Making a Unique Pattern

Today one of our students excitedly called me over to see the pattern he made at our light table!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q: "I made the pattern pumpkin, skeleton, pumpkin, skeleton, pumpkin".
Me: "What would come next in your pattern"?
Q: "A skeleton".

Not only did this student create a pattern, he could also extend it!

Reading Strategies

The quicker students can recognize words, the more fluent their reading will be. Fluent reading is very important, as fluency allows students to comprehend what they are reading more easily. Reading is a very complex task. Readers use many strategies when they read. Effective readers always ask themselves if what they are reading makes sense. Often readers use the meaning of the story to help them solve words they do not know. This is one of the best ways to solve an unknown word. Other strategies readers use are: looking for known parts of words within an unknown word (i.e. "I see the word "and" in grandma"), sounding out words, rereading etc.

We have begun to work with our students to recognize some high frequency words. This week we have worked on the word "the". We had students come up to the whiteboard and unscramble the word with magnetic letters. We've also had students write the word "the" on the whiteboard as fast as they could 3 times. Today we had students search for the word "the" in the morning message. Some students had the chance to come up and circle the word "the" when they found it. 

Book bags have gone home today. Some of the books you will have to read to your child, while others they will be able to read to you. Please try and read as often as you can with your child. When you return your child's book, they will receive a new one within a day or two. Sometimes your child will bring home a book they already had. This is a great opportunity to work on their fluency and expression. Often students find a book easy, but are reading the words very slowly or lack any intonation and expression. If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to ask us!

Outdoor Adventures

See what the students did today during outdoor time:

Students made observations of the fall changes. Ask your child what are some of the things they observed.

 Some students built a nest using materials they found on the ground. They were so creative! We discussed what things a bird would need in his nest and wondered how birds can make their nests "stick" together (as one student described it!).

October Observation of our Class Tree

  Today the students wanted to go outside and observe if there were   

  any changes in our classroom trees. Here’s what the students    

  observed:

Tree One:

September                                        October

A.J. – “The leaves are starting to turn brown”.

I.V. – “Some branches have no leaves”.

Tree Two:

September                                          October

I.V. – “All the leaves fell down”.

C.B. – “All the water leaves the tree, then the leaves fall off”.

J.M. – “The leaves are starting to change”. 

Tree Three:

September                                      October

M.A. -  “The leaves aren’t changing colour but they are still falling off the tree”.

Pattern Walk

The students walked around the schoolyard today looking for patterns. Here are some of the things they found:

"My shirt has a pattern".

"My dress and leggings are patterns".

"The building has white, brick, white, brick." - L.M.

"Our school is a pattern - brick, window, brick, window." - C.S.

"The dome has a pattern." - R.T

                                          Can you see the pattern in the dome? Ask your child to help you! :)

"The bench has a pattern - wood, space, wood, space." - S.M.

Can you find the pattern in this picture?

The students are very excited to find patterns all around them. See how many patterns your child can find around your house. Enjoy!

Something to Give You a Smile

We walked past our easel today and discovered this:

It reminded us how reading and writing are happening all around the room!

Developing Fine Motor Skills

This week we have been working on fine motor skills.

Students have to put the marbles into one of the containers. But they can only use a spoon to lift the marbles, not their fingers.

In the coming weeks we will be doing many fine motor activities. We will do such activities as using a whole punch to put holes in paper, placing pom poms into holes in a container, cutting paper, using an eye dropper to put water into various containers and picking up pipe cleaners with a clothespin etc. Doing such activities at home will also help students who have difficulty with fine motor skills. Check back soon for more photos that work on fine motor skills.