In Reading, students began to record their book titles that they read to self and read to someone. They were reminded that rereading familiar books can be beneficial to their reading fluency. They keep their class reading logs in their reading envelopes and record titles daily. Students learned how to read to someone by sitting 'elbow to elbow and knee to knee' (EEKK). They shared books and read them together. Students were expected to balance their reading workshop time with reading to self and to someone. Students were introduced to a list of words that contain short vowel sounds where most of the words are 'non-real' words, such as viz, kal, and ruk. They checked-in with a buddy after practicing the words independently to make sure they were using the correct vowel sounds. They also continued to work on sorting short vowel words.
Math
In Math, students practiced using tally marks accurately and counting them by 5s. Students modeled their tallying on the board for the classmates. They went outside to explore nature and tally the number of trees and flowers. After marking their tallies, they counted the total number of tallies. We reviewed skip counting by 5s in order to count up the tallies successfully. Tallying practiced helped students to be prepared to tally aircrafts during the Miramar Airshow. Every morning, students update their calendar days, add a number to the 100th School Day chart, and mark the correct weather on their weather graphs. This routine allows them to begin to notice their own patterns and to be accountable for writing numbers correctly in order. Identifying the weather is important to our flight project as it helps them to learn more about wind and air through a real life connection. Students continued to explore math using math tools. They used base ten blocks and the base ten blocks mat to create 1 digit numbers. This representation is important to creating a stronger foundation for students to understand and create higher numbers. They also created designs using pattern blocks to continue working with various shapes and counting each shape. During week 4, students were all able to successfully log into ST Math to use at school. They all enjoyed beginning their first grade ST Math session(s). Soon students will be able to access ST Math from home.
Writing
Writing time is usually integrated in their Project Work studies. However, students are able to free write daily as a choice. We were able to critique several free writings by giving warm, specific and helpful feedback as a whole class. Students were reminded about using capital and lowercase letters correctly. They were also reminded about appropriate spacing between words and punctuation marks at the end of a sentence. Students were also shown how to stretch out a word to try their best to spell words accurately. Often students will ask how to spell a word but they are encouraged to stretch out the sounds they hear and to write the letters in order. This is called invented spelling and works towards developing the student as a speller rather than just memorizing words.