Language Arts
Reading
In reading, we continue to work on
-identifying sight words
This quarter, we have introduced the words down, out, go, little, up, and they
-using our understanding of digraphs such as /sh/ and /ch/ to decode words
Ask your child to share with you the story of why the digraphs make their specific sound
-using strategies to read grade level texts such as....
Sounding out unknown words and using the picture to confirm that what they think the text says makes sense.
Using the "flip the vowel" strategy sounding out a word does not make sense
For example, if your child is trying to decode the word f-i-r-e with a short i sound, the word does not make sense. So, the next strategy would be to "flip the vowel" and try the long i sound, which would make sense.
Writing
This quarter in writing, we have
-introduced the "how to" writing genre
We began our exploration of how to writing by reading all different recipes. We noted that how to writing is a bit different than other genres in that they have materials listed, number steps to indicate what to do when, and lastly, they have sequence words such as first, next, then, and finally. Last Friday, we used all of these elements to read and make a marshmallow spider!
-This week, we continue to work as a group to create a "How to complete a fire drill" book that we are making as a class. As always, we continue to work on our writing conventions such as starting each sentence with a capital letter, using spaces in between words, spelling sight words correctly, sounding out unknown words, using mostly lowercase letters, and ending each sentence with a punctuation mark.
Math
In math, we have been working on
-using our spatial relation skills and understanding of 2D shapes by exploring how we could make big shapes out of little shapes. For example, through hands on activities shown below, students determined that they could use triangles, rhombi, and trapeziods to create hexagons.
-We also have been working on using positional words such as above, below, in front of, behind, on, in, and out to describe the position of objects in the environment. For example, the shoes are below the chair
Shirts for the Fun Run
Our annual school Fun Run is coming up in March. For those of who are new to Banks, the Fun Run is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year. To help encourage class spirit, each class will be making their very own team shirts in Art class. Our class will be making their shirts next Tuesday. Please send your child in with a white shirt by Monday, February 9th.
Valentine's Day
This Friday, a class list will be going home in your child's Friday folder if you would like to participate in our card exchange on Friday, February 13th.
Early Release
Just an FYI.....next Friday, February 13th is an early release day
Homework
There has been a tiny change in when homework is turned in. From now on, homework will be turned in at the end of the month, instead of weekly.
Thank You
A BIG thank you to Mr. Bishop, Ms. Hogan, Ms, Kiger, and Ms. Maher for volunteering each week in our class. They have been pulling small groups to help make sure our kiddos master our Kindergarten goals.
