The students wrote an opinion piece about someone that they think is special. Their writing including a topic sentence, details explaining why that person is special, and a closing sentence. Once they finished writing they made a heart to give as a gift.
In honor of Valentine's Day I read the story Somebody Love You Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli. What a wonderful book to share with the class!! Their questions and predictions before reading were so thoughtful. During reading the students noticed that the illustrations in the book change along with Mr. Hatch's feelings. I was very impressed with the connections they made to this story. After reading we discussed how the main character changes throughout the book. We also identified the events that cause him to change. We talked about the moral of this story: You can change a persons life and brighten their day by your kind actions. This book inspired us to make someone's Valentine's Day extra special. The students wrote an opinion piece about someone that they think is special. Their writing including a topic sentence, details explaining why that person is special, and a closing sentence. Once they finished writing they made a heart to give as a gift. Happy Valentine's Day!! The students decorated Valentine bags to collect all of their cards. During the party we rotated between 5 stations. The students played Jenga, played musical hearts and hot potato, made a valentine's day heart and butterfly, ate healthy snacks, and enjoyed a cookie. The students also passed out their Valentine's Day treats during the party. I hope they came home and told you all about it!!
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iIn math this week, we have been working on comparing numbers. As always, we gave a pretest and many students remembered using the greater than and less than symbols in kindergarten. Those students worked on writing and comparing larger numbers. Some students needed more work with using the symbols using two-digit numbers. Students also worked on identifying numbers greater than or less than a given target number. At the end of the week, students worked on finding 10 more or 10 less. We finished our first stories and they did a great job. They definitely had fun with the assignment and enjoyed being creative. Students chose a penguin or polar bear as their main character. In the opening sentence, they were encouraged to introduce the main character and setting. The story needed to have a problem and a solution. We focused on making sure that each sentence was a complete thought and began with a capital letter and included end punctuation. I look forward to doing another story soon! Reading groups have been going so well. This is the time of year where we feel like we make the most gains. At this point we really know our students, routines are solid, and instruction is intense. They are doing a great job. Students are given a text at their reading level (actually slightly above their level) and we apply word attack strategies and comprehension strategies. All groups are working on answering comprehension questions using text evidence. We review the phonics skill in small group as well. Please make sure when your child is doing their daily at home reading that you talk to them about what their books is about. One of the easiest ways is after they read a page or two, ask them to stop and summarize what they have just read. If they can't, encourage them to reread it. Of course, specific questions about details in the story/selection is always helpful as well. |
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