Saturday, September 7, 2013
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
New Class Activation Code for Scholastic Book Orders
Dear Parents,
After Back to School Night I logged into my Scholastic Class account. Because I had more than one account they made me change some of my login information. This caused them to reset or assign me a new Class Activation Code.
You can go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs and look for the Parent first time registration. You may be prompted to enter the Class Activation Code LF2DZ
If you have troubles email me. elizabeth.taylor@jordandistrict.org
Sorry for the change and the inconvenience.
After Back to School Night I logged into my Scholastic Class account. Because I had more than one account they made me change some of my login information. This caused them to reset or assign me a new Class Activation Code.
You can go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs and look for the Parent first time registration. You may be prompted to enter the Class Activation Code LF2DZ
If you have troubles email me. elizabeth.taylor@jordandistrict.org
Sorry for the change and the inconvenience.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Summer 2012
I am enjoying my summer break but still thinking about the upcoming school year. I have been having back to school "nightmares" but really I know I will love the upcoming year as it comes. My family and I have been on a 2200 mile road trip to Washington and Oregon to visit family and friends. We spent a day at the beach in Ocean Shores, Washington. I have brought back some seashells to share with my new students. I look forward to meeting each of you new 2nd graders in just a little over a month. I hope you are having a fun summer.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Letter to Parents
February 7,2012
Just a note about a few items
· I have set the date of Friday February 17th as the next Token Store. We will have the store from 10:00 – 11:30. I could really used help in three ways
o I need one parent to help me man the store during that time
o We need donations of items to the token store, we have $50.00 from the PTA but more items would be welcomed
o The students have earned their 200 point goal – they want to do some origami during the token store. I would need parent help with this. If you know any origami or are willing to learn a little please let me know so I will know if we can do this with the students.
My email is elizabeth.taylor@jordan.k12.ut.us please let me know if you can help
· We will be presenting the mini-musical “Stone Soup”. The production for the parents is at 10:30 am on Thursday February 23rd. We will have two dress rehearsals that will be performed for the other students in the school at 9:00 am on Wednesday February 22nd and Thursday February 23rd.
· On February 14th we will be having a Valentines “Friendship” Party at 1:45 pm. Please contact Mindy Paras if you can help. The children will be exchanging valentines. (It really is best to just write your child’s name on the Valentine in the from section and no name in the to section. Then they can just pass out one to each classmate. It is much easier this way.) If you want to label them here is a list of the students to help you and your child prepare.
Carter B. Bailey C. Payton D. Matt E.
Gabi B. Logan H. Brynn H. Hallee H.
Tyler J. Brigham J. Nathaniel L. Libby M.
Easton M. John M. Leo M. Zaylie P.
Gabriel P. Khloe R. Ethan S. Kacey S.
Courtney S. Gage S. Caleb T. Cassie T.
Matthew W. Aiden W. Joseph Z.
This is a record 2nd post in one week. Please be sure to read the following post and find the keyword there.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
I'm Back
My life has gone a little crazy the last couple of months. I apologize for not blogging more regularly. It is 2:30 am and I am waiting for my son to arrive home from Logan after working 16 hours between two jobs. I am awake to call him every few minutes to make sure he stays awake on the drive home. It has been a very productive evening as the family is sleeping and I have had no distractions. I have graded every paper that I have brought home to grade including the 30 late papers from various students that come back at different times so of course they have to be graded and entered individually rather than with the group of like papers. Please encourage your child to stay on task and complete their work in class. Then I would not need to send work home with a "Finish and Return" tag on it.
Homework
Just a reminder - I am now sending home one math and one language arts homework page each Monday. These are stapled and stamped with the red "Homework" stamp. These need to be completed and returned by Friday. Other Math homework from our math program will also be stamped and will come home as we come to it in the book. It should regularly be completed and returned the following day. However, on Wednesday evening I want you to focus on spelling practice with your child so if I ever send a math sheet home on Wed. it will be due on Friday.
Each night your child should be reading 15-20 minutes and writing one response sentence in their RRJ. They should also be studying spelling and math facts each night. They especially need to work on subtraction facts.
Stone Soup
The Second Grade will be producing the mini-musical "Stone Soup" this month. Twenty-one students have speaking parts. All the students will be singing in the chorus and three students will have solo parts. We will use our rotation time for the next three weeks to prepare for this event. We will have two dress rehearsals, they will be at 9 am on Wed. and Thurs. Feb. 22 and 23. The actual performance will be on Thursday Feb. 23rd at 10:30 am in the gym.
If your student was chosen for a special part please support them and help them memorize their part quickly. The narrators can read their lines. If your child will not be here on Feb. 22 or 23 please let me know ASAP.
Math
Last week I sent home two yellow pages explaining the patterning and ratio work we are doing right now. We should complete that unit this week.
Reading
I am in the process of individually testing each student on their reading skills. We will be offering a special 15 min. per night homework program to the families of students who did not meet the state benchmark or other students who might be struggling with fluency. This will replace the 15-20 min. of reading and RRJ for those students. Look for a letter soon to see if your child is invited to participate.
Spelling
This week we will be focusing on past tense verbs. We have been finding the irregular past tense verbs in our shared reading of the book "Henry Box Brown". These would be words like: catch/ caught, fly/flew, see/saw, send/sent, etc.
For spelling we will focus on words ending in -ed. These words might have one of three different sounds even though they are all spelled with an -ed.
Example: worked ends with the /t/ sound
turned ends with the /d/ sound and words like
tested end with the /ed/ or /id/ sound
Writing
The students have been working on skills in writing opinions. They are getting better at this as the year goes on. They will make a mini PowerPoint Presentation in computers this week.
They will also be writing a narrative piece about either: how they would escape to freedom or how they would fight for equal rights. It sounds like high level stuff but these kids have really gained a lot of knowledge and understanding about "The Long Journey to Freedom" that African-Americans have had to travel. This is the title of Unit 4 in the new Language Arts Common Core.
I will finish this blog entry in the morning, or rather later in the day as it is now 3:30 am.
I will tell you that the keyword is "grandson".
Homework
Just a reminder - I am now sending home one math and one language arts homework page each Monday. These are stapled and stamped with the red "Homework" stamp. These need to be completed and returned by Friday. Other Math homework from our math program will also be stamped and will come home as we come to it in the book. It should regularly be completed and returned the following day. However, on Wednesday evening I want you to focus on spelling practice with your child so if I ever send a math sheet home on Wed. it will be due on Friday.
Each night your child should be reading 15-20 minutes and writing one response sentence in their RRJ. They should also be studying spelling and math facts each night. They especially need to work on subtraction facts.
Stone Soup
The Second Grade will be producing the mini-musical "Stone Soup" this month. Twenty-one students have speaking parts. All the students will be singing in the chorus and three students will have solo parts. We will use our rotation time for the next three weeks to prepare for this event. We will have two dress rehearsals, they will be at 9 am on Wed. and Thurs. Feb. 22 and 23. The actual performance will be on Thursday Feb. 23rd at 10:30 am in the gym.
If your student was chosen for a special part please support them and help them memorize their part quickly. The narrators can read their lines. If your child will not be here on Feb. 22 or 23 please let me know ASAP.
Math
Last week I sent home two yellow pages explaining the patterning and ratio work we are doing right now. We should complete that unit this week.
Reading
I am in the process of individually testing each student on their reading skills. We will be offering a special 15 min. per night homework program to the families of students who did not meet the state benchmark or other students who might be struggling with fluency. This will replace the 15-20 min. of reading and RRJ for those students. Look for a letter soon to see if your child is invited to participate.
Spelling
This week we will be focusing on past tense verbs. We have been finding the irregular past tense verbs in our shared reading of the book "Henry Box Brown". These would be words like: catch/ caught, fly/flew, see/saw, send/sent, etc.
For spelling we will focus on words ending in -ed. These words might have one of three different sounds even though they are all spelled with an -ed.
Example: worked ends with the /t/ sound
turned ends with the /d/ sound and words like
tested end with the /ed/ or /id/ sound
Writing
The students have been working on skills in writing opinions. They are getting better at this as the year goes on. They will make a mini PowerPoint Presentation in computers this week.
They will also be writing a narrative piece about either: how they would escape to freedom or how they would fight for equal rights. It sounds like high level stuff but these kids have really gained a lot of knowledge and understanding about "The Long Journey to Freedom" that African-Americans have had to travel. This is the title of Unit 4 in the new Language Arts Common Core.
I will finish this blog entry in the morning, or rather later in the day as it is now 3:30 am.
I will tell you that the keyword is "grandson".
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Geometry and Gratitude
This short week we will be doing some activities dealing with gratitude and Thanksgiving. We are also finishing up our Math unit on Geometry. We have learned about names for various 2D and 3D shapes, how to use square inches to determine which rectangle is biggest, and we have been doing activities with symmetry. We made really cool symmetrical turkey tails out of pattern block paper pieces.
Look for the November and December Book Order Catalogs coming home on Monday. Please place your orders by Tuesday November 29th. Remember books make great gifts for your children learning to read. If you place an order online we get $3 for class books. Whether you order online or send me the book order and your money you can send a note or email and let me know if you want the order kept a secret from your child. I can then contact you directly when the order arrives so you can keep it secret.
This week we will play a game called "Guess the Covered Word" to help them with their word attack skills. In the game they learn that when they come to a word they don't know they should think of it as a covered word. Then if they follow these strategies they should be able to guess the covered word.
1- Think about what you are reading about - ask yourself "What would make sense in this sentence?"
2- Look at the picture - it will help you think of words that will make sense in the sentence.
3- Say the first sound - What word that begins with that sound will make sense in the sentence.
Usually you will know the word by now - if you don't you can try two more things.
4- Look at the ending of the word to see if it will help you find a word that makes sense.
5- Say the middle, vowel sound then try to blend the beginning sound, vowel sound and ending sound into a word that will make sense in the sentence.
Many children try to sound out a word without thinking about what they are reading. If they first think about what they are reading and then think of what will make sense in the sentence they often will be able to guess the word. Then they employ the other strategies to see if it is correct.
In our Language Arts unit we are exploring Legends, Fairy Tales, Tall tales, and tales of the Wild West. They will be comparing and contrasting a traditional Tall Tale with a modern Tall Tale - "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". We are also reading several traditional and non-traditional versions of "The Three Little Pigs". They will be writing a narrative piece about The Three Little ________ and the Big Bad ________. Finally we are also learning about collective nouns such as; a school of fish, a herd of cows, a pod of whales, a flock of geese and a pack of wolves.
We will be having a token store on Friday December 2nd. I will use our boxtop money to stock the store but would still welcome donations to make sure we have enough items for the students to use their hard earned tokens on. Thanks to all who have donated. It really makes a difference.
Wednesday at 1:10 we will put on our turkey hats and gobble around the school. This is a fun 2nd grade tradition. If you want to hear a flock of turkeys, come wait for your students outside of the second grade doors at about 1:20-1:25. (Please park in the parking lot, not along the pick up curb if you are going to be leaving your car.)
This week's keyword is "Gobble, Gobble"
We will have a great short week. Have a wonderful week and a Happy Thanksgiving!
Look for the November and December Book Order Catalogs coming home on Monday. Please place your orders by Tuesday November 29th. Remember books make great gifts for your children learning to read. If you place an order online we get $3 for class books. Whether you order online or send me the book order and your money you can send a note or email and let me know if you want the order kept a secret from your child. I can then contact you directly when the order arrives so you can keep it secret.
This week we will play a game called "Guess the Covered Word" to help them with their word attack skills. In the game they learn that when they come to a word they don't know they should think of it as a covered word. Then if they follow these strategies they should be able to guess the covered word.
1- Think about what you are reading about - ask yourself "What would make sense in this sentence?"
2- Look at the picture - it will help you think of words that will make sense in the sentence.
3- Say the first sound - What word that begins with that sound will make sense in the sentence.
Usually you will know the word by now - if you don't you can try two more things.
4- Look at the ending of the word to see if it will help you find a word that makes sense.
5- Say the middle, vowel sound then try to blend the beginning sound, vowel sound and ending sound into a word that will make sense in the sentence.
Many children try to sound out a word without thinking about what they are reading. If they first think about what they are reading and then think of what will make sense in the sentence they often will be able to guess the word. Then they employ the other strategies to see if it is correct.
In our Language Arts unit we are exploring Legends, Fairy Tales, Tall tales, and tales of the Wild West. They will be comparing and contrasting a traditional Tall Tale with a modern Tall Tale - "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". We are also reading several traditional and non-traditional versions of "The Three Little Pigs". They will be writing a narrative piece about The Three Little ________ and the Big Bad ________. Finally we are also learning about collective nouns such as; a school of fish, a herd of cows, a pod of whales, a flock of geese and a pack of wolves.
We will be having a token store on Friday December 2nd. I will use our boxtop money to stock the store but would still welcome donations to make sure we have enough items for the students to use their hard earned tokens on. Thanks to all who have donated. It really makes a difference.
Wednesday at 1:10 we will put on our turkey hats and gobble around the school. This is a fun 2nd grade tradition. If you want to hear a flock of turkeys, come wait for your students outside of the second grade doors at about 1:20-1:25. (Please park in the parking lot, not along the pick up curb if you are going to be leaving your car.)
This week's keyword is "Gobble, Gobble"
We will have a great short week. Have a wonderful week and a Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Thanks for the Fun!!!
A huge thank you to Myndi Paras and all other parents involved in putting on a great Halloween Party for the class yesterday. The kids had a lot of fun. I appreciate that the refreshments were mostly non sugar - a more healthy choice. The kids were really well behaved all morning and had a great afternoon with the party and the parade. Congratulate your child on their super behavior!
I have been pushing them hard the last couple of weeks trying to finish up some projects and get some final assessments done before the end of the term. They have been real troopers, working hard and not complaining, even on the day we did 7 different short tests. I am trying to finish listening again to each of them read to determine their present GRL. I am not finished scoring two of their writing assignments and we do have a few more assessments to complete. I do this so that I have a really good picture of their strengths and weaknesses to more accurately determine their grade. Also we can use this information to guide our discussion about your child and his/her needs.
This week we have started two important areas of study. In math we are studying doubling of numbers. This is a great strategy to help them learn a lot of their math facts as many of the facts can be solved by using doubles, doubles +1 or doubles -1. We will have some good fun with doubles tomorrow. We are also studying the group of fiction genres that include legends, fables, folktales, fairy tales, and tall tales. We read two folktales, "Two of Everything" (a Chinese Folktale) and "Double Trouble" (a Latin American Folktale). They are basically the same story but set in different cultures. This experience helps the kids learn that many of these types of tales and stories are related in different cultures with some differences. These two tales also introduce the strategy of doubling.
Today we also read "The Three Wolves and the Big Bad Pig," a fractured Fairy Tale which is also included in this genre group. Their next vocabulary list will come from this book. Watch for that list to be posted tomorrow, hopefully.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO SIGNUP ONLINE FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT TIME FOR PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE WHICH WILL BE NEXT WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.
Keyword -"Parent/Teacher Conference"
I have been pushing them hard the last couple of weeks trying to finish up some projects and get some final assessments done before the end of the term. They have been real troopers, working hard and not complaining, even on the day we did 7 different short tests. I am trying to finish listening again to each of them read to determine their present GRL. I am not finished scoring two of their writing assignments and we do have a few more assessments to complete. I do this so that I have a really good picture of their strengths and weaknesses to more accurately determine their grade. Also we can use this information to guide our discussion about your child and his/her needs.
This week we have started two important areas of study. In math we are studying doubling of numbers. This is a great strategy to help them learn a lot of their math facts as many of the facts can be solved by using doubles, doubles +1 or doubles -1. We will have some good fun with doubles tomorrow. We are also studying the group of fiction genres that include legends, fables, folktales, fairy tales, and tall tales. We read two folktales, "Two of Everything" (a Chinese Folktale) and "Double Trouble" (a Latin American Folktale). They are basically the same story but set in different cultures. This experience helps the kids learn that many of these types of tales and stories are related in different cultures with some differences. These two tales also introduce the strategy of doubling.
Today we also read "The Three Wolves and the Big Bad Pig," a fractured Fairy Tale which is also included in this genre group. Their next vocabulary list will come from this book. Watch for that list to be posted tomorrow, hopefully.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO SIGNUP ONLINE FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT TIME FOR PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE WHICH WILL BE NEXT WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.
Keyword -"Parent/Teacher Conference"
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Math Facts Practice Pages
Our Math Games Mom, Stephanie Johnson, has developed some math facts practice pages that would be a good tool to use with all children each night. I believe she has her child do one set of math facts each night. I am emailing this file to you so that you may print it off and use it to help your child practice their math facts each night.
Monday, October 3, 2011
October is Here!
We are thinking of falling leaves and pumpkins, cooler weather and spooky times ahead.
Actually the class has come up with a list of about 20 questions about autumn and they will be doing some research and writing answers to the questions. Our ultimate goal is for the class to write an informational book about fall. Each of the 2nd grade classes will be writing a book about one of the seasons. This is a project that is required by the new Language Arts Common Core. It will be done over the next few weeks, mostly during our rotation time.
SPELLING and Language
We are working with the consonant blend ck in combination with each vowel. The students will learn "The CK Rap". They will read a poem called "The Train" in which they are learning about rhyming, rhythm, and repetition. We will also do a quick-write class book called "A My Name Is Alice" where we will be learning about alliteration. All of these are an introduction to poetry. (They will be writing poems about autumn as part of their autumn book.)
This last week the students practiced finding the beginning, middle and end of a story. We learned about thinking about the Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How? in what they read. This also relates to the Characters, Setting, Problem and Solution in the story. Then we learned about the roles of authors and illustrators. We have done a fun project where they were given a brief story and had to figure out the Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How? of the story and use that information to illustrate the story. They actually did a very good job at this. Now they are finishing up a sequel to that project by looking at an illustration, writing down their own ideas of characters, setting, problem and solution and then using that information to write a story about the illustration. This new Common Core is really pushing these kids to be deeper thinkers and harder workers.
MATH
Today we did an activity called "How Many Pockets?" The students put one connecting cube in each pocket they were wearing. They then stacked all their own pocket cubes into a tower on their desks. We used this data to make a line plot graph. Then each table discovered ways they could count how many pockets were at their table. Finally we found ways to find out how many pockets were in the class today. I hope you have fun counting pockets at your house.
We are starting study of counting money. This is an area where practicing at home with a parent is very helpful. Please take time to reinforce the names and values of coins and to practice counting small amounts of money. Start small and with the pennies and nickles and increase the difficulty as the child's skill increases.
VOCABULARY
We did not get the test done last Friday so we will take the test tomorrow. After that I will choose a new vocabulary book and publish the new vocabulary words here.
This week's keyword is "Cemetery".
Actually the class has come up with a list of about 20 questions about autumn and they will be doing some research and writing answers to the questions. Our ultimate goal is for the class to write an informational book about fall. Each of the 2nd grade classes will be writing a book about one of the seasons. This is a project that is required by the new Language Arts Common Core. It will be done over the next few weeks, mostly during our rotation time.
SPELLING and Language
We are working with the consonant blend ck in combination with each vowel. The students will learn "The CK Rap". They will read a poem called "The Train" in which they are learning about rhyming, rhythm, and repetition. We will also do a quick-write class book called "A My Name Is Alice" where we will be learning about alliteration. All of these are an introduction to poetry. (They will be writing poems about autumn as part of their autumn book.)
This last week the students practiced finding the beginning, middle and end of a story. We learned about thinking about the Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How? in what they read. This also relates to the Characters, Setting, Problem and Solution in the story. Then we learned about the roles of authors and illustrators. We have done a fun project where they were given a brief story and had to figure out the Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How? of the story and use that information to illustrate the story. They actually did a very good job at this. Now they are finishing up a sequel to that project by looking at an illustration, writing down their own ideas of characters, setting, problem and solution and then using that information to write a story about the illustration. This new Common Core is really pushing these kids to be deeper thinkers and harder workers.
MATH
Today we did an activity called "How Many Pockets?" The students put one connecting cube in each pocket they were wearing. They then stacked all their own pocket cubes into a tower on their desks. We used this data to make a line plot graph. Then each table discovered ways they could count how many pockets were at their table. Finally we found ways to find out how many pockets were in the class today. I hope you have fun counting pockets at your house.
We are starting study of counting money. This is an area where practicing at home with a parent is very helpful. Please take time to reinforce the names and values of coins and to practice counting small amounts of money. Start small and with the pennies and nickles and increase the difficulty as the child's skill increases.
VOCABULARY
We did not get the test done last Friday so we will take the test tomorrow. After that I will choose a new vocabulary book and publish the new vocabulary words here.
This week's keyword is "Cemetery".
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Review Vocabulary Please
Just a heads up on this week's vocabulary words. Please talk with your child about these words. They will be tested on these on Friday morning. Thanks!
autumn
creature
harvest
snug
accomplished
conclude
Look for a full blog entry for next week. This week's keyword is "Vocabulary."
autumn
creature
harvest
snug
accomplished
conclude
Look for a full blog entry for next week. This week's keyword is "Vocabulary."
Monday, September 19, 2011
Book Orders Due Tomorrow
Remember that the book orders are due on Tuesday September 20th. You can fill them out and send them to class with a check made out to Scholastic Book Clubs or order online. If you order online we receive $3.00 in an account which I can use to buy books for the classroom.
Field Trip
The District cannot process all of the fingerprinting as fast as they thought they could. To go on the field trip with us on Oct. 7th you need to fill out the District Volunteer form and return it to our school. Fingerprinting before the Field Trip will not be required.
The complete process will follow these steps. After the Principal signs the forms the form will be sent back to the individual and they will need to take it to the District Offices for fingerprinting. Then a list of those who's background checks have been completed will be sent back to the school.
Spelling
This week's spelling words are words with consonant blends. Help your child practice blending the sounds but realizing that they still hear both sounds and that the words are spelled with both letters in the blend.
I am sending home their center time work papers tomorrow. These have Work Completion score on them. Each child was to complete 4 assignments during this time. They may have done more but this is all that was turned in. They need to do the work and file it in their spelling folder. That folder is turned in on Thursday with their Spelling Test and all Center Work Papers.
Vocabulary
This week's words come from the book "Six Dinner Sid." The words are: damp, suspicious, gullible, versatile, nasty, and one other one I can't remember right now. I will put it in when I get to school in the morning.
Math
I hope you are enjoying playing the math games that have been sent home. I will also soon send home some math facts cards. I will send these home one week and they will be tested in class on them the following week. Each week I will send home more sets of math facts which use a specific strategy to help the child solve them. Keep practicing these every night please.
Science
We are studying rocks. The Rock Cycle teaches about the formation of the three main types of rocks: Sedimentary Rocks, Metamorphic Rocks and Igneous Rocks. We also talk about how rocks are broken down into smaller rocks and eventually into sediment through the processes of weathering and erosion. Next week we will explore the many uses of rocks.
Keyword: "Rock On!"
Field Trip
The District cannot process all of the fingerprinting as fast as they thought they could. To go on the field trip with us on Oct. 7th you need to fill out the District Volunteer form and return it to our school. Fingerprinting before the Field Trip will not be required.
The complete process will follow these steps. After the Principal signs the forms the form will be sent back to the individual and they will need to take it to the District Offices for fingerprinting. Then a list of those who's background checks have been completed will be sent back to the school.
Spelling
This week's spelling words are words with consonant blends. Help your child practice blending the sounds but realizing that they still hear both sounds and that the words are spelled with both letters in the blend.
I am sending home their center time work papers tomorrow. These have Work Completion score on them. Each child was to complete 4 assignments during this time. They may have done more but this is all that was turned in. They need to do the work and file it in their spelling folder. That folder is turned in on Thursday with their Spelling Test and all Center Work Papers.
Vocabulary
This week's words come from the book "Six Dinner Sid." The words are: damp, suspicious, gullible, versatile, nasty, and one other one I can't remember right now. I will put it in when I get to school in the morning.
Math
I hope you are enjoying playing the math games that have been sent home. I will also soon send home some math facts cards. I will send these home one week and they will be tested in class on them the following week. Each week I will send home more sets of math facts which use a specific strategy to help the child solve them. Keep practicing these every night please.
Science
We are studying rocks. The Rock Cycle teaches about the formation of the three main types of rocks: Sedimentary Rocks, Metamorphic Rocks and Igneous Rocks. We also talk about how rocks are broken down into smaller rocks and eventually into sediment through the processes of weathering and erosion. Next week we will explore the many uses of rocks.
Keyword: "Rock On!"
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Seeing Some Progress
At the beginning of the school year each teacher has to remember these new students are a year behind the students that she just sent on to 3rd grade. The students take longer to do less and everything has to be taught to them step by step. They are now showing some progress. Most of them are able to copy the weather box and graph the weather on a daily basis. Nearly all of them are able to do the Math Journal starter each morning though it is still taking much longer than I would like it to take. We are just beginning to learn the different spelling practice activities and phonics activities.
Spelling
The first spelling test will be Thursday morning. Thank you ahead of time to the volunteers who will be correcting the spelling tests. We could not do the individualized spelling without their help. Thanks to all parents who are helping their child study each night.
When the spelling test comes home it will have been corrected and the last weeks list and new spelling list will be attached to the test. Each week I will alternate the color of the lists so you don't confuse the new list with the old list.
Language Arts
We are learning the new Language Arts core as we start implementing it. We are integrating Science and Social Studies concepts as the content as we learn language arts concepts. We have learned about our earth; the land and water, names of oceans and the 7 continents. We learned a song and poem about the 7 Continents. We learned about movement of the earth around the sun and that we have seasons because of the tilt of the earth's axis. We have read a book called "For the Love of Autumn" and determined the beginning, middle and end portions of the book. We will explore beginning chapter books together as a class. We'll begin with a Henry and Mudge book called "The Green Time." As we read about seasons and related topics we will continue the study of beginning, middle and ending of stories.
Next we will learn how a book is made and learn more about the role of the author and the illustrator. Your students will get practice being the author for an illustration and the illustrator for a story written by someone else. These are important concepts for your students both as readers and as beginning writers.
Math
We have begun at the beginning with study of number sense, place value and simple computation (fact families). We are also taking time to learn how to use the many math tools we will use throughout this year such as: pattern blocks, number line, 100's chart, linking cubes, base ten blocks, etc..
Vocabulary
We read the book "Mice Make Trouble". The words from the story that we are learning
are: assortment, civilized, orderly, inappropriate, contributed, and concoct. You can use these in sentences at home to help your child remember their meaning.
Science
We are also beginning our study of rocks. The three main types of rocks are Sedimentary, which is formed in layers, Metamorphic, which is formed from other rocks that have been heated and placed under extreme pressure, and Igneous rock which is formed from molten or melted rock. We will look for these three types of rock when we visit the cemetery on our field trip.
Handwriting Many of the students are still struggling with their handwriting. Often they are making backwards letters and numbers. Please continue to help them correct these problems as you work with them at home.
Please remember that each child needs to return their homework folder to school every day along with their tracking sheet and their Reading Response Journal (RRJ). They are given tokens for doing this. They should be reading 15 - 20 minutes every night and writing one well thought out response to their reading each night.
This week's keyword phrase is: "We have seasons because the earth is tilted." Please watch for book orders to come home soon, they are due on the 20th. If you order online we earn $3 for the class.
Thanks for your help and support!
Spelling
The first spelling test will be Thursday morning. Thank you ahead of time to the volunteers who will be correcting the spelling tests. We could not do the individualized spelling without their help. Thanks to all parents who are helping their child study each night.
When the spelling test comes home it will have been corrected and the last weeks list and new spelling list will be attached to the test. Each week I will alternate the color of the lists so you don't confuse the new list with the old list.
Language Arts
We are learning the new Language Arts core as we start implementing it. We are integrating Science and Social Studies concepts as the content as we learn language arts concepts. We have learned about our earth; the land and water, names of oceans and the 7 continents. We learned a song and poem about the 7 Continents. We learned about movement of the earth around the sun and that we have seasons because of the tilt of the earth's axis. We have read a book called "For the Love of Autumn" and determined the beginning, middle and end portions of the book. We will explore beginning chapter books together as a class. We'll begin with a Henry and Mudge book called "The Green Time." As we read about seasons and related topics we will continue the study of beginning, middle and ending of stories.
Next we will learn how a book is made and learn more about the role of the author and the illustrator. Your students will get practice being the author for an illustration and the illustrator for a story written by someone else. These are important concepts for your students both as readers and as beginning writers.
Math
We have begun at the beginning with study of number sense, place value and simple computation (fact families). We are also taking time to learn how to use the many math tools we will use throughout this year such as: pattern blocks, number line, 100's chart, linking cubes, base ten blocks, etc..
Vocabulary
We read the book "Mice Make Trouble". The words from the story that we are learning
are: assortment, civilized, orderly, inappropriate, contributed, and concoct. You can use these in sentences at home to help your child remember their meaning.
Science
We are also beginning our study of rocks. The three main types of rocks are Sedimentary, which is formed in layers, Metamorphic, which is formed from other rocks that have been heated and placed under extreme pressure, and Igneous rock which is formed from molten or melted rock. We will look for these three types of rock when we visit the cemetery on our field trip.
Handwriting Many of the students are still struggling with their handwriting. Often they are making backwards letters and numbers. Please continue to help them correct these problems as you work with them at home.
Please remember that each child needs to return their homework folder to school every day along with their tracking sheet and their Reading Response Journal (RRJ). They are given tokens for doing this. They should be reading 15 - 20 minutes every night and writing one well thought out response to their reading each night.
This week's keyword phrase is: "We have seasons because the earth is tilted." Please watch for book orders to come home soon, they are due on the 20th. If you order online we earn $3 for the class.
Thanks for your help and support!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Welcome to 2nd Grade 2011-2012
Dear Students and Parents,
Welcome to 2nd Grade at Elk Meadows Elementary. My name is Mrs. Liz Taylor and I am looking forward to getting to know my new students, and their parents. I hope you students have enjoyed a nice break from school and are now ready to get started learning again. I am excited to get to know all of you.
I am hoping we can use our class blog as a means of communication to help us all be aware of what is going on at school, what homework assignments are due and so we can also share some of the fine work of the students through this technology. I am hoping you will check this blog at least once or twice a week to stay current on what is going on.
You can contact me through my school email which is
elizabeth.taylor@jordan.k12.ut.us
or by phone at the school 801-446-3200,
or just send a note to school on the back of your child's tracking sheet and I will return a note the same way.
My philosophy is to try to make school a place your child will enjoy coming to and then to help them learn those things that will help them build a strong foundation in math, literacy, writing, science and the other areas of whole child education.
Our three class rules are:
1 - Be Honest - no lying, cheating or stealing
2 - Be Respectful - of self, of others, of your environment (inside and outside)
3 - Do Your Best Work - this means to really work hard
I try to encourage the children through positive talk such as, "Your handwriting is much improved." , "I love how you are following the directions that I gave you." , "I appreciate how Joe is walking so quietly in the hall today," etc. I use a system of class points and individual tokens that the children earn by doing their work and following the rules. The tokens are used to buy things at the Token Store which is held about six to eight times during the year. The store is parent supported with donations of inexpensive items the children will enjoy buying. I usually need one volunteer to help run the store on those Token Store days. I would greatly appreciate your support for this activity as it truly is a wonderfully successful incentive program to encourage responsibility in the children both in their work and in their behavior.
It would be helpful if your child had the following items:
A pencil box - about 6" by 9" - with child’s name on it
A personal pencil sharpener with catch container for the sharpenings - with child’s name on it
A water bottle - with child’s name on it
A set of Twistable colored pencils for finer coloring
24 crayons
Elmers School Glue
We would also greatly appreciate donations of the following:
1 ream of white copy paper
1 package of sharpened #2 pencils
Ziplock type bags Snack, Quart or Gallon sizes
Boxes of tissues as needed throughout the year
Items for the token store throughout the year
The classroom temperature varies greatly - as fall approaches I would encourage you to send a jacket to school to stay here for the times when the room is too cool for your child.
Often I have students who brag about how they stay up until 11:00 at night. All of the research as well as common sense tells us that children of this age need nearly 10 hours of sleep a night or more. If they do not get this sleep their ability to learn and their behavior in the classroom is impaired. I can see it in individuals and in the class when they have not had enough sleep. I would encourage you to set up a family routine concerning homework and bedtime that will be the best for your child's health and education.
I see education as a three legged stool; the teacher, the student and the parents are the legs on the stool. Without any one of them the education is unbalanced and less than the strong foundation that each child deserves. Please be involved by helping your child with homework on a nightly basis. Then if you can please volunteer your time to help in our classroom either as a room mother, party helper, field trip volunteer, spelling volunteer, in the classroom on a regular basis or by doing things at home to help prepare materials.
Mrs. Liz Taylor’s Class Schedule
8:30 -9:00 Weather/Starter activity/ Spiral Math Review/
Morning Message – Grammar and Conventions/
Business/Calendar
9:00-10:15 Math
10:15-11:30 Language Arts – (Guided Reading, Spelling and Centers)
11:30-12:15 Lunch
12:15-1:30 Language Arts – (Writing) or (Guided Reading, Spelling and Centers)
1:30-2:15 Rotations (Mon. – Science/Social Studies, Tue. – Art, Wed. - music, Thur.-P.E.)
Please make sure your child wears tennis shoes on Thursday for P.E..
2:15-2:30 Recess
2:30-3:00 Vocabulary
Thurs. – 5th grade Buddies
3:00-3:05 Clean up and home
Curriculum
Reading: Students will keep a reading response journal. They will read at least 15 - 20 minutes every school night and write at least 1-2 sentences telling how they connected with the book. The due date is on the cover of the journal.
Students will learn how to select a book that is just right for their reading ability.
We will focus on developing good strategies for accuracy, fluency, and comprehension in reading.
They will read in many different genres and do a good deal of reading about non-fiction subjects which are in the Science and Social Studies core.
Spelling: We will begin spelling on Friday, September 2nd. The spelling lists will be comprised of frequently used words in the English language, word chunks, and sight words that are individually chosen for your child. Each week we will focus on a phonics principle and learn to spell words using that principle.
The list will come home on Friday so you have the weekend as well as Monday-Thursday morning to study the words.
Spelling tests will be given on Thursdays.
Math: We will continue working on basic math facts of addition and subtraction. I have a goal for each child to be fluent in these facts by the end of December. It is important that you work with your child to learn these. Basic facts are one digit plus one digit numbers and the subtraction fact that goes with it, for example: 9+9=18, 18-9=9. The students will be learning strategies to help them learn and memorize these math facts.
Students will learn problem solving strategies as well as create some strategies of their own.
We will learn about fractions, addition and subtraction with regrouping (some of us remember 'carrying' and 'borrowing'), measurement skills, time to the quarter hour, and geometry. A lot of work will be done in firming up the children’s’ number sense understanding.
Social Studies/Science: We will be studying rocks, plants, weather, life cycles, movement in the night sky including phases of the moon, season, map skills, some American history concerning the American West and the Long Journey to Freedom (Civil Rights), communities, cultures, and citizenship.
Library: We will have library on Tuesday. Please make sure that your child has his/her book to turn in each Tuesday. I will allow the children to take home the library books, however if the books do not come back each week I will have them keep them at school. If they are not finished with the book they may renew it. Since more children are at school all at one time it is important to return the books promptly.
P.E. We will usually have PE on Thursdays. Please make sure that your child has sturdy and comfortable shoes suitable for activities and that they wear them on Thursdays.
Character Education - Our school will be using the book "The Leader in Me" by Steven Covey to help us learn to implement and teach to the children the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This is involved in a program aimed specifically at school age children. There is a companion parent/adult - and child book that we will also be using to help teach the students. This book is "7 Habits for Happy Kids" by Sean Covey. It would be a great resource for each family to have in their homes to help the school and home to work together to teach our children great character habits.
Book Orders: From time to time we will send home a book order form. If you are interested, please return the form to school with your money. Please send checks only made out to Scholastic Books. The orders will be due on the Friday following the day they are sent home. I am sending information that will allow you to order the books and pay for them online. Each time an online order is placed we receive $3.00 in an account for me to purchase books for the classroom. If you have questions please email me.
The Blog- Instead of a weekly newsletter I put important information on the class blog. You can access it at: http://www.ltaylor2.blogspot.com/ I also provide links to important and helpful information on the blog. It can also be accessed through the grade pages on the school web page.
Volunteers: We love volunteers in our classroom. If you are interested in helping out in our class please sign up on the ½ sheet paper on your child’s desk with the dates and times you are available. We need volunteers to help with spelling tests, reading, math games, and home projects. The PTA has been telling us about 'Gold Medal Schools' and one of the goals of these schools is to have every parent donate at least 3 hours of volunteer work for the school.
The keyword or phrase is "Be a Leader" - please write it on your child's yellow tracking sheet and they will be rewarded for your efforts to keep current with what is going on in class.
Please feel free to email me with any questions, or something I need to know about your child. I am here to be a help to you, educationally, as you raise your child.
elizabeth.taylor@jordan.k12.ut.us (the official school email)
Welcome to 2nd Grade at Elk Meadows Elementary. My name is Mrs. Liz Taylor and I am looking forward to getting to know my new students, and their parents. I hope you students have enjoyed a nice break from school and are now ready to get started learning again. I am excited to get to know all of you.
I am hoping we can use our class blog as a means of communication to help us all be aware of what is going on at school, what homework assignments are due and so we can also share some of the fine work of the students through this technology. I am hoping you will check this blog at least once or twice a week to stay current on what is going on.
You can contact me through my school email which is
elizabeth.taylor@jordan.k12.ut.us
or by phone at the school 801-446-3200,
or just send a note to school on the back of your child's tracking sheet and I will return a note the same way.
My philosophy is to try to make school a place your child will enjoy coming to and then to help them learn those things that will help them build a strong foundation in math, literacy, writing, science and the other areas of whole child education.
Our three class rules are:
1 - Be Honest - no lying, cheating or stealing
2 - Be Respectful - of self, of others, of your environment (inside and outside)
3 - Do Your Best Work - this means to really work hard
I try to encourage the children through positive talk such as, "Your handwriting is much improved." , "I love how you are following the directions that I gave you." , "I appreciate how Joe is walking so quietly in the hall today," etc. I use a system of class points and individual tokens that the children earn by doing their work and following the rules. The tokens are used to buy things at the Token Store which is held about six to eight times during the year. The store is parent supported with donations of inexpensive items the children will enjoy buying. I usually need one volunteer to help run the store on those Token Store days. I would greatly appreciate your support for this activity as it truly is a wonderfully successful incentive program to encourage responsibility in the children both in their work and in their behavior.
It would be helpful if your child had the following items:
A pencil box - about 6" by 9" - with child’s name on it
A personal pencil sharpener with catch container for the sharpenings - with child’s name on it
A water bottle - with child’s name on it
A set of Twistable colored pencils for finer coloring
24 crayons
Elmers School Glue
We would also greatly appreciate donations of the following:
1 ream of white copy paper
1 package of sharpened #2 pencils
Ziplock type bags Snack, Quart or Gallon sizes
Boxes of tissues as needed throughout the year
Items for the token store throughout the year
The classroom temperature varies greatly - as fall approaches I would encourage you to send a jacket to school to stay here for the times when the room is too cool for your child.
Often I have students who brag about how they stay up until 11:00 at night. All of the research as well as common sense tells us that children of this age need nearly 10 hours of sleep a night or more. If they do not get this sleep their ability to learn and their behavior in the classroom is impaired. I can see it in individuals and in the class when they have not had enough sleep. I would encourage you to set up a family routine concerning homework and bedtime that will be the best for your child's health and education.
I see education as a three legged stool; the teacher, the student and the parents are the legs on the stool. Without any one of them the education is unbalanced and less than the strong foundation that each child deserves. Please be involved by helping your child with homework on a nightly basis. Then if you can please volunteer your time to help in our classroom either as a room mother, party helper, field trip volunteer, spelling volunteer, in the classroom on a regular basis or by doing things at home to help prepare materials.
Mrs. Liz Taylor’s Class Schedule
8:30 -9:00 Weather/Starter activity/ Spiral Math Review/
Morning Message – Grammar and Conventions/
Business/Calendar
9:00-10:15 Math
10:15-11:30 Language Arts – (Guided Reading, Spelling and Centers)
11:30-12:15 Lunch
12:15-1:30 Language Arts – (Writing) or (Guided Reading, Spelling and Centers)
1:30-2:15 Rotations (Mon. – Science/Social Studies, Tue. – Art, Wed. - music, Thur.-P.E.)
Please make sure your child wears tennis shoes on Thursday for P.E..
2:15-2:30 Recess
2:30-3:00 Vocabulary
Thurs. – 5th grade Buddies
3:00-3:05 Clean up and home
Curriculum
Reading: Students will keep a reading response journal. They will read at least 15 - 20 minutes every school night and write at least 1-2 sentences telling how they connected with the book. The due date is on the cover of the journal.
Students will learn how to select a book that is just right for their reading ability.
We will focus on developing good strategies for accuracy, fluency, and comprehension in reading.
They will read in many different genres and do a good deal of reading about non-fiction subjects which are in the Science and Social Studies core.
Spelling: We will begin spelling on Friday, September 2nd. The spelling lists will be comprised of frequently used words in the English language, word chunks, and sight words that are individually chosen for your child. Each week we will focus on a phonics principle and learn to spell words using that principle.
The list will come home on Friday so you have the weekend as well as Monday-Thursday morning to study the words.
Spelling tests will be given on Thursdays.
Math: We will continue working on basic math facts of addition and subtraction. I have a goal for each child to be fluent in these facts by the end of December. It is important that you work with your child to learn these. Basic facts are one digit plus one digit numbers and the subtraction fact that goes with it, for example: 9+9=18, 18-9=9. The students will be learning strategies to help them learn and memorize these math facts.
Students will learn problem solving strategies as well as create some strategies of their own.
We will learn about fractions, addition and subtraction with regrouping (some of us remember 'carrying' and 'borrowing'), measurement skills, time to the quarter hour, and geometry. A lot of work will be done in firming up the children’s’ number sense understanding.
Social Studies/Science: We will be studying rocks, plants, weather, life cycles, movement in the night sky including phases of the moon, season, map skills, some American history concerning the American West and the Long Journey to Freedom (Civil Rights), communities, cultures, and citizenship.
Library: We will have library on Tuesday. Please make sure that your child has his/her book to turn in each Tuesday. I will allow the children to take home the library books, however if the books do not come back each week I will have them keep them at school. If they are not finished with the book they may renew it. Since more children are at school all at one time it is important to return the books promptly.
P.E. We will usually have PE on Thursdays. Please make sure that your child has sturdy and comfortable shoes suitable for activities and that they wear them on Thursdays.
Character Education - Our school will be using the book "The Leader in Me" by Steven Covey to help us learn to implement and teach to the children the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This is involved in a program aimed specifically at school age children. There is a companion parent/adult - and child book that we will also be using to help teach the students. This book is "7 Habits for Happy Kids" by Sean Covey. It would be a great resource for each family to have in their homes to help the school and home to work together to teach our children great character habits.
Book Orders: From time to time we will send home a book order form. If you are interested, please return the form to school with your money. Please send checks only made out to Scholastic Books. The orders will be due on the Friday following the day they are sent home. I am sending information that will allow you to order the books and pay for them online. Each time an online order is placed we receive $3.00 in an account for me to purchase books for the classroom. If you have questions please email me.
The Blog- Instead of a weekly newsletter I put important information on the class blog. You can access it at: http://www.ltaylor2.blogspot.com/ I also provide links to important and helpful information on the blog. It can also be accessed through the grade pages on the school web page.
Volunteers: We love volunteers in our classroom. If you are interested in helping out in our class please sign up on the ½ sheet paper on your child’s desk with the dates and times you are available. We need volunteers to help with spelling tests, reading, math games, and home projects. The PTA has been telling us about 'Gold Medal Schools' and one of the goals of these schools is to have every parent donate at least 3 hours of volunteer work for the school.
The keyword or phrase is "Be a Leader" - please write it on your child's yellow tracking sheet and they will be rewarded for your efforts to keep current with what is going on in class.
Please feel free to email me with any questions, or something I need to know about your child. I am here to be a help to you, educationally, as you raise your child.
elizabeth.taylor@jordan.k12.ut.us (the official school email)
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Hundreds of Reasons to Love School
This last Thursday, February 3rd was our 100th day of school for the year. We celebrated by learning about and making a book about counting to 100 in different ways. (By ones, twos, fives, twenty, twenty-five and by fifty) We practiced 100 math facts, colored 100 things, played 100 dice tic tac toe, drew a picture of what we might look like if we were 100 years old. And, wrote advice a 100 year old person would give. We also wrote about how we would spend $100.00. During the week we worked hard to meet our goal of reading 100 books. You can see our Reading Bug with 100 body sections in our hallway. We also read a poem about 100 which happens to have 100 words. 5 class members actually memorized it. Yea for them and their effort! We also played a card game, "Close to 100".
Math
We have been really working on grouping things by a certain number and counting by that number. This was accomplished by skip counting. The kids are quite good at counting to 100 by ones, twos, fives and tens. You can help them continue to improve by helping them sing our skip counting songs at home. Just sing the skip counting numbers to the tune listed.
Counting by 2 Yankee Doodle
3 Are You Sleeping
4 Row, Row, Row your Boat
6 London Bridge
7 Mary Had a Little Lamb
8 This Old Man
We are really working hard to understand double digit addition and subtraction without regrouping (no carrying or borrowing). (Please do not teach your child regrouping adding or subtracting yet until I can help them build the conceptual understanding needed.) If they learn the algorithm (short cut of carrying or borrowing) before they have a conceptual understanding then it is more difficult for them to understand it. Like many adults who memorized the how to do it before they understood the why you do it - they will not have the mathematical foundation they need. We will get to it - just give us time.
Example of kids present strategies -
Problem - Sally went to the Sticker Station. She bought 2 strips of ten star stickers and 6 single star stickers. She also bought 2 strips of ten moon stickers and 3 single moon stickers. How many stickers did Sally buy?
2 strips and 6 singles + 2 strips and 3 singles =
20 + 6 + 20 + 3=
26 + 23 =
10 + 10 + 6 + 10 + 10 + 3 =
Sometimes they keep one number whole as in:
26 + 10 + 10 + 3 =
Sometimes they combine the tens and then the ones and then those numbers:
20 + 20 = 40
6 + 3 = 9
40 + 9 = 49
All of these are valid strategies. It just depends on the child which one they understand better. Eventually they will progress to higher level strategies but we have to start where their understanding is now.
It is a similar process in their understanding of subtraction. Hang in there they will get it. We have to get them understanding these strategies before we can move on to regrouping. I am seeing improvement everyday.
We also use the 100's chart, base 10 blocks and number line as tools for their computation. I have them drawing lines and dots for base 10 blocks. A horizontal line represents a strip of 10 base 10 blocks, a dot represents a single block. This representation relates to the base ten blocks, the sticker strips and singles and the 100s chart. It is a very simple picture of the modeling tools.
Please continue to work with your child on counting money and telling time. Most have this figured out but some are still struggling. Also continue to practice the math facts cards I sent home and the related subtraction facts.
Reading
Once a week we ability group the entire 2nd grade to facilitate working on specific reading skills that the different groups need. Most of the students are working on fluency. Fluency is made up of 4 elements: expression, phrasing, smoothness and rate. They need to read like they were having a conversation. It needs to be interesting to listen to. It needs to be phrased correctly by attending to punctuation so as to have correct meaning. These elements need to be balanced. If there is too much expression but incorrect phrasing it is still awkward and lacks correct meaning. The best way for them to know how to read is to listen to others read correctly to them. Please read to your child. Besides the 15 - 20 minutes of independent reading that they are to read each night they should also be hearing books read to them. It may also be helpful to record your child reading and let them listen to themselves. Then they can hear if they are reading word by word, in two word phrases, choppy,or with correct phrasing and expression. Except for a few children in each class who are still struggling with decoding words as they read, fluency seems to be the biggest hurdle students are facing to becoming great readers.
Spelling
This week's Spelling Principle has to do with adding -ed to words. This changes the word to it's past tense. It is a difficult spelling principle because it had three different sounds associated with it.
Sometimes when you add -ed it will ad a /d/ sound as in slugged
Other words take on an /ed/ sound as in rounded
And other words will have a /t/ sound as in baked
We will also be talking about past, present and future tenses.
Writing
Some students are still trying to finish up and publish a snowman story.
We are starting a spiral review of writing and grammar skills. We will begin by focusing on capitalization and punctuation skills.
Social Studies
The students have just completed a unit on healthy eating. They are beginning a unit on map skills. I will teach our class a poem about the 7 continents and a song to go with it.
We will learn from a short video and a Scholastic News about the Chinese New Year. We will also begin activities related to Abraham Lincoln and Valentines Day.
That brings us to our keyword for this week which is
"Love is in the air." We will be having a Valentines/Friendship party on Monday February 14th at 2:00. Please have your child bring Valentines to share with the class. I will send a note and a list of the student's names.
Vocabulary
We have read the book "Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel." Our vocabulary words are:
straightened
skyscraper
efficient
settled
diligent
cellar
Last week every student in the class got 100% on the vocabulary test. Yea!
Dress the kids appropriately for the weather conditions and have an enjoyable week.
Math
We have been really working on grouping things by a certain number and counting by that number. This was accomplished by skip counting. The kids are quite good at counting to 100 by ones, twos, fives and tens. You can help them continue to improve by helping them sing our skip counting songs at home. Just sing the skip counting numbers to the tune listed.
Counting by 2 Yankee Doodle
3 Are You Sleeping
4 Row, Row, Row your Boat
6 London Bridge
7 Mary Had a Little Lamb
8 This Old Man
We are really working hard to understand double digit addition and subtraction without regrouping (no carrying or borrowing). (Please do not teach your child regrouping adding or subtracting yet until I can help them build the conceptual understanding needed.) If they learn the algorithm (short cut of carrying or borrowing) before they have a conceptual understanding then it is more difficult for them to understand it. Like many adults who memorized the how to do it before they understood the why you do it - they will not have the mathematical foundation they need. We will get to it - just give us time.
Example of kids present strategies -
Problem - Sally went to the Sticker Station. She bought 2 strips of ten star stickers and 6 single star stickers. She also bought 2 strips of ten moon stickers and 3 single moon stickers. How many stickers did Sally buy?
2 strips and 6 singles + 2 strips and 3 singles =
20 + 6 + 20 + 3=
26 + 23 =
10 + 10 + 6 + 10 + 10 + 3 =
Sometimes they keep one number whole as in:
26 + 10 + 10 + 3 =
Sometimes they combine the tens and then the ones and then those numbers:
20 + 20 = 40
6 + 3 = 9
40 + 9 = 49
All of these are valid strategies. It just depends on the child which one they understand better. Eventually they will progress to higher level strategies but we have to start where their understanding is now.
It is a similar process in their understanding of subtraction. Hang in there they will get it. We have to get them understanding these strategies before we can move on to regrouping. I am seeing improvement everyday.
We also use the 100's chart, base 10 blocks and number line as tools for their computation. I have them drawing lines and dots for base 10 blocks. A horizontal line represents a strip of 10 base 10 blocks, a dot represents a single block. This representation relates to the base ten blocks, the sticker strips and singles and the 100s chart. It is a very simple picture of the modeling tools.
Please continue to work with your child on counting money and telling time. Most have this figured out but some are still struggling. Also continue to practice the math facts cards I sent home and the related subtraction facts.
Reading
Once a week we ability group the entire 2nd grade to facilitate working on specific reading skills that the different groups need. Most of the students are working on fluency. Fluency is made up of 4 elements: expression, phrasing, smoothness and rate. They need to read like they were having a conversation. It needs to be interesting to listen to. It needs to be phrased correctly by attending to punctuation so as to have correct meaning. These elements need to be balanced. If there is too much expression but incorrect phrasing it is still awkward and lacks correct meaning. The best way for them to know how to read is to listen to others read correctly to them. Please read to your child. Besides the 15 - 20 minutes of independent reading that they are to read each night they should also be hearing books read to them. It may also be helpful to record your child reading and let them listen to themselves. Then they can hear if they are reading word by word, in two word phrases, choppy,or with correct phrasing and expression. Except for a few children in each class who are still struggling with decoding words as they read, fluency seems to be the biggest hurdle students are facing to becoming great readers.
Spelling
This week's Spelling Principle has to do with adding -ed to words. This changes the word to it's past tense. It is a difficult spelling principle because it had three different sounds associated with it.
Sometimes when you add -ed it will ad a /d/ sound as in slugged
Other words take on an /ed/ sound as in rounded
And other words will have a /t/ sound as in baked
We will also be talking about past, present and future tenses.
Writing
Some students are still trying to finish up and publish a snowman story.
We are starting a spiral review of writing and grammar skills. We will begin by focusing on capitalization and punctuation skills.
Social Studies
The students have just completed a unit on healthy eating. They are beginning a unit on map skills. I will teach our class a poem about the 7 continents and a song to go with it.
We will learn from a short video and a Scholastic News about the Chinese New Year. We will also begin activities related to Abraham Lincoln and Valentines Day.
That brings us to our keyword for this week which is
"Love is in the air." We will be having a Valentines/Friendship party on Monday February 14th at 2:00. Please have your child bring Valentines to share with the class. I will send a note and a list of the student's names.
Vocabulary
We have read the book "Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel." Our vocabulary words are:
straightened
skyscraper
efficient
settled
diligent
cellar
Last week every student in the class got 100% on the vocabulary test. Yea!
Dress the kids appropriately for the weather conditions and have an enjoyable week.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Cold, Snowflakes and Penguins
Happy New Year to all! It is time to really buckle down and learn a lot of new things.
Math
We are doing a unit on data and graphing. We have begun by learning that all things have attributes or different things about them by which we can describe them and sort them. We played a game called "Guess My Rule". I called kids to the front and told the children whether that child was keeping my rule or not. The Students had to study their peers and decide what my rule was. Examples: kids with stripes on their shirt, kids with freckles, kids with long sleeves. We discovered that it is just as important to know who is not keeping the rule as the ones who are. It helps us determine the rule easier. We also found that if there are 25 students in the class and 18 have long sleeves then we can figure out how many have long sleeves. We also made a bar graph of some of our data.
Next we learned about aliens called Yecktis and some basic ways to describe them. They each have a head which is shaped like a square, triangle, rhombus or hexagon. They each have 1,2,3 or 4 antennas and some have dot eyes while others have oval or doughnut eyes. We learned how to sort these Yecktis using these attributes. We could sort them using just one attribute or using a Venn Diagram we can sort them using two or three attributes.
Today we learned about surveys and how to take a survey and record our results. The children are in partnerships and are working to have each team take a survey of the class using one question and three answer choices such as: Which is your favorite icecream - vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. They will take turns surveying the class, recording the results on a tally chart and then making a pictograph to represent the data. They are learning that all graphs must have a Title, Labels and a Key.
Reading
I finished administering the Fountas and Pinnell reading inventories in December. All children gained 1 to 3 levels in their Guided Reading Levels. I will be continuing to teach them and I do have to do another District mandated test on each individual child by Feb. 11th. Several of the students are struggling with Fluency so that is what we will be working on for the next little while. Fluency includes the enthusiasm and expression we use while reading as well as phrasing, smoothness and speed of reading. These are each important as we try to improve our reading ability and our enjoyment of reading.
Spelling
This week the student's spelling words focus on r-controlled vowels. These are when a vowel sounds different because it is next to an r. We sometimes say the r is bossy so it tells the vowel how it should sound. The /or/ sound can be spelled or, ore, our, oor. The /ar/ sound is the easiest to spell. The /er/ sound is very tricky as it can be spelled with er, ir, ur and some variations. When the /er/ sound is at the end of a word it is generally spelled with the er.
Vocabulary
Today we read a fun book called "Six-Dinner Sid" about a cat who made 6 families feel like they owned him. Thus each night he got 6 dinners. The vocabulary words for this book are: damp, nasty, perfect, suspicious, gullible, and versatile. Please have fun using these words in your home and your conversations with your child.
Other
We have also been exploring fiction and non-fiction books and learning the differences. The students experience writing both fiction and non-fiction in their writing activities. I have been having the children look at some of their graded work to notice what I am looking for in their work and how they can improve their work to show that they have learned specific skills. Last week we wrote New Year's Resolutions. This week we will be learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and be writing about our dreams for a better world.
The keyword for this blog is "I Have a Dream".
Remember that there is no school for the students on Monday and Tuesday, January 17th and 18th. The 17th is the national holiday and the 18th is a teacher work day which coincides with the secondary schools end of quarter.
I will try to get better at keeping the blog updated. So, please keep checking here for information about your child's class and what we are learning.
Math
We are doing a unit on data and graphing. We have begun by learning that all things have attributes or different things about them by which we can describe them and sort them. We played a game called "Guess My Rule". I called kids to the front and told the children whether that child was keeping my rule or not. The Students had to study their peers and decide what my rule was. Examples: kids with stripes on their shirt, kids with freckles, kids with long sleeves. We discovered that it is just as important to know who is not keeping the rule as the ones who are. It helps us determine the rule easier. We also found that if there are 25 students in the class and 18 have long sleeves then we can figure out how many have long sleeves. We also made a bar graph of some of our data.
Next we learned about aliens called Yecktis and some basic ways to describe them. They each have a head which is shaped like a square, triangle, rhombus or hexagon. They each have 1,2,3 or 4 antennas and some have dot eyes while others have oval or doughnut eyes. We learned how to sort these Yecktis using these attributes. We could sort them using just one attribute or using a Venn Diagram we can sort them using two or three attributes.
Today we learned about surveys and how to take a survey and record our results. The children are in partnerships and are working to have each team take a survey of the class using one question and three answer choices such as: Which is your favorite icecream - vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. They will take turns surveying the class, recording the results on a tally chart and then making a pictograph to represent the data. They are learning that all graphs must have a Title, Labels and a Key.
Reading
I finished administering the Fountas and Pinnell reading inventories in December. All children gained 1 to 3 levels in their Guided Reading Levels. I will be continuing to teach them and I do have to do another District mandated test on each individual child by Feb. 11th. Several of the students are struggling with Fluency so that is what we will be working on for the next little while. Fluency includes the enthusiasm and expression we use while reading as well as phrasing, smoothness and speed of reading. These are each important as we try to improve our reading ability and our enjoyment of reading.
Spelling
This week the student's spelling words focus on r-controlled vowels. These are when a vowel sounds different because it is next to an r. We sometimes say the r is bossy so it tells the vowel how it should sound. The /or/ sound can be spelled or, ore, our, oor. The /ar/ sound is the easiest to spell. The /er/ sound is very tricky as it can be spelled with er, ir, ur and some variations. When the /er/ sound is at the end of a word it is generally spelled with the er.
Vocabulary
Today we read a fun book called "Six-Dinner Sid" about a cat who made 6 families feel like they owned him. Thus each night he got 6 dinners. The vocabulary words for this book are: damp, nasty, perfect, suspicious, gullible, and versatile. Please have fun using these words in your home and your conversations with your child.
Other
We have also been exploring fiction and non-fiction books and learning the differences. The students experience writing both fiction and non-fiction in their writing activities. I have been having the children look at some of their graded work to notice what I am looking for in their work and how they can improve their work to show that they have learned specific skills. Last week we wrote New Year's Resolutions. This week we will be learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and be writing about our dreams for a better world.
The keyword for this blog is "I Have a Dream".
Remember that there is no school for the students on Monday and Tuesday, January 17th and 18th. The 17th is the national holiday and the 18th is a teacher work day which coincides with the secondary schools end of quarter.
I will try to get better at keeping the blog updated. So, please keep checking here for information about your child's class and what we are learning.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
There is Something in the Air
I'm Back! So sorry I haven't gotten to the blog in so long. I do this on my own time at home and we have been remodeling our home in preparation for the holidays. We don't hire someone to do this we actually do the work ourselves. There just hasn't been enough of me to go around.
Thinking of the holidays I have a tradition of setting up a Christmas village at my home. Each year I invite my 2nd graders to come enjoy the wonder and magic of the village. My home will be open this Wednesday the 15th and Thursday the 16th from 5-9 pm. I invite all of you to bring your children over to my home to enjoy this bit of the season. You can bring your other children also.
Math
We have been working on understanding odd and even and on grouping by 2, 5 and 10. We are really trying to build an understanding of tens and ones the basis of our number system. You might think this is too simple for 2nd graders but many of them still don't understand this most basic concept. Thank you for helping your child do and return their homework.
Reading
Last week the students were administered a State Literacy test. Most of them did very well. Of course we always have a few student who are still struggling with reading at this point in the year. We will keep working and learning together. I am now in the process of administering the Fountas and Pinnell reading test. I must complete these individual tests before we go on holiday. Mr. Griffith offered each teacher 2 half days of subbing for us during the year. Last Friday and this Monday afternoon I have been able to test individual students because he has been in our classroom teaching. Thanks Mr. Griffith!
Vocabulary
Last week we read a book caled Dear Mrs. LaRue. We learned about writing letters. The students are practicing their new skills by writing letters to Santa Claus. Their words were melodramatic, misconception, neglected, obedience, despair, and persistent. This week we will read a book called "Everybody Cooks Rice." It talks about people in a neighborhood from many different cultures but all of them cook rice. This goes along with our study of cultures and customs at Christmas time from around the world. The words we are working on this week are: boarder, community, appetizing, gulped, grumbling and diversity. I hope your family will continue to use some of these words around your home to help add to the children's understanding of their new found vocabulary words.
This week we will be learning from parents about customs in Germany, Denmark, Australia and Argentina.
The students are working on a special gift for their family that will be coming home hopefully on Friday.
We will be having a Token Store on this Friday the 17th. I encourage the students to use their tokens to buy things for brothers and sisters or friends. If any of you have items to donate for the store I would welcome your donations. Thank you for all you do to help in many ways in our classroom.
Just a reminder that for the class Christmas party on Wednesday the 22nd each child is asked to bring a new or gently used book, wrapped. This will be used as a book exchange gift. Each child will come home with a different book.
Today's keyword is "The Magic of Christmas". Please write it on the front top of your child's yellow tracking papers. Your child will receive 3 tokens if your write it there.
Thinking of the holidays I have a tradition of setting up a Christmas village at my home. Each year I invite my 2nd graders to come enjoy the wonder and magic of the village. My home will be open this Wednesday the 15th and Thursday the 16th from 5-9 pm. I invite all of you to bring your children over to my home to enjoy this bit of the season. You can bring your other children also.
Math
We have been working on understanding odd and even and on grouping by 2, 5 and 10. We are really trying to build an understanding of tens and ones the basis of our number system. You might think this is too simple for 2nd graders but many of them still don't understand this most basic concept. Thank you for helping your child do and return their homework.
Reading
Last week the students were administered a State Literacy test. Most of them did very well. Of course we always have a few student who are still struggling with reading at this point in the year. We will keep working and learning together. I am now in the process of administering the Fountas and Pinnell reading test. I must complete these individual tests before we go on holiday. Mr. Griffith offered each teacher 2 half days of subbing for us during the year. Last Friday and this Monday afternoon I have been able to test individual students because he has been in our classroom teaching. Thanks Mr. Griffith!
Vocabulary
Last week we read a book caled Dear Mrs. LaRue. We learned about writing letters. The students are practicing their new skills by writing letters to Santa Claus. Their words were melodramatic, misconception, neglected, obedience, despair, and persistent. This week we will read a book called "Everybody Cooks Rice." It talks about people in a neighborhood from many different cultures but all of them cook rice. This goes along with our study of cultures and customs at Christmas time from around the world. The words we are working on this week are: boarder, community, appetizing, gulped, grumbling and diversity. I hope your family will continue to use some of these words around your home to help add to the children's understanding of their new found vocabulary words.
This week we will be learning from parents about customs in Germany, Denmark, Australia and Argentina.
The students are working on a special gift for their family that will be coming home hopefully on Friday.
We will be having a Token Store on this Friday the 17th. I encourage the students to use their tokens to buy things for brothers and sisters or friends. If any of you have items to donate for the store I would welcome your donations. Thank you for all you do to help in many ways in our classroom.
Just a reminder that for the class Christmas party on Wednesday the 22nd each child is asked to bring a new or gently used book, wrapped. This will be used as a book exchange gift. Each child will come home with a different book.
Today's keyword is "The Magic of Christmas". Please write it on the front top of your child's yellow tracking papers. Your child will receive 3 tokens if your write it there.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The Weather is Changing
Please send a jacket or coat with your child to school everyday. They will go outside for lunch recess and afternoon recess and need access to a jacket or coat everyday.
Please remember to look through the book orders that I sent home last Thursday. If you need me to keep ordered books for you (to keep secret for gifts) just let me know and I can do that for you. Book orders are due on Tuesday October 26th.
Reading
This last week we started our reading groups where I teach the children reading skills in small groups. We learned a game called "Guess the Covered Word". It really is a set of strategies that students can use to help them decode difficult words they may encounter in their reading. When they come to a word in their reading that they are not sure of they should:
1- look at the picture for a clue,
2- look at and think of the beginning sound in the word
3- make sure that any word they guess that might go in the sentence MAKES SENSE with what they are reading about,
4- think about the length of the word ( John likes to play _______. You might guess tag or tennis. The length of the word is a clue to let you know which might more likely be correct.),
5- think about the ending sound in the word
6- see if there are any little words you already know inside the bigger word you don't know.
If they will use these strategies they likely will be able to come up with the word they are struggling with. As a parent listening to your child read you can prompt them to use these clues like this. Did you look at the picture for a clue? What sound does the word begin with? What word would make sense in the sentence? That's a good guess and it will make sense in the sentence but look at how long the word is? Could it be your word? Do you see any little words you know in the big word?
You don't have to ask all of the questions each time. Give them no more that three clues then tell them the difficult word. Don't let them become frustrated with the reading. Remember the 5 finger rule: If they miss 5 words or more on a page then the book is too difficult for them. In this case you read the book to them and find an easier book for them to read to you.
Math
This week we learned about the Almost Doubles Strategy. If two numbers are next door neighbors on the number line like 3 and 4 or 8 and 9 you can find the sum of the two numbers by doubling the smaller number and adding one. You can also find the sum by doubling the larger number and subtracting one.
This week they will be looking for Doubles and Almost Doubles in subtraction problems. This will be like 16 - 8 = If you know that 8+8 = 16 then you will know the answer to this subtraction problem. If the problem is 17 - 8 = If you know that 8 + 8 = 16 and 17 is one more than that then you know that 8 + 9 = 17 so 17 - 8 = 9.
This week we will be working with skip counting, odd and even numbers and addition with three numbers. We will also explore use of the not equal sign. Children are to decide which number sentence is represented in a story problem and be able to write a story problem when given a number sentence. The story problem must end with a correct question.
We will also be measuring a scarecrow with candy corn and making a graph we derive from colored goldfish data.
Writing
Each of the students is trying to finish up the publishing of their first major story which is about a scarecrow. Come see their scarecrow stories and artwork on the bulletin board.
Vocabulary
This week we will be reading a book entitled "Grandpa's Teeth". The vocabulary words we will be working on learning are:
complain
description
mystery
suspect
conspiracy
sleuth
Please try to use these words at home and notice if your child notices them and tells you it is one of their vocabulary words.
Spelling
We will be studying the different ways that we can spell the long a sound. It can be spelled with
ai -- usually in the middle of a word
ay -- usually at the end of a word
/a/ (consonant) (silent e)-- as in name
I hope your student has been singing the song "Witches Brew" to you. It is such a fun song. This week they will each make up their own verse to the song.
We are quickly approaching the end of the first grading period and Parent/Teacher conferences which will be on Wednesday and Thursday November 10th and 11th. Please go online to schedule your own time for this conference. I am looking forward to meeting with each of you and discussing your child's strengths and needs.
I hope you have a great week. I am looking forward to seeing many of you on Friday for the Halloween parade and party. Thank you for all each of you do to help your child, our class and me. I couldn't do this job without great parent helpers.
The keyword for this week is "Jack-O-Lantern".
Please remember to look through the book orders that I sent home last Thursday. If you need me to keep ordered books for you (to keep secret for gifts) just let me know and I can do that for you. Book orders are due on Tuesday October 26th.
Reading
This last week we started our reading groups where I teach the children reading skills in small groups. We learned a game called "Guess the Covered Word". It really is a set of strategies that students can use to help them decode difficult words they may encounter in their reading. When they come to a word in their reading that they are not sure of they should:
1- look at the picture for a clue,
2- look at and think of the beginning sound in the word
3- make sure that any word they guess that might go in the sentence MAKES SENSE with what they are reading about,
4- think about the length of the word ( John likes to play _______. You might guess tag or tennis. The length of the word is a clue to let you know which might more likely be correct.),
5- think about the ending sound in the word
6- see if there are any little words you already know inside the bigger word you don't know.
If they will use these strategies they likely will be able to come up with the word they are struggling with. As a parent listening to your child read you can prompt them to use these clues like this. Did you look at the picture for a clue? What sound does the word begin with? What word would make sense in the sentence? That's a good guess and it will make sense in the sentence but look at how long the word is? Could it be your word? Do you see any little words you know in the big word?
You don't have to ask all of the questions each time. Give them no more that three clues then tell them the difficult word. Don't let them become frustrated with the reading. Remember the 5 finger rule: If they miss 5 words or more on a page then the book is too difficult for them. In this case you read the book to them and find an easier book for them to read to you.
Math
This week we learned about the Almost Doubles Strategy. If two numbers are next door neighbors on the number line like 3 and 4 or 8 and 9 you can find the sum of the two numbers by doubling the smaller number and adding one. You can also find the sum by doubling the larger number and subtracting one.
This week they will be looking for Doubles and Almost Doubles in subtraction problems. This will be like 16 - 8 = If you know that 8+8 = 16 then you will know the answer to this subtraction problem. If the problem is 17 - 8 = If you know that 8 + 8 = 16 and 17 is one more than that then you know that 8 + 9 = 17 so 17 - 8 = 9.
This week we will be working with skip counting, odd and even numbers and addition with three numbers. We will also explore use of the not equal sign. Children are to decide which number sentence is represented in a story problem and be able to write a story problem when given a number sentence. The story problem must end with a correct question.
We will also be measuring a scarecrow with candy corn and making a graph we derive from colored goldfish data.
Writing
Each of the students is trying to finish up the publishing of their first major story which is about a scarecrow. Come see their scarecrow stories and artwork on the bulletin board.
Vocabulary
This week we will be reading a book entitled "Grandpa's Teeth". The vocabulary words we will be working on learning are:
complain
description
mystery
suspect
conspiracy
sleuth
Please try to use these words at home and notice if your child notices them and tells you it is one of their vocabulary words.
Spelling
We will be studying the different ways that we can spell the long a sound. It can be spelled with
ai -- usually in the middle of a word
ay -- usually at the end of a word
/a/ (consonant) (silent e)-- as in name
I hope your student has been singing the song "Witches Brew" to you. It is such a fun song. This week they will each make up their own verse to the song.
We are quickly approaching the end of the first grading period and Parent/Teacher conferences which will be on Wednesday and Thursday November 10th and 11th. Please go online to schedule your own time for this conference. I am looking forward to meeting with each of you and discussing your child's strengths and needs.
I hope you have a great week. I am looking forward to seeing many of you on Friday for the Halloween parade and party. Thank you for all each of you do to help your child, our class and me. I couldn't do this job without great parent helpers.
The keyword for this week is "Jack-O-Lantern".
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Back From Fall Recess
I hope you all had a great time over Fall Recess. I attended the UEA Convention on Friday and have been alternating between spending time with my family and cleaning house.
Reading
This week we will begin Guided Reading Groups. I will teach reading to small groups while the other students are engaged in center activities. Some of those activities are spelling practice and phonics activities that will help the students with their spelling. This Guided Reading time is the most important time for volunteer parents to be in the classroom. They help to answer questions and to assist students while I am teaching the small reading groups.
Spelling
We are continuing our study of the diagraphs- th, sh, ch, ph, and wh. These may be used at either the beginning or at the end of words. Please help your child study their spelling words. The test will be this Thursday the 21st.
Math
Last week we read two books - "Two of Everything" and "Double Trouble". They were the same folk tale but told in the setting of different cultures, one hispanic and one Chinese. They were about a magic pot that doubled everything that was put into it. We then had a fun experience with my magic pot. It also doubled everything that was put into it. We let these experiences lead us into learning about doubles. The students are now working on memorizing their doubles facts. The cards I sent home only go up to 10+10 but I really would like the students to learn a lot more doubles facts. These will help a lot as they move into more advanced math. Please help them work on all of the math fact cards that I have sent home.
We are also still trying to help all the students to understand how to use fact families. When you know 3+4=7 it can help you when you are trying to figure out 7-4= .
Following the first Block Math Test there are still 10 students who scored below 70%. I would hope to have all students above 70% in all areas of math before the end of the year. Please take little moments to let your student count some money or tell you the time. These things will help your student.
Vocabulary
We have read the book "Picnic at Mudsock Meadows". The vocabulary we are working on from this book are the following words:
bleak
legend
reveal
eerie
mischievous
mortified
Please try to use these words around the house and see if your child picks up on hearing it and then talk about what it means.
PE
In PE we have been working on strength, flexibility and endurance. We walk and run laps around the gym, we do some exercises and stretches and we also play games that involve running, throwing, catching, following rules, and being good sports.
Science
Please help your student continue to observe and draw the moon on a nightly basis. This is the first time that the night sky and moon phases has been part of the 2nd grade curriculum. It is new information to the students and will be fun for them to talk with you about what is happening in the night sky.(We can't have that exact experience with the children so we appreciate you taking time to help your child with this part of the learning process.
This week is Red Ribbon Week. It is a time to focus on making commitments to stay away from drugs and other harmful substances. On Monday the students are to wear red and I will let them write with a red pen all day. The schedule for the rest of the week was sent home last week and can also be found on the school web page.
The keyword for this week is "Hunt for Red October". It is one of my favorite movies but the kids won't get that. They will just be thinking of red leaves during the month of October.
Reading
This week we will begin Guided Reading Groups. I will teach reading to small groups while the other students are engaged in center activities. Some of those activities are spelling practice and phonics activities that will help the students with their spelling. This Guided Reading time is the most important time for volunteer parents to be in the classroom. They help to answer questions and to assist students while I am teaching the small reading groups.
Spelling
We are continuing our study of the diagraphs- th, sh, ch, ph, and wh. These may be used at either the beginning or at the end of words. Please help your child study their spelling words. The test will be this Thursday the 21st.
Math
Last week we read two books - "Two of Everything" and "Double Trouble". They were the same folk tale but told in the setting of different cultures, one hispanic and one Chinese. They were about a magic pot that doubled everything that was put into it. We then had a fun experience with my magic pot. It also doubled everything that was put into it. We let these experiences lead us into learning about doubles. The students are now working on memorizing their doubles facts. The cards I sent home only go up to 10+10 but I really would like the students to learn a lot more doubles facts. These will help a lot as they move into more advanced math. Please help them work on all of the math fact cards that I have sent home.
We are also still trying to help all the students to understand how to use fact families. When you know 3+4=7 it can help you when you are trying to figure out 7-4= .
Following the first Block Math Test there are still 10 students who scored below 70%. I would hope to have all students above 70% in all areas of math before the end of the year. Please take little moments to let your student count some money or tell you the time. These things will help your student.
Vocabulary
We have read the book "Picnic at Mudsock Meadows". The vocabulary we are working on from this book are the following words:
bleak
legend
reveal
eerie
mischievous
mortified
Please try to use these words around the house and see if your child picks up on hearing it and then talk about what it means.
PE
In PE we have been working on strength, flexibility and endurance. We walk and run laps around the gym, we do some exercises and stretches and we also play games that involve running, throwing, catching, following rules, and being good sports.
Science
Please help your student continue to observe and draw the moon on a nightly basis. This is the first time that the night sky and moon phases has been part of the 2nd grade curriculum. It is new information to the students and will be fun for them to talk with you about what is happening in the night sky.(We can't have that exact experience with the children so we appreciate you taking time to help your child with this part of the learning process.
This week is Red Ribbon Week. It is a time to focus on making commitments to stay away from drugs and other harmful substances. On Monday the students are to wear red and I will let them write with a red pen all day. The schedule for the rest of the week was sent home last week and can also be found on the school web page.
The keyword for this week is "Hunt for Red October". It is one of my favorite movies but the kids won't get that. They will just be thinking of red leaves during the month of October.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Reds and Orange, Apples and Pumpkins
What a great time we had on our walking field trip. The weather was beautiful and the kids had fun learning. The students are making a lunch sack journal about what they experienced during the field trip. You will want to check it out during Parent Teacher Conferences. (It will be in the students' portfolios.) Thanks to each and every parent and grandparent who came with us. You did an awesome job helping the kids have a super time.
Also a big thank you goes to our "Spelling Moms" who came to the classroom while we were on the field trip and corrected the spelling tests for us.
While we are talking about great parent helpers I want to thank all of you who have been coming in and helping in the classroom and for those who have helped by sending in boxes of tissues and baggies and items for the token store. An extra thank you goes out to Brooke Robertson for helping to organize the volunteers and for assembling the lunch sack journals for our class and Mrs. Douglass' class. That truly was going the extra mile to help us.
PUMPKIN DECORATING CONTEST
One of the parents from the school is donating 800 pumpkins to the kids in the school. She will deliver them on Monday October 4th. Students will take the pumpkins home and decorate them at home. NO CARVING THE PUMPKINS as they will spoil. Look for the orange paper giving ideas for decorating. Decorated pumpkins are to be returned to the school on OCTOBER 11TH. They will be judged and prizes will be awarded. (PM Kindergarten classes will bring their decorated pumpkins to school on Oct. 9th.)
READING
I will be finishing up the individual reading assessments this week. I will begin Guided Reading groups on October 18th. That is when I teach the students in small groups. We should be able to help the students make some good progress in their reading skills then.
We will work on Decoding the words - Accuracy, Fluency- reading with expression, speed and smoothness, and Comprehension - understanding what they read. I work with the groups on their own reading level. Each day we focus on different elements of reading based on the needs of these readers.
Math
We are trying to finish up our first block this week. We will continue our learning about the 100's number chart and using it for addition and subtraction. We are working on solidifying our understanding of Fact Families and Turn Around Facts (Commutative Property). When working with the Fact Families kids sometimes do something like this:
3+5=8
5+3=8 These are the Fact Family equations for 3, 5, and 8
8-5=3
8-3=5
8+3=5 This is what some children try but it is not a true fact. This is a great time to teach them the not equal sign ≠
8+3≠5
We will also be having a few more experiences with Data Collection and Graphing, skip counting patterns and writing story problems.
Please, keep working with your child on the math facts cards that I have sent home. I will be sending home another set, adding doubles, very soon. Also thanks for playing the math games with your child. It helps them learn in a fun way and will also help you see what they know and what they still need help with.
Vocabulary
We will be reading a book called "Possum's Harvest Moon". The vocabulary words we will work with are:
autumn
creature
harvest
snug
accomplished
conclude
Please try to use these words at home during the week and see if the students notice them.
SPELLING
This week is a most important week in spelling. Most of the children have learned the patterns of spelling with short vowels. This week we begin with long vowels. The first rule they learn is about the silent e. It is extremely important that they really understand this principle this week. Compare words with and without the silent e with them often during the week. Examples:
hid, becomes hide
hat becomes hate
bit becomes bite
not becomes note
twin becomes twine etc.
This week's keyword is "Pumpkins". Please write it on the top of your child's yellow tracking sheet for them to earn 3 tokens. Thanks for reading the blog and being interested in your child's education.
Also a big thank you goes to our "Spelling Moms" who came to the classroom while we were on the field trip and corrected the spelling tests for us.
While we are talking about great parent helpers I want to thank all of you who have been coming in and helping in the classroom and for those who have helped by sending in boxes of tissues and baggies and items for the token store. An extra thank you goes out to Brooke Robertson for helping to organize the volunteers and for assembling the lunch sack journals for our class and Mrs. Douglass' class. That truly was going the extra mile to help us.
PUMPKIN DECORATING CONTEST
One of the parents from the school is donating 800 pumpkins to the kids in the school. She will deliver them on Monday October 4th. Students will take the pumpkins home and decorate them at home. NO CARVING THE PUMPKINS as they will spoil. Look for the orange paper giving ideas for decorating. Decorated pumpkins are to be returned to the school on OCTOBER 11TH. They will be judged and prizes will be awarded. (PM Kindergarten classes will bring their decorated pumpkins to school on Oct. 9th.)
READING
I will be finishing up the individual reading assessments this week. I will begin Guided Reading groups on October 18th. That is when I teach the students in small groups. We should be able to help the students make some good progress in their reading skills then.
We will work on Decoding the words - Accuracy, Fluency- reading with expression, speed and smoothness, and Comprehension - understanding what they read. I work with the groups on their own reading level. Each day we focus on different elements of reading based on the needs of these readers.
Math
We are trying to finish up our first block this week. We will continue our learning about the 100's number chart and using it for addition and subtraction. We are working on solidifying our understanding of Fact Families and Turn Around Facts (Commutative Property). When working with the Fact Families kids sometimes do something like this:
3+5=8
5+3=8 These are the Fact Family equations for 3, 5, and 8
8-5=3
8-3=5
8+3=5 This is what some children try but it is not a true fact. This is a great time to teach them the not equal sign ≠
8+3≠5
We will also be having a few more experiences with Data Collection and Graphing, skip counting patterns and writing story problems.
Please, keep working with your child on the math facts cards that I have sent home. I will be sending home another set, adding doubles, very soon. Also thanks for playing the math games with your child. It helps them learn in a fun way and will also help you see what they know and what they still need help with.
Vocabulary
We will be reading a book called "Possum's Harvest Moon". The vocabulary words we will work with are:
autumn
creature
harvest
snug
accomplished
conclude
Please try to use these words at home during the week and see if the students notice them.
SPELLING
This week is a most important week in spelling. Most of the children have learned the patterns of spelling with short vowels. This week we begin with long vowels. The first rule they learn is about the silent e. It is extremely important that they really understand this principle this week. Compare words with and without the silent e with them often during the week. Examples:
hid, becomes hide
hat becomes hate
bit becomes bite
not becomes note
twin becomes twine etc.
This week's keyword is "Pumpkins". Please write it on the top of your child's yellow tracking sheet for them to earn 3 tokens. Thanks for reading the blog and being interested in your child's education.
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