It was another great week!
This week in writing workshop we focused on calling to mind what you want to say and then putting it on the page.  We talked about how writers may not know how to spell a word so they streeetch it out.  This means repeating the word slowly out loud and listening for the sounds that you hear.  We discussed how some letters can be stretched out like a rubber band (m,s,r,l,n) and others snap (k,t,p).  We practiced as a whole group, then the children practiced stretching out words independently for their writing.

We talked about not giving up, even when writing is hard.

In reading workshop we learned about 'Elbow Partners.'  There are times when we are gathered on the rug when children will have an opportunity to share and idea or discuss a question with a partner.  We created an 'Elbow Partners' anchor chart to remind the children of our expectations.  Sometimes they may need to 'lean and tell' their partner the answer to a question that only requires a quick response.  Other times they may need to 'turn and talk' to their partner if it is a discussion question.

We also talked about the parts of a book and what you can find on the front, the title page, and the back.  The children practiced their independent reading stamina and we are up to 5-6 minutes.  The children also practices reading with a partner by taking turns telling what they thought was happening on each page by looking at the pictures.

Great examples of 'Elbow Partners' working together.

This week in math the children practices reading and writing numbers 1-3 and counting groups of 4-5. They also used bingo chips to count out groups of 4 and 5, then put them in different arrangements.  For example: 5 can be arranged as 1+4, 5+0, 2+3, 3+2, 4+1, and 0+5.  This is a precurser to formal addition.
We also worked on reading color words.  The children made apple prints and had to complete the sentence, "My apples are _________."