This week we say our good byes to the April showers and welcome the May flowers (and hopefully some warmer temperatures)!  The mornings are still very cool on the playground, so make sure your child is dressed to adapt to the temperature changes.

Last week I tweeted a picture of our Barbara Reid inspired plasticine tree art.  The class was very excited to hear the Barbara Reid retweeted our picture!

Literacy:  Please continue to listen to your child read/read to them each night.  When you are reading with your child try stopping throughout the book to ask them questions about what is happening, how they think the characters are feeling and if there are words that they don’t understand. 

We are reviewing nouns, verbs and adjectives during word work. We are also revisiting the long and short vowel sounds and digraphs (two letters that make a new sound when combined: ch,sh,gh) during mini lessons.  I have introduced some of my guided groups to the website candohelper.com.  It has online and printable word work activities.

In writing we continue to work on adding details to our writing using adjectives.  We want to paint a picture in the reader’s head.  We are also working on editing our writing pieces.  This week we’re examining and experimenting with poetry.

Math:  This week our numbers will be 134-137.  You can ask your child to show you the number as tens and ones, get them to skip count to that number, make an addition or subtraction equation with that number as the answer, etc. 

We continue to work on skip counting by twos, fives and tens.  Students should be able to start counting by twos at any even or odd number and continue on to 100.  They should be able to start at any multiple of five and continue on to 100 by fives.  The trickiest so far has been counting by tens starting at any number 1-9.  If we start at 4 they assume they are counting by fours.  Skip counting is a real world skill that students will use for the rest of their lives.  It is important that they understand that skip counting is more than memorising a pattern, it is understanding and applying number patterns.

Some students are working on adding two digit numbers while others are continuing to work on building their mental math strength with sums to 20.  We are also practicing subtraction strategies. In addition to finding the correct answer students should also be able to explain their thinking and show the strategy they used.  We’re beginning to work on solving and writing our own word problems.  We will continue working on our measurement unit, examining and comparing lengths and masses.

YAYW: We will be learning about the life cycles of animals such as frogs, butterflies and birds and the life cycles of plants.  We will also continue learning about bees.  Last week we read a book about the solar system, The Sun is Kind of a Big Deal, and it was a hit!

Dates to Remember

Monday, April 29: Papa John’s

Tuesday, April 30: NO Tots n Taters  Please pack a lunch for your child if they had ordered lunch,      breakfast program

Wednesday, May 1: Library books due

Thursday, May 2: Great Canadian Bagel

Friday, May 3: No School for students, Provincial meeting for teachers

Have a great week!​