Our Week

This week we focused on reading and writing Fairy Tales. We talked about the difference between a Fairy Tale and a Fable and read the The Three Little Javelinas, The Three Little Pigs, and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. At the beginning of the week we focused on making predictions. We made predictions before, during, and after reading the The Three Little Javelinas. Then, on Tuesday the students made predictions before reading independently Jack the Wolf . After that, I read to the students a version of the Three Little Pigs, and then the students got in groups to retell the story using linking words (first, next, last) and the puppets they made at centers. This activity reinforced retelling the sequence of events in a story using transition words. The kids really enjoyed performing as well as watching their classmates perform. We ended our week by reading The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. I tied point of view into this story and we discussed together that this story was told by a character in the story (first person), which was different than our other two stories which were told by a narrator (third person). Yesterday, we began organizing and planning out our own Fairy Tales, and then today we started drafting our stories. Writing a Fairy Tale has been challenging for some students because it encourages creativity and sometimes critical thinking. In our Fairy Tales we made sure to include once upon a time, linking words, and happily ever after. In addition to these things, I also encouraged the students to include good and bad characters, a problem, a solution, and magic. We did not finish this writing project, so we will continue working on it next week. 

 

In math, we started addition. At the beginning of the week I introduced our vocab terms: add, plus, equal to, addition sentence, and more than. We put these terms in our math journal, and then we went over our Big Idea and Essential Questions for this unit. I really want the kids to understand why addition is meaningful and how it is used daily. We conversed about why it is important to get the correct amount when adding, and what problems it could cause if we are not accurate when we add. We also had a discussion on why we need to be fluent with our addition facts to 10. After looking over the addition pretest, I split the kids up into guided math groups. I did this in order to help better meet the learning needs of all students. Some students need to be challenged more, so I started double digit addition with them. Other students need to work on accuracy, so I have been working with them on applying various strategies to help them correctly find the sum. I sent home addition flashcards because it is important that all students improve on their fact fluency. We will begin timed tests next week over addition facts so please make sure you are going over facts with your child at home. 

Please be practicing reading and writing first quarter sight words. I will be testing students over these words in few weeks. Next week your student will be coming home with reading homework. They will be coming home with either their guided reading book or their Journeys book. Please spend some time listening to your child read. 

Parents, thank you for all you do to help your child! I take great pride in teaching your child, and I am here to help them learn. If there is something you are concerned about, or have questions about please don't hesitate to contact me.  Enjoy the sunshine, fall temps, and weekend! 

-Mrs. Wright