April 29, 2019 7:24 pm
Welcome back! I hope that everyone enjoyed the spring break and is returning to school restored and well rested. I am excited to hear from the students all about their travel, places they visited, and holiday celebrations. I hope they are as eager to return as I am! It’s hard to believe that by the end of the week it will already be May. The next month and a half are very busy in our room, we will be finishing up curriculum and preparing for graduation.
This week we will begin new material. All groups will be receiving a new reader that will coincide with our study of weather in science. The objective of the readers is to apply skills learned to increasingly more challenging text, to use picture clues and former knowledge to help decode, and to explore non-fiction text to enhance our understanding of the world around us.
Our science this week will help us understand what causes weather, where weather happens, and words that describe weather. We will begin by talking about words that describe weather, asking questions about what we’d like to know, and then using learned information to intelligently discuss the weather and understand a weather forecast. So to help enhance their knowledge, have your children watch a weather forecast on television each morning and evening for your curious meteorologist to watch and enjoy. As a reminder for the grownups, weather travels from west to east and there are three factors that impact the weather: wind, water, and heat!
In math we will review our subtraction skill and practice to ensure mastery. There are a few strategies that we have been discussing in the classroom. Here is a review for you to assist and discuss at home.
- Think addition is the first strategy that we discussed. Can I solve this problem by using learned addition facts?
- The zero facts. There are two parts that comprise zero facts; minus zero and difference of zero. Examples of each; 7 – 0 = 7 is a minus zero fact, and 7 – 7 =0 is a difference of zero fact. Both examples require only recognizing what is happening (taking nothing or everything away) and require NO mathematical computation.
- The ones facts. Again minus 1 and difference of one. Examples of each; 7 – 1 =6 is a minus one fact, and 7 – 6 = 1 is a difference of one. Realizing that minus one is the number that comes just before and difference of one, if you have seven and are taking six away you are left with one.
- The same strategy applies for minus 2 and difference of two. It will take more practice and understanding of the relationships between the numbers but in the end learning to observe the relationships will prove efficient and enable the students to mentally solve these problems quickly. Examples 8 – 2 =6 (mentally counting back or thinking addition) and 8 – 6 =2 (thinking addition 6 +? = 8 and/or understanding the difference between the two numbers and that they are only 2 apart.)
In the writing series we begin to explore non-fiction texts about places, people, and foods. We will begin writing non-fiction stories about our classroom, interviewing and writing about a classmate and animals that we know or are curious about.
Lastly, please practice the ten new spelling words for this week and, if you can, review the words previously tested. The easiest way is to make index cards and practice. If they know them, place he mastered words on the side and practice only the ones that give them trouble.
Remember to dress for the weather wearing appropriate outerwear and footwear to optimize outdoor play. Continue to send healthy lunch and snack along with a refillable water bottle.
Again, it’s nice to have everyone back!
Categorised in: Kindergarten
