Dear Starfish Families,
I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Halloween with your families. The kids were so excited on Friday to get home and put on their costumes. On Friday, we had a lot of fun traveling to some of the other first grade classrooms in our hallway. Here are some questions that you could ask your child about Fall Festival.
1. I heard you made spider webs. How did you make them?
2. You made Halloween Monsters in Mrs. Mastin's classroom. How did you decide how many eyes to put on your monster?
3. How many points did you score when you played pumpkin bowling or pumpkin ring toss?
Thank you Denise for helping to organize our Fall Festival Halloween Snack and to our families for donating the yummy treats! The kids really enjoyed them! :)
On Thursday, we invited our 3rd grade reading buddies to play a few rounds of Halloween Bingo!
Getting Set up for Halloween Ring Toss
Matching Face Paint
Look at this yummy spread of Halloween Snacks
What's Happening in the Starfish Classroom?
Math: Late last week we had just finished our Unit 2 Math Unit. In this unit we worked with ten frames which are an important tool for addition. Ten frames are especially helpful for identifying pairs of numbers that add to 10, as well as for illustrating other facts within 10.
You may hear your child say, "I'll use the count on strategy" to add my numbers. This is an adding strategy that we use quite often in the Starfish classroom. It involves starting with the larger number and counting on the other number.
We also worked a lot with the turn around rule. The starfish now know you can switch the place of the addends in a problem and the sum will remain the same. Ask your child if they can show you a turn around fact at home!
Looking Ahead to Unit 3...we will continue learning about number stories. We have learned a few organizational tools to "map out" number stories. These tools are called Part-Part-Total and Change to More Diagram. In this unit, students will also explore the relationship between counting and addition and subtraction. They will practice counting up and back on a number line to add and subtract. They will also investigate patterns on number grids to help them count more efficiently.
Do-Anytime Activities to try at home with your child:
1. Practice counting by 1's, 5s, or 10s aloud with your child. For an extra challenge, try starting at different numbers.
"Let's start at 87 and count by 1's"
"Let's start at 65 and count by 5's"
2. Have your child tell you a number story for a give number sentence, such as 3+5=8.
"I had 3 dogs. Then I got 5 more dogs. How many dogs do I have in all? I have 8 dogs.
3. Write addition number sentences for your child. Have your child determine if your number sentence is true or false. During the month of October we would call them tricks or treats!
For example: 5+5=11 "I know this number sentence is false because I know 5+5=10."
Reading:
Can you believe these cute stuffed animals are helping us to solve tricky words?
Meet Lips the Fish who teaches us to look at the beginning sounds of words.
Meet Chunky the Monkey who teaches us for look for chunks or parts of words we know
Meet Eagle Eye who teaches us to look at the pictures to help us solve tricky words
Meet Skippy the Frog who teaches us to skip the tricky word to ask ourselves what would make sense in the sentence.
Meet Flippy the Dolphin who teaches us that reader sometimes have to try the vowel sound two ways. Both the short and long vowel sound to figure out what makes sense.
In our recent reading lessons, the Starfish are learning that word solving takes careful monitoring. We have been playing the game "Guess the Covered Word" by choosing a few words in our books, covering them with small sticky notes. The kids have been using a variety of strategies to guess the word. The starfish are discovering it sometimes takes a few strategies to figure out the word!
I have a great handout that I will share with you all at Parent Teacher Conferences to help use these strategies with your child.
You could also ask your child these questions to help solve tricky words in their books
Here are some pictures of your children working very hard during Reader's Workshop
We can sit back to back when we are independent reading
Then when it's time for Partnerships, we can sit side by side
When we read with partners- we can decide to read different ways. We can choral read, we can echo read a story, or take turns reading a book at a time!
We can play word games with our partners
Here are some Important Dates to Remember:
- Early Release this Thursday, November 5th at 12:50
- No School on Friday, November 6th (Teacher In Service)
- No School on Wednesday, November 11th (Veterans Day)
- Early Release on Wednesday, November 18th at 12:50
Questions to Ask your Child to promote a Home-School Connection:
1. What is your classroom job this week? What is your favorite job you have had this year?
2. Can you tell me what you have been working on during morning work?
3. Can you tell me what reading strategy you find most helpful when you come to a tricky word?
4. What is your most recent small moment story about during writer's workshop?
5. Can you tell me about your reading mat? what do you do with it?
6. Can you tell me the 5 vowels?
7. What's your favorite math game to play in your classroom?
8. What are you working on in art class?
9. Can you tell me about the reading app EPIC?
10. Who is your reading partner(s) during reader's workshop?
We have been playing some short vowel videos during transitions. I thought you may like to check them out at home.
Enjoy the rest of your week! I'm looking forward to meeting with many of you in the next few weeks for Parent Teacher Conferences!
Warmly,
Megan Murphy
