It's Friday!

We had another great week!  Keep reading to learn more!!

Reading
The theme in reading this week was Being Yourself. As a class, we spent a lot of time talking about what this means and why it is important for children to be proud of who they are. This week’s story, Meet Rosina by George Ancona, was about a young, deaf girl who lives a life very similar to lives of other children. Students were fascinated and excited to discover how much they had in common with Rosina! They were also excited to learn a little bit of sign language!

This week’s reading comprehension skill was the same as last week – identifying the main idea and 3-5 supporting details from a story. Overall, students are demonstrating some difficulty with this skill. We will continue working on this in school and I strongly encourage you to practice doing this at home as you read with your child!


This week, students were responsible for 2-5 reading centers. They included:

Art Center:  Students created name tags using American Sign Language finger spelling. (Ask your child if s/he can spell out his/her name!!)

Grammar Center:  We have been working hard this week to identify the subject and predicate of a sentence. The subject is who/what the sentence is about. The predicate tells what the subject is/is doing. (It is usually the “rest” of the sentence.) This week, the grammar center asked students to “blindly” pair subjects and predicates together to make silly sentences. Students then copied the 3 silliest sentences and illustrated a picture to match each one.

Listening Center:  Students listened to this week's story on CD and then wrote a few great sentences telling two ways they are alike

Writing Center:  Students worked to develop their dictionary skills by finding, writing, and defining this week’s vocabulary words.


Graphic Organizer:  Using the books read in small reading groups, students complete the graphic organizer to record the main idea and details of the story.


Spelling
This week, we reviewed short i and focused on the i_e pattern. This pattern creates a “long i” sound (iiiiiiiyyyy). The _ (underscore) represents a consonant.   The e in these words is silent, but it causes the i to “say its name” (iiiyyy). Students will recognize this e and may refer to it as:


King E, magic E, silent E, or sneaky E


Just like last week, I suggest that you point out words that follow this pattern as you go about your daily lives. They are more common than you think – and students will enjoy “hunting” for these words. (This activity will reinforce and strengthen students’ ability to identify and recognize spelling/word patterns!)


Grammar
Last week in grammar, students worked on identifying the subjects in a sentence. This week, we have been working to identify the predicate. The predicate of a sentence is usually the “rest of the sentence” (after the subject). It is the “action” part - it tells what the subject is or is doing.

1. Bobby works at the grocery store.
         works at the grocery store     tells what Bobby does.
2. The bird is green and gold.
         is green and gold         tells what the bird is.

Math
As mentioned earlier this week, students have been reviewing Frames and Arrows and also Function Machines.  Although the concept is simple, some of the problems can be really tricky - especially when there is a minus-rule!  Encourage your child to take his/her time!!

On Friday, students participated in a seasonal math activity - Pumpkin Estimation!!  After learning about pumpkin life cycles, students made estimates as to how many seeds our classroom pumpkin had inside!  Then, they tested their predictions - but counting the seeds!!  It turns out that our pumpkin had 461 seeds... Keifer's estimate was the closest!!  Take a look at the pictures below to see for yourself!

Mystery Reader
Our mystery reader this week was Andrew's mom, Mrs. Gilbert.  She read a story that fit right into our theme of Being Yourself. The story was titled, If Only I Had a Green Nose by Max Lucado.  It was a wonderful story - I highly encourage you to read it!!

Frames-and-Arrows

We combined art and math yet again in Room 13!  This week, students reviewed Frames-and-Arrows...a concept introduced in first grade.  Frames-and-Arrows problems are a fun way for students to think algebraically! A “rule” is given (ex. +2) and then students must fill in empty “frames” by following this rule:

After working together to complete a few Frames and Arrows diagrams, students then created their own, individual diagrams with construction paper and good thinking! The final masterpieces are displayed in the hallway outside of our classroom. Take a look below to see students in action!

The Missing Link

Several students came in to school this morning with notes saying that the link I provided to go along with the extra credit balance activity was not working.  Yikes! I'm sorry!!

I'm including a working (?) link here: http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?id=33.  The Balance Brain Buster link can also be found at the bottom of our blog, under Science. 

Please let me know if you STILL have trouble!  Thank you for your patience!!

Another Week Gone By!

It's hard to believe that we are halfway through October already!!  The weeks are flying by!  We have been very busy in Room 13 this week - keep reading to find out more!

SPELLING
This week, students were reintroduced to “SNEAKY E” (aka: King Ed, or Silent E). Students’ spelling lists had a few short a review words (with the consonant-vowel-consonant pattern) as well as some words with the a_e pattern. This pattern creates a “long a” sound (aayy). The _ (underscore) represents a consonant. Words that follow this pattern include:

game                 slate

made                place

grape                 lane

The e in these words is silent, but it causes the a to “say its name” (aaayyy). Students should be aware that this is just one way to spell the long a sound.


Suggestion: Point out words that follow this pattern as you go about your daily lives. They are more common than you think – and students will enjoy “hunting” for these words. (This activity will reinforce and strengthen students’ ability to identify and recognize spelling/word patterns!)



Reading
This was an exciting week in reading because we read our first Time For Kids article! This week, the selection was titled “Fighting the Fire.” From this selection, students learned all about forest fires and the many different roles that firefighters have. They were even introduced to an old friend, Smokey the Bear! (He was actually a “new friend” to most of them!!) Ask your child to tell you a few interesting facts that they learned about fires this week!
Since this was the first nonfiction story that we have read from this reading program, we spent a lot of time talking about the different features offered by a nonfiction text. Some of these features include:

 Real/authentic photographs
 Factual information
 Captions
 Glossary
 Index

This week, we have been working really hard to identify the main idea and supporting details of a text.  This is a difficult, but important, skill – one that students will need to utilize throughout their academic career.  It takes a great deal of practice and I really encourage you to reinforce it at home.  You can do this by reading a book together and then coming up with a good sentence that tells what the WHOLE story is about.  Then, work to identify 3 details that support/give information about the main idea. (Students sometimes get confused with facts/details that are interesting and facts/details that are important/supportive). 

Centers and Reading Groups

Students were responsible for 4 reading centers this week, including:

Phonics Center - This center focused on Word Families (words that all share the same rime/ending.) Words in the –ame Word Family, for example, include name, game, shame, etc. The ability to identify Word Families helps students read and spell more difficult words. In this center, students worked to create Word Families with the following rimes:  -ame -ate -ack -ash -ake
They then used tangible cubes to create real words and recorded their ideas.

Grammar Center - This week, students were reminded that every complete sentence must have a subject (who or what the sentence is about). In this center, students cut out 2 pictures from a magazine of a person or animal. They then wrote a complete sentence about each picture and circled the subject.

Buddy Reading - With a partner, students read the short story, Let's Bake a Cake, and hunted for words with short a and long a (a_e) patterns!
Writing Center - Students look through photographs from the 2007 wildfires in California and wrote one statement, one question, and one exclamation about the fires.

Graphic Organizer - After reading a story in their small reading group, students created a web identifying the main idea and details. 

Math
We have been focusing a lot on Name Collections these past few days.  Name Collection Boxes are boxes in which we represent a number in many different ways.

On Friday, we connected math to reading with the story, Pumpkin Heads, by Wendell Minor. After reading and discussing the story (and all the great pumpkin faces illustrated in the book), students created their own Name-Collection Pumpkin Heads! You can see a few below - and check out the rest in person at the Harvest Festival!

Science
This week, students learned more about solids and liquids. They should now understand that solids are a type of matter that has its own shape. That’s not to say that solids can’t change their shape, but it is important for students to understand that they HAVE their own shape. Solids can be hard (desk) or soft (pillow), natural (wood) or people-made (plastic).


Liquids are another type of matter. Liquids take the shape of whatever container they are in. They do NOT have their own shape. Liquids can be thin or thick, heavy or gooey. Ask your child about the fun experiment we did with different containers!

Mystery Reader
Our Mystery Reader today was Mrs. Markey - Julia's mom.  She read two wonderful stories.  Take a look at the pictures below!

Book Orders

Students are bringing home several Scholastic Book Order catalogs today and I hope you have a chance to look them over!  There are so many wonderful books, book sets, and literacy games/activities - I hope you consider ordering a few for your child(ren). 

I am trying a new system with book ordering this year.  Parents are now able to order and pay for books themselves on-line. Just visit http://teacher.scholastic.com/clubs/ and log-in as a parent.  Then, type in our classroom code (G2CLN) and order away!  Your order will be sent to me, so that I have a record of it, and your books will be shipped to our classroom.  In addition, our classroom will receive $3.00 in free books for every on-line parent order!   

Some students have told me that their home computers are "going crazy" so if you would rather complete the order form by hand and send in a check, that is fine too!!  Send the order and the check in to school and I will enter the order for you - no problem!

I know that the children are really excited about some of the books available this fall (e.g. the latest book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series) and it's great to see how enthusiastic they are about reading!  If you would like individual recommendations for your child, I would be happy to provide you with a few suggestions - just let me know!

I am asking all orders to be entered or sent in no later than Thursday, October 21.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! 

We're in the News!

Last week, reporters from the Metrowest newspaper came to Elmwood School to learn more about the Witt Fitt balls.  Take a look at what they wrote!

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/education/x427652430/Hopkinton-students-have-a-ball-with-new-seats

Fact Family Fun!

Today we solidified our understanding of Fact Families, a concept introduced and learned back in first grade, that clearly demonstrates the relationship between addition and subtraction.  As a refresher, fact families are 3 numbers that are all "related" to each other.



For example:     2, 3, and 5 are a fact family


With these numbers we can create the following 4 number models/number sentences:

2 + 3 = 5

3 + 2 = 5

5 - 2 = 3

5 - 3 = 2

           

Students often have trouble with the subtraction models, trying to subtract the two smaller numbers and getting a different answer (example: 3 – 2 = 1). The key to Fact Families is that you always use the same 3 numbers. If a child can recognize this, then math facts will become much easier!

Expanding on this idea, students worked today to create 4 different "fact families" in 4 different houses.  Take a look below to see them hard a work!