Next week we will introduce the letter S. During the week we will read fiction and non-fiction books about spiders. We will compare these two genres and do some non-fiction and opinion writing. Our jolly phonics will continue as well. We are now on the 5th book of sounds. We are beginning to learn some vowel combinations. We practice saying "when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking" to help students remember how to sound out words like 'pail, goat, tie'. When we learned the 'ng sound this week we introduced our first SECRET story. Secret stories are a fun way to learn about irregular sounds. Be sure to practice high frequency words at home too....soon we will be assessing the words we have learned so far and starting writer's workshop. It is much easier to write when you can spell some common words.
In math we will continue to build our number sense, keep practicing number writing, start to talk about positional words (under, behind, above, etc) and learn how to play a fun game called Skyscrapers. During the week a math talk page will come home for you to explore with your child. There will be questions on the back. These questions will give you some insight into how we "talk about math" at school. Having your child explain their mathematical thinking is a big part of common core. You should ask your child to do this as much as possible. It is interesting to hear what is going on in their heads...they have a lot to say!
October is when we really get in a groove. We have learned how to rotate through our morning centers and what to do during math work stations. All students are going to their flex groups and beginning to meet in small groups for reading instruction. The academic expectations are increasing. If your child comes home with a note on their work that says they need to practice a skill at home, it would be beneficial to review it together. Thank you for all you do at home to support your child’s learning.
Don't forget we have Monday Oct. 14th, off of school and that Wednesday is late start and also early dismissal. The students will get out at 12:15. I hope you enjoy the long weekend and get to do some fun fall activities….I know I look forward to riding the bike path with my husband. I love the colors this time of year!
