Week of Mar. 7-11

This week in the classroom, kids began Bean Math. Kids shook a cup with "beans" to find different ways to make a number. These sheets are coming home as kids do them, so have them tell you about the activity! Bean Math will continue next week to build number sense.

In writing, we have started the "How To" genre. Kids wrote about how to make a P.B. and J sandwich, as well as how to make a pizza. As they finish in their writing notebooks, kids will pick their favorite piece of the week to turn into a book. When the books are finished, they will be sent home. I will pick out a completed book every Friday to have an author's chair. The kids I pick will have worked hard on their book and also met our personal writing goal (For example, a child who forgets spaces, worked hard to put spaces between words in their book.).

In reading, we continue to work on decoding strategies like breaking up the word into chunks, using picture cues, say the first sound and slide into the word, skip the word and think about what would make sense then check it, etc. As kids read at home and they need help with a word, have them practice different strategies before you tell them the word.