Class News
- Thanks to everyone who ordered Scholastic Books last month. I just submitted the order today, and the books should arrive in about a week, including our free class books for the kids. November order forms should be coming home this week, just in time for holiday gift purchases.
- The Fun Family Project turned out so beautiful! The kids used their paper plates and fall items to create fall wreaths. Once I get done hanging them in the classroom, I'll post some photos.
- Parent/Teacher conference day is on November 11th. Keep a look out for the sign-up sheets, which will come home later this week, and begin thinking about a good time to come for the conference.
Math
For follow-up at home, use the number writing poem for reading and writing practice. Often, just saying part of the poem will jog their memory and help them read the numeral.
Here is a great game that we play in class that you can also play at home with your child. It's called "How Many Did I Take?" Start off with a small number of objects, like four. Count them to make sure there are only four objects. Then quickly take away some of the objects. Ask your child how many objects you took. They must use their knowledge of numbers to figure it out, and in the process, they are learning to add and subtract without even knowing it!
After their guess, show the objects in your hands and use math language to describe how you made that number (i.e. two and two makes four).
Language Arts
A second area which proved to be difficult for almost all of the kids was the listening comprehension portion. I read several different stories...one focused on first, next and last; the other focused on making predictions. The students had to listen carefully, recall the story details and then choose their answers by circling pictures. Some questions, such as, "What happenend first in the story?" or "It was a hot day...the friends wished they could cool off...they heard a splish-splash sound...what do you think they found?" can be very tough if you don't listen carefully.
We will be working every day on these comprehension tasks during story time here at school. During your daily story time at home, pause periodically throughout the story to ask questions about the sequence of events, or ask your child to predict what is going to happen. Look for clues in the words and pictures to help them figure it out.
Even if your child is a reader, already able to read their own stories, don't stop doing read-alouds! Choose chapter books written for older children to read aloud to your child and practice those same listening comprehension skills. Chapter books also have great vocabulary words that your child will easily learn as you read to them and discuss the story.