Dandelions

Dandelions and the Garden

We have been learning about dandelions this week. Have you noticed how dandelions close at night and reopen in the morning? We voted first thing this morning on whether or not the dandelions were open or closed. Then we went outside today to look at the dandelions first thing this morning and then again mid-afternoon. Ask your student what we noticed at the different times of the day!
Yesterday we went on a scavenger hunt to find dandelions in all 4 phases of growth; bud, open flower,
closed flower and in seed. We also looked for insects that act as pollinators such as bees, ladybugs and butterflies. Today we returned outside and drew the 4 phases of the dandelion. It was a beautiful day to be outside!
We have started to clear out our class garden to plant flowers. We are still working on that project. I am looking for volunteers to come in after 1:30 any day next week to help the children finish weeding and begin to plant our seeds. If you are interested please email me or write a note in the agenda. Thanks!


Addition

We have spent April working on addition. We started the month talking about the concept that addition is 2 groups joining together to create a bigger group. We have worked really hard and I am so pleased with everyone's progress. 
We have been playing lots of different games such as Bump pictured below. We have also been using 10 frames, cuisinaire rods and 100 charts to help make sense of addition. Recently we have started to use scales to show that = really means the same as. This will also support their learning when they get to early algebra!
This week we have started double digit addition. Which is to say. the children are adding 10, 20 or 30 to numbers such as 55, 26, 78 etc. As we finish off this week we will practice adding 2 digit numbers together eg. 38 + 21. They have worked so hard and they continue to amaze me with their understanding of numbers and their flexibility of thinking. 
Next week we are beginning subtraction!

Bump!

Cuisinaire rods-working on math facts. 







Writing 

We are working on writing logical writing both stories and from personal experience. We are working on identifying beginning, middle and end of stories in book we read. Last week the students brought home their retelling of "Drôle de rose", a Robert Munsch story. We read the book brainstormed the beginning, middle and end. The students drew pictures to represent the 3 parts of the story and then we wrote the parts together and they copied them into their books. 
This week they are working on retelling their own story or making up a story with a beginning, middle and end.
 

Things to do at home:

  1. Continue to read the books from the home reading bags. The students have an opportunity to  change their books during our reading block on Wednesday and are welcome to change them on any day. 
  2. When enjoying these beautiful days, have your child find the 4 phases of a dandelion and show you.
  3. When reading with your child ask them who are the characters and where are they (the beginning)? What is the problem in the story (the middle)? How is the problem solved (the end)?
  4. Reinforce math facts by looking for opportunities to ask your child simple math questions, play games with dice or use flash cards to support math facts to 20. 

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