Weekly Newsletter

 Literacy:

Fundations:

This week we continued learning about digraphs: "two letters, one sound."  We focused on the digraph th this week, and reviewed sh from last week.  Th can be tricky because it can be quiet, like in "thumb," or noisy, like in "them." 

We practiced building and writing words containing sh and th.  

We continued to build our skills in differentiated small groups. 

We continued to review our Snap Words. 

Introduced Snap Words: the, a, and, are, to, is, his, an, am, can, as, has, was, he, be, me, we, she  I, you, see, like or, for,  from, my, by, do no, so, and go.

Introduced Letters: All!

Heggerty:

During Heggerty (our phonological awareness program),  we: 

*Started tapping out  and putting together the sounds in words containing l blends, like "slip" or "club." It can be tricky to separate the two blends, but we are working on it! 

*Added and deleted the first sound in words containing blends

*Changed the beginning sound in words containing digraphs. 

In EL Literacy, we worked on our weather books every day, and finished them! We practiced our drawing, writing, and editing skills (with teacher help for the latter), and everyone is super proud of their books. We will share them with each other when we return from break, and then they can bring them home to share with you. :) 

Mathematics: 

This week in math, we had fun with building shapes! We used Model Magic and toothpicks to build both 2-D and 3-D shapes, and practiced naming and describing them. 

We also started our Place Value unit, and focused on looking at teen numbers in terms of tens and ones. 

During Number Corner this week, we've had fun learning about different types of measurement tools that measure length, weight, temperature, and capacity.  The class has also noticed and shared many different patterns on our calendar!    We are also working on strategies for solving the equations we are using to show the number of "toad" days vs. the number of "frog days. We practiced counting on and counting by tens and ones. 

Work Places: 

We finished: 

-The Forest Game (addition & subtraction)

-Pattern Block Shape Puzzles

-Caterpillar Shape Game (Spinning to fill up 3 hexagons in different ways)

-Adding On Farm Game

-Spin & Count Shapes Game

We started: 

-Egg Balance Scale

-Oviparous Animal Count, Sort, & Graph

-Estimation & Counting by 10s & 1s

-Making Ten Write the Room

-Pattern Block Shape Composition Puzzles

Literacy Centers: 

• Word Family Eggs-Read & Record

• How-To Build a Snowman Writing, Cont.

• Rabbit CVC Word Write the Room

• "Mr. Groundhog" in our Poetry Journals

• Dr. Seuss-Themed Class Book Pages: "There's a Flassroom in my Classroom!"

Choice: 

• Art Area: Free Art, Chicks & Eggs Craft, Paper Bag Books 

• Easel with Rainbow Colors

• Writing Center: Cards, gel pens, Spring coloring sheets, blank books, different types of paper,  how-to draw cards

• Dramatic Play: Vet's Office with animals, medical tools, empty pill containers, animal food dishes, pretend medical forms to fill out, etc. 

• Library: Spring and Oviparous Animal Books

•  Playstix, Matchbox Cars, Pattern Blocks and Puzzles, Magna-tiles, Animals, Magnet Builders, Legos, etc. 

• Dollhouse

• Large Wooden Blocks 

• STEM Bins and puzzles

• Guess Who? Board Game & other mini-games. 

 Books and Poems:

Tadpole to Frog

Nature's Perfect Package: Egg (we spent four days reading this book, packed with amazing and interesting facts about eggs and the animals that lay and hatch from them)

"Spring" 

"I'm a Little Chicken"

and more! 

 At Home Ideas:  

*Have a wonderful break! Try something new or go somewhere new with your family--new experiences help build those brains. :) 

Other: 

We continued reading and learning about oviparous animals: animals that lay and hatch from eggs. 

We went out a spring walk after learning about and discussing signs of spring in our Weekly Reader. 

Donations Needed: 

Baby Wipes

Plastic Spoons