It was wonderful to finally have a full week of school this week! The highlight of the week was when Rimon students completed their “All About Me” books. The children were very excited to have finished their autobiographies complete with baby pictures and stories about their names. We talked about how authors and illustrators think carefully before creating the cover pages they make for their books. Then the children each chose a title and made a cover illustration.
In math, we have been practicing addition word problems for numbers from 1-10. The children have been busy making number bonds and writing math sentences. They have been making up their own addition stories as well as solving word problems given to them.
Fundations this week has focused on consonant digraphs. Digraphs are two letters that come together but make one sound. Examples of digraphs include sh, ch, ck and th as in the words: ship, chick, sock and thin. The children especially enjoyed doing a “digraph hunt” around the classroom.
In science, the children have been busy learning about the sun and the stars. This week we focused on the light of the sun and how shadows are created. Children did experiments with flashlights and mirrors and opaque and transparent objects.
We have begun our author study of Kevin Henkes! So far we have read three of his books. As a class we are creating a chart listing each book and the characters and settings in the book. We also are drawing text to self-connections and text to text-connections with each book. A text to text-connection is a connection that you have with a book that helps you better understand the book. For example, many of us have special blankets and/or stuffed animals that we love just like the character Owen does in the book Owen. This connection helps us better understand how Owen is feeling in the story. The ability to identify character and setting and to make these connections with books are all strategies that help grow reading comprehension skills.
Shabbat Shalom, Hamorah Joanne