Warming up with Writing!

Happy November!
November brings some unseasonably warm weather.
We are certainly thankful for these extra few days of warm temperatures before winter. 

What's going on in Room 5?

Read Alouds:

     

Fundations:

-We've learned two new letters this week: A & G.
-So far we have learned 11 letters. Only a few more weeks before we've learned all 26 letters.
-A and G have many different looks. We will learn to write the lowercase a & g displayed on our Fundations cards. However there are "fancy" versions of you might see in a book: a - g

       

a-apple-/a/

g-game-/g/

Some guiding questions you can ask your child:

-What sound does the letter ____ make?

-What are some words that begin with the letter ____?

-You could even make the letter sound and ask them what letter makes the sound___ (/t/)?

Writing:

Since the beginning of school, students have completed a series of "Power Writes". These Power Writes are brief, cross-curricular writing experiences. The power writes are taught in a single day. It is a way for students to get their "feet wet" in a wide variety of writing styles. November marks the beginning of our Extended Writing Units, which are longer units of writing projects based on a gradual release approach. The whole class works on a writing piece and then gradual leads to an independent project. 

Our first Extended Writing Unit (EWU) is on Narrative Writing.  

Features of Narrative Writing include:
-A story about a real life event with real people.
-beginning
-middle
-end
-How the main character/write feels

Students will write and illustrate their own personal narrative about our Halloween Celebration. Our hope is to include all of our Narrative features into our own writing.  The process has been very successful! The students love writing in their own "office" with their own box of crayons, while soothing music plays in the background.  The room comes to life as the students create their own book pages.  

Next week we will put together our books with a special cover and share/celebrate our writing. You'll be able to see your child's personal narratives at conferences. It's one of my favorite pieces to share with parents!

Math: 

The first part of Topic 4 focused on: 
    - Comparing numbers through 10
    - 1 more
    - 1 fewer

Ten frames are used throughout our curriculum. They are great ways to organize counters and objects. They are used for counting and comparing numbers. We've been emphasizing counting strategies. For example, if a ten frame is filled, a counter in each square, you don't need to count to figure out how many counters there are. Or if the top row is filled you know there are 5. If the top row is filled and there are other counters in the bottom row...count on from 5.

Art & Music:

-Music is a daily occurrence in our classroom. We use Music to learn songs, letters, and even numbers. The two videos below are perfect for November themes of gratitude and thankfulness.

 Raffi's Thanks a lot:

Turn the World Around by Bill Harley

Jack Hartman's counting to 100 by 1s

Art-We are working on making our classroom display area into a fall harvest. We've made pumpkins, scarecrows and even ears of Indian corn using bubble wrap and lint rollers! Next week we will make sunsets, pinch pots, and plenty of turkey crafts! Keep an eye out for these colorful and creative pieces of artwork! 

Reminders:

No School Tuesday November 10th and Wednesday November 11th.

Conference Slips went home this week and are due Friday November 13th. Please let me know if you have not received a conference sign-up.