Happy October!

During Reading Workshop we learned that readers...

• Read emergent storybooks like Corduroy!
• Think about who the characters are, what they are doing, how they are feeling, and what the trouble is.
• Read closely to find sight words and patterns in the story.
• Talk about the most important part with their buddy.

During Writing Workshop we learned that writers...

• Fix and fancy up their writing by adding to the words and pictures.
• Write across more than one page - everyone began using lined paper and writing in booklets.
• Say the word slowly, listen for the sound, write the sound.
• Write about their nature walk using their 5-senses:)

During Math Workshop completed surveys and discussed them.  Surveys included - are you the youngest in your family? Are you a boy or girl?  We finished our unit on sorting and began a new unit on counting.


**Rough drafts from our Launching Unit were sent home this week.


Science/Social Studies - We continued our exploration of the 5-senses.  We used all of our senses (except for taste) on our nature walk.  We looked closely at half of an apple, and labeled a diagram of an apple.  Our 2nd Steps lessons was on focusing. 

We all enjoyed the Walk-a-thon today!  The weather was perfect and it was great to be active together:)


During Reading Workshop we learned that readers...

Don't whip through books really quickly!  They use their finger to search out all the important things on a page.

Look back at the pages and think - what was the most important part in the story?

Look closely at the pictures and think - who is the character, what is he/she doing, how is he/she feeling?

Find sight words and other words that we know.

Read and talk about books with a buddy.

During Writing Workshop we learned that writers...

• Stretch stories out across more than one page.
• When we're done, we've only just begun - we can add to the picture, add to the words, and start a new story.
• Stretch out each individual sound we hear in words - we used an imaginary rubber band to stretch out letter sounds.
• Label their stories to help their reader understand what is happening.

During Math Workshop we learned to...

• Look for and continue patterns.
• Describe and match objects based on attributes - we played Button Match Up.
• Use Dreambox - an adaptive, online math program.
• Counting Jar - we counted cubes, illustrated our thinking, and then

Social Studies/Science -  We continued to practice listening with our whole body - eyes watching, ears listening, body still, mouth quiet.  Classroom community is important!  We need to be kind and respect each other.  We learned about Johnny Appleseed and started exploring with our 5-senses.  We completed Johnny Appleseed activities and played several new 5-senses games.