Keep those cans a-coming! We are twenty cans away from our goal of 100! Additionally, I am happy to store 100th Day vests and Valentine’s Day boxes! Please send them in as you complete them with your cherub! They are due no later than Monday, February 10th. Thank you so much for all of your support!
Another month means another self-portrait! Room #7 boys and girls have improved SO much with their attention to detail and making sure to include all that they see in their hand mirrors without teacher prompting! Way to go, friends! For the month of February, the students used black felt tip markers to draw themselves on white paper. The results are simple and beautiful illustrations of your sons and daughters.
Our Math Centers this week continue to focus around 100th Day activities and addition practice!
· Fill in the Missing Numbers – At this center, the kids were given two different sheets where they filled in the missing numbers. Lots of good conversations took place while they were hard at work because many noticed patterns that occurred within their number grids!
· Clear the Board – As we continue to work with addition, students partnered together at this fun and engrossing game. Each student received a game board and 10 cubes. They placed their cubes on numbers that they thought they would roll. Next, the kids took turns rolling two dice. When the dice were added together and if the kids had cubes on that number, they could remove them. The first person to “clear the board” won!
· Rolling Right Along – Students rolled their dice to see how many numbered boxes to color in. They loved when they finally reached 100!
· Addition Number Stories – At this engaging center, the boys and girls made up their own addition number stories using animal manipulatives and storyboards. After thinking of their story and writing down the corresponding number sentence, they shared it with me! Wowza – super impressive! During one of our whole group Math workshops, the students will write an addition story and we will make the collection into a class book! Next up…subtraction!
· Give and Take – Mrs. Bellaire hid various amounts of cubes under a margarine tub. She then either took some cubes away or added some, and the students figured out how many were hidden underneath. They then wrote that number on a dry erase board. After everyone made their predictions, Mrs. Bellaire uncovered the cubes, and the kiddos counted to see if they were correct!
· Tally to 100 – At this station, students rolled dice to determine how many tally marks to make. They kept going until they made 100 tally marks!!
· Dozen Domino Dilemma - This partner game gets the kiddos comparing numbers to determine which is greater, less than, or equal! Each partner was assigned a title: Dominos less than 6 and dominos greater than 6. Each person then chose a domino and determined who should get it. First person to accumulate a dozen dominos won!
This week, Room #7 tackled some very tricky sounds – the “h” brothers: “ch,” “th,” “sh,” and “wh” and the sounds they make. The class and I made an anchor chart to show the different ways our mouths look when making the specific sounds as well as brainstormed all the different words that belong in each category. During Word Work in Daily 5 as well as Morning Work, the kiddos practiced sorting various words and figuring out what brother each picture depicted. Ask your child to tell you all the sounds!
In Open Circle this week, Room #7 learned a new Unthinkable – Int-Erupter! Check out the Social Skills tab to learn how to defeat this tricky Unthinkable!
I am happy to announce that the kiddos in Room #7 are Mo Willems fanatics and experts. Everyone eagerly awaits a new book for me to read. Every day, they notice new aspects that this imaginative author includes in his books. From facial expressions to feelings, the difference between speech and thought bubbles, circle words, and of course, finding where Mo Willems “hides” loveable characters throughout his books (e.g. Pigeon!!), the children are spellbound and totally engaged in the story. They even wrote opinion pieces on their favorite and least favorite characters! Ask them what they wrote and their reasons why!
Have a wonderful and restful weekend.