Language - The students have been thoroughly enjoying our whole class Novel Studies. Our first one was, The Witches by Roald Dahl. We are just about to complete the second Roald Dahl novel called The BFG.
The children have been continuing to read books at their instructional level on a daily basis and I am very happy to say that everyone has moved at least 1-2 Reading Levels since September. I am so proud of all of the students and their enthusiasm towards improving their reading. Please continue to use RAZ Kids a couple of times per week. All new reading levels have been updated.
In writing we have been working on increasing the length and detail of our writing. The children engage in several writing activities each week. They have written one Narrative and several Recount pieces of writing since September. We are continuing to focus on developing basic proof reading skills (Capitals, Punctuation, Correct Spelling of Word Wall Words etc.).
We have also been working on answering questions in full sentences, using words from the question to begin their answers and using proof from the text to back up their answers.
In Math we have completed a unit on graphing and patterning. We are nearing the end of our unit on Number Sense and Numeration. In this unit we have covered counting by 2's, 5's and 10's, starting at different points on a number line, making numbers in three different ways (pictures, numbers and words) and ordinal numbers, We will also continue to work on developing the speed and accuracy of addition and subtraction facts to 20. Please note that the students were given the login information to IXL back in October. If you need this information again please write me a note in you child's planner.
In Social Studies the students have enjoyed learning about the different celebrations that occur during this time of the year. Last month we discussed Thanksgiving and we wrote about what we are Thankful for. The students also wrote about their Thanksgiving Traditions. I hope you enjoyed the keepsake Thanksgiving Trees we made. This week have have learned about Diwali and the students coloured a design called a Rangoli. It is a Folk Art from India that is placed on the floor to welcome people to your home and to bring good luck to all. The children are very eager to bring these home but first they will be on display for a couple of weeks on the wall in our classroom.
Last week we began a new Science Unit called Matter. We have learned about the three states of Matter. Over the next couple of weeks we will doing several experiments that involve these different states of Matter.
Thank you to everyone who sent is some simple props for you child's Reader's Theatre Presentation. They were great! The children enjoyed performing their plays in front of Ms.Kim's grade one class.
This blog will be updated each week so keep checking so you are well informed of what is happening in our classroom.
Yours in Partnership.
Laureen Souter
