Happy Autumn! Check out what's going on this month in October!
October 1st-5th: SIGNS OF AUTUMN
After learning all about our 5 senses last month, we will focus on using them to identify signs of autumn or fall. We will utilize our grounds and go on a nature walk to find signs of fall. We will examine leaves and learn about how they change colors and create a blanket on the ground as they fall. We will use our sense of hearing to listen to the crisp crunchy sound they make as we walk on a pile of leaves. In art class, the girls will make leaf rubbings, and examine the veins of the leaf. We will make some great little stories that will focus on simple, repetitive text as the girls learn the words: I, see, the. We will continue learning how to use our reading readiness skills (looking at the first letter of a word; stretching the sounds out; looking at the picture to help us; using our pointer finger). This week, we will focus on letters Ff and Ll.
*We will also watch a great little educational clip via SmartBoard on Christopher Columbus. The girls will briefly learn about him, the voyage he made with the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria, and why his discovery was so important.
*REMINDER: Friday, October 5th is a half-day!
October 8th: Columbus Day! No School......Enjoy the day off!
October 9th-12th: OCTOBER IS FIRE SAFETY MONTH.
The girls will learn all about Fire Safety Prevention this week. We will discuss safety precautions (stop drop and roll; stay low and go; never hide from a firefighter; 911 for emergencies only), safe and unsafe things to play with so as to avoid a fire; having a meeting place; the uniform that a firefighter wears for protection; the equipment on the fire truck, etc. The girls will become aware and educated "junior firefighters".
October 15th-19th: AMAZING APPLES
We will study how an apple grows. We will examine what an apple looks like, feels like, tastes like, etc. We will measure how round an apple is and look for the star that lives inside when it is cut in half. The girls will taste the 3 different kinds of apples (red, yellow, green) and graph their favorite. We will also taste apple cider, apple juice, Apple Jacks cereal, and applesauce to see how many different ways we can enjoy apples. We will also measure out the ingredients together to make some homemade applesauce! We will make some great books on apples, create stories about the star who lives inside an apple, learn the word APPLE, along with the color words red, yellow, and green.
October 22nd-26th: PUMPKINS
This week we will study how pumpkins grow. We will read some great pieces of literature on pumpkins, and also make our own little books about pumpkins that have familiar sight words; learn the word PUMPKIN by stretching it out; mix red and yellow to get orange....thus learning a new color word; and we will work on pumpkin math both in class and in our STEM lab. The girls will be placed into small groups. Each group will receive a small pumpkin. Each group will weigh their pumpkin, measure how tall it is and how wide it is, estimate how many seeds their pumpkin has, and finally, scoop out the inside to take out the seeds to eventually count (in groups of 10). After logging our results, we will compare groups and find out which group had the heaviest/lightest pumpkin; which had the most/least seeds; who had the tallest/shortest pumpkin.
October 29th-31st: HALLOWEEN FUN
The girls will make some fun decorative Halloween crafts and stories. For example: We will make a black cat and using our knowledge of rhymes, we will write and attach all the words we can think of that rhyme with cat; We will make a book about a witch that reinforces our knowledge of shapes.
I look forward to seeing everyone's costumes when the girls wear them to school! It will be a fun-filled day with great treats and lots of fun activities (including a picture on our school grounds out by the pumpkin patch.)
***********HALLOWEEN LUNCH: OCTOBER 31st!!!!!!
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During the month of October, we will continue to develop our phonics skills; work on letters and sounds; stretching out words; recognizing familiar sight words; continue to develop reading readiness strategies and skills.
In math, the girls will make observations from graphs; use pattern blocks as we learn about shapes; use unifix cubes to create patterns (AB - two color; or apple pumpkin/apple pumpkin; AABB apple apple pumpkin pumpkin; or red red yellow yellow; ABC - three color: red, yellow, green; or apple pumpkin leaf).
We will play number/shapes games; continue to make our number books as we learn how to write the numbers 5-10 (and review 1-4). Other concepts taught will be: making an interpreting class graphs; weather graphs; counting on; number placement, etc.
We will begin using our Weekly Reader/Let's Find Out; Science Spin; and National Geographic magazines.
This month, we will have a meet and greet with our 8th grade Big Sisters and also a Halloween get-together as well.
