Thank you for being so patient! The first month and a half of school is a time dedicated to helping all my students and myself adjust to being back in school. I focus on establishing routines and following expectations but more importantly, I work hard to build solid relationships with all of my students.
Here are some of the highlights of what we have been working on in our class:
Here are some of the highlights of what we have been working on in our class:
Math: I do a lot with finger patterns, dot patterns, ten frames, and bead racks the first month. I review all these tools and use them to help the children practice the structure of numbers 1-20. The first month we review and focus on 1-10. When I say structure, I mean understanding all the ways to make a number. For example: 0+5, 5+0, 1+4, 4+1, 2+3, 3+2-these are all the ways to structure 5. I use the visuals to help give the numbers meaning. The main goal for using all these visuals is to get children to subitize. Subitize is the ability to tell the number of objects in a set, quickly, without counting. Often times children feel confident with 5 and 10 but 6,7,8,& 9 needs extra practice. We continue to work on all our numbers 1-10. Reading: We have done a couple of activities that focus around metacognition or "thinking about your thinking". We did an activity called "Reading Salad" where the children got to see that real reading involves not just the text, but also thinking about what you are reading. All of my students are working to build their reading stamina (a child's ability to focus and and read independently for long-ish periods of time without being distracted or without distracting others). I have started our launch of Schoolwide's Reader's Workshop and the stations that I use along with it. I have started guided reading groups using last year's benchmarks as a jumping off point. I will be benchmarking the children to determine their current reading level later this month. Writing: I launched our Writer's Workshop by introducing the "Six Traits of Writing": -Ideas—the main message. -Organization—the internal structure of the piece. -Voice—the personal tone and flavor of the author's message. -WordChoice—the vocabulary a writer chooses to convey meaning. -SentenceFluency—the rhythm and flow of the language. -Conventions—the mechanical correctness. This past week we talked about and practiced writing our first pen pal letter to my cousin's second grade class in Wisconsin. We will be writing back and forth all year. Science: Before we dive into our first science unit of study, I always start with going over the traits of a scientist: categorizing, communicating,comparing, observing and ordering. We do a little activity in small groups. I give each group a bucket of the same items. They focus on one trait at a time and use the objects to practice that trait. |
That is a summary of the first month of school. I will do my best to update you at least every other week. Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Until next time...
Mrs. Miller
Until next time...
Mrs. Miller