Away We Grow

Dear Parents and Families,

            Our class is beginning our new unit in our reading program called, Away We Grow. Throughout this unit we will read and discuss selections that cover various aspects of plant life.  This unit will provide students with a basic understanding of plant life and how plants work together in our environment.  Students will read about, write about and explore plant-related subjects, such as how a seed grows, gardens, flowers, and plants that eat animals.

            You can enhance your child’s learning in this area by helping him or her locate additional educational resources dealing with the topics covered in each lesson.  Your local library and the Internet can provide a great deal of supplementary information for your to explore together.  In addition, outdoor excursions will help your child place the information he or she is learning into a meaningful context.  Walks and hikes can help your child identify the features he or she is discovering in class.  First-hand observation can also lead you and your child to further areas of exploration.

As always, your help at home is important in helping to make this a meaningful unit of study for your child.  Here are some activities you may wish to try:

Make a list of foods that grow from seeds.  Buy a few at the grocery store and compare the seeds.  Can you count the seeds?

There is a great variety within the world of flowers.  How many different flowers can you name?  Go to a local grocery store or green house and look at the many variety of flowers.

Help your child acquire firsthand experience by going to a local greenhouse together.  Encourage your child to explore the greenhouse and observe the conditions needed so that plants may flourish.  Help him or her investigate which plants are annual and perennial.

Concept and Question Board:

You may wish to contribute to our unit concept and question board by sending in pictures or drawings of plant life.  You can look for pictures in magazines, newspapers or take pictures of plants that you have worked together to help grow.  Students may also wish to look for seeds and place them in a ziplock bag to share with the class. Anything that you think will help the students to learn more about plant life would be helpful.  Thank you for your continued support at home to supplement our learning at school!

North, South, East, West

            Our class is beginning a new unit in our reading program called North, South, East, West. We will read stories and poems about reading maps, making maps, asking and giving directions, and traveling.

            This unit is similar to previous units because it has a reading transition for students.  In the first half of the unit, students will follow along in the Big Book as selections are read.  In the second half of the unit, students will take on the responsibility of reading the main classroom selections using their First Reader.

            Throughout this unit, you may want to take the opportunity to look at maps and globes around your home.  Maps are a way of making our world more accessible.  They help us understand new and unfamiliar places.  If possible, visit the library or look on the Internet for maps of both familiar and unfamiliar places.

Some activities you may wish to try:

As you look at maps together, help your child think about the four cardinal directions: north, south, east and west.  If possible, use a compass to identify the four directions from your home.  Ask your child to decorate letters that represent the four directions.  After discovering the four directions, ask your child to hang the decorated letters N, S, E and W in the appropriate places.

Encourage your child to hide a small treasure somewhere within your home or around the neighborhood.  Ask him or her to draw a treasure map that will lead you to the hidden surprise.

Concept and Question Board:

You may wish to contribute to our unit concept and question board by sending in a map to post.  This can be a road map, a map of a park you have been to or even a state or country map.  If you would like the map returned just send it in with a note so that I am aware.  Thank you for your continued support at home to supplement our learning at school!

What's the Weather?

Dear Parents and Families,

            Our class is beginning a new unit in our reading program called What’s the Weather? This unit begins the students’ transition to reading challenging text.  In the first half of the unit, students will continue to follow along in their Big Book as selections are read.  In the second half of the unit, students will take on the responsibility of reading the main classroom selections using their First Reader.

            In the Big Book, our first selections will teach students about different types of weather such as rain, hail, snow, thunder, lightning, hurricanes and tornadoes.  We will also read about weather patterns around the world.  In the First Reader students will read a selection about desert environments.  Then they will continue reading in their First Reader selections about snow and hurricanes.

            Talk to your child about the types of weather he or she has experienced.  We live in an area where snow falls every winter.  Has your child seen rain turn to hail?  Make a list of weather your child has not experienced.  You may wish to take a trip to the library together to discover more about these types of weather.  You may also want to talk about the kinds of storms that are likely to occur in NH.  Discuss what your family can do to prepare for a bad storm.  Encourage your child to help you make a checklist of the things to do.

Concept and Question Board:

You may wish to contribute to our unit concept and question board by looking for pictures of different types of weather.  These can be pictures from magazines and newspapers, or pictures your child draws of different types of weather.  They may look for pictures of clothing worn for certain types of weather like snow pants or raincoats, as well as tools used during different weather such as shovels or umbrellas. Whatever you do at home to supplement our learning at school is always appreciated!

Our Neighborhood At Work

            Our class is beginning a new unit today in our reading program called Our Neighborhood at Work.  Students will read and discuss selections about the many different jobs and professions that people do every day.  We will read a story that will introduce students to the idea that everybody works different and exciting jobs.  We will also read a story about a boy who explores the many professions in his neighborhood, and a story about a man who runs his own grocery store. 

            You may want to help your child create a list of different professions in our community and interview some of the people who have these jobs.  You can also add to your discussions by reading books and articles about people and places around the town.  You may discover that your child has an interest in a specific profession through your discussions.  Find out more about a profession that interests your child!

            In class, we will be discussing how coming to school each day is work for students.  To make sure each student is prepared, organization is an important skill.  Talk to your child about organization and how it can be helpful when we are very busy.  Ask your child to make a schedule for the following day and encourage him or her to follow the agenda in order to stay organized.  Tell your child to include such activities as waking up, brushing teeth, eating breakfast, and getting dressed.  At the end of the day, ask your child if it was helpful to follow his or her schedule.

Concept and Question Board:

You may wish to contribute to our unit concept and question board by looking for pictures of people at work.  These can be pictures from magazines and newspapers, or pictures your child takes of someone they know.  There are more jobs than I have room to mention!  If your child learns about a specific profession, they may wish to draw a picture or make a list of job responsibilities to add to our board.   Whatever you do at home to supplement our learning at school is always appreciated!

I Am Responsible

            Our class is beginning a new unit in our reading program called I Am Responsible.  We will begin by reading a selection about the concepts of responsibility and being responsible.  We will also read a story about a boy who learns responsibility from taking care of a pet, and a selection about how we can all be responsible and help take care of our environment.  We will learn that there are many ways to be responsible including listening to your parents, recycling and obeying school rules.

            The stories and selections we will read and discuss in class will provide many opportunities for you and your child to discuss responsibility at home.  Does your child have any chores for which he or she is responsible on a regular basis? Talk about homework as a responsibility for being a good student and eating healthy food as a responsibility to our bodies.  Use the activities in the letters associated with these selections as a starting point for your discussions of and investigations into responsibility and responsible behavior.

            In our classroom the students have many responsibilities.  We have new jobs each week.  At the end of the day there are many jobs that the students help out with to get the classroom ready for the next day.  Ask your child if they have a job this week.  Have them explain what their responsibility is.  If they don’t have a job this week, ask them to explain one of the jobs and what their responsibility will be when it is their turn to have that job.

Concept & Question Board:

You may wish to contribute to our concept and question board by looking for pictures of people being responsible.  This can include someone picking up litter, taking care of an animal or doing something for someone else.  If your child has chores at home you can work to write a sentence or two describing his or her responsibility.  You could even take a picture of your child completing the job. Whatever you do at home to supplement our learning at school is always appreciated!

Where Animals Live

            Our class is beginning a new unit in our reading program called Where Animals Live. Animals live in habitats.  Habitats include all the places where animals live, such as forests, oceans, and city parks.  This unit will help students understand that they can learn a great deal about wildlife from the habitat the animals live in.  Students will hear and discuss selections that highlight various animals and their habitats such as the red-eyed tree frog and polar bears.  They will also learn about life within a specific habitat, the desert, and how wildlife has adapted to its harsh environment.

            Animals that live in habitats very far from our homes are sometime difficult to see and learn about.  Most of us will never see a polar bear In its natural habitat.  Places like zoos, aquariums and aviaries allow us the opportunity to see these animals in person.  These places must recreate the animal’s natural habitat so they will be comfortable and happy.

Activities you can do with your child:

• Read books about animals together
• Visit nature centers, aquariums, aviaries or zoos
• Search the local newspaper for articles about animals and their habitats
• Have your child draw their favorite animal in their habitat
• Choose a habitat and learn about it together

           

Concept & Question Board:

In our classroom we create a board for each unit filled with concepts, or facts we already know, and questions, things we are wondering about.  As we read stories in poems in each unit we answer questions that we may have, add concepts that we have learned and look for answers to new questions that come up.  You and your student can help add to our concept and question board by looking for articles and pictures related to the topic.  Your student may be interested in reading a book related to the topic and drawing a picture or writing a sentence to share as a concept for our board.  

Whatever you do at home to supplement our learning at school is always appreciated!

Back to School

Today we began our first unit in Imagine It, Back to School.  Here is some information about some of the program and our unit:

           Before students begin reading on their own, it is important for them to be exposed to a variety of reading materials.  This school year, the reading process in our classroom will develop in three stages: through sharing in Big Books during the first half of the year, but reading the First Reader in the middle of the year and by reading the Student Reader during the second half of the year.

            Each of our units centers on a theme.  These themes will be read about, thought about, discussed, investigated and written about.  I will keep you informed about what your student is learning throughout each theme-based unit.  From time to time I will also send home activities related to the unit that you and your students can enjoy together.

            Big Books provide an opportunity for students to develop an awareness of print by following the text from left-to-right and top-to-bottom, recognizing letters, distinguishing words, observing capitalization and end punctuation.  Although all students will not actually read the text, the sharing of Big Books is an alternative that allows students to participate in reading behaviors as they observe what an experienced reader does.   In addition to the sharing of Big Books during whole group time, I will also be reading with students on an individual level and in small groups.

            In these first weeks of school, we will be reading a number of stories and poems about going back to school.  We will learn that children go to school to learn similar subjects all around the world.  We will also discuss the feelings that students experience when they know an answer or when they do not know an answer in school.

            As we continue to adjust to our school routines and read about school, you may wish to ask your student about his or her school.  What does he or she like and dislike about it?  Help your student understand the importance of schools and education.  What is it that we learn during the day that is important to your student?

            During the year I will continue to let you know what topics we are reading about and how you can help discuss them at home.  If you ever have any questions regarding our reading program please feel free to contact me!

           

Maps, maps, maps

The kids are throwing themselves into maps, exploring the world, our town and stories about maps.

The students worked hard to find and mark their houses on a map of Hooksett and continue to revisit it and see how far away a friend lives--or find a way to their house for a playmate!

Thank you for all the maps you have sent in--I've never had such a variety of maps and new ones arrive every day. The kids are also teaching me something--I'm not a skier and they had to use the map key to teach me how to read a map of a mountain. Keep finding and exploring maps in the world around you!!!

Long Vowels

We have finally learned all of the spellings for our long vowels. These are the sound/spelling cards that hang in the classroom for students to refer to.

Ask your student to tell you what they know about the spellings, or challenge them to find certain spellings in their reading.

Blending Lines

Each day after a new sound spelling is introduced, we practice and apply the skill by decoding words that contain the sound spelling pattern. I write the word, we read the word sound by sound and then blend it back together. Someone also helps us to understand the word by using it in a sentence. At the end of each line (4 words) a "risk taker" reads the words to the class, before leading the class in reading these words.

Here's a snapshot of today's blending lines (we learned the sound of w_ and the sound of wh_) with a risk taker reading the words to the class.