Ms. Vanderwel's Room

Here's a sneak peek at our week : )  ------------------------------------------------------------------- This week we learned about the two different sounds for the /th/ digraph. Students learned that there is a quiet or unvoiced sound (e.g. thin, thank, three) and a noisy or voiced sound (e.g. then, them, than). Students found it tricky to stick their tongue out to properly pronounce this sound. It would be good to have your child practice this at home while looking in the mirror so they can see if they are sticking their tongue out or not. Below are some pictures showing the proper mouth position to help. If the tongue is not sticking out it could sound more like a t, d , or f sound.  Here is a video that also explains the two different sounds for these letters.  https://youtu.be/V-cvlZLNEBM In writing, we began working on Stretchy Sentences. We learned how to add details to our sentences using the 4Ws and 1H..... who, what, when, where, and how.  Students looked a...

Happy Friday! Here's a look at what we have been up to : )  ---------------------------------------- In language arts we learned about the /ch/ and /sh/ sounds and worked on building words using a Word Ladder in which only one letter in each word is changed to make the next word. In math, we started learning about composing and decomposing numbers. Students learned that numbers can be broken down into smaller numbers to show that quantity in multiple ways. This is an important concept to help students when they begin to learn about addition and subtraction. The students were given a problem in which they had to show how many ways a boy could share 7 cookies with two friends. They worked in groups to come up with the different combinations and wrote them down.   In Social we did some work around the book "Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox". In this book the character describes the traits of different animals and how she feels like those animals at different times. We discussed t...

Hello! Here's a peek at our week! --------------------------------- In language arts we continued to work on learning different letter sounds to assist us in our reading. This week we learned the /ck/ and /sh/ digraph sounds. Students made words and completed various activities listening for the /sh/ and /ck/ sounds.  In math, we have finished up our stations on numbers to 100 and a review of graphing. We also learned about even and odd numbers and how to know if a number is either even or odd. The students listened to the story Even Steven & Odd Todd and then played a game to further their understanding.  In social we finished learning about a First Nations community and the roles of men, women and children. The students then represented their learning in their visual journals. In science, students finished a winter sorting activity. They had to sort pictures into either people, plants, animals or weather to show what happens to each when it gets cold.  In gym, we fi...

We have had a busy first week back from the break. Take a look at what we have been up to! ------------------------------------------------- In language arts, we have been learning about 'Ze Floss' letters. These are words in which certain letters (l, s, f, z) are doubled at the end of the word. For example, dress, fuzz, puff and ball. Students have been learning when to apply this rule and building words with these doubled letters in them. In writing, students continue to work on fixing sentences to include capitals, periods and meatball spaces. We have also introduced some new high frequency words (can, are, have, you, was, yes) which students have been practicing. Lastly, they have begun working on writing about what happens in winter which ties in with our science unit on Earth Systems (i.e. seasons).  In math, students have been cycling through a variety of math stations to review concepts related to number, such as, skip counting, identifying numbers to 100, using number ...