Math games!

Today we played a math spinner game with numbers to 10! It was great practice for counting while also moving our game pieces one box at a time. 

Afterwards, we played a round with boys verses girls, which ended up being a very close game! The boys won!

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Ms. Conlee

Estimation, writing, shape attributes, and trees!

Our weekly "Shine and Share" person of the week gets to fill our class estimation jar with something from home and bring it back to school! All of our friends make an estimation or our "best guess" of the number of items in the jar without counting! After everyone has made an estimate, we all count the real objects and discover whose estimate was the closest!

This week Holly filled our estimation jar with marshmallows!

 We have also been hard at work on our sentence writing! Our sight words the past three weeks have been: 

• I 
• like
• the

When we put them together we can DEFINITELY build a sentence that makes sense! I can't believe how many spaces and periods I already spy in our writing!

The past two days we have been talking about the attributes or descriptions of the following shapes: 

• circle
• triangle
• square
• rectangle
• hexagon

After a very fun "shape mystery game," we created shape collages from magazines!

We have also been learning about the parts of a tree in science! Yesterday we labeled several of the parts in our tree journal!

See you tomorrow for my favorite day of the week!
Love,
Ms. Conlee

Longer or Shorter?

Today we practiced "body height comparisons." We used a yard stick and compared its height to different objects around our classroom. NEXT, we used people and compared their height to things around our classroom!

 Lucy is LONGER than the couch!

 Jayden is LONGER than the couch too!

LAST, we compared the heights of clowns, flowers, and giraffes and put them in order from shortest to tallest.

See you tonight for Curriculum Night!
Love,
Ms. Conlee

Coin Sorting and Science!

On Friday we learned the names of four different coins: Penny, Nickel, Dime, and Quarter. We compared their colors, sizes, and smooth or bumpy edges. The friends at our table helped sort a huge piggy bank of coins!

Today we began our new science unit about trees! We took a trip to a cornfield which backs up to Van Allen and observed the tree our class will adopt for the school year. We talked about the roots, branches, leaves, and trunk of the tree. Afterwards we illustrated a summer tree in our tree journals. 

Thanks for a great day!
Love,
Ms. Conlee

Ice Skating Party and Math Fun!

Yesterday we filled our compliment jar AGAIN! We voted to celebrate with an "ice skating party!" We cranked up the dance music, put on our wax paper skates, and went to town!

During math we explored with beans, blocks, glue sticks, and water. At each station we had three different sized containers and a baggie. As a team, we had to determine which container could hold the most and which could hold the least. We then used a pan balance to determine which container was heavier and which was lighter.

We had another great day!
Love,
Ms. Conlee

Our Daily 5 routine!

Today we learned about a new tool called a "fancy finger!" We use fancy fingers to point to each word as we read. Fancy fingers help us stay on track by reading and pointing to one word at a time. We had a chance to practice our fancy fingers by reading a book we have learned!

We have recently been learning different components of what we call our "Daily 5 Routine." While I am leading reading groups, students will be doing one of five things: 

• Read to Self
• Read to Someone
• Listen to Reading
• Word Work
• Working on Writing

Today was our first day of following our "Daily 5 Schedule" and rotating between three different stations.

 Read to Self

 Listen to Reading

 Word Work

 Read to Someone

We have built 13 minutes of stamina for staying in one place and working the WHOLE time!

Today was our best day yet!
Love,
Ms. Conlee