Week of September 12

The Resources for the week are : Tuesday~ MUSIC, Wednesday~ART, Thursday~P.E. and Friday~MEDIA. Wednesday is an Early Release Day. Open House is rescheduled for this week on Thursday, September 15 @ 6:00. Friday is Sunglasses Day and Jaiden is bringing snack for the class. 

Math

We are discussing dot configurations and hidden partners for numbers 3-10. Both show the students different ways to make parts of a group. Dot configurations show the students that the amount of a group can be the same even if the layout is not. For example: a vertical line group, a horizontal line group, a group that is separated by a space but all the dots are there, different colored dots, etc. Hidden Partners is more of a game and gets the students prepared for decomposing numbers. Here are two pictures showing how the cubes have been split into two groups for hidden partners. 

We will continue singing along with counting songs to 100. I've already started noticing an improvement with rote counting! We will also practice number writing. (I tested the students on this skill and I noticed quite a few reversals. If you notice your child is writing numbers 1-10 backwards please correct them.)

Reading & Science

We completed Module 1 and the students took the Standards Test and the Content Tests last week. (I was a little nervous about administering the test whole group... but the students blew me away! Everyone was on the correct question throughout the whole test.) The tests showed me that we will continue to discuss B, M and E events along with rhyming. :)

We are moving along to Module 2~ The Five Senses. These lessons give the students LOTS of information, scientific information!! These lessons seem to be the most confusing for the students, so you will want to review the vocabulary with your child and then reread the stories by clicking on the titles below.

During this module we discuss the relationship between the illustrations (they may be pictures, sketches, diagrams) and the text. We also identify the main topic of each story and retell using key details. 

**I do a lot of prompting and supporting to guide the students thinking and answering the comprehension questions. You will want to do the same thing at home so that their thoughts stay focused.**

My Senses Are Amazing

The Sense of Sight

The Sense of Hearing

The Sense of Smell

Vocabulary for the senses

Sight: iris, protect, pupil

Hearing: echo, invisible, sound waves, vibrate, volume

Smell: molecules, mucus, nostrils, scents, smell receptors

In Saxon we will discuss letters g and h. We all also discuss blending, building words with letter tiles and brushing on coding words.

Our Sight Words for the week are blue, yellow, me, no.

Writing

We have really been focusing on body parts for people. :) The students have been doing great remembering to add all the details to the character's faces. They are remembering that people do not have sticks for arms or legs... We have muscles! They are also remembering to add a neck!! (It makes me so proud!) Drawing bodies is tricky for some, but the more we practice the more confidence I see and the better the work gets. Our main goal at this time is detailed pictures! Writing we will get to and if they are doing it great. But I need to see that the pictures have at least one character and a clear setting. 

**If your child begins to doodle around the characters or in the sky, STOP THEM and ask what they are doing. Some of the students have begun to do this and it wasn't rain, snow or stars like my brain thought it was. These doodles are making it difficult for them to complete their pictures.**

If the students are mastering their pictures, they will begin writing simple sentences with the sight words and sounds they know.

We will also discuss complimenting other students work with specific items. Saying, "I like your picture" doesn't tell the writer as much information as "I like how your people are holding hands" or "I like the tires on your blue bicycle."