salt to create an interesting texture! They look so beautiful!

Music: Korean New Year & Chinese Lunar New Year

In music class this week the kids learned traditional songs and dances. The students made Korean fans for their fan dance and used their Chinese lanterns for their traditional Chinese Lantern Dance.

PE: Bowling Unit

French:

Mystery Reader:

This week our mystery reader was Nathaniel's dad! Thank you for reading to us!

Recess:

Monster Store:

Free Choice:

Let's not forget how important free play is! Free play is when children have full freedom to play in whatever way they want. During free play time, children can express themselves in the way that they choose. These kinds of opportunities are very important for children!

Reminders:

Next Friday is our class Valentine's Day party! Thank you to those who signed up to contribute to our class party! Please bring in any items by Wednesday the 9th.

SNOW much fun!

The kids had SNOW much fun on Friday playing in over 8 inches of freshly fallen snow! Playing in the snow provides children with endless opportunities to stimulate their play and learning!

21-Day Kindness Challenge: Write a thank you letter!

STEM Challenge: 3D Paper Sculptures

Morning Work: Fix the Sentance & I Spy

Math: Math Stories

During this math activity, students worked with their math partners. One partner tells a story about the picture and the other partner shows what happens in the story using a drawing and an equation. Then they switch and think of a different story about the picture.

Digraphs: Write the Room

Write the room is always a fun and engaging activity!

Digraphs: Guess & Groove

Fundations: Venn Diagram

Venn diagrams are used to compare and contrast two stories. This week I acted out "Baby Echo Looks for His Mother." I also read the book, "Are You My Mother?" We then discussed the two stories.

DEAR: Drop Everything and Read

Mystery Reader:

This week our mystery reader was Zamir's mom! Thank you for reading to us.

Library:

French: Polar Animals

Music: Korean New Year & Chinese Lunar New Year

In music class, the kids were introduced to traditional songs and dances to celebrate the Korean New Year and the Chinese Lunar New Year. The students made Korean fans to use in their fan dance and Chinese lanterns to use in learning a traditional Chinese Lantern Dance.

PE:

Free Choice:

Recess:

Reminders:

• Parent Preview Night: Tuesday, February 1, 5:30-6:30

• Child care will be provided for the Early Childhood and Lower School evening from 5:30-6:30.

• Please sign-up below if you plan to attend the event and if you will be participating in child care so we can plan accordingly.

• Parent Preview Night Sign-up