Hello. It's the weekend, and I'm reflecting on all that has happened during this past week, planning for what will happen next week, and hoping to get you all caught up as to what we are doing.
Much of this past week has been devoted to assessing your child. Getting a good baseline for the children lets me make sure that the instruction I will be giving them is precisely geared to their abilities. I want to keep things challenging while making sure things still feel "do-able". These beginning of the year assessments help me do just that. Children who haven't done much in the way of academics can "slide" during those summer months, so it's good to check where everyone is. Now that DRAs and sight words have been assessed, we will begin to follow more closely that schedule I gave you last week. Please note: Your child has his/her NWEA (computerized) assessments this coming Wednesday (for Math) at 12:10 pm, and on Thursday (for Reading) at that same time. There not much you can do to prepare your child for these assessments, other than to let him/her know that they are coming, make sure they have a good night's rest the night before and a good breakfast the morning of the exam, and tell them that all you want is for him/her to TRY HIS/HER "BEST" TO DO HIS/HER BEST. I will be sharing the results of these exams with you at our Parent-Teacher Conference in November, and you will get a copy of the results to keep in your own files at home at that same conference.
On Monday, when your child's homework comes home, it will include a packet of 5 cards--these are your child's sight words for the week. Please shuffle them and have your child practice them for a few minutes every night. I will also be working on these same words during the day, so hopefully when your child is assessed on them on Friday morning, he or she will be able to read them aloud. The cards that come home are your child's to keep--please do not send them back in to school. Keep them somewhere, because today's "sight words" will be words to learn how to spell by January or February. In about a week, once we are done with the little fairy tale/ folktale stories that have been coming home, your child will be bringing a "little reader" home Monday through Thursday. These books are at your child's reading level, so they are to be read BY HIM OR HER. This will allow your child to practice reading---do NOT read them for /to him/her. Some of these stories are FAMILIAR texts (ones we have read together in class) and some are UNFAMILIAR (we have not read that title together). The books will be in "baggies" that are clearly marked as FAMILIAR and UNFAMILIAR. The FAMILIAR books should be books your child rereads with little difficulty. The UNFAMILIAR books, however, will appear to be more difficult because we have not practiced reading them together. However, they are still AT his or her reading level, so PLEASE DO NOT READ THEM to your child --he or she should be reading them to YOU. PLEASE DO NOT KEEP THE BOOKS FOR MORE THAN ONE NIGHT AT A TIME. I HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF READING TEXTS, AND EVERY KID IS GOING TO READ THEM AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, SO I NEED TO KEEP THE TEXTS CIRCULATING. Your help with the circulation is greatly appreciated.
Also starting this next week, we will be working on Penmanship. At first, we will concentrate on the children's first and last names written correctly within the three-line system. In general, all capital letters will fill the space for all three lines, while the lowercase letters sit within different locations, depending on the letter. This coming week, we will do penmanship every day for 20 minutes: On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the children will work on their first and last names. On Tuesday and Thursday, we will work on the numerals from 0 -10. After next week, we will only have Penmanship two times a week, and writing class will happen the other three times. Our first writing goals are to make sentences that begin with a capital letter, that end with a punctuation mark, and that have spacing between words. For the month of September we will only work on creating "stories" of from 2-4 sentences, but really focus on these "convention" goals. At the beginning of October, we will continue to work on these goals while developing our writing stamina a little more.
In Math, we have been working on being able to recognize a quantity without having to count out each and every item in the set. Think of it like dice patterns: You know the dice pattern of five is five without having to "count all of the pips". Being able to know "how much" without having to count out all of the parts is called "subitizing". Research is revealing that kids who can "subitize" well are better able to "think mathematically" while they group and regroup numbers. They are better able to learn their math facts, and to understand mathematical concepts. To see what I am talking about when I say "subitizing", watch this four minute video on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFcXHhV5sI0
We have been practicing dot patterns and ten frame dot placement, and will be introduced to the "rekenrek" this coming week. For information on rekenreks and why we will use them, watch this 13 minute video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp_ogl2iH_Q
Graham Fletcher is a pro with using the rekenrek, and a picture (video) is worth a thousand words. In addition to learning about "subitizing" and number frame fills, your child is also working on patterning. By mid-October, he or she will need to pass an evaluation in which he or she can identify AND create various patterns using their alphabetical identifying lables:(like AB, AAB, ABB, ABC, AABB). We will build lots of patterns and work on providing their "labels".
This next week is "apple week!" We will read books about apples, write our own stories about apples, make apple art, do math using apples, and learn all about the apple life cycle. Yeah for apples!
Don't forget--this coming week is Open House night (6-7pm on Tuesday), NWEA testing week (Math on Wednesday at 12:10, Reading on Thursday at 12:10), and School Photos Day on Thursday morning. Have a wonderful weekend!
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