Reading Workshop
In reading workshop we have been learning about point of view. The students learned that point of view is the view from which a story is told and we can determine point of view by asking ourselves, "Who is telling the story?" Different narrators can tell about the same story in different ways. Sometimes a story is written from the author or narrator's point of view. Other times it may be written from a character's point of view.
To kick off our mini unit on point of view, we focused on the story of The Three Little Pigs. First, we read The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall and determined it was the narrator whose point of view the story was being told from since we heard words like he, her, his, they, etc. Then, we read a different version of the story, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka. This book was told by the wolf as he kept referring to himself throughout the story by saying I, me, my, etc. After further analyzing the two versions of the same story, our plan was to chose whose point of view we believed and support our opinion with evidence from the text (let's hope we can get to this activity after our "break"!).
To kick off our mini unit on point of view, we focused on the story of The Three Little Pigs. First, we read The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall and determined it was the narrator whose point of view the story was being told from since we heard words like he, her, his, they, etc. Then, we read a different version of the story, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka. This book was told by the wolf as he kept referring to himself throughout the story by saying I, me, my, etc. After further analyzing the two versions of the same story, our plan was to chose whose point of view we believed and support our opinion with evidence from the text (let's hope we can get to this activity after our "break"!).
In preparation for our next writing unit, we practiced identifying the difference between a fact and an opinion. We discussed how a fact can be proven true through research where as an opinion is something that someone thinks, believes or feels. The students determined that people can have different opinions about the same thing. For example, one student may feel that math is the best subject while another student believes that writing is the best subject. However, a person's opinion might also change overtime. The students enjoyed deciding whether a statement was a fact or opinion and telling how they knew!
Phonics
In phonics the students learned about closed syllable exceptions. While a closed syllable has one vowel that makes the short sound, the five closed syllable exceptions have a vowel that makes the long song (some exceptions include: cost, lost, wind - as in the wind was strong).
The students have been practicing reading and writing words with the suffixes -ing and -ed. Through doing so, the students have discovered that -ing is added to a base word or verb to tell something is happening now and -ed is added to a base word or verb to tell something already happened. In addition, the students learned that -ed can make three different sounds when added to a base word. The suffix -ed can make the sound /d/ like in loved, /t/ like in walked, or /ed/ like in added. The students have received lots of practice in adding the correct suffixes to verbs to build complete sentences that look right, sound right, and make sense.
The students have also been exploring multisyllabic words. As students' reading abilities continue to develop, it is essential for them to notice word parts, or "orthographic chunks," to help them decode longer, more complex words.
Writer's Workshop
The students have been loving our current writing unit! They have been super motivated and excited to teach others about their expert topics. Most recently the students learned how to add an interesting beginning to their writing to capture their audiences' attention, concluding their writing to wrap it up for their readers, and editing and revising their writing to prepare for publishing. Ask your child to tell you all about the topic they chose!
Math
In math we completed Topic 7: Counting and Number Patterns to 120. Our numeration system is powerful because of the patterns that can be seen in it. Many of the patterns in our system do not become evident until children begin to work with greater numbers. Work with a hundred chart reveals many interesting patterns. Time spent helping children recognize patterns on the hundred chart not only helps them develop a deeper understanding of numeration, but it also lays a foundation for subsequent work involving adding and subtracting two-digit numbers. Within the topic the students practiced counting by 10s to 120, counting on a hundred chart, skip counting, and looking for patterns.
Ask your child to describe patterns they notice on the hundred chart. One important pattern is the way in which the ones digit changes from 1 through 9 in each row. Every tenth number, the ones digit changes to 0 and the tens digit increases by 1. The tens digits increase by 1 when moving down each column. |
We are currently on Topic 8: Tens and Ones. Understanding place value requires integrating the concept of grouping by tens with the knowledge of how groups are recorded in our place-value system, how numbers are written, and how they are spoken. Children can count out a set of 46, one by one, but they should also see that making groupings of tens and leftovers is another more efficient way of counting the same quantity. Throughout this topic the students will practice representing two-digit numbers as groups of tens and ones.