Wow! Time has apparently been slipping by me. I knew it had been awhile since I posted anything, but I didn't realize it had been so long. My apologies.
Thank you to all of you who I got to see at conference time. It's always so much fun to share children's progress with their families. Report cards will be coming home on December 16th. Please keep in mind that I am ALWAYS available to schedule a conference. If you have questions or concerns, please let me know.
Word Study: We have completed all of our review of first grade skills and have moved into the second grade curriculum. We are currently studying vowel teams "ee" and "ea". Last week we worked on "ai" and "ay". Each week I send home a sheet to let families know what we are working on. I often get questions about spelling and what to hold kids accountable for. These sheets are good references for that purpose. If you get asked, "How do I spell, train?" You can say, "Oh, you know the vowel team in that word."
I might suggest keeping these in a binder or folder at home for quick reference. It's also great practice to spell words on white boards or by cutting out letters from magazines and newspapers and pasting them onto paper. Anything to keep spelling fun!
Math: We are almost through Unit 3 in math. By the end of this unit, children should be able to show coins for different values, know addition facts, count by 5s, read a bar graph and solve an addition number-story problem.
Practice counting by 25s is helpful for counting quarters. Also practicing counting by 25s, switching to 10s or 5s and then back to ones is great practice for counting mixed coins. Keep practicing time on analog clocks too! Second graders should be able to tell time to the quarter hour.
Reading: Reader's ask questions before, during and after reading. They do this to help them understand and enjoy their reading. We have been practicing this during our focus lessons and talking about the ways that reader's answer their questions.
1. Some questions are answered right in the book.
2. Sometimes we have to infer the answer to a question. (This is when readers use clues from the book, what they know and then think, think, think!)
3. Some questions need to be answered from another source.
Most importantly readers must do something with their questions in order to deepen their understanding of their reading.
Writing: We are taking on a big task in writing. We are learning about how writers use their words to change things about our world that bother them. We have been exploring topics this week that matter to us. We've made lists of possible causes and thought about who our audience might be. We've been studying how other authors do this in their books and jotting some notes about what we think is most important. It would be great if you could have a conversation with your children about some issues that are close to home or in our community. I would love for them to have a local audience and discover that they truly do have a voice no matter how young they are.
Special Change: Beginning next Monday our class will have art on Mondays and Wednesdays. This is a change from having library two times per week. Our library day will be on Friday now.
That's all for now. I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for holiday party and writing celebration details...
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Small Moments Writing Celebration
We will have our Small Moments Writing Celebration on Friday, November 4th from 9:30-10:00. The students will proudly be sharing their personal narrative writing with you. You are sure to be impressed. We hope you can join us.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Halloween Festivities
We will celebrate Halloween next Friday, October 28th at New Franklin School. The Halloween parade will begin at 1:15. We will have a small harvest breakfast in our room from 9:15-9:45 on that morning. It always seems a little rushed when we return from the Halloween parade, so I'd like to end our day by giving the kids the Halloween bags that I've made them, a fun Halloween project and a story.
I will need some volunteers to help children get into their costumes around 1:00 on Friday. Please remember that they should dress in regular school attire on that day and bring their costumes with them to change into in the afternoon.
Please feel free to join us in the morning for our harvest breakfast. We hope to see you there.
I will need some volunteers to help children get into their costumes around 1:00 on Friday. Please remember that they should dress in regular school attire on that day and bring their costumes with them to change into in the afternoon.
Please feel free to join us in the morning for our harvest breakfast. We hope to see you there.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Questions?
If you have any questions at all about what skills to be focusing on right now, homework, etc. Please feel free to ask them by posting a comment here. I'm sure if you have the question, someone else is probably wondering the same thing.
Also, I have new reading assessment information and math assessment information. If you are interested in touching base about where your child is at, please let me know. I am happy to set up a time to meet with you.
Also, I have new reading assessment information and math assessment information. If you are interested in touching base about where your child is at, please let me know. I am happy to set up a time to meet with you.
October News to Use
Dear Families,
It is hard to believe that the first month of school is behind us. Meeting so many of you at Open House was a great pleasure. Thank you so much for taking the time to get all of the beginning of the year paperwork filled out and for responding to the parent survey I sent home. It's very helpful to me to have your input on your child as a learner as I'm getting to know them at the beginning of the year. After all, you know them best.
Many of you acknowledged your hope that your child will strengthen their reading, writing and math skills this year while building self-confidence, making new friends and having fun at school. I am so excited to work with you to achieve these goals! Sitting back to read families' hopes and dreams for their child always causes me to pause and think about what an important role I have. Knowing that I have 18 eager learners and their families counting on me fuels my work each day. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to share their learning with you.
We are settling into the school year and I've been so impressed with our responsible behavior. We have reviewed our rules and practiced them in a variety of situations. For example, walking quietly in the hallway shows that you are "taking care of others" by not disturbing their learning. Remaining focused on your work shows that you are "doing your best." Playing safely on the playground equipment shows that you are "taking care of yourself".
We have also talked about how it's not always easy to remember the rules and that we have consequences for all behavior. The consequence of playing safely is to have fun and play longer. The consequence of being a focused learner is learning. In my classroom, we have "logical consequences" to help us remember the rules when we forget them or choose not to follow them. Northeast Foundation for children says, "Logical Consequences help you remember the rules, fix things before you get hurt, before you ruin a friendship or before you do something that can't be fixed". Logical Consequences make sense. A consequence for forgetting to play safely might be to sit out for a few minutes. The consequence of not completing your work might be to finish it for homework.
In our room the class voted to call our take-a-break chair "rest and return". We talked about how everyone has moments where they just need to take a deep breath and get themselves focused. Children can sit there on their own, or they may be asked to "rest and return" by me if they need a reminder. I teach them that they are the best person to know if they are ready to return. We have also discussed strategies for getting yourself ready to focus: read a book for a moment, think of someone who loves you, take deep breaths or count in your head. I do not believe in taking recess away unless the behavior is related to being unsafe at recess, so that is not something that will be a consequence in my room. Kids need fresh air and they need to run and have fun during such a long, learning filled day.
My hope is to keep you informed about what is taking place in our classroom on a consistent basis. Our days are filled with learning experiences but somehow when your children arrive home they cannot remember what they did all day. Does this sound familiar? The typical response to, "What did you do today?" is "Nothing!" If you would like a little more detail, you might ask some specific questions. I've included a few that might lead to more detail about their day.
It is hard to believe that the first month of school is behind us. Meeting so many of you at Open House was a great pleasure. Thank you so much for taking the time to get all of the beginning of the year paperwork filled out and for responding to the parent survey I sent home. It's very helpful to me to have your input on your child as a learner as I'm getting to know them at the beginning of the year. After all, you know them best.
Many of you acknowledged your hope that your child will strengthen their reading, writing and math skills this year while building self-confidence, making new friends and having fun at school. I am so excited to work with you to achieve these goals! Sitting back to read families' hopes and dreams for their child always causes me to pause and think about what an important role I have. Knowing that I have 18 eager learners and their families counting on me fuels my work each day. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to share their learning with you.
We are settling into the school year and I've been so impressed with our responsible behavior. We have reviewed our rules and practiced them in a variety of situations. For example, walking quietly in the hallway shows that you are "taking care of others" by not disturbing their learning. Remaining focused on your work shows that you are "doing your best." Playing safely on the playground equipment shows that you are "taking care of yourself".
We have also talked about how it's not always easy to remember the rules and that we have consequences for all behavior. The consequence of playing safely is to have fun and play longer. The consequence of being a focused learner is learning. In my classroom, we have "logical consequences" to help us remember the rules when we forget them or choose not to follow them. Northeast Foundation for children says, "Logical Consequences help you remember the rules, fix things before you get hurt, before you ruin a friendship or before you do something that can't be fixed". Logical Consequences make sense. A consequence for forgetting to play safely might be to sit out for a few minutes. The consequence of not completing your work might be to finish it for homework.
In our room the class voted to call our take-a-break chair "rest and return". We talked about how everyone has moments where they just need to take a deep breath and get themselves focused. Children can sit there on their own, or they may be asked to "rest and return" by me if they need a reminder. I teach them that they are the best person to know if they are ready to return. We have also discussed strategies for getting yourself ready to focus: read a book for a moment, think of someone who loves you, take deep breaths or count in your head. I do not believe in taking recess away unless the behavior is related to being unsafe at recess, so that is not something that will be a consequence in my room. Kids need fresh air and they need to run and have fun during such a long, learning filled day.
My hope is to keep you informed about what is taking place in our classroom on a consistent basis. Our days are filled with learning experiences but somehow when your children arrive home they cannot remember what they did all day. Does this sound familiar? The typical response to, "What did you do today?" is "Nothing!" If you would like a little more detail, you might ask some specific questions. I've included a few that might lead to more detail about their day.
- What activity did you do during Morning Meeting?
- What do you remember about this morning's News and Announcements?
- What book did you read during Independent Reading time?
- What did you write about today?
- What are some of the sight words you are practicing this week?
- What are you working on in math? What's hard? What's easy?
- What went well today?
Telling time to the half-hour and counting coins are good skills to be practicing at home.
Again, it is a pleasure to be your child's teacher.
I hope that you are all enjoying this beautiful long weekend!
Field Trip
Field Trip
Just a reminder that the second grade will be traveling to Downtown Portsmouth on Friday, October 14, 2011. We will be visiting three community buildings; the Fire Station, Police Station and the Library. We will leave at 9:00 by bus and return to school around 12:45.
This field trip supports our study of communities. It will provide us the opportunity to meet some of our community workers and develop some additional understanding about how community workers serve to help our community.
To those of you who have offered to chaperone this field trip, please plan to arrive at school at 8:45. Thanks so much!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Word Study
The first part of second grade is a time for us to review all of the learning we did in first grade about how words work. In the past couple of weeks we have been reviewing short vowel sounds and silent e. We talked about how even though the 'e' at the end of many words is silent, it has an important job to do. The 'e' jumps over the consonant before it and says to the vowel, "Don't forget to say your long name."
We even got to be word detectives as we hunted for silent 'e' words in our books. Each child got three sticky notes to record their words on. We then came back together to look at the words they found and we worked together to sort them into words that followed that rule and words that didn't.
During reading and writing conferences with individual children I remind them of this rule and encourage them to apply it to their reading and writing.
Become word detectives together and see if they can show you some examples in some reading material at home.
We even got to be word detectives as we hunted for silent 'e' words in our books. Each child got three sticky notes to record their words on. We then came back together to look at the words they found and we worked together to sort them into words that followed that rule and words that didn't.
During reading and writing conferences with individual children I remind them of this rule and encourage them to apply it to their reading and writing.
Become word detectives together and see if they can show you some examples in some reading material at home.
Second Grade Scientists Study Soil
It is always such a treat for me to watch my students so engaged and motivated by learning. Hands-on science always seems to fuel their natural curiosity.
Last Friday we began our study of soil in our classroom. We began by thinking and writing about what we already know about soil and then jotted some questions we have about soil. We were then ready to make some predictions and observations. We first talked about what these two words mean. I defined 'prediction' for them as thinking about what might happen based on what we already know. The students then made some predictions about what they thought they might find in the soil. After recording their predictions they got to observe some soil and record what they noticed. We talked about how scientists make careful observations and record them so that they can share their findings with others.
We also did some reading about soil this week to add to our knowledge. Have your child share with you what they know about soil. Ask them about their observation of soil and what they discovered.
Last Friday we began our study of soil in our classroom. We began by thinking and writing about what we already know about soil and then jotted some questions we have about soil. We were then ready to make some predictions and observations. We first talked about what these two words mean. I defined 'prediction' for them as thinking about what might happen based on what we already know. The students then made some predictions about what they thought they might find in the soil. After recording their predictions they got to observe some soil and record what they noticed. We talked about how scientists make careful observations and record them so that they can share their findings with others.
We also did some reading about soil this week to add to our knowledge. Have your child share with you what they know about soil. Ask them about their observation of soil and what they discovered.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Math Games
There are many math games that we play at school that can also be played at home. Many of the games that we play are used to support and strengthen children's quick recall of math facts. Today we played a game called Penny Plate. All you need is 10-20 pennies and a small plastic/paper plate. The skill that this teaches is sums to ten or twenty.
Directions:
1. Player 1 turns the plate upside down. Then hides some of the pennies under the plate and puts the remaining pennies on top of the plate.
2. Player 2 counts the pennies on top of the plate and uses that number to determine how many pennies are hidden under the plate.
Ask your child what strategy they are using to figure out the answer. "How did you know?" "What did you do to figure that out." These questions encourage them to think about their mathematical thinking and to communicate it to another person. (This is a skill that we work on a lot in second grade.)
Enjoy playing math games together!
Directions:
1. Player 1 turns the plate upside down. Then hides some of the pennies under the plate and puts the remaining pennies on top of the plate.
2. Player 2 counts the pennies on top of the plate and uses that number to determine how many pennies are hidden under the plate.
Ask your child what strategy they are using to figure out the answer. "How did you know?" "What did you do to figure that out." These questions encourage them to think about their mathematical thinking and to communicate it to another person. (This is a skill that we work on a lot in second grade.)
Enjoy playing math games together!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
We Love Books!
One of my biggest goals as an educator is to help instill a love of reading and create lifelong readers. One of the ways that I work to do this is through daily read alouds. I pick books which I am genuinely enthusiastic about and engage students in conversations about the characters, the theme or message in the book, connections we might have to the book, predictions and the questions the book creates for us. I have a basket where I keep my personal favorites and I encourage children to become a "collector" of their favorites.
I thought that I would share some of the titles with you so that you might talk about them at home in the evening. Here are some of the books we have shared together so far:
The Sandwich Swap, Queen Rania and Kelly Dipuchio
A great story about two little girls (Lily and Salma) who are best friends. They love to do everything together but they don't quite understand each other's taste in food. They come to learn that it's okay to have differences and that they can still be friends.
I Need My Monster, Amanda Noll
This book is filled with humor. One night, when Ethan goes to bed he looks under his bed for his monster Gabe. Instead of finding Gabe, he finds a note from him that he's "gone fishing". Because Ethan knows that he'll never get to sleep without a monster under his bed, he spends his evening interviewing substitute monsters. This book always has me laughing right along with my students. The illustrations are great too.
Counting Crocodiles, Judy Sierra
I used this book to introduce math one day. This story shows how a brave little monkey uses her counting skills to cross the crocodile filled waters of Sillabobble Sea. It is written in rhyme and is lots of fun.
I thought that I would share some of the titles with you so that you might talk about them at home in the evening. Here are some of the books we have shared together so far:
The Sandwich Swap, Queen Rania and Kelly Dipuchio
A great story about two little girls (Lily and Salma) who are best friends. They love to do everything together but they don't quite understand each other's taste in food. They come to learn that it's okay to have differences and that they can still be friends.
I Need My Monster, Amanda Noll
This book is filled with humor. One night, when Ethan goes to bed he looks under his bed for his monster Gabe. Instead of finding Gabe, he finds a note from him that he's "gone fishing". Because Ethan knows that he'll never get to sleep without a monster under his bed, he spends his evening interviewing substitute monsters. This book always has me laughing right along with my students. The illustrations are great too.
Counting Crocodiles, Judy Sierra
I used this book to introduce math one day. This story shows how a brave little monkey uses her counting skills to cross the crocodile filled waters of Sillabobble Sea. It is written in rhyme and is lots of fun.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Quotes
I am a collector of quotes, so I thought that it would be great to start posting some of my favorites that are related to children and education on here. Feel free to add to it.
"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future." -JFK
"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future." -JFK
Welcome to Second Grade
I hope that you are all enjoying a nice long weekend and finding ways to stay cool.
We are off to a great start in second grade and I'm really looking forward to a great year. I'm hopeful that this blog will serve as a place to keep families updated on what's happening in our classroom and in our school. I will use it to post things that we are working on as well as reminders about upcoming events. Please feel free to suggest things that you would like me to include.
Upcoming Events:
PTO meeting- Wednesday, September 7, 2011 7-8 pm
Open House- Thursday, September 15, 2011 6-7:30pm
Picture Day- Thursday, September 22
We are off to a great start in second grade and I'm really looking forward to a great year. I'm hopeful that this blog will serve as a place to keep families updated on what's happening in our classroom and in our school. I will use it to post things that we are working on as well as reminders about upcoming events. Please feel free to suggest things that you would like me to include.
Upcoming Events:
PTO meeting- Wednesday, September 7, 2011 7-8 pm
Open House- Thursday, September 15, 2011 6-7:30pm
Picture Day- Thursday, September 22
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