My NOT a box

An oldie but a goodie.  Enjoy my reading of Not a Box!

Guess my sightword

Guess my sight word is a quick, cooperative game that we play in the classroom.  I start by writing a few words on the board.  The kids ask yes or no questions like, "Does it have 3 letters?  Does it have the letter o?" to narrow down and guess my sight word!  Below find an alternate version of the game!

Little Hoot

Last Name Practice

A skill we had been practicing was writing your child's full name.  This is hard work for those with names like.... Giovannini!  Your child needs to learn how to spell their last name as well as remember the formation of the lowercase letters.  A simple way to practice spelling your last name is with post-it notes, as seen below.  I have modeled how our name is spelled and my son has been working on unscrambling the letters to spell our name below.  I then have him touch each letter and spell it again.  Quick practice!  If your child is ready, you can have them write their first AND last name, making sure they leave a space between the two AND only have a capital at the beginning.

Math ideas for home

Try one of our favorite games, Racing Bears or visit your Dream Box account.  

Click here for a letter form our math program, Terc about math at home.

Writing about Not Norman

Helping your child with their writing can be challenging!  It is hard to watch them put the letter K when it should be a C or only "hear" one sound in the word.  Below I model how I would show them how to write.  At this point in the year, many kids are hearing at least the first and last sound.  For example, if writing the word cat they might write "CT"  that is okay!!  If you spell each word correctly for them they a) aren't learning how to do it on their own and b) get the message that they can't do it on their own.

See here how I model at school how to write a sentence about the book I just read above, Not Norman I will be looking at and referencing our "sound map" found here. 

From the Science Department

Babies, eggs and nests - oh my!

Science Enrichment  K-2

Monday

Watch this video on why baby animals are so cute.

When you are done tell your teacher WHY is it important for babies to look cute.

If you want to explore more click on this online game that allows you to “cuteify” animals. You might need to click “enable flash”  and allow it to your computer for it to work. 

Tuesday

Now it is your turn: Do you remember the adaptations babies have that make them cute? 

Big eyes (compared to their head)

Big head (compared to their body)

Round body

Short legs (compared to their height)

Draw a picture of a made-up baby animal. Make its color be camouflaged to its surroundings so predators can’t find it. Cut it out.

Make a nest or a shelter for your baby animal to keep it safe. 

Take a picture and share it with your teacher.

Wednesday 

All living things have a life cycle. For a life cycle to happen plants and animals need to live long enough to have a baby and the baby needs to live long enough to have a baby and that baby needs to live long enough to have a baby. The cycle only ends when there are no babies. 

Go outside and find evidence of new life. Evidence could include:

A seedling coming out of the ground

A bud on a tree or bush opening up

New growth on an evergreen tree

Ants under a rock with eggs

Whatever life you see on your block that is new and growing and making its way to adulthood.

Take a picture, make an observational drawing, or write a description of what you see.  Share it with your teacher. 

Thursday 

If your teacher can share it with you, look at your classmates' work. Compare what they found. What do they have in common? 

Tell your teacher why you think growth is happening now. What can we do to help make this growth keep happening all summer?

Friday 

Some animals look different as they grow up - they have different stages of their life cycle. 

Watch this video to learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. 

Draw the life cycle of a plant or animal. Take a picture and share it with your teacher. 

Or print this coloring page of the life cycle of a butterfly and color it in.