YIKES! I kept telling myself I would get back to the blog, and as I look at when I last posted, it has been a LONG time since you last got a glimpse inside 2A. We have gotten back into more of our regular routine after spending time learning about Medieval Times. Our Medieval Day was FABULOUS! Thank you so much for the donations and volunteer help. We honestly couldn't have done it without you. The kids had a great time, and a reporter from the Wellman Advance came and did a story on our day. You will find it in this past week's paper. Our MAPS tests turned out pretty good for most everyone. In math, all of us made progress, and in reading, most scored higher.
We continue to build our comprehension skills in reading. When you get the chance to listen to your student read, be sure to ask them questions such as: What is happening? Why do they like a certain character? What has been your favorite part? Why did a character do a particular thing? Listening to them read at a speed that you can understand, and a speed in which they are knowing the words without having to sound them out is our goal.
In math, we are studying patterns. We have worked on using the number grid to help us figure number patterns quickly. We have been working with complements of 10 so that we can use basic facts to help us figure addition and subtraction problems. You can help at home by continuing to ask basic facts when you are driving down the road, or having them tell you the time at different parts of the day.
In science, we have moved from building understanding in how balance works to using those concepts to make things balance while being in motion, like a top.
Each day brings new things to learn and try out. The days go so fast that we must make the most of the time we have. I have enjoyed this class and can't believe how fast our time goes together. Do you think we could just make the world spin a little slower-making our days a little longer?
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Thursday, November 1, 2012
When the Lights Went Out
This week has been a very out of the ordinary week! Mrs. Fisher has been thinking about report cards and conferences this week, while 2A students had been dreaming about Wednesday, Halloween night! Wednesday was a day of celebrating, as we used our math skills to examine various parts of pumpkins, such as its circumference, price per pound, number of lines, and number of seeds. Mr. Bean, Alex's dad was able to help us with our work. We also found out that pumpkins float not sink! After everyone cleaned their pumpkins and seeds out, we found out we had about 2900 seeds for 7 pumpkins. Wednesday was an early out day, which always makes things short, and a bit hectic. After lunch, we had our party and got the chance to parade around for the other rooms.
On Thursday, we did the second half of our fall celebration, using candy corn to estimate and measure different parts of the room and ourselves. Thursday was Day 1, the start of a new rotation, and our morning special is music. We were in the middle of music when everything went dark! It seemed odd at first, but the power stayed off for about 4 hours. We did our best to continue the school day, and it was interestingly quiet when we all settled in to get some work done in the dark. We got to eat in the classroom in the dark. Who knew that would be seen as such a reward! I will have to keep that in mind for the future. The power did come on before it was time to come home. We hadn't considered how much we use the document camera and smartboard, and the internet to help us throughout the day. It gave us a new appreciation for being thankful for what we have! The evening was a great time to meet with many 2A parents and talk over where we are and where we are headed for our year in second grade. I look forward to meeting with the rest of you next week!
Don't forget that this Friday night, November 2, is the PTO skate night at the skating rink. Cost is $1 for skate rental. The skate runs from 6:30-8:30. On Saturday, November 3, will be the Chip Shoppe fundraiser pickup. The pickup goes from 8:30-11 AM. This will be a busy weekend!
On Thursday, we did the second half of our fall celebration, using candy corn to estimate and measure different parts of the room and ourselves. Thursday was Day 1, the start of a new rotation, and our morning special is music. We were in the middle of music when everything went dark! It seemed odd at first, but the power stayed off for about 4 hours. We did our best to continue the school day, and it was interestingly quiet when we all settled in to get some work done in the dark. We got to eat in the classroom in the dark. Who knew that would be seen as such a reward! I will have to keep that in mind for the future. The power did come on before it was time to come home. We hadn't considered how much we use the document camera and smartboard, and the internet to help us throughout the day. It gave us a new appreciation for being thankful for what we have! The evening was a great time to meet with many 2A parents and talk over where we are and where we are headed for our year in second grade. I look forward to meeting with the rest of you next week!
Don't forget that this Friday night, November 2, is the PTO skate night at the skating rink. Cost is $1 for skate rental. The skate runs from 6:30-8:30. On Saturday, November 3, will be the Chip Shoppe fundraiser pickup. The pickup goes from 8:30-11 AM. This will be a busy weekend!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
October 24, 2012
It was an exciting day 5 today as we played Flashlight Tag in PE to start off the day! Later on, we got to hear a story another student has written using the Harris Burdick pictures we are using. Then we started our own stories based on the pictures of Harris Burdick, a portfolio collection from author Chris Van Allsburg. This afternoon, Pam Holz, the Washington County Naturalist, came today to talk about stewardship of the land. This was a good tie-in to our unit on Soils. We began an experiment to see which of the 3 soils we have been studying is the best soil for growing cucumbers: clay, sand, or humus.
I will throw out that reminder that homework needs to be done nightly, and returned the next day. If your student doesn't have their homework at school the next day, they will do it at recess. Building responsibility is SO important!
I hope you have taken advantage of the Allentown math website and the Tumblebooks website I listed in last Friday's note. I will work on getting those links onto this blogger, but this is a new skill for me, so be patient with me.
We are finishing Unit 3 in math and will be taking the progress check tomorrow. In this unit we have begun the basics of making change, so that is a skill you can be practicing with your student. Here is the way I would suggest making change: 1) get to the closest number that ends with a 5 or 0; 2) get to the closest quarter; 3) get to the dollar; 4) count up to any other dollars. 5) Add up the change. An example of this would be: I pay $1 for something that costs 37 cents. 1) Get to the closest number that ends with a 5 or 0- that would be 3 pennies to get me to 40 cents. 2) Get to the closest quarter, (which is 50 cents) and that would be 10 cents. 3) Get to the dollar-50 more cents to get to $1. 4) No other dollars to count up to 5) Add up 3 pennies, 10 cents, and 50 cents, and that equals 63 cents. I hope this will help as you practice. Take the opportunity to use objects at home and assign them money amounts and practice counting up to $1. If your student gets good at $1, work up to $5.
Hard to believe that we are in the last full week of October-my how the time and days fly!
It was an exciting day 5 today as we played Flashlight Tag in PE to start off the day! Later on, we got to hear a story another student has written using the Harris Burdick pictures we are using. Then we started our own stories based on the pictures of Harris Burdick, a portfolio collection from author Chris Van Allsburg. This afternoon, Pam Holz, the Washington County Naturalist, came today to talk about stewardship of the land. This was a good tie-in to our unit on Soils. We began an experiment to see which of the 3 soils we have been studying is the best soil for growing cucumbers: clay, sand, or humus.
I will throw out that reminder that homework needs to be done nightly, and returned the next day. If your student doesn't have their homework at school the next day, they will do it at recess. Building responsibility is SO important!
I hope you have taken advantage of the Allentown math website and the Tumblebooks website I listed in last Friday's note. I will work on getting those links onto this blogger, but this is a new skill for me, so be patient with me.
We are finishing Unit 3 in math and will be taking the progress check tomorrow. In this unit we have begun the basics of making change, so that is a skill you can be practicing with your student. Here is the way I would suggest making change: 1) get to the closest number that ends with a 5 or 0; 2) get to the closest quarter; 3) get to the dollar; 4) count up to any other dollars. 5) Add up the change. An example of this would be: I pay $1 for something that costs 37 cents. 1) Get to the closest number that ends with a 5 or 0- that would be 3 pennies to get me to 40 cents. 2) Get to the closest quarter, (which is 50 cents) and that would be 10 cents. 3) Get to the dollar-50 more cents to get to $1. 4) No other dollars to count up to 5) Add up 3 pennies, 10 cents, and 50 cents, and that equals 63 cents. I hope this will help as you practice. Take the opportunity to use objects at home and assign them money amounts and practice counting up to $1. If your student gets good at $1, work up to $5.
Hard to believe that we are in the last full week of October-my how the time and days fly!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
No Time Like the Present
Last year my technology goal was to start a blog. Well, I got the blog started, but didn't stay as current with it as I could have. Since I have a fresh group of students and we are still in the beginning of the year, there is no time like the present to try it again-so here we go! Be patient with me as I try to keep up with the blog, as our days at school seem to fly by, and as my children at home grow, the nights seem as fast, by the time we run from activity to activity. Alright- enough about beginning, now on about 2nd grade!
We have had a great first six weeks in 2A! We have done our beginning year testing for our core areas of reading and math. We have worked through the first 2 units in math and created our reading goals for each individual student. In a nutshell-we are off and running! Our classroom has gained a new student today named Dustin. I was proud of how the class took right off getting to know him. It won't be long and he will be just one of the gang! I am impressed with how intelligent the class is. We do tend to be quite social, so we are working on remembering to be respectful of the everyone in the classroom so they can hear the teacher and each other.
Tomorrow night is our Curriculum Night-Taco Supper-Fundraiser Book Fair. Students can bring their purple book vouchers tomorrow night and choose the books they would like to get. The Wellman Elementary PTO is sponsoring a free will donation walking taco supper. Mrs. Cayton and I are looking forward to you stopping in the second grade classroom to find out more about second grade curriculum and expectations. There are 3 sessions that should give you the opportunity to find a time that meets us.
Well-I will be looking to meet parents tomorrow night-bring me your questions and I will do my best to help with anything you wonder about in second grade!
We have had a great first six weeks in 2A! We have done our beginning year testing for our core areas of reading and math. We have worked through the first 2 units in math and created our reading goals for each individual student. In a nutshell-we are off and running! Our classroom has gained a new student today named Dustin. I was proud of how the class took right off getting to know him. It won't be long and he will be just one of the gang! I am impressed with how intelligent the class is. We do tend to be quite social, so we are working on remembering to be respectful of the everyone in the classroom so they can hear the teacher and each other.
Tomorrow night is our Curriculum Night-Taco Supper-Fundraiser Book Fair. Students can bring their purple book vouchers tomorrow night and choose the books they would like to get. The Wellman Elementary PTO is sponsoring a free will donation walking taco supper. Mrs. Cayton and I are looking forward to you stopping in the second grade classroom to find out more about second grade curriculum and expectations. There are 3 sessions that should give you the opportunity to find a time that meets us.
Well-I will be looking to meet parents tomorrow night-bring me your questions and I will do my best to help with anything you wonder about in second grade!
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