January 18, 2018
Welcome Back!
We were so excited to return to KA, as we sincerely missed this spectacular class. Now that we have returned after the "Bomb Cyclone," were focused and ready to have a marvelous 2018!
Reading
Decoding:
KA is full of strong decoders! When we get to a word we do not know, KA students do not shy away. They sound out their words. We are working on Self-Monitoring. This means students listen to the words they are saying and can self correct.
For example, a student might forget the sight word MY and mistakenly say ME. He or she might read this sentence "My little dog likes to play with me," as "Me little dog likes to play with me." We want to KA students to stop and think--does that make sense? does that word match the picture?
Comprehension:
Our class loves to retell stories! They can tell you what happened first, next and last--without prompting. They return to their books and use evidence from the pictures to answer factual question. We are working on answering inferential questions. Inferential Questions are questions where the text does not actually tells us, but we can work out the answer by considering the hints and clues in the text and using our own knowledge and experience.
For instance, we are reading a story about children playing in the sand. They build a sandcastle, they go into the water and it is salty. Where are these children? They are at the beach.
KA will begin Interactive read-a-loud to support student discussion and inferential thinking.
Writing
KA has been working on adding JUICY details to our writing. Rather than simply saying, I love my dad, students are asked to tell why. Rather than simply saying I see the grass, students are pushed to describe the grass--Shout out to Scarlet's pattern book "I see the grass blowing."
We have also begun to teach WOW words. Early access to vocabulary is important for reading, understanding, and our ability to communicate. We introduced basic WOW words for to replace common words, GOOD, HOT, COLD. This week we focused on drowsy--sleepy.
Please keep an eye out for our growing WOW word and test out our KA scholars on their knowledge.
Students share their writing in the library
IB
Math
We ended Unit 6 last week. Students solved basic Addition and Subtraction sentences. They used number bonds to solve, and practiced reading the symbols to make sure their sentence makes sense---3 and 2 makes 5 (3 + 2 = 5)
Unit 7 Number Partners
In this unit we are focuses on the different partner pairs we can use to make a specific number. So far we have explored 4, 6, and 7. Students use pennies (heads and tails) to find different number partners to make one number. After students write their number sentence to make the number partners.
ELA & Math Family Workshops
"This is a friendly reminder to sign up for the ELA & Math Family Workshops being offered to our ES families. The workshops are for all grades K-4, and will focus on grade specific content and strategies. On each night there will a 1 hr ELA & Math workshop. Childcare will be provided for all school aged children and siblings. A pizza dinner will also be provided for parents and children. Please see below for dates and times the workshops will be held":
Tuesday, January 23rd
G: K-2:
- ELA & Math Workshops from 6-7pm
G: 3 & 4th:
- ELA Workshop 6-7pm
- Math Workshop 7-8pm
Thursday, January 25th
G: K-2:
- ELA & Math Workshops 7-8pm
G: 3 & 4th:
- Math Workshop 6-7pm
- ELA Workshop 7-8pm
​Here is the link to the form: ELA & Family Workshops Registration Form
Raz-Kids
Dance
In preparation for our Anytime/Anywhere trip, Kindergartners are exploring Jamaican dance & music. They are learning about music genres Reggae, Dance Hall, Mento, Ska, Dub and their accompanying dances. In our exploration, we learned that some dances can be inspired by food!
As a fun, home, dance activity, share your favorite food with your child(ren) and create a dance together that reminds you of this food! Listen to this song (the artist is singing in Patois, a complex mix of English and various West African languages). Have you ever tasted the food mentioned in this song?
Coming Soon
January 30th-Specials change. KA will have Spanish, Music, Science, and PE.
Our next IB unit is on Transportation! We will be reaching out about materials to help create our vehicles soon!