Dear Families,
This week we "made" a sound wave by scattering around the room and raising hands when we heard a ball bounce on the floor in the middle of the room. Students noticed how the people nearest the ball heard the sound first and then it traveled to the outskirts of the room with a wave of hands going up. It was very cool to see. We also did a daylight study for the beginning of spring. We looked at how the location of the sun in the sky has seemed to change through the seasons. We also read Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Art by Thomas Locker to notice more differences in the sky throughout the seasons.
We also read more books about the Earth, the moon, and the solar system. We listened to a song about the planets and tried to think of a mnemonic to help us remember the names of the planets. Here are a few we came up with:
1) My very eager mother just served us noodles.
2) My very excellent mother just served us nachos.
3) My very energetic mother just served us nuts.
We read one more funny but informative book that gave us more information about why Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet--the book was Pluto Visits Earth! by Steve Metzger.
Students made a ton of progress in researching their PLP topics. If you haven't done any online or book research at home yet, please make some time to finish this over the weekend. Next week we'll be beginning to organize our facts into topics to create a rough draft of our report.
Many students finished the second lowercase letters handwriting packet this week. We've been tackling the "dive down" letters: p, r, n, m, h, and b.
Second grade mathematicians began a new unit on geometry and fractions with Mr. Hedler and are practicing their addition and subtraction skills with travel story problems. First grade mathematicians are working on fluency for addition/subtraction fact families for combinations of 5 or 10, working on the concept of subtraction with larger two digit numbers, and learning about measurement.
Don't forget next Thursday and Friday are half-days for students. School lets out at 12:30 those days. Parent-Teacher conferences are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday after school. I'll post the schedule outside our door. Please be on time because most conferences are booked back-to-back.
One more note: On Thursday April 16th our class and Ben's class will be performing a song we learned in Primary Sing at the All School Meeting, 2:30-3:15. If you'd like to hear our song, please join us at the meeting!
Friday, March 27, 2015
Friday, March 20, 2015
Highlights of the Week 3.20.15
Hello families,
This week we read from The Really Big Universe, Light up the Night, and Me and My Place in Space. We also were excited to get some new books for our classroom library. Some class favorites were from the "Elephant and Piggie" series--great books to read with a partner and practice expressive reading!
Our research and writing for PLPs is going very well. Students are reading non-fiction books on their topic, either on their own or with help from an adult, and taking notes about important facts they've learned. We've been working on the summarizing skill--reading a page or paragraph and summarizing the information in our own words. On Friday I sent home a PLP notefact paper packet in case you want to help your child do some research online--they are really excited to do research!
We explored sound with stringed instruments and "found" instruments in the classroom this week. Students formed bands and performed their own songs. We also watched some great videos--slow motion sound and kitchen drawer drumming. If you want to check them out with your child, here are the links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpoanOlb3-w&noredirect=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osFBNLA7woY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prYK1hu-exg
In Team Building with Ms. Caswell the students were excited to do some new movement activities and watch a jump roping competition (they are doing a jump roping unit in P.E.). Here are the links if you want to try them out at home:
This week we read from The Really Big Universe, Light up the Night, and Me and My Place in Space. We also were excited to get some new books for our classroom library. Some class favorites were from the "Elephant and Piggie" series--great books to read with a partner and practice expressive reading!
Our research and writing for PLPs is going very well. Students are reading non-fiction books on their topic, either on their own or with help from an adult, and taking notes about important facts they've learned. We've been working on the summarizing skill--reading a page or paragraph and summarizing the information in our own words. On Friday I sent home a PLP notefact paper packet in case you want to help your child do some research online--they are really excited to do research!
We explored sound with stringed instruments and "found" instruments in the classroom this week. Students formed bands and performed their own songs. We also watched some great videos--slow motion sound and kitchen drawer drumming. If you want to check them out with your child, here are the links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpoanOlb3-w&noredirect=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osFBNLA7woY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prYK1hu-exg
In Team Building with Ms. Caswell the students were excited to do some new movement activities and watch a jump roping competition (they are doing a jump roping unit in P.E.). Here are the links if you want to try them out at home:
Also, don't forget to sign up for a conference if you haven't done so already! (The link is in last week's post.)
Have a great weekend and happy first full day of spring tomorrow!
Important Dates:
April 2 & 3 -- 1/2 Day for students-- Parent/Teacher conferences in the afternoon
April 16 -- All School Meeting 2:30-3:15
April 20-24 -- Spring Break
Friday, March 13, 2015
Highlights of the Week 3.13.15
Hello again families,
We've been busy in our first 8 days back since vacation. In writing students got their research books from Mrs. Woodard and we began reading and writing down facts we know for our Personal Learning Plans (PLPs). To do this we practice the comprehension strategy of summarizing to say the important information in our own words. The goal is to find facts on our topic to answer some or all of our guiding questions. Thanks so much for helping your child get ready with these guiding questions and prior knowledge facts!
In science we've continued our sound unit. This week we experimented with various materials to see what kinds of sounds we could produce. We decided that moving objects to create vibrations is how we can produce sound. We also made our own kazoos with different materials (waxed paper, tin foil, plastic wrap) covering the end of the tube. Students tested which material created the best kazoo for air to bounce around--causing buzzing vibrations. Most students brought home their tubes so you can try it out at home with other coverings and see what happens! With amazing coincidence--the topic for our 4 Winds class this Friday was the nature of sound! Thanks to Honi and Dina who came in to help us with more sound experiments that deepened our understanding!
This week we read two dog sled books, Bravest Dog: The True Story of Balto and Akiak: A Tale from the Iditarod in honor of the beginning of the Iditarod race this week in Alaska. We also continued to read from A Child's Guide to the Night Sky and learn more about our universe and beyond! I also read a sample first grade report--All About Grace Potter-- written by my 6 year old step-daughter!
In second grade math we've made great progress in the standard algorithm for addition and subtraction. We continue to practice borrowing/regrouping with two and three digit numbers. Second graders have also become masters of telling time to 5 minute increments! If you have an analog clock at home, have your child check the time at home too to solidify and expand these skills. This week we did a culminating time project--an All About Time book. These should come home soon so take a look--they did amazing work!
In first grade math they've been noticing patterns in numbers, working on the number line, and practicing skip counting (counting by 2s, 5s, 10s--forwards and backwards).
This week was full of special events too: in Team Building, the class participated in an Outdoor Walking event with Ms. Caswell; we cashed in some bonus recess points (earned by mastering sight words) and had 10 minutes and 30 seconds of extra recess on Thursday, and we had an All School Meeting.
Last week we went to the Rumney sugarbush to tap trees. This Friday morning we went with our buddies to see if there was any sap to collect. We're excited to help make maple syrup!
With sugaring season also comes mud. This week we've had some very wet recesses. Please consider sending in an extra set of clothes or gloves for your child in case they get soaked through snowpants. Also, having a plastic bag to help transport home very wet things can help save backpacks and folders from getting soggy. This is also the most important time of year to have a dry change of shoes for school so we don't get mud in our rug and carpet. Nobody likes sitting on a wet rug!
Lastly, parent teacher conferences are coming up. On Thursday and Friday April 2 & 3 we have half-days for students. The afternoons are slotted for conferences. Please check the list of available times and sign up for your conference!
Here's the link: http://grades.wcsuonline.org/rumney/conference/
We've been busy in our first 8 days back since vacation. In writing students got their research books from Mrs. Woodard and we began reading and writing down facts we know for our Personal Learning Plans (PLPs). To do this we practice the comprehension strategy of summarizing to say the important information in our own words. The goal is to find facts on our topic to answer some or all of our guiding questions. Thanks so much for helping your child get ready with these guiding questions and prior knowledge facts!
In science we've continued our sound unit. This week we experimented with various materials to see what kinds of sounds we could produce. We decided that moving objects to create vibrations is how we can produce sound. We also made our own kazoos with different materials (waxed paper, tin foil, plastic wrap) covering the end of the tube. Students tested which material created the best kazoo for air to bounce around--causing buzzing vibrations. Most students brought home their tubes so you can try it out at home with other coverings and see what happens! With amazing coincidence--the topic for our 4 Winds class this Friday was the nature of sound! Thanks to Honi and Dina who came in to help us with more sound experiments that deepened our understanding!
This week we read two dog sled books, Bravest Dog: The True Story of Balto and Akiak: A Tale from the Iditarod in honor of the beginning of the Iditarod race this week in Alaska. We also continued to read from A Child's Guide to the Night Sky and learn more about our universe and beyond! I also read a sample first grade report--All About Grace Potter-- written by my 6 year old step-daughter!
In second grade math we've made great progress in the standard algorithm for addition and subtraction. We continue to practice borrowing/regrouping with two and three digit numbers. Second graders have also become masters of telling time to 5 minute increments! If you have an analog clock at home, have your child check the time at home too to solidify and expand these skills. This week we did a culminating time project--an All About Time book. These should come home soon so take a look--they did amazing work!
In first grade math they've been noticing patterns in numbers, working on the number line, and practicing skip counting (counting by 2s, 5s, 10s--forwards and backwards).
This week was full of special events too: in Team Building, the class participated in an Outdoor Walking event with Ms. Caswell; we cashed in some bonus recess points (earned by mastering sight words) and had 10 minutes and 30 seconds of extra recess on Thursday, and we had an All School Meeting.
Last week we went to the Rumney sugarbush to tap trees. This Friday morning we went with our buddies to see if there was any sap to collect. We're excited to help make maple syrup!
With sugaring season also comes mud. This week we've had some very wet recesses. Please consider sending in an extra set of clothes or gloves for your child in case they get soaked through snowpants. Also, having a plastic bag to help transport home very wet things can help save backpacks and folders from getting soggy. This is also the most important time of year to have a dry change of shoes for school so we don't get mud in our rug and carpet. Nobody likes sitting on a wet rug!
Lastly, parent teacher conferences are coming up. On Thursday and Friday April 2 & 3 we have half-days for students. The afternoons are slotted for conferences. Please check the list of available times and sign up for your conference!
Here's the link: http://grades.wcsuonline.org/rumney/conference/
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