Happy to be back!

Dear Families,

We had a great start to 2013!!! The kids settled right back into our classroom routines and seem to remember the rules really well. 

We started the week out by writing what we did on our break. The kids drew a picture to match their words. We watched a you tube video about kids making New Year's Resolutions. After that, the kids wrote there own resolutions for at home and at school. 

 Then we read The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel.  Then we used pictures to retell the story in the correct sequence.  We took pictures of the kids in their snow gear and they labeled the parts and wrote a sentence about what they like to do in the snow. They are darling! 

Today we listened to The Napping House. The kids had to make a picture in their minds as they listened to the story.  Then they went to their table spots to draw a picture to match what they were seeing in their brains. We are working on visualizing while reading.  We will continue working on this skill next week in reading.

We did not have reading groups this week. We did practice independent reading each day for about 10 minutes. 

We reviewed our sight words by playing Sparkle and writing them on whiteboards.

In math we started Unit 3.  We will be working on partners of numbers as well as teen numbers.  This week we also reviewed the penny and learned about the dime.  Kids used their counting trays to work on partners of numbers.  They were introduced to break apart sticks to use for finding partners of numbers. I am using the vocabulary the kids are learning in school so that you can use it at home. Essentially they are adding. 

We started a new unit in science this week. We will be learning the difference between day and night.  We will be learning new words such as morning, noon, and evening. We will also learn that stars are far, far away. 

Finally, I gave the kids a quick spelling check to find out what groups they should be in for word sorts. We are running three different groups during this time so we are better able to meet the needs of all kids. 

We will start guided reading groups again next week.  We will also have homework again on Monday. Please watch for it.

I hope you have a nice weekend.

Rochelle Metzger