Happy Halloween!
This week in Language Arts we are doing a variety of activities that tie into our Halloween theme. For example, in Oral Language and drama we will be doing Halloween safety skits (What do you do when you see a friend across the street? What do you do if a stranger invites you into their home?, etc). In Writing, we will create a small Halloween story that builds Halloween vocabulary and practices sentence structure. In a separate activity, we will apply the verb conjugations of -er verbs to sentences, find them in text and fix them. Next week we will begin writing short stories.
In English this week we are reviewing the difference between a common and plural noun, and how to make a plural noun (depending on the ending). For example, add an s, but when a singular noun ends in s-sh-ch or x add an es. Also, when a singular noun ends in y, change the y to an i and add es (eg. penny/pennies). Of course there are exceptions to all rules! Some just need to be memorized such as: man/men, woman/women, child/children, foot/feet, tooth/teeth and mouse/mice. On Thursday is our spelling test (see previous post). On Thursday afternoon we have guided reading groups, based on each child's reading levels. We will begin by focusing on pronunciation of our words, based on the English phonetic alphabet.
In the Computer Lab we are learning keyboarding/typing skills. This week we are also adding in how to type accents in the French language with an English keyboard. For example, â is ALT +131.
In Math this week we are learning to add and subtract large numbers. For example 126 + 32 = 100+20+6+30+2= 100+50+8= 158. Or 126-32= 100+20+6-30+2 = 100-10+4= 94. We are also reviewing various counting techniques such as estimating and grouping in 10's and 5's. This will also be integrated into our pumpkin carving activity on Friday (ex. estimating and counting seeds).
In Physical Education we are continuing our soccer unit (ball handling and passing techniques. In Science today we had a wonderful Space presentation and we will be reviewing what we learned in class. On Friday, as part of our special Halloween activities, we will have a scary story and a movie (shhh, it's a surpise!).
Have a wonderful week, Mme Garcin