November 7th-November 10th

Hello Team Blowey Parents!

Team Blowey is off to great places! 

One of my goals is to make this blog a little more detailed for you so that you may get a clear view of what it looks like to be in room 10 with Team Blowey.  Here is my first attempt!

Reading: 

Our Literacy Cafe time continues as students practice comprehension, stamina, word work, writing, and fluency daily in the classroom.  Students are eager to improve and are constantly trying to meet and pass their goals!  In our Treasures curriculum, we continue to build on our comprehension skills by finding the main idea of a story and supporting it with details.  We are also working on our summarizing skills after our literacy lesson and our read aloud book in the afternoon.  Another skill that is constantly practiced is making predictions. 

Today, students received  a strategy sheet to keep in their goals folder to help them find strategies to figure out the tricky words in books and also strategies to help them think about what they are reading.  We'll use these daily.

Decoding Strategies:

-look at the pictures

-Slide through the whole word

-skip hard words and then go back and reread

-Get your mouth ready to make the first sound

-Reread (Does it look right?  Does it sound right?  Does it make sense?)

-Spell the word out loud

-Try a different vowel sound

-Think of a rhyming word you do know

-"Chunk It"  Look for smaller words hiding inside

Thinking Strategies:

-I wonder...

-Predict

-Infer (think of the meaning of a word by using the words around it)

-Make a text-to-text, text-to-self, or text-to-world connection (SCHEMA!)

-Think of the characters feelings

-Create a mental picture

All of the strategies above are what are on the strategy sheets given to the students.  Of course, they are much more colorful and have better visual cues!

We also continue our work with our weekly vocabulary. We talk to our elbow buddies about what a vocabulary word means and how we can use it in a sentence.  We then listen to a story with our vocabulary words in it.  When we hear a vocabulary word, we touch our noses.

Spelling:

Students are working on consonant blends this week.  Meanwhile, I am working with another teacher to set up a system where students will work through the spelling words at their own pace.  I will keep you updated through this process.

Writing:

Students are currently working on finishing their third piece of writing for me.  They were asked to show me what they knew about writing by creating three separate pieces of writing.  This will allow me to help create really specific goals to focus on for each individual student.  Once the goals are set, students will be practicing their goals during literacy cafe time.  Once they feel that they are ready to meet their goal and move on, they will show me three pieces of writing that demonstrate there goal being met, and then put their work in the check-me bucket.  Once they meet a goal, they will be given a new one to work on.

We are also working on grammar.  This week's focus will be on plural nouns.

Math: 

Team Blowey is plunging into place value!  Students took a pre-test to show me what they knew about place value.  From there, students will be given a specific goal to practice during math time to help them pass the place value standard.  Last week, we did some place value activities using base ten blocks, a place value mat, and white boards.  This week, I will be modeling some place value games for students.  They will also have various activities out for them to help them reach their goal.

We are also continuing our work with fact fluency!  Many of our teammates have passed their goals and are cruising on to new ones!

Science:

Last week, Team Blowey and Ms. Thornhill's class got together to talk about the parts of a plant.  After, students had the chance to create a plant of their own using crayons or watercolors and then labeling the different parts.  We had some very talented artists!  Soon, we'll be planting our very own plants and watching them grow!

Homework:

  

Thank you so much for all of your feedback on the parking lots!  A compiled parking lot with my responses will go home in the boomerang folders this week.  Your responses were used to tweak homework and homework guidelines.  The parking lot will give you more information about this.  If you have any questions or comments, send them my way!

Homework this week is outlined in the homework cafe packets.  Goals are listed at the top of each menu. 

I hope you all have an adventurous week!

Love, 

Miss Blowey