This morning, the boys and girls rolled dice to determine story elements for their writing. Each roll of the die revealed one of the following: the setting (time), the setting (place), the main character, and the general plot. Ask your child about his/her story (in progress).
The week's handwriting lesson focused on the D'Nealian lowercase letters n and m. The boys and girls practiced reading, writing, and using long a and long i vowel sounds during phonics. They also received a new math book. This unit will focus on the relationships between numbers and the use of different strategies when applying knowledge of basic facts. Today, we just dipped our toes into the unit by completing some animal word stories and a quick Show What You Know.
Following indoor lunch recess, we read the book Recess at 20 Below. This included a lesson about reading a non-digital thermometer. Ask your child about the book. If we lived in Alaska, it would have been outdoor recess as usual today! We also read the book Hot Air Henry. Ask your child about the cat who took a hot air balloon ride!
We continued our work with The Story of Ferdinand today, too. In the morning, the students were asked to consider whether they thought they were more like Ferdinand or more like the other bulls. Here are the responses.
The week's handwriting lesson focused on the D'Nealian lowercase letters n and m. The boys and girls practiced reading, writing, and using long a and long i vowel sounds during phonics. They also received a new math book. This unit will focus on the relationships between numbers and the use of different strategies when applying knowledge of basic facts. Today, we just dipped our toes into the unit by completing some animal word stories and a quick Show What You Know.
Following indoor lunch recess, we read the book Recess at 20 Below. This included a lesson about reading a non-digital thermometer. Ask your child about the book. If we lived in Alaska, it would have been outdoor recess as usual today! We also read the book Hot Air Henry. Ask your child about the cat who took a hot air balloon ride!
We continued our work with The Story of Ferdinand today, too. In the morning, the students were asked to consider whether they thought they were more like Ferdinand or more like the other bulls. Here are the responses.
Following a turn-and-talk about the choices, the students were assigned partners to work together to compare Ferdinand and the other bulls. They used their brains and books to complete a "double bubble" type of graphic organizer. This is something like a Venn diagram, but in a different format. After this, we regrouped to share ideas and add new ones to our papers. Following this, we looked at the class chart again. At this point, most students maintained their original responses, but some switched.
We chatted a bit about why they thought they were more like Ferdinand or more like the other bulls. This is generally a no-judgment activity, but after a bit of rather nonchalant talk about liking fighting, I did feel it necessary to chime in with a reminder that fighting was not an acceptable activity for human children. Asking your child what he/she chose and why would be a great conversation starter tonight!
We ended the day with another Ferdinand activity. The students used fabric scraps, cupcake lines, and pom-poms to create flowers. We will finish the flower and add perfume to them tomorrow. They will then be placed on a hill under a cork tree for Ferdinand to smell. Each student had a hand in painting the hill and sky background for this project.
We will visit Wagner Farm tomorrow. Please send your child to school with a bag lunch to eat there. Everyone should be dressed warmly. Boots are a must-wear. Snowpants would be great if your child has them. Thank you!
We chatted a bit about why they thought they were more like Ferdinand or more like the other bulls. This is generally a no-judgment activity, but after a bit of rather nonchalant talk about liking fighting, I did feel it necessary to chime in with a reminder that fighting was not an acceptable activity for human children. Asking your child what he/she chose and why would be a great conversation starter tonight!
We ended the day with another Ferdinand activity. The students used fabric scraps, cupcake lines, and pom-poms to create flowers. We will finish the flower and add perfume to them tomorrow. They will then be placed on a hill under a cork tree for Ferdinand to smell. Each student had a hand in painting the hill and sky background for this project.
We will visit Wagner Farm tomorrow. Please send your child to school with a bag lunch to eat there. Everyone should be dressed warmly. Boots are a must-wear. Snowpants would be great if your child has them. Thank you!