Dear Families,
It was so great to see so many of you this week for Open House. You got a chance to see first hand what we've been up to at school. I hope you're as proud of your child's work as I am. We've all been working hard during our first month at school.
Early in the week we celebrated the Autumnal Equinox by going outside on a Signs of Fall Hunt--using all our senses (except for taste). We also studied some fall leaves, diagrammed leaves, and looked at the texture and patterns of leaf rubbings.
This week I spent two days doing one-on-one reading assessments to get to know each child's strengths and needs as readers. This year we'll be learning more word decoding strategies and comprehension strategies to help all readers progress. I'll be posting the reading strategies charts (as well as our letter-keyword-sound alphabet) we use at school if you'd like to support your reader with using strategies at home too. Remember, it is the Rumney school expectation that every child reads and/or is read to for 20 minutes each night!
This week we read more small moment stories: Something Special for Me, The Dandelion Seed, and Amazing Grace. I hope you got a chance to check out some of your child's stories at Open House. We've really been working on sequencing our small moments by planning the beginning, middle, and end events.
In second grade math we've been exploring more strategies for adding and subtracting. We're also working on making our N+10 and N+9 facts into Snap Facts. Don't forget--those triangular flash cards help to practice these fact families as addition and subtraction facts! We've also been doing a lot of money counting and are practicing how to add money and write monetary amounts (i.e. popcorn costs $0.50).
I'm sending home information for the Scholastic Reading Club today. Also check out the link info I put right on the blog! Orders are due October 9th. Ordering online is quick and easy! I will accept paper orders but they must be paid by check--NO CASH.
Today was our All School Hike. Thanks to our parent volunteers for coming with us and enjoying this beautiful fall weather and terrific Rumney event!
Friday, September 26, 2014
Friday, September 19, 2014
Go Carrots!
An impromptu cheer of "Go Carrots" resounded after we finished
harvesting carrots for the Middlesex Foodshelf.
Highlights of the Week 9.19.14
Hello Families,
We've had another fun, busy week together. Our literacy routines and options have grown even more. This week we added Free Writing as a literacy choice. Students can work on any type of writing they choose--this is a very popular literacy choice! We also learned how to do Listen to Reading--listening to CD audiobooks. Listening to audiobooks is great for every type of reader--giving all access to higher level texts, interesting and fun plots, and juicy vocabulary. We also began to do our literacy sign-up routine during morning arrival time.
In writing we continue to add detail to our small moment stories, helping the reader picture what is happening. Some students are finishing stories and having a hard time thinking of another small moment to write about. At Open House next week, I'll give you a chance to brainstorm some small moment story ideas together. We read a few books this week that helped us see this detail in small moment stories first hand: The Day the Goose Got Loose, The Kissing Hand, A Chair for my Mother, and Knuffle Bunny.
We took some time in science to look at daylight and sun patterns again during the last true week of summer. Monday will be the autumnal equinox! We also harvested carrots (for the Middlesex Foodshelf), beets, and looked at the huge sunflowers from the garden. Thanks for your help with this project, Dina and Honi!
On Wednesday I was out and got a fantastic report from the guest teacher when I returned. Our class really knows how to show Rumney CARES!
Next Friday is our All School Hike. Grades 1/2 will be hiking together. Please return chaperone and permission slips on Monday so Ben and I can start to make our hiking groups!
Next week we'll also begin "Sharing." This is a time where students can share a short story from their life, share something they've made (i.e. craft project, drawing), photos of family or events, or interesting things from nature. (We will not be sharing about toys.) Please help your child prepare what they want to share. We have a 2 week sharing cycle. (Your child will share every other week--on their "couch day."
Week 1: Monday-Ace, Aiden, Alden Wednesday-Allie, Amanda, Anna Thursday-Caitlin, Elly, Gregory Friday-Henry, Jacob
Week 2: Monday-Jimmy, Josephine Wednesday-Josie, Kiersten, Logan Thursday-Tanner, Molly, Noah Friday-Olive, Meriah
Important Dates:
Tuesday September 23 -- Open House, K-2 6:00-7:00 pm, 3-6 6:30-7:30 pm
Friday September 26 -- All School Hike (rain date Tuesday September 30)
Thursday October 9-- All School Meeting, 2:45-3:25pm
Friday October 10-- NO SCHOOL for students (Teacher Inservice)
Monday October 13--NO SCHOOL (Columbus Day)
Friday, September 12, 2014
Highlights of the Week 9.12.14
Hello families!
We've had another full and fun week in first and second grade. We began a yearlong study of sunlight. We read What Is the Sun? to get our minds thinking. This week we gathered information for Summer--only a few days left! We tracked the location of the sun in the morning and afternoon, observed the amount of sunlight outside our window in the afternoon, and graphed the number of daylight hours. We also planted pumpkin seeds so we'll have some baby plants to study in a few weeks.
Our literacy routines are also expanding. This week we've focused on successful Partner Reading--what that looks like, sounds like, and feels like. We increased our quiet Read to Self time to 20 minutes. Some reading groups have begun as well. We're working on keeping a quiet working volume so readers can focus no matter where or with whom they're reading.
This week we read another CARES related book, Big Al. We also read a bunch of "Small Moment" stories: The Paperboy, Kitten's First Full Moon, and The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash. These books have helped us think about our own small moments that we're beginning to stretch out into stories. Writer's Workshop is in full effect! Everyone was excited to receive their own writing journals and begin to write their stories in detail.
Both first and second graders have been using Cuisenaire rods in math, creating concrete examples to understand the math concept and skills we're practicing. In second grade math, we're working on solidifying N+10 and N+9 addition and subtraction fact families. We've begun to dissect numbers and think about place value (i.e. 4,569=4,000+500+60+9). We're also invested in finding ways to show our thinking when solving story problems.
Friday was our first time meeting our 6th grade buddies for the year. Everyone had fun partner reading--both reading to their 6th grader and being read to!
**Please remember sneakers each Monday and Friday for P.E.!!!
Important Dates:
Tuesday September 23 -- Open House, K-2 6:00-7:00 pm, 3-6 6:30-7:30 pm
Friday September 26 -- All School Hike (rain date Tuesday September 30)
We've had another full and fun week in first and second grade. We began a yearlong study of sunlight. We read What Is the Sun? to get our minds thinking. This week we gathered information for Summer--only a few days left! We tracked the location of the sun in the morning and afternoon, observed the amount of sunlight outside our window in the afternoon, and graphed the number of daylight hours. We also planted pumpkin seeds so we'll have some baby plants to study in a few weeks.
Our literacy routines are also expanding. This week we've focused on successful Partner Reading--what that looks like, sounds like, and feels like. We increased our quiet Read to Self time to 20 minutes. Some reading groups have begun as well. We're working on keeping a quiet working volume so readers can focus no matter where or with whom they're reading.
This week we read another CARES related book, Big Al. We also read a bunch of "Small Moment" stories: The Paperboy, Kitten's First Full Moon, and The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash. These books have helped us think about our own small moments that we're beginning to stretch out into stories. Writer's Workshop is in full effect! Everyone was excited to receive their own writing journals and begin to write their stories in detail.
Both first and second graders have been using Cuisenaire rods in math, creating concrete examples to understand the math concept and skills we're practicing. In second grade math, we're working on solidifying N+10 and N+9 addition and subtraction fact families. We've begun to dissect numbers and think about place value (i.e. 4,569=4,000+500+60+9). We're also invested in finding ways to show our thinking when solving story problems.
Friday was our first time meeting our 6th grade buddies for the year. Everyone had fun partner reading--both reading to their 6th grader and being read to!
**Please remember sneakers each Monday and Friday for P.E.!!!
Important Dates:
Tuesday September 23 -- Open House, K-2 6:00-7:00 pm, 3-6 6:30-7:30 pm
Friday September 26 -- All School Hike (rain date Tuesday September 30)
Friday, September 5, 2014
Highlights of the Week 9.5.14
Hello families,
We've had a great week together getting to know each other more and creating a foundation for our classroom learning community. This week we brainstormed lots of ideas for what rules will help us learn together this year. We then whittled them down expertly into 5 classroom rules:
1. Respect things in the room.
2. Safety first
3. One hand, one voice
4. The Golden Rule
5. Do your best!
We did a lot of reading this week together, silently, and aloud. We practiced a Literacy routine of "Read to Self" and got up to 15 minutes of quiet independent reading so far! I also did a fun lesson on picking "Good Fit Books" by comparing them to shoes--not every shoe is right for everyone or every activity. Books are the same way--not every book is right for everyone or every purpose for reading.
We discussed our Rumney CARES words and thought of clues to help us remember the meanings:
Cooperation - Work together and help each other.
Courage - Try something new.
Assertiveness - Stand up for yourself. Say what you need.
Acceptance - Go with the flow.
Respect - Treat people and things nicely.
Responsibility - Take care of your things and yourself.
Empathy - Think about how other people feel.
Excellence - Do your best!
Safety - Keep your body safe and in control.
Self-Control - Make good choices.
I read many books to the class that demonstrated aspects of CARES as well as books that show reaching goals, connecting to our discussion of Hopes and Dreams for the year. We each worked to write down one or two goals to work on at school this year.
This week's reading log:
Matthew's Dream by Leo Lionni
Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus
Hot-Air Henry by Mary Calhoun
Molly the Brave and Me by Jane O'Connor
Important Dates
Thursday September 11 -- All School Meeting 2:45 pm
Friday September 12 -- Picture Day
Tuesday September 23 -- Open House, K-2 6:00-7:00 pm
Friday September 26 -- All School Hike (rain date Tuesday September 30)
We've had a great week together getting to know each other more and creating a foundation for our classroom learning community. This week we brainstormed lots of ideas for what rules will help us learn together this year. We then whittled them down expertly into 5 classroom rules:
1. Respect things in the room.
2. Safety first
3. One hand, one voice
4. The Golden Rule
5. Do your best!
We did a lot of reading this week together, silently, and aloud. We practiced a Literacy routine of "Read to Self" and got up to 15 minutes of quiet independent reading so far! I also did a fun lesson on picking "Good Fit Books" by comparing them to shoes--not every shoe is right for everyone or every activity. Books are the same way--not every book is right for everyone or every purpose for reading.
We discussed our Rumney CARES words and thought of clues to help us remember the meanings:
Cooperation - Work together and help each other.
Courage - Try something new.
Assertiveness - Stand up for yourself. Say what you need.
Acceptance - Go with the flow.
Respect - Treat people and things nicely.
Responsibility - Take care of your things and yourself.
Empathy - Think about how other people feel.
Excellence - Do your best!
Safety - Keep your body safe and in control.
Self-Control - Make good choices.
I read many books to the class that demonstrated aspects of CARES as well as books that show reaching goals, connecting to our discussion of Hopes and Dreams for the year. We each worked to write down one or two goals to work on at school this year.
This week's reading log:
Matthew's Dream by Leo Lionni
Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus
Hot-Air Henry by Mary Calhoun
Molly the Brave and Me by Jane O'Connor
Important Dates
Thursday September 11 -- All School Meeting 2:45 pm
Friday September 12 -- Picture Day
Tuesday September 23 -- Open House, K-2 6:00-7:00 pm
Friday September 26 -- All School Hike (rain date Tuesday September 30)
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Welcome!
Welcome to a new school year! I hope your child is enjoying our time together so far and is settling into our new first/second grade community smoothly. I'm working on putting together a classroom blog so you have access to our news and helpful links. I will continue to update this page throughout the year.
Please check back each Friday for our weekly highlights!
If you need to reach me directly about your child please call or email me at school!
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