Photos: Cutting Open Pumpkins and Exploring Pumpkin Guts

October Highlights from Mrs. Auerbach’s Class

Photos: Cutting open pumpkins and exploring “pumpkin guts”

Math:This month we have worked on counting objects accurately,

writing numerals correctly, examining size and length (including vocabulary

such as shorter, longer, taller…), exploring how numbers are “made of”

smaller numbers ( 5 is made up of 3 and 2 ) , and learning the strategy of

“counting up” to find a total ( if you have two dice, count the dots on one

and them count up from that number as you count the dots on the other).

Language Arts: Our phonemic awareness focus has been on rhyming, listen-

ing to identify first letter sounds, and counting the words in sentences. In

phonics, we worked on identifying letters and distinguishing and writing the

first letter of words. Our sight words to date are: I , like, the, and , a .

We will add: see, we ,to, my, me in the weeks to come. In handwriting,

we learned the correct way to form upper case letters and will soon begin

the lower case. Both in read alouds and in guided reading, we have focused

on reading skills such as understanding characters, noticing graphic features,

and sequencing events. Our small instructional groups have given the

children opportunity to read little books with the teacher and on their own, practicing decoding skills (attending to first letter and picture clues), reading sight words in context, noticing punctuation, and reading for meaning! FUN!!!

Kid Writing is in full swing and parents have begun to assist in this exciting process. I hope you have enjoyed our early attempts of drawing and writing

the letters of the sounds we hear, forming words and simple sentences.

Science:Our studies of the seasons have continued as we have been

gathering evidence of the change of seasons by first hand explorations outside.

We have read books with Fall themes and delved inside pumpkins.

Other: A big thank you to all who helped with our Halloween festivities. The crafts, games, and party snacks were much enjoyed. Also, a shout out to all who sent in diapers for our community Diaper Dry-ve. This reinforced the school-wide theme of citizenship for the month of October.

All who wish to volunteer in the classroom need to acquire clearances and submit them to the school office.

Reporting live…

Mrs. Auerbach