*****************************************************************************************************
Ms. Arnold’s Classroom News (10/5/14)
*****************************************************************************************************
What We’ve Been Up To:
Happy October! It's hard to believe we've already been in school for over one whole month together! Time flies when you're having fun!
*Words Their Way: We've completed our first unit in Words Their Way! Units run in two-week cycles. On the first day of the cycle, the sort is introduced. Students explore and analyze the words to discover patterns and consistencies and to establish rules. The first week of the unit is done completely in class to build independence. The second week of the cycle is when you will see the word sort come home. Practice will now happen in both the classroom and at home and students will be given a "spelling review" on the spelling pattern on Friday. On these reviews, students will be given five words chosen randomly from their sort list, as well as three "challenge" words that were not on the sort list, but do follow the same pattern. The purpose for Friday's review is to determine if students have mastered the spelling pattern and are ready for a new pattern, or if they need some more time on the current pattern. I will share their spelling review booklets with you at parent conferences. While this program is quite a shift from rote memorization, one thing's for sure: the kids have been having a blast with the work!
*PE: Our second graders are hard at work in their soccer unit. Ms. Locke sends us a friendly reminder that PE will almost always take place outside from now until the end of November. Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather. They are more than welcome, and encouraged, to keep a spare pair of shoes and socks in the classroom. As we have PE first thing on yellow days, the morning dew keeps the fields quite wet leaving the second graders with soaked feet for the rest of the day--not fun!
.JPG)
 |
| Using letter tiles to write out words |
 |
| Stamping out those words! |
 |
| Using spelling task cards. Their first task? Write your words in bubble letters! |
 |
| Highlighting the vowels |
 |
| Everything's better together! Playing memory |
*Read Aloud: *Read Aloud: Last week, we finished our second read aloud novel, Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry. This was a very inspiring story to our classroom of budding writers because Gooney Bird is quite the storyteller! Gooney Bird is the star of several other book like Gooney the Fabulous and Gooney Bird is so Absurd. We started a novel fitting of the owl class: Poppy. This story tells of Mr. Ocax, the great horned owl, who rules over Dimwood Forest, and the mice family that lives in fear beneath him. Poppy is jam-packed with action and keeps us on the edge of our seats day after day---we can't wait to read what happens next!
*Fall Leaf Project: Don't forget to be on the lookout for fall leaves! Students need to collect 20-30 leaves of different shapes and sizes for our fall project. Using Morteza E. Sohi's Look What I Did with a Leaf!, students will be challenged to create beautiful animal pictures using only the leaves that we collect! Check out some samples to help get an idea of the types of leaves to be on the lookout for--the more unique the better!
-Reading Logs: Reading Logs are sent home on Fridays and are due the following Friday. There are five slots to record reading as it is my hope that they are reading at least one weekend day. Please have your child turn in their reading log each Friday, even if not all of the slots are completed. Also, as your child develops as a reader, they will be reading longer, more challenging texts. It would not be unsual for your child to be reading the same book each night and thus recording the same title in each box (some of the kids thought they needed to read a different book each night, but I did clarify with them).
-Word Sorts: Word sorts will be sent home the week after they have been introduced in class. You can expecct to see word sorts every other week.
-Math sheets: Math sheets will be given out several times per week. They are due the following morning as they specifically correlate with the lesson of the day and are meant as a reinforcer. If for some reason your child doesn't complete the worksheet, please send in as soon as it is completed. If they are showing difficulty in understanding the math skill, please just write me a note and we will go through the worksheet together.
Homework is not meant to be a stressful experience for any involved! If you ever have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.
*Math: Last week we completed our first Everyday Math Unit. This first unit serves as a review of first grade and to establish the routines and procedures of the Everyday Math program. Without wasting any time, we delved right into Unit 2: Fact Strategies. This unit focuses entirely on math fact fluency. By developing fact automaticity, students will build a base foundation that will make more complex operations so much simpler! We will be introducing several strategies for practicing math facts this week. Some great web-based activties to try at home are:
Online Flashcards
Math Facts Basketball
Math Playground: Tons of Math Fact Games!
*Writing: We completed our first unit of writer's workshop ("Launching") and had our first celebration! Students have been learning about where writing ideas come from, drafting tons of small moment stories (small, true stories that have happened to them), and choosing one to bring to publication. Everyone enjoyed sharing their story with the class and placing it in our "Owl Authors" bucket. Just like published authors, our young authors deserve a place on the shelf!
After publishing small moment stories, we began our "Authors as Mentors" unit. Looking to published authors and illustrators, we will notice their techniques and try them in our own writing. We started this week with an illustration study and it was amazing to see the things they noticed and were willing to try in their own work! After another week of experiment with illustrations and how they can add to a story, we will then look to writing techniques and how they can improve our stories.
Remember, leaves need to be washed and pressed before coming to school. Leaves may be sent in as soon as they are ready, but please make sure they are in by Tuesday, Oct. 14th. Thanks for your help!
*Homework: Great job to students and families with beginning the homework routine. Nights sure can get busy with afterschool activities, but with your help, our second graders will begin developing great homework habits to set them up for success! Just to clarify a few questions that have come up:-Reading Logs: Reading Logs are sent home on Fridays and are due the following Friday. There are five slots to record reading as it is my hope that they are reading at least one weekend day. Please have your child turn in their reading log each Friday, even if not all of the slots are completed. Also, as your child develops as a reader, they will be reading longer, more challenging texts. It would not be unsual for your child to be reading the same book each night and thus recording the same title in each box (some of the kids thought they needed to read a different book each night, but I did clarify with them).
-Word Sorts: Word sorts will be sent home the week after they have been introduced in class. You can expecct to see word sorts every other week.
-Math sheets: Math sheets will be given out several times per week. They are due the following morning as they specifically correlate with the lesson of the day and are meant as a reinforcer. If for some reason your child doesn't complete the worksheet, please send in as soon as it is completed. If they are showing difficulty in understanding the math skill, please just write me a note and we will go through the worksheet together.
Homework is not meant to be a stressful experience for any involved! If you ever have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.
*Math: Last week we completed our first Everyday Math Unit. This first unit serves as a review of first grade and to establish the routines and procedures of the Everyday Math program. Without wasting any time, we delved right into Unit 2: Fact Strategies. This unit focuses entirely on math fact fluency. By developing fact automaticity, students will build a base foundation that will make more complex operations so much simpler! We will be introducing several strategies for practicing math facts this week. Some great web-based activties to try at home are:
Online Flashcards
Math Facts Basketball
Math Playground: Tons of Math Fact Games!
*Writing: We completed our first unit of writer's workshop ("Launching") and had our first celebration! Students have been learning about where writing ideas come from, drafting tons of small moment stories (small, true stories that have happened to them), and choosing one to bring to publication. Everyone enjoyed sharing their story with the class and placing it in our "Owl Authors" bucket. Just like published authors, our young authors deserve a place on the shelf!
*October UA Schedule:
Sun
|
Mon
|
Tues
|
Wed
|
Thurs
|
Fri
|
Sat
|
28
|
29
Music
|
30
PE
|
1
Art
|
2
PE
|
3
STEM
|
4
|
5
|
6
Library
|
7
Music
|
8
PE
|
9
Art
|
10
PE
|
11
|
12
|
13
NO SCHOOL
|
14
STEM
|
15
Library
|
16
Music
|
17
PE
|
18
|
19
|
20
Art
|
21
PE
|
22
STEM
|
23
Library
|
24
Music
|
25
|
26
|
27
PE
|
28
Art
|
29
PE
|
30
STEM
|
31
Library
|
1
|
************************************************************************
Coming Up:
- No School: Monday, Oct. 13th (Columbus Day)
-Pressed Leaves Due: Tuesday, Oct. 14th
No comments:
Post a Comment