Weekly Update 1/27

Hello everyone!  The past two weeks have been a whirlwind!  We've been trying to stick with routine despite the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the professional development day, and the unexpected snow day.  Here is a look at what we've been doing in Room 7…

Our Around the World Unit is going very well.  We spent a few days over the past two weeks reviewing mapping skills and learning about North America.  As we travel the world it's important that we become familiar with the names of the continents we will be visiting.  Here is a link to a song that is helping us do this:

https://safeshare.tv/x/ss588563c9ba68a

We also studied a little bit about Mexico and what itís like to live there.  As we visit each continent, the children made a scrapbook page to show some important information they learned about that part of the world. This page shows some animals that are found on this continent and features a written portion that compares the United States to Mexico.  We will be compiling the scrapbook pages into a large book that will be shared with families in the spring.  

Our next destination…Asia!!!

The math lessons the past 2 weeks touched upon Open Number Lines and Change-To Number Stories (starting with a number, then changing that number by adding on to get a new number). We discussed this concept by looking at fish that increase their weight by eating other fish. The students also spent two math periods working on their math mid-year assessment.  

Our restaurant reviews are coming out awesome in writing!  I've been so impressed by how convincing second graders can be! Many kids finished them up this week and began the editing process.  Look for an email from me in the coming days, as the children are working on a fun way to share their reviews with you!!

We took a break from spelling last week and focused on Complete Sentences.  We did several lessons and practice activities around sentences.  I am beginning to see the transfer of this knowledge in our writing journals- so exciting!!

Coming Up:

• Look for class Valentine lists coming soon. We will celebrate with our last class party on Tuesday, February 14^th.
• February 8th- Early Release at 12:20 for Professional Development
• February 14^th- 2^nd Grade School Store
• February 14^th- Valentine Party 
• February 17^th- February Break begins at 3:05

Weekly Update 1/13

It was great to be back in school and the kids had a very busy yet fun week!

We began the week with a whole class introduction to the reading strategy of "making inferences." The kids learned that sometimes an author doesn't come straight out and tell you things and that you have to "read between the lines" to interpret what they are saying. The students learned that in order to make an inference you use both the text clues and your background knowledge. Throughout the week, the students had the opportunity to practice this skill in their reading groups.

In math this week the children made purchases and practiced paying exact amounts as well as paying more and finding the change. We also spent some time doing our Unit 5 Exploration activities which focused on making arrays, matching clock faces to digital notation, and constructing shapes on geoboards. Next week, the kids will learn to use open number lines as a tool for solving number stories.

We enjoying starting our unit on mapping this week! We even had a pretend airplane trip to our first country which is Mexico! We will spend some time learning about the continent that we live-North America! Then, we will move onto Mexico and will learn about the culture of the country and compare and contrast it with the culture of the United States.

The students are off to a great start with our Opinion Writing unit. They learned how to write an opening sentence, filled out a graphic organizer about a restaurant of their choice, and began to write their first review. Next week we will focus on specialized language and that a review should not sound like a "story" but should use persuasive language.

Finally, we finished off the week learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and the amazing impact he had on our lives today.

Friendly reminder that there is NO SCHOOL Monday and Tuesday next week.
Monday- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tuesday- Professional Development

*** One final reminder that the students should be answering the reading comprehension questions on the back of the Reading Log each week for homework. These questions are to be answered in at least 2 complete sentences. Many of the kids are doing a great job with this. Please take the time to review the comments with your child and make changes if necessary. We appreciate your support with this important component of their homework.

Here's what the kids had to say!

My favorite part of the past 2 weeks was: 

• the toasting the New Year activity because you got to glue stuff. (Saathvik)
• I learned about Eve Bunting because then I can start writing books like her. (Sujit)
• our airplane trip to Mexico because we got to sit in a chair and watch a movie. (Alexis)
• Crazy Hair Day because it's crazy! (Caitlin)
• Wellness because we got to play games. (Sangeeta)
• Crazy Hair Day because it was fun! (Brielle)
• when we went to the Computer Lab because I got to play math games. (Josh) 
• our airplane trip to Mexico because I've never been to Mexico. (Melanie) 
• social studies because we got to learn about maps and the compass rose. (Mary)
• going on the airplane because we watched a video. (Patrick) 
• playing Dreambox because I like the arcade. (Malcolm)
• Crazy Hair Day because I like seeing all different types of crazy hair. (Rosalie)
• the airplane trip to Mexico because we got to learn about Earth, continents, and other stuff. (Sofia)
• lunch and Crazy Hair Day because I get to eat at lunch and I like seeing everyone with crazy hair. (Nick)
• the Pencil Challenge because you have to try to keep your pencil for as long as you can. (Sohana) 

Weekly Update 1/3

Happy 2017!! I am feeling rested after our long winter break!  I look forward to seeing all the children on Tuesday morning and hearing about their exciting week off.

We are kicking off a new year, a new math unit, a new writing unit, and a new social studies unit over the next two weeks!!

The children have completed the first half of the Everyday Math program, so this week they will begin working in a new math journal. We will start Unit 5, which reviews addition fact power (automaticity of math facts), as well as money and making change. Please note that the concept of making change can be a difficult one, and we don't expect mastery at this time. Please note that the children will be bringing home their first math journal. Some of the pages are incomplete or not corrected depending on the lesson and time allowed. Please be assured that the journals were reviewed regularly and incorrect answers were reviewed with a teacher. 

Our term 2 writing time will be spent working on reviews/opinion writing. This week we'll discuss what people might review and what a good review should include. We'll start off by reviewing the Robinson School Cafeteria, a place we're all familiar with!!

In Social Studies we'll begin a mapping unit. The students will get a chance to review different kinds of maps and cardinal directions. We'll also look at map keys. These mapping skills will be a stepping stone into our very large unit of study- “Around the World."

You will notice that the Reading Log will look a little different starting this week- it's now double-sided!  Now that we are almost halfway through 2^nd grade we would like the children to deepen their reading skills by answering 2 comprehension questions each week about the books they are reading at home and recording on their Reading Log.  You will notice that the questions will be different each week based on what skills we've been working on in our reading groups.  We ask that they answer the questions in at least 2 complete sentences.  It is expected that they will need some support with this new routine for a few weeks, but we hope that over time the children will get more comfortable answering in thoughtful, complete sentences more independently.  We appreciate your support as we begin this new routine, as reflecting on your reading and writing complete sentences are two very important foundational skills.  

Have a great week! I hope you're finding my BLOG updates useful. As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns.

One final note…
Thanks to all who donated and/or volunteered at our Winter party before vacation. These parties wouldn't be successful without your support! Also, a special thank you to our Room Mom's! 

Upcoming Dates:

• January 3^rd- school resumes
• January 10^th- 2^nd Grade school store
• January 16^th- No school for MLK Day
• January 17^th- No school for Professional Development