Author Study
The students showed a strong interest in the author Mo Willems. We began an author study, which required us to read many of Mo Willems’ books and engage in tasks across subject areas!
Students worked
in groups to examine Mo Willems voice as a writer and became “Author’s Craft
Detectives”. After brainstorming as a group the different techniques we noticed
about the way the author writes, students worked in pairs to act as detectives
and find examples of our observations in his books. Students engaged in purposeful conversations and
collaborated to complete the task.
In addition to reading and examining Mo Willem’s books, students also
had fun writing like Mo Willem’s and discovering their very own author
voice.
Next week we will continue our study by learning more about Mo Willems, examining traits and writing comic strips. We will tie up our unit by writing to the author!
Author’s Craft: the way in
which an author narrates a story
Visit Mo Willems website to
learn more about Mo and play games: http://www.mowillems.com/
Math
What is a Ten-Frame and Why is it Important?
A ten-frame is a hands-on and
visual model that teaches number sense and mental math. It is a great way to help children recognize
number without having to stop their thought process and count. For example, the most “efficient” way
of seeing 8 with a ten-frame is seeing one row of 5 dots and another 2 dots
equivalent to thinking of 8 as 5+3.
Understanding that numbers
are made up of tens and ones is a foundational concept for young
mathematicians. Mastering this
concept sets the stage for working with larger numbers. We spent the past few weeks focusing on
this pre-requisite for place-value and mental calculations.
Students practiced using a
ten-frame to see the relationships that numbers have to 10. For example, students practiced seeing
that 6 is 1 more than 5 and 4 less than 10.
Students practiced using a
table as a problem solving strategy.
I was impressed with their diligence to this challenging task!
Check out this online Ten
Frame Game
Check out this video to help
your child subitize (instantly recognize) numbers on a ten-frame before they
disappear! http://youtube.com/watch?v=wRR9LK3zfho
Fundations- Bonus Letters!
Rule: At the end of a
one-syllable word if there is a f, l, s and sometimes z…you need to double the
letter! (Of course there are exceptions!)
Ball
Cuff
Fuss
Buzz
Students had fun playing
games, writing silly sentences, and engaging in multi-sensory activities to
practice bonus letters.
Mystery Reader!
Special Notes
Congratulations to all
of the students who added their published books to Pug Corner this week!
A big thank you to all
of the children and families who personally contributed to Toys for Tots.
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