Dear families,
Which special do you think is best? Why? Listen to these persuasive groups and see if your opinion gets changed by their STRONG reasons.
Here's how we came up with the groups:
1. We signed up on a chart under our favorite special and gave reasons why we thought what we did
2. We split into groups based on our favorite special
3. Anyone was able to switch but we have some brave students in our class who believed in their special and why it was best and were okay with being by themselves or with one other person! All students were brave - don't get me wrong! Public speaking is not easy - but I think our class rocks at coming up with strong persuasive speeches!
P. E. Persuasive
Music Persuasive
Spanish Persuasive
Library Persuasive
Art Persuasive
Computers Persuasive
P. E. Persuasive (group 2)
Monday, May 20, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Safari Room Sentinel!
Safari Room Sentinel!
Dear families, we had an awesome week this week and finished on a fabulous Friday field day! woo hoo!
Next week:
In Language Arts: We will be reviewing consonant sounds that follow the "Flippy Dolphin" rule, such as: c: /s/ or /k/ sounds s: /s/ or /z/ sounds y: /y/ long i or long e sounds g: /g/ or /j/ sounds and working to apply these in our reading and writing. We are also studying the last comprehension strategy of synthesizing. This is hard to say, and we've learned that we synthesize all the time when we read. We've learned that as our thinking changes and we make new meaning in a text based on our schema and our connections, we are synthesizing.
We've been reading stories about diverse families and hardships they go through -- and how things are not always as they seem at the beginning of a story. This has been a lot of fun to hear how your child synthesizes in their own reading, too.
In Math: We are continuing to work on adding two digit numbers. Students are able to use the strategy that works best for them: either drawing all the sticks and circles and grouping them, or making the new group within the equation. I am amazed at their understanding of this concept and we will continue to practice next week! Look for a short show me modeling another strategy for grouping within the equation next week! We have also been working with coins in class. Practicing identifying and counting pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Any chance that you have spare change around and your child can practice counting it is a great way to help them get ready for this in second grade! We use fake money and I know they love it, but nothing is quite as good as counting real change :) hehe.
In Social Studies: We've studied maps and learned about absolute locations-places with addresses. We've also studied how humans modify the environment to meet their needs and adapt to the environment to survive. We read a very interesting book (all wordless) called, "The Window" that shows how the environment changes over time to meet the needs of humans. We had mixed reactions on whether these modifications are good or bad - it was an interesting discussion to have!
In Writing: Have you been persuaded yet? We are loving working on persuasive writing and making sure our reasons are "strong" and "juicy." I know I'm working on persuading Mr. Richert to get a puppy, but I'm not sure my reasons have been strong enough yet :) We will continue working on this and incorporating social studies concepts about the environment and taking care of it next week.
Dates to Remember: May 24: Last Day of the Just Right Book Room
May 27: No School - Memorial Day
June 4 & 5: Half Days of School / Last Day of School
This has been a great year and I wish your families the best this summer. Hopefully we have a lot of sunshine and your child has a great time with family, friends, Summer Stretch activities and of course, curling up with some great books!
Next week:
In Language Arts: We will be reviewing consonant sounds that follow the "Flippy Dolphin" rule, such as: c: /s/ or /k/ sounds s: /s/ or /z/ sounds y: /y/ long i or long e sounds g: /g/ or /j/ sounds and working to apply these in our reading and writing. We are also studying the last comprehension strategy of synthesizing. This is hard to say, and we've learned that we synthesize all the time when we read. We've learned that as our thinking changes and we make new meaning in a text based on our schema and our connections, we are synthesizing.
We've been reading stories about diverse families and hardships they go through -- and how things are not always as they seem at the beginning of a story. This has been a lot of fun to hear how your child synthesizes in their own reading, too.
In Math: We are continuing to work on adding two digit numbers. Students are able to use the strategy that works best for them: either drawing all the sticks and circles and grouping them, or making the new group within the equation. I am amazed at their understanding of this concept and we will continue to practice next week! Look for a short show me modeling another strategy for grouping within the equation next week! We have also been working with coins in class. Practicing identifying and counting pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Any chance that you have spare change around and your child can practice counting it is a great way to help them get ready for this in second grade! We use fake money and I know they love it, but nothing is quite as good as counting real change :) hehe.
In Social Studies: We've studied maps and learned about absolute locations-places with addresses. We've also studied how humans modify the environment to meet their needs and adapt to the environment to survive. We read a very interesting book (all wordless) called, "The Window" that shows how the environment changes over time to meet the needs of humans. We had mixed reactions on whether these modifications are good or bad - it was an interesting discussion to have!
In Writing: Have you been persuaded yet? We are loving working on persuasive writing and making sure our reasons are "strong" and "juicy." I know I'm working on persuading Mr. Richert to get a puppy, but I'm not sure my reasons have been strong enough yet :) We will continue working on this and incorporating social studies concepts about the environment and taking care of it next week.
Dates to Remember: May 24: Last Day of the Just Right Book Room
May 27: No School - Memorial Day
June 4 & 5: Half Days of School / Last Day of School
This has been a great year and I wish your families the best this summer. Hopefully we have a lot of sunshine and your child has a great time with family, friends, Summer Stretch activities and of course, curling up with some great books!
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
Safari Room Sentinel 4 - 15 - 13
What's Up Next Week...
In Language Arts we will continue to study Narrative Texts and also start studying the theme of Cooperation in Reading Workshop. We will build on this theme which will culminate in a district-wide writing assessment in a few weeks. We are learning to identify themes within narrative and supply evidence to prove those themes.
We will start to learn about different "Vowel Teams" in Phonics. This goes with the old rule, "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." We will study this throughout April.
In Writing workshop, we are continuing to use different text structures to write narrative stories. We've studied fairy tales, sequential stories and cumulative stories this week. Punctuation and Capitalization for beginning of sentences and names of people and things are a focus area for us at this time of the year.
In Math, we will start Unit 7 which focuses on Time and Measurement. Unit 6 was challenging for many students, especially with comparison story problems and representing them with the comparison bars, so we used a few extra days on working on those strategies in small groups. As I am learning this new math curriculum too, I am hoping to be able to revisit these concepts later in the year to work on mastery!
In Science, we are hoping to finish our Weather Watchers unit! Unforutnately, we've had so much "Weather" this week that we haven't had a good chance to get outside and continue our observations! Crossing our fingers for next week!
Classroom Donations:
Thank you to parents who have continued to donate snack, kleenex and hand sanitizer! We never seem to have enough of any of those items and any time they are donated, it is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Dates to Remember:
April 16: Spring Book Fair!! Our Book Fair time is 9:45 - 10:27 on Tuesday, but you are welcome to come in anytime!
April 17: Donuts with a Special Person at 8:00am in the Multi-Purpose room!
*Have a lovely weekend!
In Language Arts we will continue to study Narrative Texts and also start studying the theme of Cooperation in Reading Workshop. We will build on this theme which will culminate in a district-wide writing assessment in a few weeks. We are learning to identify themes within narrative and supply evidence to prove those themes.
We will start to learn about different "Vowel Teams" in Phonics. This goes with the old rule, "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." We will study this throughout April.
In Writing workshop, we are continuing to use different text structures to write narrative stories. We've studied fairy tales, sequential stories and cumulative stories this week. Punctuation and Capitalization for beginning of sentences and names of people and things are a focus area for us at this time of the year.
In Math, we will start Unit 7 which focuses on Time and Measurement. Unit 6 was challenging for many students, especially with comparison story problems and representing them with the comparison bars, so we used a few extra days on working on those strategies in small groups. As I am learning this new math curriculum too, I am hoping to be able to revisit these concepts later in the year to work on mastery!
In Science, we are hoping to finish our Weather Watchers unit! Unforutnately, we've had so much "Weather" this week that we haven't had a good chance to get outside and continue our observations! Crossing our fingers for next week!
Classroom Donations:
Thank you to parents who have continued to donate snack, kleenex and hand sanitizer! We never seem to have enough of any of those items and any time they are donated, it is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Dates to Remember:
April 16: Spring Book Fair!! Our Book Fair time is 9:45 - 10:27 on Tuesday, but you are welcome to come in anytime!
April 17: Donuts with a Special Person at 8:00am in the Multi-Purpose room!
*Have a lovely weekend!
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