Weekly Curriculum Notes

Below is a list of skills introduced/practiced this week:  

Math

-Introduced two-digit numbers and used base-10 blocks to help add two digit numbers together

-Introduced >,<, = and practiced using these symbols to compare numbers

-Practiced solving and writing number stories

-Practiced identifying key words in number stories that help one know if it is an addition or subtraction problem

-Practiced solving "How many more? How much less?" number stories

Things to work on at home:

-Counting by 2's, 5's, 10's from 100+

-Simple addition and subtraction facts

-Telling time to the hour, half-hour, quarter-to, quarter-past

-Counting combinations of pennies, nickels, and dimes

-Using the <, >, = symbols

-Identifying key words in number stories and practice different methods for solving them (Ex. counting up/back, drawing a picture, etc)

Phonics

-Introduced the /ie/ sound as in "tie" and the red words: should, would, could

-Read fluency drills to increase speed and accuracy when reading letter names/sounds/words

-Completed crossword puzzles and dot and jot activities to practice reading and spelling words with these sounds

Things to work on at home:

-Review current and past spelling words

-Read as much as possible to increase word recognition and fluency

Reading/Language Arts

-Practiced identifying the characters and setting in a story

-Read Gram and Me

-Completed the Unit 3.5 Language Arts test

-Please be sure to review mistakes made on these unit tests each week. These are skills that need to be mastered.

Things to work on at home:

-READ   AS   MUCH   AS   POSSIBLE and review weekly ELA tests!

Grammar/Writing

-Introduced contractions that end in "not"

-Practiced writing contractions with n't

-Reviewed proper nouns and correct capitalization of proper nouns

-Continued to review sentence structure (using capital letters and appropriate ending marks)

-We are working on applying our knowledge of sentence structure to our everyday writing through editing and self-correction

-Completed our Star Student Biography

Things to continue to review at home:

-Identifying nouns, verbs, and adjectives in a sentence

-Reading/writing words with various inflectional endings (-s, -ed, -ing, etc.)

-Writing contractions and identifying the words that make up a contraction

-Identifying singular, plural, and proper nouns

-Use the editing checklist to review and edit your child's writing

-Practice identifying the different types of sentences and which ending mark goes with each kind of sentence

Social Studies/Science

-Began our "Helping Others" IB unit

-Listened to a speaker from the Ronald McDonald House to help us understand the purpose of our fundraiser

-Began advertising for our fundraiser

-Please review the announcements page for information on the fundraisers next week

Centers

-Centers will now be graded on accuracy, completeness, and neatness. Each center will receive a check plus, check, or check minus as a grade. The overall grade will be calculated as shown below. I have already shared this information with the children this past week. When centers come home, please take time to review the activities with your child. By reviewing incorrect responses, you will help your child review the skills practiced each week as well as help stress the importance of completing work correctly. Thanks for your help!

Incomplete Center: -5%

Check - (Minus) on a paper= many incorrect answers, -4% for that center

Check on paper= a few incorrect answers, -2%

Check + (Plus) on a paper= All correct, -0%

So for example:

1. If a child has a check + on all assignments and no incomplete/missing centers their overall score would be 100%.

2. If a child has one incomplete/missing center (-5), one paper with a check (-2), one with a check - (-4), and the rest are check +, their overal score would be 89%.

Spelling

-Spelling tests grades will now incorporate handwriting! On the back, one point will be taken off for any letters that are written incorrectly on the lines. Please help your child practice their formation of letters and their placement on the lines.