February 7th, 2025

Hello families,

This week in literacy we delved into loose parts storytelling. We explored the tradition of oral storytelling, dating far back in human history and a key component to this day in Indigenous cultures.

Students gathered their loose parts and began retelling about their weekend, or any other story they wanted to create. They then shared their story with their table group, taking turns describing each part of their creation.

Loose parts allow students to create stories in a low risk way that does not involve writing. It further allows them to practice identifying aspects of stories such as setting, character, and problem. We then used the mentor text The Mitten by Jan Brett to recreate parts of the story.

We wrapped up our learning about the "VCe" spelling pattern. Students decoded paragraphs and highlighted the words that contain a silent E.

Daily L.A. Practice

We read our second Global read-out-loud book: Drawn Together by Minh Le. Students picked an important adult in their life and wrote about them.

Free Write Friday using loose parts to build then write our stories.

Words Of The Week

will

other

about

out

many

then

them

these

Spicy

children

beautiful

identity

In mathematics we learned about adding and subtracting using base ten blocks. Students used the Golden Bead Material to support their understanding, and some students extended their learning by applying regrouping.

February Calendars

In science we visited the aquarium and made estimates about the water temperature in the aquarium as well as brainstormed the needs of these animals.

In social studies we learned about the last two sacred teachings, humility and truth, represented by the wolf and turtle.

Social Emotional Learning (S.E.L.)

Starting this week, Mr. Ripka who teaches kindergarten in the morning, began taking each class once a week to teach social emotional learning in the afternoons. Our time slot is on Tuesday afternoons. During this time, students will learn about strategies to support social regulation, friendship skills, and making healthy choices.

In health and wellness we continued to learn about the brain. We discussed what makes our brains healthy and highlighted the importance of positive self-talk.