We are having fun learning more about the Pilgrims and their new life in New England! We did talk about using fish as a fertilizer when planting crops, and how the Native Americans also taught the Pilgrims to build and use canoes to fish and hunt along the water.
Fine Motor:
The children made their own teepees by coloring different Native American symbols in bright colors on paper bags. They were excited to make mini models of the teepee we saw (and had story time in) at the pumpkin farm field trip!
We decorated our December calendars. It's hard to believe it will be December when we come back from Thanksgiving break! We read a poem about giving and the children talked about all of the ways we can give this holiday season, no matter the holiday or celebration.
Literacy:
We are all really working on the scale and formation of our letters. Some letters require a frog jump where the children need to lift their pencil and jump up to begin the second half of the letter. These foundational letter formations are critical to prevent bad habits from forming. It's easier to correct now so we spend a majority of our "Handwriting Without Tears" time talking about the exact letter formation.
Our reading buddies chose books from the library and read them to each of their reading buddies. The children all completed a "Response to Reading" page and illustrated it, along with using inventive spelling to write about the story. We love our third grade buddies! This is an amazing time to build a sense of school community and also learn from older peers while working on letter sounds and word recognition.
We are sequencing and talking about the beginning, middle and end and anticipating what we think will happen next. These are all great comprehension learning strategies for literacy/reading. We are also telling group stories, where I start a scenario with a character and we take turns adding to it. It's such a fun group project and the kids LOVE it.
Math and Science:
Which pumpkins have the most seeds? What coloring could give you a clue about the number of seeds inside a pumpkin? We made predictions and read the book, How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin, as we studied the science behind the lines in a pumpkin and the coloring in relation to the number of seeds.
We are beginning to talk about groups of ten and counting by tens, as we also count and use manipulatives to count to 100.
Social/Emotional:
We read about filling buckets all around the world and how different cultures fill their buckets. It was interesting to see all of the different traditions and how kindness is represented throughout the world. I am hoping they are filling your invisible buckets at home!
Have a lovely week and a wonderful holiday! I am thankful for all of you and your amazing children.
Ms. Massey
