Week of October 19, 2009

This is our special Parent-Child-Teacher Conference week! Remember, school is dismissed at 11 on Thurs. & Fri! Please be on time for you conferences, as they are scheduled very closely together. Mrs. Taylor, in the office, has a copy of my schedule, in case you need to check the time of our conference. If possible, please bring your child with you, as s/he is an important part of our review & goal-setting. Let me know at the beginning of our time if you’d like adult time at the end; I can set your child up with headphones, listening to a story on tape. After the conference, you can see some of our fun Halloween Poems on display outside the classroom.
Also during Conference week is the Scholastic Book Fair, a worthwhile PTO fund-raiser, and a chance for you to encourage your child’s reading by buying good books! It’s a great theme: Reading around the World. In case there are books you’d like which aren’t for sale at the Book Fair, I’ve enclosed some book flyers. These optional orders will be due next week on Tuesday, 10/27, paper forms or on-line.

This week’s kindness story is non-fiction: “The Story of the Three Whales”. Kindness spreads and becomes an international cooperative effort! The vocabulary to know for Friday’s test is: lurk, trudged, plight, invincible, ordeal & surface. (The verb “surface” means “come to the top of a liquid). In our Spelling workbooks, we are working on “multiple meaning” words.

In math we’re doing some Algebra, actually pre-algebra! We’re continuing to work with these algebraic concepts that were introduced in 1^st grade: frames & arrows, What’s my Rule?, Name-Collection Boxes. (Parents, see the Home Links coming home this week for more info.)

We do not have a Tasting this week; instead we will use the time to organize & finish up our writing for our Tasting Book.

Our study of Rocks, Minerals & Soil is getting us into many other areas of science. We are seeing how when some things decompose to become soil, they go through a chemical reaction, producing gasses that expand the Ziploc bag! For the little “Mini-worlds” we created last week with the 2-liter bottles, we see “condensation” as evidence of the water cycle! Thank you so much to all who sent in kitchen & yard plant matter, and 2-liter bottles! This week’s science lessons are on weathering & erosion.

Homework
Daily: Read aloud for 20 minutes and fill in your October Book It Calendar; practice your spelling words & math facts (Every day do a Mad Minute worksheet and use your triangle flash cards.) See how many vocabulary words you can use in your conversation!
Due Wednesday: bring your library book if you want to check out a new one! Spelling workbook, pages 34-37; those doing challenge words, write a meaningful sentence with 5 of the challenge words instead of doing pages 36 & 37. Leave your sentences in the spelling workbook, at this week’s lesson.
For Thursday: Note early spelling test on short /o/ or words that have the /aw/ sound as in hawk For Friday: reading & vocabulary tests
For next Monday: Mad Minute B2, gym shoes.
For next Tuesday: optional book orders due
For next week, Mon – Thurs: Give an oral book report (see guidelines… attached) Note: This is a new routine! The attached Book Report information is also linked on-line, just to the right of the current class newsletter.

Next week on “Halloween” 10/30… we will have an extended morning (8 – 12 noon), so I suggest bringing a healthy snack to eat mid-morning. Lunch will be from 12- 12:55. Students who bring a costume for the afternoon will have time to change after lunch. All families are invited to come watch our Parade at 1:10.

Volunteers are needed to help with our party! Please contact Lori Bradford, (ldemain@sbcglobal.net; 708-763-0452) if you can help in any of the following ways:
* to come at 11:55, to help students with their costumes,
* to supervise a station at our party, about 1:50, following the parade.
* If you’re a “crafty” person, who could head-up a crafts station?
* If you play the guitar, or can help lead singing of UNICEF’s “Halloween Carols”.

Thanks in advance to Joseph & his mom who will make cookies for our party.

Week of October 13, 2009

I hope everyone enjoyed the long, chilly weekend. I did something I’ve never done before—slept in a tent in Wisconsin’s below freezing weather—I was well-prepared & slept well!

Good timing! The Painted Lady butterfly emerged in our classroom this morning! We had watched this catepillar eat, grow & then make a chrysalis around itself. And this is what happens in our Kindness story this week, “Butterfly House”. This week’s important comprehension strategy is learning about point of view; this story is written in the first-person point of view. The vocabulary to know for Friday’s test is: larva, nectar, chrysalis, transformed, drift. This week’s spelling words all have the short /i/ sound. Congratulations to all who earned challenge words, and to all who spelled all 10 words correctly last Friday!

We are learning about nouns, verbs and adjectives, to make our writing more “colorful”. For practice, we’re writing a “formula” poem about Halloween which uses a variety of nouns, verbs & adjectives.

In math students are earning a stick of Doublemint gum by automatically saying the answers to a stack of doubles facts in 45 seconds or less. Working for automatic recall of basic addition & subtraction facts, we’re also practicing the different addition strategies we learned last week, and are beginning to apply them to subtraction. Ask your child to explain what a “fact family” is.

Today’s Tasting takes us to the Middle East and North Africa, focusing on Egypt.

We’ve had fun in Science learning about & comparing properties of rocks & minerals. This week we explore the composition of rocks by dissecting a cookie “rock” (Thank you to Eleanor & her mom!) Then we take a little break from rocks to start the process of making our own soil (& learning about composting).

Homework – Parents: please return your form confirming the time of your conference; also, you can still send in kitchen & yard plant waste, and 2 liter bottles any time up until Thursday.

Daily: Read aloud for 20 minutes and fill in your October Book It Calendar; practice your spelling words & math facts (Every day do a Mad Minute worksheet and use your triangle flash cards.) See how many vocabulary words you can use in your conversation!
Due Thursday: bring your library book if you want to check out a new one! Spelling workbook, pages 30-33; those doing challenge words, write a meaningful sentence with 5 of the challenge words instead of doing pages 32 & 33. Leave your sentences in the spelling workbook, at this week’s lesson.

For Friday: reading & vocabulary tests, spelling test on short /i/ words
For next Monday:: Story Map on a book you read at home, Mad Minute packet B1; gym shoes

Week of October 5, 2009

New homework--Starting in October: Story Maps! Most weeks, each student is to fill out a story map on a book read at home during the week. These story maps are useful in several ways: they encourage your child to choose books that are at the right reading level; they help keep the focus on comprehension; they help your child learn to summarize. I generally send home the attached yellow form, designed for fiction. However, if your child is reading nonfiction, have him/her exchange the yellow form for a gold one, which is designed for nonfiction. The last week of the month instead of working on a story map, each student will prepare to present an oral Book Report, with 3 components: telling a summary of the book, showing the class a creative project the student did related to the book, and showing the class the book (& leaving it here for 1 week, so fellow students can browse or read it).

We have another folktale in our Kindness unit this week, “The Paper Crane”. An important comprehension strategy we’ll apply to this story is looking for causesàeffects. This week’s vocabulary is: serve, guest, manner, stranger, unusual, overjoyed. Know the meanings of these words by Friday’s test. This week’s spelling words all have the short /e/ sound: bell, fed, nest, send, test, yet, went, then, next, them. Congratulations to all who earned challenge words

The students have written some impressive stories on how they have been persistent in learning something that was difficult. Their writing and illustrations are displayed on the hallway outside our classroom. You’ll be able to view them the next time you’re here (Parent-Teacher Conferences??).

In math we learned a “Beat the Calculator” game. Our goal is to learn addition (& subtraction) facts so automatically, that we can figure each out faster than a calculator! Last week we worked on “fact families”, doubles & “near doubles”. This week I will teach a short-cut for adding 9, and we will do more practice with all of these. As soon as students have memorized the Doubles facts, they will earn a stick of Doublemint gum. (I’ll time them orally.)

Social Studies: The theme of this week is Asia -- our Tasting tomorrow will include food from & facts about Asia, and this week’s story, “The Paper Crane”, is set in Asia! This week we will also finish our first unit of Social Studies, on urban, suburban & rural communities; neighborhoods & groups. To better understand our Columbus Day holiday next Monday, we will read and discuss some biographies of Columbus as well as a story written by a Native American descendent of the Taino people whom Columbus encountered when he arrived at Hispaniola.

On Wednesday we start our first Science unit on Rocks, Minerals, Soil and Fossils. This week we will learn the difference between rocks & minerals, and spending time classifying them. One way we’ll classify them is by comparing how hard the mineral is.

Homework – Parents: please fill out & return the attached form so I can schedule our Parent-Child-Teacher conference at a convenient time for you.

Daily: Read aloud for 20 minutes and fill in your October Book It Calendar; practice your spelling words & math facts (Every day do a Mad Minute worksheet and use your triangle flash cards.) See how many vocabulary words you can use in your conversation!
Due tomorrow: Home link (any time a Home Link comes home, it’s due the next day); Wednesday: International Walk to School Day! Also, remember to bring your library book if you want to check out a new one! Spelling workbook, pages 26-29; those doing challenge words, write a meaningful sentence with 5 of the challenge words instead of doing pages 28 & 29. Leave your sentences in the spelling workbook, at this week’s lesson. For Friday: Conference request form due; reading & vocabulary tests, spelling test on short /e/ words (Let’s all spell all 10 regular words correctly!)
Saturday, if you haven’t been before, I encourage you to go to the Oak Park Farmers’ Market, on Lake Street, by Elmwood. This will give you a better understanding of our Social Studies vocabulary: “market”
For next Tuesday: “My Rock Collection” homework sheet (It’ll be passed out on Thursday & involves finding 2 rocks, then using the classification skills we learned in class). Also due: Story Map on a book you read at home, Mad Minute packet A6; remember your gym shoes!

Attention Parents: The big white “gift wrap” envelope that came home a week and a half ago was an important fundraiser for our PTO. The PTO does such wonderful things for the students and the school, so I hope you will do what you can to make this a successful fundraiser—thank you!

Cookie-bakers? Part of next week’s study of rocks is a simulation of dissecting a rock to discover the components – we are to find different fruits and sweets embedded in a cookie. Please let me know if you would be able to bake 20 cookies for our “science investigation”.

We will have an educational Halloween Party on Friday, October 30, following the Longfellow Parade. I am looking for a parent to be my “point person”, coordinating volunteers & tasks for the party. Please let me know if you are available to supervise a “station” that day, and/or coordinate plans.

Fyi: On my blog is a volunteering form, the result of a teacher In-Service I attended Thursday after school. I was learning how to create on-line forms, so fill it out if you’d like….

Enjoy the Columbus Day holiday!

week of September 28, 2009

There are 2 special, new things this week: Passport and CogAT. Passport is one way we differentiate our teaching of reading – For 30 minutes 4 days a week, each student works in a smaller class on a phonics or reading skill that is developmentally appropriate. We will also take our only standardized test this week. While it’s important that your child be well rested, have a healthy breakfast and give his/her best effort, the results do not affect your child’s report grade. Instead it is used to help us see how to best help your child learn. The only other test we’ll have this week is the Friday spelling test.

Our Kindness story for this week is a familiar folktale, “The Elves and the Shoemaker”. While we won’t be tested this Friday on the vocabulary words, I expect your child to know the meanings of these words: leather, polished, handsome, cobbler. This week’s spelling words all have the short /a/ sound: dash, gas, jam, map, cash, path, sat, ran, ant, had. Congratulations to the 15 students who got all those right on today’s pretest, and have the challenge words to learn!

In math we are working on addition story problems (see attached Home Link), and on learning strategies to help in quickly and accurately computing the basic addition and subtraction facts (up to 9+9=18). Triangle flash cards came home on Friday, which you can use for practice (ask your child how they work).

We are finishing our first social studies unit this week learning about cities, suburbs, rural areas and markets. I encourage you to take your child to the Oak Park Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning, to help him/her get a fuller understanding of these concepts.

Our Tasting, when we made a pretend trip to Mexico, was delicious & educational for all. Special thanks to Paco, owner of New Rebozo, who donated the guacamole and tortilla chips!! The next time your family goes out to eat, please consider going to New Rebozo, on Madison Street, near Harlem.

Homework: Review last week’s reading and math tests with a parent, to help you learn you’re your mistakes. Overall, I was very pleased with the outstanding job the students did on these tests! Daily: Get good sleep; eat a healthy breakfast! Read aloud for 20 minutes (starting Thursday, you can start filling in a Book It Calendar; 20 days of reading for 20 minutes earns you a free Pizza Hut pizza; practice a Mad Minute worksheet (A2 packet), practice spelling.
Due tomorrow: Home link (any time a Home Link comes home, it’s due the next day) Due Wednesday—remember to bring your library book if you want to check out a new one! Spelling workbook, pages 18, 19, 22; those doing challenge words, write a meaningful sentence with 5 of the challenge words instead of doing pages 24 & 25. For Friday: spelling test (Let’s all spell all 10 words correctly!)
For next Monday, Mad Minute packet A5 is due; remember your gym shoes!

Parents: Did you place an on-line order for Scholastic books? If so, please let me know.

Have you seen our bilingual Scholastic News? I’m still waiting for reimbursement for some subscriptions, and for the party money ($5. each). Thank you very much to those who contributed $1. for your child’s take-home folder and Let’s Chat book!

Week of September 21, 2009

Wow, we’ve completed 4 weeks of 2^nd grade, and finished our first unit in reading and math. Today we finished our “Sharing Stories” unit by discussing “connecting the selections” assessment, taking a listening test, and another one on a story read independently. Reading and spelling tests from last week are coming home today or tomorrow. Look them over, discuss them, and learn from your mistakes. I was very pleased with the outstanding job most students did on the comprehension, as well as in remembering to write in complete sentences, starting with capital letters & ending with periods.

Our new reading unit is Kindness; we start with a fun fantasy, “Mushroom in the Rain”. The vocabulary words to learn by Friday are: clearing, barely, drenched, huddled, flicked. The spelling words all contain the consonant blends of st and/or -nd.

In math we are finishing up the introductory/review unit: Numbers and Routines, with a test on Thursday. We will review the study guide in class on Wednesday. See the attached Parent Letter for an overview on Unit 2: Addition and Subtraction facts. I’ll teach different approaches to help your child learn to think strategically on these basic facts (up to 9+9=18), so s/he can learn to provide the correct answer automatically and correctly.

In social studies, our “People & Places” study includes learning about our neighborhood, and the characteristics of cities & suburbs. At home, or in the car, you can discuss the different features, as well as the similar features, of cities & suburbs. On Wednesday or Thursday, we’ll take another walking field trip to note features of Longfellow’s neighborhood. When we return to school, we’ll make a map of our neighborhood.

Tomorrow we start another curriculum that includes social studies and health –Tastings! Many thanks to Julian’s & Ian’s moms for helping each week with the serving & cleaning up! Not only will we taste great international food, we’ll learn the nutritive value of it, how it’s good for us, and about the culture and/or country where it originated. Look for a “book” to come home at the end!

Homework
Daily: Read aloud for 20 minutes; do 1 page of A4 Mad Minute, practice spelling & use the vocabulary words in sentences. Any time a math “home link” comes home, it is due the following day.
Due Wednesday: Math study guide! Also, spelling workbook, pages 14-17; Students with the regular spelling list (p. 16) need to do pages all 4 pages; Students who were given the challenge spelling words to learn do not need to do pages 16 & 17; instead they are to choose 5 of the challenge words, and write a meaningful sentence with each. Remember to bring your library book if you want to check out a new one.

For Thursday: be ready for our math test. Friday: spelling, reading & vocabulary tests;

Due next Monday, Mad Minute packet A4 is due; remember your gym shoes!

We’re excited to be able to see and hear authors David Shannon & John Scieszka on Wednesday afternoon. Come back for more fun & inspiration at 7 PM!

Week of September 14, 2009

This week’s story is “Tomas and the Library Lady”. Our understanding of Spanish and the larger world is increased in this sweet story of a migrant family. Our enjoyment & understanding of this story will be enriched by activities this week that tie in with this story. The grandfather in the story is an excellent storyteller; today we had our in-school field trip today with Professional storyteller, Chris Fascione! On Wednesday afternoon we will visit our neighborhood public library, just the way Tomas visited his neighborhood library. The vocabulary words to learn by Friday are: midnight, chatter, thorny, eager, howling. The spelling words all end with the /k/ sound.

In math we continue working with the 100 chart and the number patterns-these are the concepts that underlie our Base 10 number system. We will also make number models (equations) with greater than (>) and less than (<), for example 8 > 5 is a true number model.

In social studies we’re learning about “People & Places”, an introductory unit that deals with groups, communities and rules, similar to our Longfellow PBIS “cool tools

Homework
Daily: Read aloud for 20 minutes; do 1 page of A3 Mad Minute, practice spelling & use the vocabulary words in sentences. Any time a math “home link” comes home, it is due the following day.
For Parents: PTO meeting tomorrow evening, 9/15, at 7 PM in the school auditorium. Due Wednesday: spelling workbook, pages 10-11; Students with the regular spelling list (p. 12) need to do pages 12 & 13; Students who were given the challenge spelling words to learn are to choose 5 of the challenge words, and write a sentence with each. Remember to bring your library book if you want to check out a new one! Note: If you want, bring your public library card to check out a book or 2 on our field trip. Parents who have not yet granted permission for me to take your child on a walking field trip need to send me a note by Wednesday granting your permission. For Friday: spelling test; our first graded reading test on the content and vocabulary of “Tomas and the Library Lady” I will encourage the students to take the reading book home, to read & discuss it with you.
Due next Monday, Mad Minute packet A3 is due; remember your gym shoes! Wednesday. 9/23, 7 PM—come see authors David Shannon & John Scieszka! (We’ll also get to see them during the day!)

Are you able to help us?

1. Next week we begin “Tastings”, a delicious way we learn about good nutrition, staying healthy and other cultures. We need 2 volunteers to help set the table & wash dishes before & after the tasting. It will be most every Tuesday afternoon (time to be determined) this fall. Please let me know if you can help.

2. Can you help us collect things for our Rocks & Soil science study? We need rinsed out 2-liter bottles, and clean yogurt cups with lids. Just send them in as they’re available.

Ask your child to tell you: the special “-ck” spelling pattern (it’s in the workbook); a summary of his/her favorite story that Chris Fascione told; the number patterns on a 100 chart (ideally s/he will use words like “tens place” and “ones place”).

Week of September 8, 2009

Thank you to all of you dedicated parents who were able to come to Curriculum Night last Thursday. I have attached the Curriculum Night materials for those of you who weren’t able to make it. If you have not yet filled out the paper or online information and permission forms, please do so as soon as you are able. Your permission is important! For example: I am trying to plan a walking field trip to our neighborhood public library, to correspond with the library stories we’re reading these days; having your permission for such neighborhood walks will really be helpful!

This week we read and study “Story Hour—Starring Megan!”, fairly realistic fiction about a little girl who works hard learning to read, and finally reads aloud to the children at the local library. The vocabulary words to know for Friday’s test are: assistant, librarian, calm, patient, amazement. This week’s spelling pattern has words that begin with the consonant blends: gr, dr, tr. As we practice spelling, we also practice handwriting—remember pencil grip, topàdown motion and the “magic c”. On Friday’s spelling test it is also important to use lower case letters unless a capital letter is required.

An important reading and writing skill is the ability to identify the main idea(s). Either today or tomorrow we will watch President Obama’s speech to the schoolchildren of our country. Afterward we will write and discuss his main ideas, ie, what he wants the children to remember.

In math we are doing a variety of activities to build understanding of place value, digits, and our base 10 number system. This includes a lot of work with the 100s chart, as we grasp its logic and patterns, and how it can help us take shortcuts to figure out math problems.

Homework
Daily: Read aloud for 20 minutes; practice a Mad Minute worksheet (A2 packet), practice spelling
Wednesday—remember to bring your library book if you want to check out a new one!
Due Thursday: spelling workbook, pages 6- 9 (A number of students used their time very well in school today, and were able to complete these pages at school!!)
For Friday: spelling test; a “test” on the content and vocabulary of “Story Hour—Starring Megan!” (I won’t grade this one; it’s a chance for your child to work on his/her own; next week’s test will be graded.) I will encourage the students to take the reading book home, to read & discuss it with you.
For next Monday, remember your gym shoes!

For Parents: PTO meeting next Tuesday evening, 9/15, at 7 PM in the school auditorium

Heads up! There will be a substitute teacher on Thursday morning (when the 2^nd grade teachers have an in-service on the new Physical Science Curriculum) and also all day Friday (I’m going to Phoenix to spend the weekend with my dear cousin who is in the final stage of living with cancer.)

FYI: We have some heart-healthy kids in this class! They have gone beyond my expectations of running around the perimeter of the playground once a day (a distance of 1/5 mile), and are doing extra running! Some have even run a mile during recess (5 laps)! Others are using great math skills and adding up the fractions to keep track of how far they’ve run this year! Kudos to them!!