Updated on 3/13/20 Next update: 3/20/20
Week of March 9-13
CLASS NEWS/ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Late Passes- Please get a late pass from the office if you arrive at the classroom after 8:50. Tory will need to change the code from absent to late. The school day begins at 8:40. School policy is for teachers to submit attendance to the office at 8:45.
Change of Morning & Dismissal Procedures- In order to minimize the spread of germs, I will be “extending an elbow.” Alternatives are waves, thumbs-up or “air explosions.”
UNIT OF STUDY: Where We Live
This week we explored the question What are animal habitats and what types of animals live in each? We compared forests, deserts, tundra, and oceans. Some of the books that supported this week’s work are from the Animal Habitat series by Bobbie Kalman
Home connection
- Create a mural depicting an array of homes for people and animals. Invite your child to reflect on and discuss the different types of homes and buildings your child studied. Have them create representations ranging from the types of homes they live in to the homes people in other places live in to animal homes, depending on what they found most interesting during this study. Consider a variety of mediums for this mural including collage, drawing and painting.
- Words your child was exposed to this week: habitat, rain forest, desert, tundra, arctic, ocean.
SOUNDS IN MOTION:
This week students were introduced to the letter Z and the sounds and movements that go with it. We also reviewed the letters A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, & Z.
Home connection
- Parents, you can support this work by: referring to the Sounds in Motion link under the Curriculum tab.
- finding “Z” words in books or signs they see on their walk to school.
NAME STUDY:
We also launched our name study this week. In this study, we use one student’s name each week to learn and practice:
- letter identification
- syllables
- beginning/ending sounds
- counting
- conversation skills (practice asking/answering direct questions)
This was Ema’s week. Look for her page in the class book hanging by the sink next week.
Up next - Klarrizze
MATH: Week 20
An idea we address early in measurement is that objects can be compared according to quantitative attributes (how much they have). Children’s understanding of measurement has its roots in the preschool years, starting with direct comparisons of objects. However, such comparisons are not yet true measurement—assigning a number to continuous quantities—they are, again, comparing, which is at the heart of measurement.
Measuring Activities
Children engage in two main types of comparing activities that lead to measurement. They begin by directly comparing objects, placing objects next to each other. Children also compare lengths indirectly; they compare the lengths of two items by representing one of the lengths with string or a paper strip. This task requires transitive reasoning—if A is longer than B and B is longer than C, then A is longer than C. Of course, most children only understand this intuitively at first.
Early Addition
Even very young children can figure out how many there will be when only one or two items are added to a small group of objects. Researchers believe children first do this by storing images of the objects in their minds. Our activities build on this initial ability and they also encourage children to form mental images of small quantities and operate based on those images.
Meaningful Connections
Knowingly or not, children often compare quantities related to measurement. Have you ever unintentionally given one child a longer piece of licorice as another child looks at his or her shorter piece? Such times present opportunity to discuss the discrepancy, address concepts of more/less, shorter/longer, and the like, and ascertain children’s own impressions of these ideas. In turn, a connection ha been built between routine, the ordinary (distributing snack) and a legitimate math skill (comparing). Comparing quantities is a vital way children engage in mathematical thinking.
CLASS NEWS/ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Late Passes- Please get a late pass from the office if you arrive at the classroom after 8:50. Tory will need to change the code from absent to late. The school day begins at 8:40. School policy is for teachers to submit attendance to the office at 8:45.
Change of Morning & Dismissal Procedures- In order to minimize the spread of germs, I will be “extending an elbow.” Alternatives are waves, thumbs-up or “air explosions.”
UNIT OF STUDY: Where We Live
This week we explored the question What are animal habitats and what types of animals live in each? We compared forests, deserts, tundra, and oceans. Some of the books that supported this week’s work are from the Animal Habitat series by Bobbie Kalman
Home connection
- Create a mural depicting an array of homes for people and animals. Invite your child to reflect on and discuss the different types of homes and buildings your child studied. Have them create representations ranging from the types of homes they live in to the homes people in other places live in to animal homes, depending on what they found most interesting during this study. Consider a variety of mediums for this mural including collage, drawing and painting.
- Words your child was exposed to this week: habitat, rain forest, desert, tundra, arctic, ocean.
SOUNDS IN MOTION:
This week students were introduced to the letter Z and the sounds and movements that go with it. We also reviewed the letters A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, & Z.
Home connection
- Parents, you can support this work by: referring to the Sounds in Motion link under the Curriculum tab.
- finding “Z” words in books or signs they see on their walk to school.
NAME STUDY:
We also launched our name study this week. In this study, we use one student’s name each week to learn and practice:
- letter identification
- syllables
- beginning/ending sounds
- counting
- conversation skills (practice asking/answering direct questions)
This was Ema’s week. Look for her page in the class book hanging by the sink next week.
Up next - Klarrizze
MATH: Week 20
An idea we address early in measurement is that objects can be compared according to quantitative attributes (how much they have). Children’s understanding of measurement has its roots in the preschool years, starting with direct comparisons of objects. However, such comparisons are not yet true measurement—assigning a number to continuous quantities—they are, again, comparing, which is at the heart of measurement.
Measuring Activities
Children engage in two main types of comparing activities that lead to measurement. They begin by directly comparing objects, placing objects next to each other. Children also compare lengths indirectly; they compare the lengths of two items by representing one of the lengths with string or a paper strip. This task requires transitive reasoning—if A is longer than B and B is longer than C, then A is longer than C. Of course, most children only understand this intuitively at first.
Early Addition
Even very young children can figure out how many there will be when only one or two items are added to a small group of objects. Researchers believe children first do this by storing images of the objects in their minds. Our activities build on this initial ability and they also encourage children to form mental images of small quantities and operate based on those images.
Meaningful Connections
Knowingly or not, children often compare quantities related to measurement. Have you ever unintentionally given one child a longer piece of licorice as another child looks at his or her shorter piece? Such times present opportunity to discuss the discrepancy, address concepts of more/less, shorter/longer, and the like, and ascertain children’s own impressions of these ideas. In turn, a connection ha been built between routine, the ordinary (distributing snack) and a legitimate math skill (comparing). Comparing quantities is a vital way children engage in mathematical thinking.