Week 22

 Dear Parents,

              This week in math we began our three digit addition unit. We started out for two days with no regrouping. Then we went very slowly to add regrouping and earn those sparkly stars. I was impressed how many children seemed to grasp it right away and earned 10 stars for 10 correct problems. Those that had a bit of trouble were pulled one on one to practice. I still need to pull those who have been absent, but we will go slowly again today to earn more stars! Your help at home is appreciated as well as I send homework home. On the 100^th day of school we had many choices of math 100 day activities. Role to 100, write your name in a 100^th grid to find a pattern, flip a coin 100 times, do 100 subtraction problems and built a 100 piece snack. A big thank you to all who provided an item for this snack. I mixed the rest of the ingredients and have enough for a Friday snack as well!

                 In writing we focused on poetry, then had two days to write our MOY writing assessment to a prompt, next we wrote about if we were 100 years old and lastly went back to poetry once we finished our other pieces of writing! We had a full week of writing which they have grown to love!

                  In reading and social studies we learned about Lunar New Year, and the directions on a compass rose including the intermediate directions. We created a compass rose and answered questions for a grade. We created a 100 day art project with the cut out digits for 100 and named them. On Lunar New Year Day we ate Ramen Noodles and used Chopsticks! We also had fortune cookies and an activity book. The chopsticks, activity book and fortune cookies were donated by the Panda Express at Old Denton and George Bush. If you frequent them, please be sure to mention how much your child enjoyed this activity!

                   In science we continued on with our unit on manmade and natural resources. We went on a natural resource walk and saw so many outside. We did a talk, read, talk write activity and had many lively discussions.

Week 21

 Dear Parents,

               This week in Math we finished up our unit on representing numbers to 1,200 and took our unit assessment on Friday. We also were focused on our 3’s addition facts. Thank you all for making sure your child practices these flash cards each night so they do well on the quiz each Friday. Knowing these fast facts will greatly help them in third grade. As the numbers get higher, it does become more of a challenge.

               In writing we finished up our unit on correspondence as we wrote a friendly letter to someone. I will make a copy of it to be given to the person, but the original will be saved for your child’s portfolio which you will get at open house. We also began our unit on poetry. We learned some of the elements of poetry and listened to many poems. We are now in the planning stages of writing our own poems.

               In reading we read poetry and took a comprehension check about ta collection of three poems called Whatever the Weather. We learned what it means to visualize a poem as we read it and drew the visualization from our minds. We read a Scholastic News about our new president and took a comprehension check for social studies. 

                In science we began a unit on manmade and natural resources. We sorted picture cards as table groups putting each picture under the proper heading on a t-chart. We looked around our environment to find more natural and manmade resources. We discussed a PowerPoint that showed us examples of both and told us that we were going to be challenged at the end of the unit to build a house out of some of these resources.

Week 20

 Dear Parents,

       This week in math we worked on practice math papers that had skills that we have learned the whole year. We took 2 days to take our math , middle of year CBA. We also worked on writing word form, expanded form, standard form and models of numbers to 1,200.

         In writing we finished up our New Year resolutions and wrote our final copies of a note to someone we know. We will be continuing on by writing a friendly letter as well, next week. 

          In reading and social studies, we learned about the differences between maps and globes and did a Venn diagram as a quiz to show what we learned. We got to see globes and three different kinds of maps up close. We learned about Martin Luther King Jr., read a Scholastic News about him and did a reading check point. We began making a Cloud where we tell about our dream for the world.

           In science we finished up our unit about the effects of wind and water. We took our unit test. We also had the chance to have the Wonder Wagon visit our school again. We worked in small groups to do two different stations. We used the indi car and set up colored pads to tell indi where to go. We also used an ipad and connected to a movable tree house. We set up a code to tell the tree house different commands. A huge thank you to Jennifer Speer and Roshawnda Dulin for volunteering to help us with these fun activities.

          The 100^th day of school is coming up. I have 11 children that have notes in their coyote folders to bring in one item for our 100^th day snack. Please check your child’s folder so you can have the food item to school on our 100^th day.

 

Have a wonderful three day weekend with your family! 😊

Week 18

 Dear Parents,

            The week before break was fast and furious and full of fun activities. As it was our swim week, this left little time for academics, but we kept on track with our math lessons every day. We were focusing on place value of numbers to 1,200. We placed them on number lines, com posed them, decomposed them as well as compared them with the signs of greater than, less than or equal to.They showed  their understanding of place value and representing numbers with model, base ten, and expanded form.

          In reading we read the SN Article: The History of Gingerbread and complete the reading checkpoint and text features page. We also got to try a gingerbread cookie! Most of them liked it but a few thought that it was spicy! We also read and discussed the story: The Polar Express . The students  completed the sequencing of the story and wrote about the best gift ever If they were finished with their work. We had small group reading each day and kept that routine.

           In writing we were finishing up papers that explained how Wilma Rudolph was a leader. We wrote to a prompt as this is a skill they will see on the STAAR test. We also wrote a creative story as if we lived in a snow globe. We began learning cursive lowercase letters and practiced reading cursive words.

            We had our Winter Party on Thursday. A big thank you to Thuytien Vu for putting it all together and decorating our door as Rudolph. The children had a blast eating snacks, making a craft, and playing fun games!

           On Friday we had our Early Release Day. That morning we had our Recognition Rally. The students from our room who were recognized were Cherish and Shae. They were exemplary leaders in our room this second nine weeks. We had fun watching some leadership videos and singing along to holiday music. Our class won the Spirit Stick at the assembly!

            I hope you all had a restful holiday break and I look forward to seeing my kiddos back Jan. 7^th! We are half way through this year. Happy 2025!

Week 17

 Dear Parents,

        This week in math we began a new unit on place value and comparing and ordering numbers to 1,200. We looked at number lines counting by 1’s and added the missing numbers. We then placed numbers on an open number line by first finding the midpoint. Then we compared two numbers as greater than, less than or equal to. On Friday we finished up by ordering numbers from greatest to least or least to greatest.

          In the reading/writing  combined unit this week we learned about facts and opinions as we read What’s Cool to Read. This was a nonfiction writing that had both facts and opinions about a book that a student thought everyone should read. They  were then tasked to write their own book review. We also read a nonfiction piece about . we began a new unit called effects of wind and water.  We then took a comprehension check in which the students used the text to be word detectives to answer the questions.

           In science we started a new unit called effects of wind and water. We set up our unit and went on a scavenger hunt to see if we could notice effects in our school yard.

          On Friday we had a fun filled day! Our Spirit squad members went from room to room singing and cheering! We had Polar Express Day. We drank hot chocolate and ate popcorn as we watched it in our PJs, withy our favorite stuffy and having our shoes off! Those were three of our Boosterthon incentives. Next week we will have tech time, an extra recess and free time! Thank you for participating in our Boosterthon fundraiser!

 

• Next week is Swim Week, Mon.- Thursday. Look in your child’s Coyote Folder for two important Letters. Both are also attached. One is what to wear to school on Monday as well as what to bring in a large bag. The other is about coming to observe the swim class on Wednesday. You will first check in at CRE, then drive yourself to the pool. You will be let in at 10:15. The letter has the address of the pool.

Week 16

 Dear Parents,

           This week in math we continued learning about division. We had a total number of cupcakes and had to place them in boxes. We also solved problems where we had a total number, we knew how many cupcakes were in each box, but did not know how many boxes we had. We solved division as repeated subtraction as well. We had a review of odd and even numbers and then took our assessment on Friday. Our favorite activity was when we listened to The Doorbell Rang and used Cookie Crisp Cereal to divide the 12 cookies amongst the children who kept reading the doorbell.

            In reading and writing we read Wilma Rudolph Against All Odds. We learned about nonfiction text features. We analyzed a prompt and will be writing about how Wilma was a leader and  we will give an example that supports that premise. We also took a comprehension check on Wednesday.

            In science we finished up graphing our weather for 8 days, learned more about severe weather and took our unit assessment on Friday. We also are working on winter projects. Our room is beginning to look festive! We have a special gift and card we will be giving you right before winter break! The children are so proud of the work they are doing. 

             We also have a surprise visitor in our room. It is an elf who is looking for kindness. When he sees it, he leaves a note and then moves around the room for a little mischief. If anyone would like to write a note from our elf telling his name and where he has come from. Also what kinds of kind things he’s looking for in the room such as children helping with cleaning up their area, or making sure someone knows directions, or holding a door or whatever else you would like to write. First one who contacts me can be our elf!

 

*We did an amazing job of collecting money through Boosterthon. Our class has raised over $1,400 for our school. I appreciate your support! A huge thank you to Thuytien Vu for volunteering to decorate our door for the holidays! It looks amazing! A big thank you also goes out to Jennifer Speer for being our next parent to sharpen all our classroom pencils for the next 6 weeks! I appreciate all you do to partner with me to ensure your children love learning and growing at Coyote Ridge.

Week 14

 Dear Parents, 

        This week in math we finished up measuring to the nearest inch, foot, yard, centimeter and meter! We took our assessment on Friday. We have had lots of fun practice as we measured things around the room, measured different paths that had many parts and figured out the difference between two paths!

         In writing we worked on a special gift for you that they will be bringing home before our Fall break. We also are working on editing, revising and writing final copies of our imaginative stories. This process takes longer as the children try to take over most of their own editing and revising!

          In reading we read a Scholastic News article about Veterans, took a district reading check point independently, read Rabbit’s Snow Dance  , two dramas, and Hollywood Chicken  as we reinforced the skills author’s purpose, story structure, create mental images, and figurative language! We had lots of valuable discussions about these stories and skills as we filled out graphic organizers.

           In science we began our unit on weather. We are learning to measure temperature on a thermometer, and read a rain gauge. We are tracking our weather on a chart for 8 days!