September 3- September 6

NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Welcome to Team Blowey!  I, for one, and so excited for this year!  I hope you are excited, too!

This space will be updated weekly.  My goal is to upload any news and announcements we might have as well as letting you know a little bit about what we are learning about for the week.  My hope is that this can be used to spark some conversations at home about what we are learning at school.  I confess!  I, too, was one of those kids who always went home and gave about two words about my school day.  "It was good" or "We didn't really do anything" were two very common phrases that came out of my mouth.  However, I think that it would have been a lot easier for me to have a conversation with my parents about what I was learning if they knew a little bit about the specifics of what was going on that week as well.  Hence, the creation of this blog!  It can't get lost in a crumpled pile in the bottom of a backpack or eaten by the family dog!  You can check it at your own leisure and I am always open for any questions, comments, or insights you might have!  

Here is our special schedule:
MONDAY: P.E. (Bring those sneakers!)
TUESDAY: Music
WEDNESDAY:  Art
THURSDAY:  Spanish
FRIDAY:  Library (Don't forget those books!)

With an early morning lunch, we will be having snack in the afternoon.  Please make sure you send your child to school with a healthy snack to help keep their brains energized for the rest of the day.  Please DO NOT send any snacks that contain PEANUTS, STRAWBERRIES, OR PINEAPPLES!  This includes juices as well.  Thank you for helping us keep our students safe!  If you would like some suggestions for healthy snacks, I would be more than happy to send some your way!

Students are permitted to bring water bottles and keep them on their desk throughout the day.  However, I do ask that these water bottles contain WATER ONLY!  

If you haven't sent your child to school with a two-pocket folder, please send them as soon as possible. These folders will be used as our home-school connection folders and will be used daily.  There may be some days where there will be no papers sent home, however, I do ask that the folders always make it to school the next day just in case we need them!  If purchasing a folder is a hardship for your family, please let me know!  I am more than happy to make some arrangements so that your child has all of the learning tools they need to be successful in second grade!

My hope is to send out a paper version of a newsletter by the end of the month.  That newsletter will include information about behavior expectations, positive reinforcement, a picture tour of our classroom, etc.  That way you can get a real feel for what it's like in the wonderful world of room 10!

THIS WEEK IN...

Classroom Community:  The first six weeks of school will focus primarily on building our classroom community!  For this reason, any and all volunteers will begin sometime in October.   To let you gain some insight on what we are doing to build our classroom community, here is some information on some of the activities we have been doing.


Morning Meeting:  We start every morning with a morning meeting.  We begin with a fun greeting that we pick out of our “Good Morning Sunshine!” box.  These greetings can be anything from a chant or cheer to a simple friendly handshake.  Then, we have time for news and announcements.  We each take turns sharing something from our lives that we would like to group to know.  We have been telling each other all about our fun summers and what we’re excited about for the year!  Then, we have a chance to use our morning meeting board to review some important topics like using a calendar, days of the week, graphing the weather, and tracking the days of school.  After calendar time, we read our morning message and sing our school vision.  Finally, we end morning meeting by saying the Pledge of Allegiance.  

Getting to Know You Activities:  We have been playing lots of games and doing lots of fun activities that allow us to get to know some of the new friends that our in our classroom.  These activities are incredibly important in building our classroom community!  We have a chance to get to know each other, learn to trust each other, and get the true feeling of being a part of a team!  Ask your child about playing games like a warm wind blows, octopus, toilet tag, captain's coming, or indian chief.  You can even ask them about our second grade survey and our Find-a-Friend activities!  


Trading Cards:  Since we are Team Blowey, it is only fitting that we each have our very own trading card!  This week, students will be creating the information for the back of their trading card.  This information might include their name, their favorite subject, or their favorite school memory.  Then, we'll take a fun and colorful picture on our playing field (the Russell School playground) for the finishing touch!  Once these are completed, they will hang out in the hallway for a few weeks for everyone to check them out and get to know Team Blowey!

Beginning Our Classroom Vision:  Our classroom vision will become a central part of our everyday classroom lives.  We’ve started by thinking about what would the best year ever in second grade look like.  Today, students wrote down things in response to these three questions:  What makes a good teacher?  What makes a good student?  What makes a good classroom?  We got responses that varied from a colorful classroom to good listeners.  From these responses, we organized them into the following categories:  fun, respect, helping, working hard/doing your best, self control, safe, creative, and learning.  Later this week, we will vote on four words that we think are the most important to us in making room 10 the best place to be!  Once we have our four power words, they will be used to create several drafts of a classroom vision for students to vote on.  Once our classroom vision is decided, it will become the center of our classroom, driving everything we do!

Read Alouds:   Our read alouds will focus on various desired qualities.  On the first day of school, we read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes.  We used this book to remember this phrase, “Before you speak, think and be smart.  It’s hard to fix a wrinkled heart.”  Basically, we used the book to demonstrate how saying or doing mean things to someone can wrinkle their heart and although we might apologize, we can’t make the heart “unwrinkle” again.  The goal is to get Team Blowey to be more aware of how the things they say and do really affect those around them. The next book we read was Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud.  This book uses a bucket to represent the good feelings we have about ourselves.  When our buckets are full, we are smiling and happy!  When our buckets our empty, we feel sad and lonely.  We talked about how when you fill someone’s bucket by saying and doing nice things, your bucket gets filled too!  However, when you try to be a “bucket dipper”, you not only “dip” from someone else’s bucket, but you also “dip” from your own bucket.  Bucket dipping will never give you a full bucket.  Next, we read The Recess Queen where Mean Jean rules the playground, leaving everyone else taking cover!  That is, until Mary Sue comes along!  Mary Sue's bright and bubbly personality paired with her willingness to include Mean Jean in her recess games turns Mean Jean around and makes for one very happy and fun playground.  Team Blowey discussed the power of treating others the way you want to be treated, even when it might be difficult.  Respect plays a huge role in everyone's lives!  Later this week, we will be listening to Yo! Yes?, a fun story about making new friends.  This story is definitely appropriate for the start of a new year, in a new classroom, with new teammates!  We'll also be reading Lily's Purple Plastic Purse, a story where Lily just can't wait to share her new purse with everyone in class, even if it's not the best time and interrupts everyone's learning.  This book takes a sympathetic look at using self control and following directions, two very important things to remember in second grade.  Next, we'll be reading Swimmy, a story that shows how one fish, with ingenuity and teamwork, can overcome any danger.  

Daily 5:   For those of you who don’t know, the Daily 5 is a program that we use to help us practice our literacy goals.  This week, we began practicing and talking about read to self.  Students have brainstormed student responsibilities and teacher responsibilities.  The students will get started right away, work the whole time, be quiet, build their reading stamina, and stay in one spot.  When we talk about stamina, we're talking about doing anything for a long period of time without getting tired or giving up.  These will become our expectations for when students practice their read to self time.  The teacher might be listening to students read or working with individuals or groups of students.  This week, we started building our reading stamina by reading for three minutes at a time.  As we keep practicing, we’ll continue to build our stamina to about thirty minutes of focused reading time.

We will also begin our conversations about how we should pick “just right” books for ourselves.  We will use the acronym I PICK to help us.  I stands for “I choose the book”.  P stands for purpose.  Why are we reading the book?  I  stands for interest.  Am I interested in the book?  C stand for comprehend.  Do I understand the book?  And K stands for know.  Do I know the words in the book?  We will read the book Goldisocks and the Three Libearians by Jackie Mims Hopkins.  It’s a spin off of the traditional Goldilocks and the Three Bears but instead of searching for the perfect porridge, Goldisocks is searching for the perfect book!  

We'll also begin talking about writing.  We'll build a chart with the expectations for writing time and begin to build our writing stamina.  In order to do this, we need a way to find a topic to write about with ease.  This week, we'll be creating heart maps, where students will draw and write different topics that are close to their heart that they may like to write about.  For example, my heart map my show my family, the beach, swimming, reading, hiking, or my cat, Daisy.  These heart maps will become the cover of our journals, making them very easy to find and helping us save minutes!  





As the year progresses, I hope to put up pictures of some of the activities we are doing throughout the week.  Pictures really make things come alive!

Please keep in mind that these are tentative plans for the week and may be changed as necessary to meet the needs of Team Blowey!  

If you have any questions, comments, or insights about anything you see or read on the blog, please let me know!

I hope you have a wonderful week!

June 10-14

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

We will be going on another field trip to Dunn School on Friday!  If you signed the permission slip and said that you would be sending your child with a lunch from home, please remember to do so!  If you signed the permission slip and said that you wanted your child to have the lunch from Dunn, they will be receiving a packed lunch while we are there.  Let me know if you have any questions!

Next Tuesday morning (6/18)  at 10:00 a.m., we will be having an awards ceremony for Team Blowey!  Following the awards ceremony, I will be showing a slideshow with some of our favorite memories from the year.  You'll also have a chance to get autographs from the stars themselves!  I will be sending home a paper invitation tomorrow (hopefully!) to remind you as well.  I do ask that you RSVP either on the invitation itself or via email so I have a rough idea of how many people to expect.  It will help with the set up of the classroom.  The awards ceremony will be over promptly at 11:00 as we will be getting ready to go to lunch.  Please let me know if you have any questions!  We hope to see you there!

This week in...

Language Arts:  This week, we will be doing a couple of activities.  First, we'll be doing another round of reader's theatre folk tale style!  Students will be put into groups and perform different folk tales.  Students will have to work together and also practice reading their parts fluently so they can entertain the class!  My hope is that they'll have some time to create some props and backgrounds as well.  The other activity we will be doing is creating a memory book for second grade.  They'll have the chance to reminisce on their time in second grade and also some time to look forward to third grade with this activity!  

Math:  We'll be wrapping up our measurement unit this week with a performance task.  Students will collect materials from outside to create a fairy house.  They will measure their materials, make a line plot, and also answer some questions about the materials and the measurements they collected.  When they have finished collecting all of their data, they will have a chance to build their fairy houses in the woods.

Other activities:  Cursive!  Students will have the chance to practice writing their names in cursive as well as some other letters and short words.

Team Blowey Wordle:  All year long, Team Blowey has been creating wordles for each other during our all-star weeks.  My hope is that we'll be able to create a giant wordle with words that they think describe Team Blowey.

Cleaning!  We'll also be cleaning out a lot of our supplies this week and next week! 

June 3-June 7

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS!

Can you believe it's June already!?!  School will be over before you know it and our super second graders will be off to Dunn School to be terrific third graders!  Whoa... 12 more days!!

FIELD TRIPS GALORE!  Woo!  We have LOTS of field trips coming up!  By now, I have received the permission slip and admission fee from most of you for the Wildlife Park.  If you have not done that yet, I need it by tomorrow!  Three more permission slips went home with your child today:  Weather Presentation at Memorial (6/5), Historical Tour of Gray (6/10), Step Up Day at Dunn (6/14).

June 5th:  Weather Presentation at Memorial School.  We will be combining the second grade classes from Memorial and Russell School for this very special presentation!  Mallory Brooke from Channel 8 will be coming and doing a presentation for us!  Be sure to check out the morning show from 4:30-7 on Wednesday morning for their report on their visit to our schools!  PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN THE PERMISSION SLIP BY TOMORROW!

June 7th:  Wildlife Park trip.  As a celebration of our animal study unit,  we will be going to the wildlife park to check out some awesome animals!  Students and chaperones should have sent in $3.50 each for the admission fee.  Also, students will be allowed to bring two extra dollars if they so choose to buy an ice cream or a drink from the snack shack.  Please do not send the money ahead of time.  Please send it with your child on Friday morning!  Students will also need to bring a packed lunch!  A paper reminder will also be sent home in totes on Thursday.  Remember to dress for rain or shine!  We'll be going no matter what the weather brings!

June 10th:  Historical Tour of Gray.  Some students from GNG middle school will be leading us through a historical tour of Gray.  We'll be visiting Mayall Mills, Fire Station, Forest Ranger, State Police, Warden Service, Libby Hill, and the historical society.  Please remember to send a bag lunch with your child!  We will be eating lunch on this field trip and not at school.

June 14th:  Step Up Day!  To help ease some of the nerves, we'll be visiting Dunn School.  We will have the chance to enjoy some activities with a third grade classroom, have lunch in the cafeteria, and play on the playground!  Your child can bring a packed lunch from home or choose to have a school lunch prepared at Dunn School.  Please note your choice on your child's permission slip.

As a reminder for all permission slips, please remember to write your child's name on the designated line at the top of the permission slip! 

That last homework packet is due tomorrow!  Please send it back to school with your child!

This week in...

Phonics:  We are working with the "or" sound with these spelling patterns /or/, /ore/, /oar/.  Here are our words:  board, roar, oar, north, port, fort, store, more, tore, and wore.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  invented, design, products, instrument, powerful, and allowed.  We'll figure out what these words mean and develop connections to them.  Then, we'll search for them in the short story called Kid Inventors:  Then and Now by Kali Capria.

Comprehension:  We'll be using a comparison matrix to compare Benjamin Banneker, George Washington Carver, Sarah E. Goode, and Patricia Bath after reading African-American Inventors by Jim Haskins.  While reading, we'll find information about what they invented, what their inventions are used for, a little about their childhood, and whether or not they were born free or into slavery.  Using the matrix, we'll talk about ways they were alike and ways they were different.  COMPLEX THINKING SKILL!  WOOHOO!

Writing:  This week, we'll be working on our final writing project:  personal narratives.  A personal narrative is a story that is about a memory or important event in your life.  Today, students started brainstorming different memories they had... fun times, angry times, scary times, etc.  From there, they chose the memory that they would be most interested in writing about and sharing with others.  Then, they created a web of details that they could remember.  We really tried to emphasize using their senses.  What did you hear?  What did you see?  What did you taste?  What did you smell?  What did you feel?  Later, they will use their webs to write a rough draft.  Then, they will self edit and publish their final draft.  Here is what we're looking for in their writing:

1.  Student uses adequate details that describe the actions, thoughts, and feelings of an event or sequence of events.  (Does your writing give us enough details to make us feel like we're there with you?)

2.  Students stays on topic.  Their story goes in order and they use appropriate transition words to make writing flow.  (Do you use transition words to help your writing make sense and keep your story in order?)

3.  Student can spell second grade words correctly.  (Do you spell your priority words correctly in your writing?  Are most of your words spelled correctly?)

4.  Student uses appropriate capitalization and ending punctuation.  (Do you have capital and lower case letters where they belong?  Do you always capitalize the word "I"?  Do all of your sentences have commas in appropriate places and correct ending punctuation?)

Math:  We are continuing with our measurement unit.  Students have been working with several measurement standards.  First, they are learning to estimate the length of something in appropriate units.  For example, they can tell if an object is about an inch, a foot, or a yard long.  They can also tell is something is about a centimeter or a meter long.  Second, students are learning to make numerical estimates as well.  For example, they can look at a pencil and estimate that it might be about six inches long.  Third, students are selecting and using appropriate tools to measure various items.  That means student can decide when it is best to use a ruler, yardstick, meter stick, or measuring tape.  Fourth, students can use a tool with both standard and metric units and correctly identify and measure with those units.  For example, students can use a ruler with inches and centimeters.  If they are asked to measure a pencil with inches and a marker with centimeters, they can correctly choose which side of the ruler to use.  And last but not least, students can measure to the nearest unit by following our measuring rules.  Those rules are:  start at the zero mark, correctly choose a tool and a unit, read a measurement to the nearest inch or centimeter, if you use more than one measuring tool, you make sure they are placed exactly next to each other without overlapping or leaving any gaps.  

We've been doing this with a variety of activities.  My hope this week is to review our measurement rules and put them to the test in a measurement craftivity (craft activity).  Then, we might be able to begin our performance task:  Fairy Houses!   When we build fairy houses, students will be able to gather supplies from outside, measure them, and then use them to build some fairy houses in the woods.  

Social Studies:  We are continuing to focus on our leadership qualities.  Now that we have had a day to focus on each of our habits, we'll be deciding as a whole group, which leadership quality will be our new goal for each day.  Basically, during morning meeting I will give the class a chance to say which leadership quality is the one they think we need to work on the most.  Then, we'll spend some time reviewing that quality and be on the lookout for those who show it!  Those who do will earn leadership certificates!  Please refer to my previous post for more information on the specific qualities we are focusing on.  They come from the book Seven Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or insights!  I hope you all have a wonderful week!

May 28-May 31

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Thank you so much to everyone who was able to send in extra shoe boxes and clay!  Team Blowey was able to start making their dioramas today.  They are having so much fun already!

Remember, the cookout is this Friday at 11.  You must send in an order form to reserve a meal for your child and yourself.  Directly following the cookout, parents are invited to take a tour of Team Blowey's Wildlife Park!  The team will be showing you their animals in their habitats and answering any of your questions.  I will send home a paper reminder as well.  We hope to see you there!

Please send in your permission slip and money for the Wildlife Park as soon as possible!  Please let me know if you need another copy of the permission slip.

Team Blowey did not fill out homework packets today.  We will fill them out tomorrow.  With so many festivities going on, there will be no spelling words to practice this week and therefore, no spelling test next Monday.  Students are still asked to read for at least 20 minutes each night and practice their math facts.  IXL is encouraged as well.

This week in...

Language Arts:  This week will be focused on completing our animal reports and dioramas.  Students are working hard at finishing their final drafts with neat handwriting and making sure they have correct ending punctuation and lowercase and uppercase letters where they belong.  For our dioramas, students will be working hard to mold their animals out of clay.  They will also be painting their shoe boxes to look like their animal's habitat.  When they are finished painting, they will have the chance to add some 3D elements, both from nature and handmade.

Math:  We will be focusing on our measurement unit.  Our essential standard is that students are able to measure using inches and centimeters by selecting and using appropriate tools including a ruler, measuring tape, yard stick, and meter stick.  This week, students will have the opportunity to measure several things around the classroom using a variety of measuring tools.  While they are doing this, they will also be exposed to the idea of different units of measure.  For example, they will begin to see the pattern that the same object will be more centimeters than inches because centimeters are smaller units of measure.  

Social Studies:  Our focus on leadership continues with the seven habits of happy kids.  Each day we will have a new leadership quality to focus on.  Tomorrow, we will focus on thinking win-win.  The following day, we will focus on first seek to understand and then to be understood.  On Friday, we will focus on synergizing, working like a team!  Each morning we'll talk about what kind of behaviors would show each leadership behavior.  Throughout the day, I will be on the lookout for students who are showing those behaviors so that we can send a leadership certificate home.

May 20- May 24

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Homework packets are due tomorrow!  Our last homework packet for the year will be filled out on May 28th and returned on June 4th.  So, including the homework packet that is due tomorrow, there are only 3 more packets for Team Blowey!  The end of the year is quickly approaching!

To all of Team Blowey's classroom volunteers:  Next week (May 28-31) will be the last week that we will have volunteers in the classroom.  Thank you all so much for continuing to spend your time with us!  So much of what we would do would not be possible without you!

CALLING ALL SHOE BOXES!  Each member of Team Blowey will need to send in a shoe box by Friday, May 24!  We will be working on our animal dioramas starting on Tuesday, May 28.  Extra shoe boxes are welcome to be sent in!  If you are unable to send in a shoe box, please let me know as soon as possible so I can find one for your child!  If you have any questions, please let me know!

We are also looking for modeling clay donations for our animal projects!  If you are willing and able to send in some clay, it would be greatly appreciated!

This week in...

Phonics:  We are working with /er/, /eer/, /ere/, and /ear/.  Here are our words for the week:  near, dear, ear, deer, steer, queer, verb, perch, here, and where.  

Vocabulary:  Our new words are impossible, treasures, watch, talent, and pleasant.  We will figure out what these words mean and then build connections to them.  Then, we will search for them in two short stories called Frozen Art and Elephant Artists.  

Comprehension:  This week, we will be working on making judgements.  That means we are thinking about the information that an author presents to us and then form an opinion on the topic.  We'll be doing this while we read Music of the Stone Age.  Our focus question of the week will be:  How do you know that people made music thousands of years ago?  

Writing:  This week we will be finishing up our animal reports!  We're looking for Team Blowey to be able to present all of the information needed (i.e. interesting facts, what it looks like, what it eats, and where it lives) in an organized way.  Students will also need to pay attention to conventions.  That means, they will need to have upper and lower case letters where they belong, figure spaces between words, and correct ending punctuation.  As always, neat handwriting and good spelling are on our wanted list!

Grammar:  We will be working with adjectives that compare two nouns.  When we use adjectives to compare, we can add -er to the end of the word.  For example, we could say that my picture is bigger than her picture or we could say that this paintbrush is longer than that one.

Math:  Students will be finishing up some assessments both on our word problem unit and our extensions.   Students will also be working on a standards check-in to give me more information as to where I need to review with them or extend their knowledge before the end of the year.  My hope is that we'll get the chance to unpack our last unit... measurement!  It is going to be so much fun!

Social Studies:  As students are getting closer and closer to becoming third graders, a greater focus is going to be put on being a leader.  This week, students will have the chance to brainstorm some of the qualities they believe a leader should have.  We'll be looking for these qualities in some pictures books in hopes that it will spark some good conversation.

I'll also be tying in Seven Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey.  Sean Covey wrote the book and identified some of the habits of some of the most successful people.  With Team Blowey, I'm hoping to identify these habits with them and encourage them to show these qualities.  In doing so, students will be acting like leaders!

Here are the habits we'll be working on:

1.  Be proactive!  You are in charge of you!  Leaders are responsible, take initiative, and do the right thing without being asked, even when no one is looking.

2.  Begin with the end in mind!  In other words, have a plan!  Leaders plan ahead and set goals.  they look for ways to be a good citizen.  They do things that have meaning and make a difference.

3.  Put first things first!  Also known as, work first, then play.  Leaders spend their time on things that are the most important.  They set priorities, make a schedule, and follow their plan.  They are disciplined and organized.

4.  Think win-win!  I win, you win, we win!  Leaders balance courage for getting what they want with consideration for what others want.  They fill others' buckets!  They are problem solvers.

5.  Seek first to understand, then to be understood.  Another way of saying this is to listen before you talk.  Leaders are confident in voicing their ideas.  They look people in the eyes when they are talking.  They listen to people's ideas and feelings without interrupting.  Leaders also try to see things from other viewpoints.

6.  Synergize!  We work together!  Leaders value the strengths of others and learn from them.  They get along with others, even if they are different from them.  They work well in groups.  They are humble.

7.  Sharpen the saw!  Basically this means that leaders know what a healthy balance is.  Leaders take care of themselves by eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep.  They find meaningful ways to help others.  They spend time with their family and their friends.  And last but not least, they learn in lots of ways and places,  not just at school.

Be on the lookout for some leadership notes being sent home!  

Also, I'm loving this song that I heard on Sesame Street with Will I Am!  The lyrics are so powerful!  I'll be sharing it with Team Blowey so don't be surprised if you start hearing it at home too!

 

May 13-17

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Homework packets are due tomorrow!

Please remember to send in your child's permission slip and admission fee for the Wildlife Park as soon as possible!  If you have lost the original copy of the permission slip, please let me know and I will send home another.

Please remember to send a healthysnack in for your child every day!  We have 10 minutes to energize our brains with some healthy snacks to keep our bodies going until the end of the day!  If you would like some suggestions for healthy snacks, let me know!  I'd be happy to send some your way!

We'll be doing book buddies this week!

IXL:  please see previous posts

This week in...

Phonics:  We are working with /ar/, /are/, and /air/.  Our words are:  star, shark, care, stare, rare, dare, hair, pair, chair,  and fair.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  creating, memories, familiar, imagination, glamorous, and occasions.  We'll figure out what these words mean and build connections to them.  Then, we'll search for them in a story called Making Stories Happen.

Comprehension:  This week, we'll be working on drawing conclusions.  That means you make a decision about a selection based on text and picture clues and on what you already know.  For example, if we read a story that gave us facts like Sammy played with his cousins and pretended to be a teacher and that Sammy made up names for the cousins we might be able to draw the conclusion that Sammy was a creative person with a good imagination.

Writing:  We are continuing to work on writing our rough drafts for our animal reports.  It has been quite a challenge to be able to organize all of our research into a research report.  We're also working hard to make sure that we can provide evidence for the things that we say!  For example, we can't just say that polar bears are omnivores.  We need to prove that by saying that polar bears eat things like walruses and seals but they also eat berries, mushrooms, and seaweed.  By providing specific examples, we can provide our writing with more evidence and really show them that we have studied and become experts on our animals!

Grammar:  We will be working with "a" and "an".  It takes a lot of practice to recognize that we need to use "a" before words that start with consonant sounds and "an" before words that start with vowel sounds.  For example, we would say "a story" or "an apple".

Math:  This week, we will be wrapping up our word problem unit!  We'll also be visiting some of our extension standards.  For example, we'll have some time to practice some strategies for adding number strings.  We'll also be learning a strategy for how to add and subtract three digit numbers.  

Science:  We'll be doing a couple more weather tracking days where we use our homemade weather tools to help us track the changes in weather.  We'll also be having conversations around the kind of animals we've been studying (mammals, birds, reptiles, etc) and what are some of the features that make them fall into that category.  We'll also be talking about different habitats around the world and some of the characteristics of each of those habitats.

May 6- May 10

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Homework packets are due tomorrow!

Students will be bringing home their permission slip to go to the Wildlife Park tomorrow.  Please sign them and send them back ASAP!

I will not be at school tomorrow (May 7) or Friday (May 10) as I am attending the second part of a complex reasoning workshop.  If you have any notes about transportation please email them to Connie at cholland@sad15.org or send in a hand written note.  Thank you!

IXL practice:  please refer to previous posts.

This week in...

Phonics:  We are working with -dge, -ge, -lge, -nge, and -rge.  Here our the words we'll be practicing:  cage, page, judge, lodge, large, barge, bulge, change, range, and hinge.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  menu, fetch, forgetting, simmered, assembled, and devoured.  We'll figure out what these words mean and then build connections to them.  Then, we'll search for them in the story called Bobo's Celebration by Keith Fish.

Comprehension:  This week we will be working on distinguishing reality from fantasy.  That means what is real and what is made up.  We'll do this while we read Mice and Beans by Pam Munoz Ryan.

Grammar:  This week we'll be working with adjectives.  Adjectives are words that describe nouns.  

Writing:  We'll be finishing up lots of projects this week!  We'll be finishing up our poetry unit and our Cloudy with a Chance stories.  We'll also be working on taking our animal research and putting them into a rough draft using the format I described last week.

Math:  This week our focus will remain on solving problems with unknown change.  Students are encouraged to try and solve problems with multiple strategies.  Then, we'll do a little review of all of the strategies we've learned as well as the different kinds of word problems we've seen.

Science:  We will continue our cloud observations and weather observations using the tools that we have created.  

Social Studies:  We are placing a HUGE emphasis on respect this week.  Students are working towards earning respect stars throughout the day.  We always talk about respecting ourselves, respecting others, and respecting the school.

Let me know if you have any questions!