Our week has gotten off to a great start. We've had lots of children who have mastered writing their names correctly and have been able to arrive at school and choose a puzzle or math center. We have been happy and smiling as we sing our morning meeting song, "Welcome to School." The children have also enjoyed the responsibility of having a job. We've chosen several of our students to be the caboose, teacher's helper, bathroom monitor, trash patrol, center patrol, and door holder. We continue to be impressed by how well our students have adjusted to all the rules and procedures we have in order for our classroom to run smoothly. Yesterday and today, we compared the materials we've been using during math and discussed how they are the same and how they are different. The children have been introduced to graphic organizers and how they show a picture of what we know. We specifically made a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the manipulatives that we used in math. Ask your child if he/she knows what a Venn Diagram is.
The children are still enjoying singing our song about Larry Lion. This week we've met a new friend named Ollie Octopus. He, just like Larry Lion, has a very special song that we've learned. We've watched him in his music video. Mr. Pencil has also taught us how to write the letter Oo correctly. Ask your child to sing his song. We continue to talk about our vowels. Today we learned a song/cheer about the short and long sounds of the vowels. We also introduced our students to letter "buddies." These buddies are made up of two or more letters that make a different sound when they stand together. These buddies each have a cheer. This week we've practiced three of them. They are: "oo, oo, I love school, too." "or, or, a horse, of course." "sh, sh, shopping for shoes." Learning these buddies will help the children learn to read those words with letter and vowel combinations. We've also started our sight word instruction this week. Our words are: a, to, the, of, and. Next week, we will begin sending our sight word homework home for you to use to help your child recognize these words. We hope by the end of the week your child will be able to recognize these words, along with the letters and sounds they've covered in phonics. So far, he/she should recognize L and O and the sounds they make. We also introduced journal writing yesterday, which went very well. We are so impressed with how smart our students are. We hope you will be able to join us for Curriculum Night this Thursday at 7:00. We have so many exciting things to share with you.
