Just a reminder that your child is expected to be reading at least 100 minutes at home each week as part of our weekly homework. The Race to 100 card should be returned on Friday morning. Our class has read 42,550 minutes thus far, but we have several students whose totals are well below 1000 minutes (expectation is at least 2400 by this time in the year).
The play last night was wonderful. The students did an excellent job and parent turn out was amazing. I thought those with speaking parts sounded much older and singing voices were robust! Way to go dinosaur dancers!
We wrote in our interactive journals this morning and finished up the gathering of our facts for our biographies. The students are now expected to have completed their fact gathering and be ready to turn facts into sentences on Monday (we were a little delayed this morning). We played three more rounds of syllable Lotto discussed that each syllable has a vowel sound. It's a hard notion, though, because the bossy e is a vowel but it is not spoken.
Students had a free writing day today and were thrilled. I can't believe how many partner teams are authoring texts. I was amazed at the level of productive conversation. When it gets loud, I'm always tempted to "shhhhh," but after listening in on conversations this morning I determined the students were on-task!
I graded the spelling tests this afternoon. We have several students who were very close to being in the Hall of Fame. One or two letters away! This week's hall of fame students are: Zach, Asher and Teresa.
We continued our conversation about data organization and representation. We began to talk about data sets that involve two attributes and what to do with data points that have BOTH attributes.
Our germ unit started today for health. Did you know that your nose, ears and even lungs have small hairs that act as filters to keep the germs out? We talked at great length about the two most important things we can do to keep ourselves healthy: keep our hands out of our mouths and noses and wash our hands with soap.
Enjoy your weekend. I know lots of you are busy with sports so I hope you have some time for relaxation.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
It's the BIG day
The play is tonight and we are ready! The 3rd grade teachers paid the second grade a compliment today after the play, and we are anxious to sing for you. Please be in the cafeteria at 6:45 dressed in tube socks, shorts and a solid color shirt. The dinosaurs are ready for their dancing.
Today was a bit of a disjointed day. We had our dress rehearsal this afternoon and practice this morning. I gave mini booktalks on books I was able to purchase from the book order this morning. Ask your child about the Snake book. (Gives me chills just thinking about it.) We talked about the importance of adding details to your drawings/diagrams in "all about" books and we had a chance to write more about our favorite subjects.
We practiced paths and made a path to get me to the cheese store, yarn store, coffee shop and then to my sofa. We've also begun talking about data collection and organization. If you deal with data at work take a moment to share that with your child.
See you tonight!
Today was a bit of a disjointed day. We had our dress rehearsal this afternoon and practice this morning. I gave mini booktalks on books I was able to purchase from the book order this morning. Ask your child about the Snake book. (Gives me chills just thinking about it.) We talked about the importance of adding details to your drawings/diagrams in "all about" books and we had a chance to write more about our favorite subjects.
We practiced paths and made a path to get me to the cheese store, yarn store, coffee shop and then to my sofa. We've also begun talking about data collection and organization. If you deal with data at work take a moment to share that with your child.
See you tonight!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Worms
Have you ever heard of vermicomposting? Watch here for more information about a grant we received to begin vermicomposting.
Students shared with the facts they have collected for their biography posters. I am impressed with the knowledge they already have and what they want to know about famous people. I cannot believe some of the things students noticed. Tomorrow we will begin to change our facts into usable sentences so that we can prepare our posters.
We played syllable Lotto this morning. The students had an enjoyable time and LOVE to clap out the syllables in words. This is a great way to practice syllabication. You can say a word and have your child clap the syllables. We continued working on our all about books; there will be some exquisite end products.
We continued with paths a little today. Be on the lookout for bits of your child's assessments coming home. I will attach a note to one page indicating whether your child needs extra practice with her rights and lefts.
We're continuing to read The Phantom Tollbooth. If you haven't ever read it, take some time to do so. It's full of exciting vocabulary (lots of synonyms) and idioms.
Costumes: your child should come to school wearing (or bring) his or her costume for the play. Children are expected to be in costume for the 1:00 pm performance.
Students shared with the facts they have collected for their biography posters. I am impressed with the knowledge they already have and what they want to know about famous people. I cannot believe some of the things students noticed. Tomorrow we will begin to change our facts into usable sentences so that we can prepare our posters.
We played syllable Lotto this morning. The students had an enjoyable time and LOVE to clap out the syllables in words. This is a great way to practice syllabication. You can say a word and have your child clap the syllables. We continued working on our all about books; there will be some exquisite end products.
We continued with paths a little today. Be on the lookout for bits of your child's assessments coming home. I will attach a note to one page indicating whether your child needs extra practice with her rights and lefts.
We're continuing to read The Phantom Tollbooth. If you haven't ever read it, take some time to do so. It's full of exciting vocabulary (lots of synonyms) and idioms.
Costumes: your child should come to school wearing (or bring) his or her costume for the play. Children are expected to be in costume for the 1:00 pm performance.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Another day closer
The play is one day closer and the students are singing their hearts out! It's wonderful to hear. I've got my days off this week, though, and am constantly surprised that it's only Tuesday night
We categorized facts today and worked on making sure we had facts from every facet of our biography subjects life. The posters are going to be amazing! We chose topics for "all-about" books this morning, and I think we'll have quite a wonderful collaborative book all about Bethany. We'll see if we can keep it in the office for students new to our school.
We finished our measurement unit today and took part of the assessment. Keep working with your child on left and right. Have them determine if you are making a right turn in the car or a left turn. Can they tell you if their bed is on the left or right side of the room?
Tomorrow we'll start a unit on categorizing data, a unit that I enjoy as much as the students.
The lost and found is bursting! Be sure to check for lost items.
We categorized facts today and worked on making sure we had facts from every facet of our biography subjects life. The posters are going to be amazing! We chose topics for "all-about" books this morning, and I think we'll have quite a wonderful collaborative book all about Bethany. We'll see if we can keep it in the office for students new to our school.
We finished our measurement unit today and took part of the assessment. Keep working with your child on left and right. Have them determine if you are making a right turn in the car or a left turn. Can they tell you if their bed is on the left or right side of the room?
Tomorrow we'll start a unit on categorizing data, a unit that I enjoy as much as the students.
The lost and found is bursting! Be sure to check for lost items.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Three more days until the Play
We are MOST excited about the upcoming play. The students are eager, anxious, happy, nervous and scared. It's showing in all areas of our curriculum, not just during music time.
Today was a busy day for fact finding in our room. Everyone worked on picking out interesting facts about their biography subject. I learned a lot about all the subjects. I had no idea that Mother Teresa cancelled her Nobel banquet so the money could be given to charity. I also did not know that Bessie Coleman survived at least one plane crash before her death.
We will be talking about syllables this week. See if you and your child can clap and count out the syllables in the names of all your family members.
We had a rough day in library. I know Mrs. Seawell expected better listening than she received.
Students seem to have a good handle on making paths and raced through some pages in Today's Math. We had time for extra any book reading, and then we zipped off to practice.
More sun for us!
Today was a busy day for fact finding in our room. Everyone worked on picking out interesting facts about their biography subject. I learned a lot about all the subjects. I had no idea that Mother Teresa cancelled her Nobel banquet so the money could be given to charity. I also did not know that Bessie Coleman survived at least one plane crash before her death.
We will be talking about syllables this week. See if you and your child can clap and count out the syllables in the names of all your family members.
We had a rough day in library. I know Mrs. Seawell expected better listening than she received.
Students seem to have a good handle on making paths and raced through some pages in Today's Math. We had time for extra any book reading, and then we zipped off to practice.
More sun for us!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Aaah, Friday
What a beautiful afternoon we are having. I hope everyone has the chance to be outside this afternoon. Ride your bikes, go for a walk, play soccer as a family! Enjoy the sun while we have it.
I want to let you know that we talked about Anne Frank today (as a biography subject). You can imagine that led to many questions. If your child has further questions, help him or her try to understand things on a second grade level. They don't need too much detail, but an honest answer is always better than trying to change the subject.
We've decided that we want to make posters for our biography projects. A few students want to go a different direction, and that's ok, as well. We'll make it work for everyone. Over the next few days students will be gathering facts, sorting them and turning their facts into sentences. We're still reading biographies and we're starting to talk about how to write an "All About" book (minus the girl scout cookies, of course).
Our class did an amazing job working with paths today. We might be finished with the Monday math activities already! We zoomed right through what we needed to get accomplished.
TV Turn-off week begins next Monday. Students are encouraged to participate. I will participate as well. It's a great opportunity to set limitations on TV watching. Even a week can make a lasting change.
Enjoy your weekend!
I want to let you know that we talked about Anne Frank today (as a biography subject). You can imagine that led to many questions. If your child has further questions, help him or her try to understand things on a second grade level. They don't need too much detail, but an honest answer is always better than trying to change the subject.
We've decided that we want to make posters for our biography projects. A few students want to go a different direction, and that's ok, as well. We'll make it work for everyone. Over the next few days students will be gathering facts, sorting them and turning their facts into sentences. We're still reading biographies and we're starting to talk about how to write an "All About" book (minus the girl scout cookies, of course).
Our class did an amazing job working with paths today. We might be finished with the Monday math activities already! We zoomed right through what we needed to get accomplished.
TV Turn-off week begins next Monday. Students are encouraged to participate. I will participate as well. It's a great opportunity to set limitations on TV watching. Even a week can make a lasting change.
Enjoy your weekend!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Thursday...
Well, now that we've got the date of the 2nd grade performance all ironed out....
Today the student's chose the subjects for their biography projects. Subjects range from César Chavez to LeBron James. Inventors were a big hit as were sports figures. We also worked on adding -ed, -ing and -s to words during spelling today. Students will be asked to generate a list of words that where you change the y to an i before adding an ending, so be on the lookout.
We learned that a straight path is always shorter than a path with turns to the same destination and had a chance to visit the Science Fair. We have some impressive scientists in our building!
Ask your student why Epossamondus has no hair on his tail. It's a fun story with a funny ending. How many books feature a persimmon eating opossum.
Enjoy the sunshine!
Today the student's chose the subjects for their biography projects. Subjects range from César Chavez to LeBron James. Inventors were a big hit as were sports figures. We also worked on adding -ed, -ing and -s to words during spelling today. Students will be asked to generate a list of words that where you change the y to an i before adding an ending, so be on the lookout.
We learned that a straight path is always shorter than a path with turns to the same destination and had a chance to visit the Science Fair. We have some impressive scientists in our building!
Ask your student why Epossamondus has no hair on his tail. It's a fun story with a funny ending. How many books feature a persimmon eating opossum.
Enjoy the sunshine!
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