This Week's Instructional Focus

Math

We will continue our investigation into shapes. During this unit we will look at identifying shapes by various attributes. We will also compose and decompose two and three-dimensional shapes as well as describe spatial and numerical relationships found among shapes. While students will explore different shapes in this unit the underlying message is for them to understand the different situations where they can use repeated addition. Please continue to work with your child at home on their basic addition facts. Our timed, 3-minute, practice addition drills will continue until Thanksgiving.

Reading: Fables

This week we will focus on different fables. A fable is a short story that teaches a moral, or lesson. The characters in fables are often animals that act and talk like humans.

Phonics: Continued Review

· Long vowels: when a vowel is long it says it name.

· Short vowels: when a vowel is short it makes the vowel’s sound.

· Two sounds for g: hard g (/g/ in gem) and soft g (/j/j in germ).

· Two sounds for c: hard c (/k/ as in camping) and soft c (/s/ as in city).

· Double consonants: understanding that a double consonant stands for a single sound

Grammar: Revising Stringy Sentences

This week we will review the structure of a sentence. Please remind your child that a sentence is a group of words that tells what someone or something does or ends. Sentences begin with capital letters and end with a punctuation mark. Children often use stringy sentences in their writing; a sentence that has too many ands. My goal is to help them learn how to make their writing more concise by learning how to rewrite their own stringy sentences.

Spelling: Study these words at home. The test will be on Friday. Along with the spelling test, your child will be given 2 dictated sentences, which he/she will need to write. We are looking for words to be spelled correctly, as well as proper use of capitalization and punctuation.

animal, were, people, said, before, neck, lake, sick, ask, lick, pack, woke, kick, lock, poke

Writing: Narrative

We will continue looking at narrative writing until Thanksgiving. This week we will finish our story about a time when we were scared.

Science: Properties of Matter

In science we will begin exploring the properties of matter. This week we will look at the transformative property of matter.