Tami Clary

Our current word wall words we have practiced so far are as follows.  Please point these words out to your child or ask them to locate them in books, magazines, menus, etc.

at     a    an     am     all     as    are     and      by    but    can    do    day    did     from    go    have    I   is

like    look    me     my     or    of    off    play    see    to    the    this    up    very    will      we     want     you

November topics:

Native Americans

Pilgrims

Thanksgiving

Owls

For the next two weeks we will be learning about the first Americans and how they introduced the first Thanksgiving.  We will be making Native American boys and girls and naming them a special Indian name.  We will also dress in Pilgrim attire and eat our Thanksgiving meal together.

During the month of November, the children will be producing a wonderful piece of writing and artwork.  They will write a summary of the events leading to Thanksgiving.  This group writing activity is developed, and written by the children.  They are so proud of the finished product!  We will keep you updated as to its completion, so you may come see it in our hallway.

On Wed. Nov. 12, we will go on a field trip to the hospital.  Our field trip is called The Teddy Bear Clinic. The boys and girls will bring a teddy bear and it will be tagged with a  different ailment, for example a broken arm, tonsils etc.  The hospital staff will then take the teddy bear through the whole program from admitting to the x-ray room and finally the teddy bear will be released to go home.  This is a wonderful program hosted by Hammond Henry Hospital to ensure your child’s comfort  and understanding of hospital procedure in case there is an emergency.  I hope to have some pictures published soon.

This month we are studying:

Nutrition/Human Body

Pumpkins

Spiders

Halloween

Pumpkins

We have many activities planned.  We will become scientists and estimate the weight of our pumpkins, estimate the number of seeds and measure the height and the circumference of our pumpkin.  We will then vote which type of face the children would like me to carve our pumpkin into.  Ask your child if they will vote for a sad, scary or happy face.

Spiders

Please do not send any examples!  This is a difficult unit for me.  I am not a fan of spiders, but the boys and girls really enjoy all of the information they learn.

With all of our units, we engage in a great deal of interactive writing.  Interactive writing is when the students help me write the information learned.  This can be facts, lists, summaries and so forth.  When they participate, it makes the learning much more meaningful and it allows them to be better readers and writers.  We work on writing mechanics, letter form, grammar, spelling, comprehension  and much more.  It is a fantastic way to get everyone involved.

Writing

We will  begin  our first draft of our writing project this week.  After reading several stories about touring a pumpkin patch and some silly, scary Halloween stories, your child will choose which topic they would like to write about.  They will also choose whether their pumpkin patch stories will be a fiction or non-fiction story.  This is sometimes difficult for the boys and girls to get their ideas on paper.  We spend a great deal of time “thinking” about what we will write and discussing it with others.  This might be a perfect opportunity to brainstorm with your child and get them excited about writing.

Math

We are continuing our subtraction and addition facts.  We practice, practice, practice and it seems to be paying off.  I will update you as we begin our addition and subtraction strategies.  Please practice addition and subtraction facts to 10 at home.  There are many fun ways to help your child.  We use counters a great deal.  Maybe instead of counters, crackers or M&M’s would motivate your child.  We also draw pictures of addition and subtraction sentences.

Fieldtrips

I sent home a permission slip for the boys and girls to sing at Good Samaritan and Liberty Village, October 31.  The children have been learning pumpkin carols with Mrs. Prall.  They will wear their costumes and sing in the morning.  This is a walking fieldtrip.  If you are interested in joining us, let me know.  It means so much to the residents and it allows the boys and girls to not only sing to them, but also visit for a few minutes.

***Lastly,  I want to thank everyone who came to conferences.  We had a great turn out.  I hope all of the information I shared with you was helpful.  I really enjoyed meeting each of you and learning more about your children.