Making Words, Patterns, and the Sense of Sight

Today we introduced "Making Words." The children cut out letters and then we moved them around to make this week's words (a, are, be, I, you). We also made some words using this week's word family (-at). Finally, students used all of the letters to see what other words they could make. When they finished, they put them inside their manilla folder and put it in their BEAR book to take home to do their homework. We will be doing this every Tuesday. Please make sure your child brings back their envelope by the end of the week. They can keep their letters at home, but we'll need the envelope for next time. What words did you make together tonight?

We also introduced our math unit on patterns. We read a book on patterns and then went on a pattern hunt. Students recorded in their math notebooks the patterns they found in the room and in the hallway.

During Science this afternoon, we focused on the sense of Sight. We read Eric Carle's "Hello, Red Fox." It is based on a the basics of color theory developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Here is a link that explains a little more about the book: http://www.eric-carle.com/bb-HRFnotes.html

Then, we played a game where students put six items on a tray. Then one turned around while their partner removed an item from the tray. Recalling what they had seen, the first student tried to identify the missing object. Finally, we made an optical illusion with a birdcage on one side of a paper and a bird on the other. The students folded the paper and we stapled it to the top of a straw. When the students spun their straws fast enough, it looked like the bird was in the cage. Tomorrow we will work on our sense of hearing.