Learning & Fun!!!

Hello Parents,

As you know, this week will be a quick one, with only being in school Monday-Wednesday.  Although we have a short week, we have a lot of learning taking place.  We will be finishing up our color week with tomorrow (Monday) being purple day and Tuesday students will wear their favorite color.  If they would like to wear many colors that is also highly encouraged:)  I may be sporting a rainbow theme if I can find all of the right pieces...haha!

This week in literacy we will be introducing “d” and “s” Letter-Keyword-Sounds.  We will continue to review letter formation, letter sounds and the corresponding keywords to further develop our phonological awareness.  Ask your student if they can show you how to “skywrite” any of our newly introduced letters such as, b, f, t, m, n, i, u, c, o, d, or s.  Ask them what their skywriters are:)  

In reading, I will continue to ask students to master their sight word rings to earn another color.  So far, students are very excited to show me daily, and sometimes by the minute, their successes with recognizing their sight words throughout their learning environment.  I strongly encourage parents to ask your student if he/she sees any sight words in books you may be reading together.

During Writer’s Workshop we are making great strides in our writing club.  Students are labeling, writing 3-4 word sentences, and even finishing them with a period.  This exploration is greatly supported by our Fundations program by identifying initial sounds in their sentences and developing correct letter formation as they write.

You may have heard that we made Reckenreks last week.  Some people are not familiar with a Reckenrek but they are a tool to help support natural mathematical development of children and to help them generate a variety of addition and subtraction strategies, including doubles plus or minus 1, making 10’s, and compensation.  Students can use Reckenreks to develop computational skills or solve computational problems.  Once children understand the operations of addition and subtraction and can model various situations, it is important that they automatize the basic facts by finding and using patterns and relationships.  Unlike drill, practice worksheets, and flash cards,  Reckenreks supports even the youngest learners with visual models they need to discover number relationships and develop automaticity.  Here is a picture of our homemade

Reckenreks below:

Here are our pictures from Blue Day and making blue volcanoes.  The recipe for a Blue Volcano is:  

To make this fizzy potion you will need:

♥ A container (something see-through works best)

♥ White vinegar

♥ Food coloring

♥ Dish soap

♥ Heaping Tablespoon of Baking Soda

♥ The enthusiasm of a child!

♥ A tray or go outside

1. Stand your container on a tray or the ground and fill halfway up with white vinegar

2. Add a good squirt of Dish Soap

3. Add a few drops of food coloring and stir mixture

4. Add a heaped teaspoon of Baking Soda and watch in amazement

Sorry, I’m not sure who put their finger in the way:)

Blue Day with Mrs. Lasher’s students!

I think that’s all for now.  Remember tomorrow is Purple day!

Thank you,