We used the rekenreks (as pictured) to look more closely at numbers. I am currently take an online math course that focuses on number sense. Number sense is a group of skills that allow kids to work with numbers. It includes skills like understanding quantities, the concepts of one more and one less, the benchmarks of 5 and 10, and part-part-whole relationships. Next week I will share games that we have been playing at school. You can easily play these math games at home!
At this point in the year, students begin to learn vocabulary even more quickly! During November and December, we will focus on family, emotions, food, and clothing words. The family-related words we focused on last week are: mamá (mom), papá (dad), hermano (brother), hermana (sister), and bebé (baby). This coming week we will add grandmother (abuela) and grandfather (abuelo).
Every day the students have independent reading time, following the Daily 5 reading model. Daily 5 Reading is a structure that was developed by sisters Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. I have used it for several years as a component of my reading instruction. The first step is called Read to Self. Right now, we are focusing on increasing our stamina to read independently during Read to Self--we are at 9 minutes. The second of the five steps is Read with a Partner (photos below). When reading with a partner, students take turns sharing a book from their box. I love watching the kids search for syllables and simple words or retell the stories while sharing their favorite books. While the students are busy interacting with books, Srta. Herrero and I meet with individual students to work on phonemic awareness or decoding skills.
We ended our week with talleres with Sra. Lindsey's class. The choices were painting, trains and cars, playdough, or a game in the gym.
New words that begin with the letter Nn:
el niño - boy la niña - girl los niños - children
nadar - to swim el nido - nest nada - nothing
la nariz - nose la nube - cloud nueve - nine
la nieve - snow la noche - night números - numbers
Wednesday, November 27 - Friday, November 29: NO SCHOOL ~ Thanksgiving Break
Friday, December 6: NO SCHOOL ~ Staff Professional Development