Turkey Time!

 

Let's Talk Turkey!

A new month has come!   We started out our November activities with a much-loved craft time!   We discussed turkeys first.  Did you know that a male turkey is called a 'tom' and a female turkey is called a 'hen'?   The male turkey has a colorful tail, used to attract a mate.  Female turkeys blend in to their environment in order to hide themselves and their young from predators.  One student asked if the turkeys we eat at Thanksgiving are 'toms' or 'hens'.   I had to respond that I did not know the answer to that.  We may need to do a little research to find our answer!   After talking turkey, the kids made 'toms' to display proudly on our bulletin board!  

Other November concepts we will cover include time lines, past and present ways of life, things we are thankful for, and of course, our normal language arts, math and science curriculum when we can squeeze it in.

Word Wall

Our Word Wall has grown!   For the first two months of school, the only words on our Word Wall included our names and the 35 priority words that we will learn in spelling for first grade.   This week I have added many more words to our Word Wall.   These words come straight from the Dolch list that was handed out at conferences last week.  As we discussed, the children will be tested three times this year on the 220 Dolch words.  These are sight words most commonly found in text.  About half of the 220 are now on our Word Wall.  The children are encouraged to use the wall when they are not sure how to spell a sight word when they are writing in their writing journals, science journals, or on their own.   They came in this morning very excited to see the many new words on our wall.  Dakota even said, "Hey, I have a ring with those words at home!"   We will use our word wall for other activities and games as well.  The goal is for all the children to know "by sight" 200 or more of the 220 Dolch words!  

WEB reading and October hours

Hopefully you are seeing your child's reading skills grow and grow.  We have been working hard in our reading series, which introduces two phonics skills each week.  These phonics skills are practiced in the story from the book as well as in the two decodable books sent home each week.  I have seen many improvements in just two months.  The WEB books practiced at home each night with your help have a great impact as well, so thank you for your help and support at home!   Every child in our class met their reading goal for October.  On Tuesday the kids enjoyed a Popsicle at snack time, took home a certificate for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut and a double lunch recess!  

November has begun!  Three or more hours of reading at home is the goal again.  Hours may be turned in as you and your child complete them.   Our bulletin board in our classroom shows each child's progress with their goal.   Thank you for your help reading with your child and his or her progress.  It makes a tremendous difference in the overall success for him/her. 

Please be sure to take a look at the paper newsletter in this week's Friday Folder, which is always copied on pink paper.  Have a great weekend everyone!