What did we do this week?

Language Arts

We had a very busy week in our Language Arts learning.

During Writer's Workshop we read the book Apples and Pumpkins, by Anne Rockwell. We discussed what some of our favorite things to do during the fall are, just like the little girl in our book. We came up with lots of great ideas including apple picking, pumpkin carving, raking leaves and jumping in leaf piles, and going to the Topsfield Fair. We also are continuing to discuss our inventive spelling and are getting the hang of putting down the letters that match the sounds we hear when pulling our words slowly out of our mouths. 

It was a busy week in our sight word learning, too, by learning two new words, is and it. We did a lot of practice reading the words with our new book What is it?, writing and identifying both words and will continue to practice with these, and our other words, during morning meeting and other parts of our day. 

During our Fundations time, we introduced the letters Ii and Uu - two very tricky vowels for new readers. We practiced with Baby Echo by stretching our the short Ii and Uu sounds so that we can begin to hear the difference between our vowels which will help in our writing now and later on.

Math

We completed our first chapter in Math In Focus! The students completed their first assessment as well which will come home to parents on Tuesday. We then began reading, writing and working with the numeral 6. We'll now be working with numbers from 1-6.

The students also practiced writing our numbers by completing our October calendar.

Science & Health

We were able to get outside again this week during science. We were scientists again this week by using magnifying glasses to see objects we found outside in more detail. We drew our objects in detail on our observation sheets using correct colors, size and details like scientists in the real world.

We continued our discussion about being safe and making sure we're with a buddy when we're in a public space. We also discussed that if we want to do something that might mean we're by ourselves for a few minutes, we check with an adult before going to do our activity. 

Other News

*During art class, Ms. Lang had our class create an art piece for the Topsfield Fair! Our artwork will be hung in the Public Safety Building at the fair - make sure to stop by with your students while visiting the fair this week!

*Our share calendar has been going wonderfully this week! The shares we've had so far have been perfect and we've had great conversations around each of them - thank you!

*I have been working on a volunteer schedule for our parents for the last week, and it's been tough making sure we're fitting everyone in. I am hoping to have it solidified by Monday and will be sending individual emails to parents with their scheduled days to visit the classroom. Please remember that you MUST have a CORI on file with Mrs. B in the office in order to volunteer in the classroom.

*More information about our upcoming Community field trip will be coming home this week - watch your student's folder for the permission form.