Reading:
We are using the Houghton Mifflin reading series which is a series that we
have been using for the last several years. The children are being taught six
specific reading strategies that will help them to become better readers.
The strategies we are learning and practicing are: Predicting/Infering,
Decoding Unknown Words, Questioning, Summarizing, Monitoring/Clarifying and
Evaluating. As we read each new story, there is a particular strategy focus
that we practice while reading. This has definitely been helping the
students with their comprehension skills. We spend five days doing the skills
involved with each story. Each story is part of an ongoing theme. We are
about to read a theme of stories called "Silly Stories" and we then have a
selection of stories about nature. Our third theme will be stories relating
to the community. There are many different activities that we do for those
five days that involve phonics, vocabulary, comprehension and oral reading.
The children are also given a leveled book each week that we read in class
and that goes along with the theme we are talking about. Each child is given
many, many opportunities to read, read, read.
Math:
In math, we are involved with learning many different addition strategies
that will help us with computation and story problems. We are working on
math facts in which we are practicing the +0, +1, +2, and +3 facts. The
children are learning the strategy of "counting on", doubles, and the "mirror
strategy" involving +0. The first grading quarter will focus on these skills.
Science:
In science, we are studying the ocean. We are learning about tidepools,
coral reefs, the three ocean zones and about the many different types of
animals that use the ocean as their home. We will do a research project in
which we will create a poster about a specific ocean animal that we have
researched and will present our finding to our classmates. This unit of study
is a favorite of many of the students!
Social Studies:
In social studies, we are learning about urban, suburban and rural
communities, different cultures around the world and geography.