Name Study

Today we did a "See, Think, Wonder" on our name chart. It's so amazing to me to hear whats happening in each child's mind!! First, our reader's spent one minute just looking and thinking about what they saw. Then everyone shared their noticings. I was so impressed!! They noticed that they were all grouped by first letter, we have a lot of names starting with "Br", there were 5 B names, 4 C names, 3 E names and 2 H and 2 J names, all the rest had one!!
We then clapped out the syllables of each one. Cecilia was the only one with three claps and Gage the only one with one clap!! All the rest were two. Ask your child if he/she can show you how we did it!

Birthday graph~~

First we colored our candles...

Then we built the graph...

Ask your child which month had the most...Count together! Discuss what you notice :-)

Thinking and Learning Time Week of September 17

Take a look at what we've been doing this week...

Our Handwriting Without Tears writing program teaches proper letter formation using lines and curves. We have started by using these wooden pieces (big line, little line, big curve, little curve) to build the letters in the word work area. Ask  your child what wooden pieces would be needed to make certain upper case letters. See if your learner can tell you!!

Check us out using lines and curves to build upper case letters...

Strengthening fine motor using thumb tacks to pin punch lines and curves...

I was so impressed with how slowly and carefully they worked!! The nice thing about using thumb tacks is it really encourages proper pencil grip!! The focus and patience needed for this task is extensive!

Watch us work....

Carrying on studying measurement in the science area and recording our findings...

Here you see your scientists drawing a ruler and measure object from our science window...

Another part of the Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) program includes forming letters on chalkboards. This week your writer practiced drawing lines and curves using water and Q-Tips. Another great way to support proper pencil grip, focus, and hand strength...

Hopefully your learner is able to explain any work they bring home! If not, show them these pictures!! Enjoy!

Science Week of September 10

Last week we dove into science! We asked the big question
How Do Scientists Explore?
After studying photographs of scientists exploring we came up with this list:

Then we became scientists ourselves!
Check us out!

Experimenting with tops...

Measuring with rulers and balances...

Recording nature...

Observing using gentle hands...

Show your scientists these pictures and find out what they remember!

First steps into Reading Workshop

Brighton Area Schools has embraced a reading program developed by Lucy Caulkins called Reader's Workshop. This program is amazing as it allows for all readers to work at his/her level. This week we have started by focusing very heavily on Reading Habits, routines and expectations. There are very few silent times in the Fawn Room. Private reading time is one of them! Take a look as your Readers take their first steps into their reading journey!

Lines and Curves Introduction to our Handwriting Without Tears Program

This week your young learner participated in our first thinking routine called

"See, Think, Wonder"

This routine requires students to silently focus on an object or objects to notice details. Each thinker then has a chance to share what they see. We then talk about what we think about the object or objects. Perhaps sharing what we think they could be and what they can be used for.

Lastly we ask questions... what we wonder about them.

We focused on the wooden pieces used for our Handwriting Without Tears Program
Big Curve, Little Curve, Big Line, Little Line
This is the language that is used when learning to write the letters :-)



I passed out one wooden piece to each learner and they shared their thinking. They discovered that these pieces could make designs, shapes and letters!! Such exciting new learning!!
Later in the week we built a design as a school family. Each designer added a piece until we had an intricate design. The best part was going on our sharing walk around the circle to discuss perspective. Each time we walked to a different side of the circle, we noticed or saw different things in the design! Take a look...

Such a fun introduction to our Handwriting Without Tears program and a great way to discuss perspective as well!!

Mathematicians Count, Study Geometry and Study Numbers!

This week our mathematicians explored what it is that mathematicians do...

We learned that mathematicians count! Each day we counted to 100 using different moves for every 10 numbers. Ask your learner to show you how we count to 100 in the Fawn Room. We also played a game called "Gotcha!" Ask your child to teach you how to play!

We learned that mathematicians study shapes! Also that the study of shapes is called Geometry.
Take a look at how these mathematicians used shapes to build and design!! So impressive!

We learned that mathematicians study numbers. Take a look at our number hunt!

Each learner was given a number and we walked around the school looking for it.

Look for numbers around your house and talk about what the purpose of the numbers you find are! To tell time? Temperature? T.V. channel?