This week, we are focusing on reinforcing key classroom routines and expectations, such as active listening, partner work, and independent reading behaviors.

In reading and phonics, we are reviewing important vowel sounds. Specifically, students are working on identifying, reading, and spelling words with short O (as in dog) and short U (as in sun). These reviews come from our UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) program and help students strengthen their decoding and word recognition skills.

In writing, students are practicing foundational skills such as sentence structure, capitalization, punctuation, and building stamina during independent writing time.

This week in math, we are continuing Unit 4: Addition within 20 – Facts and Strategies, working through Lessons 4-6 to 4-8. Students are developing fluency with addition facts by using a variety of strategies to solve problems efficiently and accurately.

🔢 Key Concepts and Strategies:

Make a 10 Strategy: Students learn to break apart numbers to make a ten first, then add the rest.
Example: To solve 8 + 5, we think 8 + 2 = 10, then 10 + 3 = 13.
Add Using Doubles and Near Doubles: Students use known facts like 6 + 6 = 12 to help solve problems like 6 + 7 by thinking 6 + 6 = 12, plus 1 more = 13.
Use a Ten Frame or Number Line to visualize the addition process.

🗣️ Key Vocabulary students are using:

• Doubles, Near doubles, Make a ten, Addends, and Sum.

These strategies help students move beyond counting on their fingers and toward more flexible, mental math thinking. You can support your child at home by practicing basic addition facts and encouraging them to explain which strategy they used to find the answer.

This week in science, we are beginning our exploration of the five senses, starting with the sense of sight. Scholars are learning how our eyes help us observe the world around us.

🔍 Key Learning Focus:

• Understanding that our eyes are the body part we use to see.
  
  

• Identifying how we use sight to notice colors, shapes, sizes, and movement.
  
  

• Learning how sight helps us stay safe and interact with our environment.
  
  

Scholars are engaging in activities where they observe objects and describe what they see, helping them build vocabulary and develop observation skills—important foundations for all scientific learning.

👁️ Ask your scholar:

• “What are some things you saw today using your sense of sight?”
  
  

• “Can you describe something you saw using color or shape words?”
  
  

I'm excited to help students become keen observers of the world around them!

Our class has begun a new social studies chapter called “Why Are Families Important?” For the next five weeks, we will be talking about families and why they are important. Students will learn how we live and contribute to our families, and what rules families have. They will also look at how other families, past and present, are similar and different from their own.