Monday 17 October 2016

The Week of October 17

We had a great start to the week!  Today we looked at our first letter and word of the week.  Our letter and word this week is the same- the word/letter a.  We started off by looking at the letter and learning the sounds it makes (long a and short a).  Then we looked at our names and stood up if our name had an "a" in it.  Lots of our friends have at least one "a" in their name!  We also came up with a large list of "a" words.  Next we moved on to our poem where we "buttered" our word of the week.  We say that we are buttering the word (as we colour it in yellow) because each weekly word is called a "popcorn" word.  Popcorn words are high frequency words that appear in easy readers and other forms of writing that we will be looking at this year.  They are simple words that are age appropriate for this grade.  The sk students also had an opportunity to write in their journals.  Our goal was to try and sound out a word with an "a" in it or to try and write a sentence with the word "a" in it.  They did an amazing job!!!  We will have a new word and letter of the week every Monday.  Please encourage you children to point these words out while you read to them at night.  It is great exposure and will be beneficial to them in their reading and writing process.

We also looked at numbers today.  We had a challenge to match the numbers on the hundreds chart with the numbers on wooden disks.  The students were really engaged in this task and it was great to hear them using strategies and ideas as to where to place the numbers.

We started to explore symmetry using leaves.  The students were given half of a leaf glued to a piece of paper and were asked to draw the other half to look the same.  Then they were asked to describe their leaf using colours.  Their work turned out amazing and we can't wait to put it up on display.

Thank you to all who signed up for Playdoh Club.  The photocopier has been out of commission but as soon as it's working, we will send an easy recipe to use if you wish.

Reminders:

- Please ensure that your child has a full set of spare clothing at school (shirt, pants, underwear, socks).  Accidents happen so it's always good to have a spare set of clothes.

- Picture Day is on October 26.