Family Math Night

December 3, 2019

Kindergarten

This week, during math kindergartners explored addition and recognized that addition simply means "to put together." Although the expectation for kindergarten is addition with sums up to five, many of us will be able to go even further. If/when your young mathematician is interested and ready, challenge them with trickier addition problems. Be sure to check out the math vocabulary flash cards that are sent home per chapter via the Friday folder.

During Writer's Workshop, we are practicing writing true stories, keeping in mind that true stories answer the questions who, what and where. As you read with and to your child this weekend, please point out dialogue containing speech bubbles and/or quotation marks.

December wouldn't be the same without some favorite art projects and crafts including hibernating bears, glittery snowflakes and candy canes---just to name a few! Seasonal projects, aside from being fun and relaxing, provide practice in fine motor skills, sequencing, spatial awareness and following directions. We hope you treasure and keep some of your child's favorites to look back on in the years to come!

First Grade

We hope that all of our Boonton families had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Our students began December with some new learning. First graders learned to tap out, spell, and read base-words that contain a suffix-s. They learned that words that contain this sound can either make a /s/ or a /z/ sound. Students know that this sound is found at the end of a noun or verb. Our Word Detectives continue to take closer looks at tricky words. They have learned to use the following strategies to decode tricky words: break long words into smaller parts, pay attention to the beginning of the word, break the word ending off the word, look out for vowel teams, use parts of words you know, and watch out for unusual words. Our Mathematicians are still solving addition and subtraction problems within 20, using what they know about related facts. First grader writers have been busy teaching their writing partners how to do something or make something in their How To Writing. They have been working hard as partnerships to add more detail to their writing and label their pictures. Soon our authors will be ready to publish their second piece of writing. We look forward to the continued growth we will see in our learners!

Second Grade

This month, the second grade students will go on many exciting adventures. Each day they will travel to a new country to learn about the different traditions and customs that are celebrated during the winter months. These activities will broaden our understanding of other people’s cultures, and promote an acceptance of differences. At the end of this unit, the second grade will participate in a special day called The Festival of Traditions, where we spend the day celebrating our new understanding of these traditions through crafts, games and stories.

Music

Our kindergarten musicians have been using the paintings of Kadinsky to explore pathways of movement. They enjoyed the familiarity of the artwork thanks to having previously studied them in Art with Mrs. Laderach. Students chose lines and shapes to travel while maintaing their own sense of space and time. Our first graders have also been exploring movement and awareness of others, click here to see them playing a game called ‘Mirrors!” Our second grade students continue to refine their music literacy skills and creativity through playing instruments while also reflecting on how music elicits different moods.

Save the date! Kindergarten Show, “Snowmen at Night,” on January 24, 8:30am.

Nurse's Notes