Mrs.

Swales Love-Bug Weekly Learnings

April 25th, 201

)arth $ay (ele*ration

Tuesday was -arth Day and full of wonderful activity. The children took part in face painting, recycled crafts, story time, writing activities, and a playground pick.up. The third grade classes did a fantastic /ob of organizing this event. Thank you to all of the parents who came in to make this a special day for children and the -arth.

Mystery "ea!er
Thank you very much to 0tella(s 1ana for being our 2ystery 3eader. #t was so nice to hear a very special family loved story that has been passed down through the generations along with some fun poems. We love our guest readers! Thank you!

Wor! Work an! Sight Wor!s

This week(s word work was a review of the silent )mommy* e that makes the middle vowel stand up tall and say its name. We practiced with a game, sorting words that had long and short vowels. +hildren worked independently with games enforcing short and long vowel recognition and writing. We reviewed the sight words taught thus far and # have paid close attention to how children are using sight words in their writing. ,n riday, # introduced syllables to the children. #t(s important to understand syllables as )chunks* in words as this helps us with writing larger words. #t(s tricky to learn the difference between a letter, sound, and syllable. We will continue with this ne%t week as well.

This week children spent time working in math centers. The centers focused on previously taught skills to show independence. The skills practiced were the following: addition and subtraction fluency, graphing and analyzing data, and number sense with tens and ones. We will begin new learning with 3D shapes and also continue with independent math centers and fast math riday!

Math (enters

Share! "ea!ing# $olly%s $ra&a 'ueen $ay

This nice story reminded us that everyone has a bad day from time to time. "y the end of the day, we make note, and hope for a better day tomorrow. #n this story, we practiced looking at chunks in larger words and thinking about what would make sense in the story. We also reviewed $uotation marks in this te%t as well. &s our children become fluent readers, they often find that they do not need to stretch out &'' the sounds in a large word, but rather get their mouth started, glance at the word, and think abut what makes sense. This is a much $uicker and more fluent way to read.

Classroom Newsletter

Love Bug Learnings

April 25th, 2014

Writers Workshop# 4ro& 5pinion to 4i-tion

1e%t week we will finish up our opinion writing and dive into our fiction unit. or the month of 2ay, we will read and discuss the components of many fiction stories. We4ll talk about the characters, setting, problem, solution, along with language and vocabulary that the children think is fun! 5our child will take one of their fiction writing pieces all the way through the publishing process! We will have a +&eet the author !ay, along with our kin!ergarten -ele*ration on .une /r!. 0t will *e set up they way you see grown up author%s *ook signings at *ook stores1 Shoul! *e super 2un1 3his is an event you will not want to &iss.

This week we read the stories, +ock.a.2oo.2oo and The +ow that 'aid an -gg. We took a close look at these two funny stories, comparing and contrasting the content and characters. When children take known information and compare it to a different conte%t or situation, it deepens their understanding. # am always impressed with what the children have to contribute. They are much deeper thinkers than many of us give them credit for : < 1e%t week we will continue the strategy of comparing and contrasting but we will focus our attention on the main characters on given stories and how the author chooses to develop these characters.

(o&prehension# (o&pare an! (ontrast

Weekly S-he!ule
2onday 89: 2usic Tuesday 8:: &rt, +omputers ;2rs. 0wales is at 2ath +urriculum 2eeting all day< Wednesday 3=: >Thursday ?: 2usic, 'ibrary last !ay o2 li*rary, please re&e&*er to return your *ook. riday 8: &rt

S-ien-e# Living 3hings 3hat 6at-h 4ro& )ggs

This week we continued with the theme of living things that hatch from eggs. 1e%t week we will begin a unit looking at plants as living things. This unit will contain many instances for observation, recording data in a science /ournal, and reading many non.fiction books about plants. &t home, start to draw your child(s attention to the changes you are noticing with outdoor plant life. "e scientists at home, e%plore and investigate, read and sketch!

7p-(o&ing )vents
2ay 88: #nternational estival of +ultures 2ay 8@: 2emorial Day A 1o 0chool 2ay 8B: &ll.0chool Trip to a 2usic +oncert at the -'C0 2ay 8:: estival 3ain Date Dune 8: &uthor(s Tea ;family re$uested< Dune E: &ll school a$uatic center trip Dune @: F day, last day of school

-n/oy your family! 2elissa 0wales 0wales6mr7elps.us