Friday Already?

The weeks just keep flying by, I can't believe it's Friday already. I am looking forward to a road trip up to Seattle this weekend to see a friend from high school that recently moved out this way from Boston.

Here's a little review of what we have been up to this week:

Math

We are continuing to focus on the teen numbers. Our puppet friend "Ten Bug" has helped the kiddos learn about making groups of ten and separating the ten from the ones. Then we do a little ten bug magic with the number tiles to show how the number representing the ones can cover the zero in the ten to show the teen number.

Writing

Thursday and Friday we spent some time doing journal writing. Now that the kids are doing a great job "breaking it down" and sounding out words, I have started asking them a question and having them write a sentence to answer. This week I asked them what they want to be when they grow up. We started with a partner activity during which each kiddo got to tell their partner what they want to be when they grow up. Then when we shared with the whole class, the children had to share what their partner wanted to be so I could reinforce the importance of listening to the other person. Once we shared some ideas, the kiddos got their journal paper to write a sentence and draw a picture to go with it. We had some great work and I will scan some of their work to post here. I am going to also put the pages together to make a class book because I really want the kids to feel proud of their work and to be encouraged to take their time and do their best.

Reading

For the past few weeks, we have been working on some "First Grade Sounds." I introduced some long vowel sounds and the double e and both classes have done a wonderful job sounding out some more challenging words. We talk about the "helper e" and how e helps the vowels say their names. I am so impressed with how much the kiddos are improving and very excited to see them blossoming! Next week, on Monday and Tuesday we will be focusing on /o_e/ and reading words like home, rope, and tone. We will also review the letter r and the sight word "for."

Literacy Bags

I hope that you are enjoying the literacy bags. Thanks for taking good care of them and returning them on time. I can see how excited the kids get when they arrive on Fridays and see their bags hanging on their cubby hooks, so it seems like the program is going really well! I had two girls in the afternoon class overjoyed and thanking me when they saw which bags they got to take home today. We have had a few books and items go missing and I have really appreciate parents letting me know when they receive a bag that has something missing. That way I can look at who the previous borrower was and try to track things down.

Fun Stuff
On Monday, both classes will have Art Literacy with Katie Webb, which is always fun. We are also starting our Teddy Bear projects and I know everyone is excited and looking forward to that. I really appreciate all of the parents who are volunteering their time to come in and help with this very big project and parents who were able to do some prep work at home. You are all wonderful!

Have a great weekend!!