Ms. Vanderwel's Room

Hello Families, We had another busy and productive week in the classroom! Students were engaged in a variety of learning activities across subject areas and continued to build their skills in reading, math, science, and physical education. Here is a look at some of the learning that took place this week. In literacy this week, students continued developing their phonics and reading skills by focusing on the / wh/, /ph/, and /ng/ sound patterns. We practiced identifying these sounds in words, reading them in sentences, and listening for them when reading aloud.  Students explored examples such as / wh/ in when and whale , / ph/ in phone and elephant , and / ng/ in sing and long . Through reading activities, word work, and class discussions, students practiced recognizing these patterns and applying them while decoding new words. Strengthening phonics knowledge helps students become more confident and fluent readers. In math, students worked on comparing unit fractions . ...

H ello families! Take a look at some of the exciting learning that took place in our classroom this week. English Language Arts & Literacy (ELAL) This week, students continued to strengthen their writing skills by practicing complete sentences that include capital letters, periods, and proper spacing (“meatball spaces”). They are also working on adding more detail to their writing by aiming to write at least three sentences in their journals. In addition, students practiced stretching out words to listen for the first sound, last sound, and one middle sound when spelling, helping to improve spelling accuracy. As part of our writing, students shared their thoughts and ideas about Pink Shirt Day . \   Mathematics In math, we explored the concept of fractions of a set . Students learned that groups of objects can be represented as fractions. For example, if there are six cupcakes and five are chocolate while one is vanilla, then 5/6 of the cupcakes are chocolate and 1/6 are vanil...

Hello Families!  We braved the bitter cold this week and stayed warm by diving into lots of exciting learning. Our classroom was buzzing with curiosity, creativity, and hands-on activities. Here’s a peek at what we’ve been up to! In ELAL , we focused on the /ch/ sound. Students practiced listening carefully for this sound in words and worked on distinguishing between the /ch/ and /sh/ sounds. They enjoyed reading words and short stories that featured the /ch/ sound and built their confidence by identifying and using these sounds in a variety of literacy activities.   In Math , we began exploring word problems . Students learned a step-by-step approach to solving them by acting out problems, identifying important information, and underlining key details. We also discussed clue words that help determine whether to add or subtract, helping students think more strategically about how to approach each problem. We also started learning about fractions this week. Students le...