Pumpkin Fun!

Wow, we have had a pumpkin-filled week! 

We loved our field trip to Grenier's on Wednesday. We went to the potato field and saw the harvester in action. The potatoes were getting dug up quickly so we picked them up and put them in crates.

There were potatoes in all different sizes: tiny, medium, huge!

We loved the corn!

When we got to the farm stand, we had a special treat: cider, cookies, and apples!

We also got to pick our pumpkins!

Back in the classroom, we did an exploration using our pumpkins! We measured to see how tall they were, counted the ribs, learned about the different parts, used describing words, read to learn more about their life cycle, and created scientific illustrations.

We had such a fun week! Ask your child about his/her favorite part!

Sight Words

High Frequency Words (HFW) or "sight words" are words that we know automatically (without sounding out.) We use the "Fry Word List" to test children's knowledge of HFW. These words are the most common words used in English, ranked in order of frequency.

Children practice reading these HFW throughout the day and with assessments. By the end of first grade, we are would like first graders to know all of the first 100 words. Practicing these words at home can help your child's fluency, confidence, and overall reading.

There are free apps available on iPads and iPhones, as well as several websites with interactive flashcards, games, and lists. For example: Sight Words Ninja, Fry Words, Sight Words: Kids Learn, and Sight Words By Photo Touch.

You can also look at the lists down below and create your own flashcards, games (i.e.: sight word bingo, memory, adapted Twister), and activities (i.e.: "Secret Password": tape sight words to different doors in the house - to enter, you have to read the word!)  There are a lot of creative ideas on the internet, but feel free to ask me for more ideas!

Happy Reading!

Mealworms

We have been learning about mealworms! We made a list of questions about these creatures and have been researching to learn more every day. Then, we observe them with our hand lenses and record what we see. Ask your scientist about their observations and new learning!

Click the pictures to make them bigger!