Ms. Kirkpatrick’s Newsletter
April 12-15, 2010
Classroom News
Thursday we had our first class popcorn and movie party. The class has been working all year to earn class stones to fill up a jar. They were very excited to have filled it up. They enjoyed watching some Veggie Tales stories about friendship while they ate yummy all natural popcorn.
Now instead of earning class stones, the class will be earning coins. At the end of the week, the students will be allowed to go “shopping” with their coins to buy prizes. This will be a great way for the students to practice identifying and counting money. It will also teach them the value of saving and spending.
Our 100th day of school is coming up on Tuesday of this week.
Our Studies
The class was introduced to the floss phonic and spelling rule. The rule states that if a one syllable word ends with f, l, or s double the final f, l, or s. They wrote the rule in their phonic rule book. This week, the student will practice applying the rule.
The students practiced counting dimes and nickels as a group and at learning stations. The students also spent time this week reviewing addition flashcards.
The class is working on memorizing Psalms 100. We began last week by echo reading it. I would say a few words and they would repeat it after me. Several of the students recognized the psalm as a song that they sing in church.
Our science last week focused on the life cycle of a frog. Each student made their own little book describing each stage. They also made a tadpole that they can manipulate to change it into a frog. We are continuing to keep a watchful eye over our tadpole. It is taking longer than we thought for it to begin to change. This has been a great lesson on patience.
The students completed their copy of Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge by Monet. They are wonderful! They look so beautiful hanging in the frames in the hallway. This week the students did a picture study on Monet’s Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog. The students also looked at several other painting Monet did of Houses of Parliament but at different times of the day. The student made observations about the different colors he used.
In grammar, we began our study of verbs. They wrote the definition of a verb. We are working on making a list of action verbs.