The Learning Pad

2011-11-08T18:52:00.000-06:00

The past few weeks have been a whirl wind. It's hard to believe that the first quarter has come to an end. Thank you to all who came to parent teacher conferences. It was wonderful to sit down and talk with each of you. Your children are precious and I am enjoying being a part of their learning journeys.

We had an exciting day yesterday. One of our butterflies emerged from its chrysalis right before our eyes. It was an amazing sight. Timing was just perfect. We now have 4 butterflies in our butterfly habitat. One of them has injured wings. We have had some wonderful discussions about life, growth and compassion as we have studies insects. Today we got up close with our hand lenses and looked at the body segments and parts of both the beetles and the butterflies. The kids had a wonderful time.

Gogo came to visit during math today. He ate an awful lot and had a tummy ache again. We added up all the things he ate and discovered he ate a total of 107 things for breakfast. No wonder he was ill. We've been working a lot over the past week on how to make change. This has been a very difficult concept. We've also been working on place value of numbers with more than 4 digits. We played the digit game on the smartboard today and had a blast.

In reader's workshop we have begun a unit on visualizing. Today we read Night Sounds Morning Colors. What a beautiful text! It does a wonderful job of painting pictures in our heads. We have learned that readers want to awaken their senses as they read. We want to not just see the story, but smell it, feel it, hear it, and even taste it sometimes. We are also learning to track our thinking on post it notes as we read.

Our writing unit pairs right up with our reading unit and we are working on adding more details to our writing in order to paint a picture in the reader's mind. We are learning about powerful verbs and juicy adjectives. The kids absolutely love writer's workshop and can't wait to write each day.

We completed our Operation Christmas Child project last week. The kids collected enough stuff to put together 25 boxes. The had so much fun putting the boxes together for the children in Africa. I saw true compassion in action last week as the kids worked in partnerships to fill shoe boxes for children living in poverty in Africa. It was an incredible learning experience.

Pictures coming soon.......

2011-10-19T19:04:00.000-05:00

Ah... I'm just so proud of my second graders! Today I just stood back for a moment and watched my class for a few minutes during readers workshop. It was so awesome to see my group of little ones totally engaged in reading. In just a few short weeks they've come so far. The gentle hum of the room speaks loud and clear about what is valued in our classroom. I'm working hard to instill in the children a passion for reading. They are reading books, sharing books, laughing together, learning together and writing about their deep thinking. It's a truly awesome sight!

We've been talking a lot about wise readers, about making connections and about building endurance during reader's workshop over the past couple of weeks. We read a story about Sir Shackleton and his polar expedition in 1914. The kids loved the book. We learned a lot about endurance from the story and have been applying that to our own lives as readers.
This week we have also been talking a lot about targets. We must know ourselves as readers and seek to grow. Setting learning targets helps us grow as readers. Each of the children has taken time to set a reading target and recorded it in their reader's notebook. We also started our CAFE board where we post our reading targets.

Our writing unit has been very exciting. We looked at several books last week that were silly animal stories. We explored several texts and learned from those authors before trying out our own silly animal stories. This week we are reading some silly "scary" stories (not too scary... books like There Was An Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything). We brainstormed some scary words like dark, shadows, boo, creaky, etc and then the children began their own scary stories today (no blood or gore). The kids just seem to love writer's workshop and beg for more time each day.

One of the highlights of our week has been computers. I am teaching the children to use SMART Notebook software. We will be using this software to publish our writing pieces. I taught a college course this past weekend on using the software... and I think my little second graders are learning faster than some of my college students. They've already learned to change fonts and font color, add images and insert new pages. They have taken to it like fish to water. They've also learned how to save to their flash drives.

In spelling we have learned some new spelling songs, learned about compound words and contractions and explored the many ways to make the long e sound.

We're really having a lot of fun and learning a lot!

September/October photos

2011-10-08T16:31:00.001-05:00

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2011-10-06T19:08:00.000-05:00

Ah... life is good in second grade! What fun we've been having learning together! Today was our very first Frog Shop. The kids were SO excited to shop for treasures with their payday earnings. There are so many great life lessons learned through Frog Shop. The kids learn to work hard for their earnings, to count money, make change, make good shopping decisions, and to save for bigger purchases. We'll have the Frog Shop open twice a month.

The weather has been beautiful this week and we've taken the opportunity to enjoy it a couple of times. Earlier this week we took our writing outside and spent some time doing our writer's workshop out in the sunshine. Another day we went out and collected sticks for our insect habitats. We had a great time building the habitats for our milkweed bug eggs. We got to watch one hatch under our document camera and that was so totally cool!

Our read alouds this week have been awesome. We read Thank You Mr. Falker on Wednesday. This is the story of a young girl who struggles to learn to read. It is an incredibly powerful book about determination, compassion, and hard work. It is a true story based on the life of the author, Patricia Polacco. We also read another wonderful book about hard work called A Day's Work by Eve Bunting. This is the story of a migrant worker and his grandson who seek work, but make a big mistake by pulling out the plants and leaving the weeds at the gardening job they get. The young boy learns a powerful lesson about hard work, honesty, and commitment. These two stories lead to some great discussions and life discoveries. Earlier in the week we read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. This book introduced us to the reading strategy of making connections from the text to our own lives. We call these text to self connections. We took what we learned in this book about making connections and applied it to our other read alouds later in the week. The kids also learned how to use post it notes to track their thinking as they read. Many have begun making connections and tracking those connections on post it notes. It's exciting to see them taking ownership of their learning.

Our focus in writer's workshop this week has been on using punctuation and capital letters. You may have heard that Sunshine came to visit us on Wednesday. Sunshine is my ventriloquist dummy. She wrote a story and brought it to share with the class. Unfortunately she had forgotten all her punctuation. The kids really enjoyed helping her out and helping her fix her writing. They are already asking when she will come back to visit us again.

We have been working on the words there and their in spelling, as well as said, do, you and your. There and their are challenging. We've learned some songs to help us remember when to use each of them. In addition, we have been working with the ch, th, sh, wh, gh, and ph sound chunks.

Our math focus this week has been on addition strategies. Today we worked on the Mr. Nine strategy. Mr. Nine always wants to be a 10 so he steals one away from the number next to him. He becomes a ten stick and the other number is left one smaller. So, 9 steals one from 7. He becomes a ten and only six are left next door making an answer of 16. The kids enjoyed playing domino top it to practice their addition skills as well.

We are busy, busy, busy learning all day long and having a grand time doing it! I will try to post more pictures this weekend so check back soon.

2011-09-28T21:30:00.000-05:00

The kids were so excited today when I announced that it was time for writer's workshop. Many commented that it is their favorite time of the day. I love to see a passion for writing already starting to develop. We've been working on adding power words to our writing. Power words are words that add energy and excitement to our writing. Sometimes we call them juicy words. This week we have focused on adding sound words. We've got quite a list of sound words collecting on our anchor chart; words like boom, bang, crash, pop, and oops.

During reader's workshop we have been talking a lot about the importance of metacognition. Reading is thinking. We need to be aware of the thinking going on in our brains. As readers we need to be deep thinkers. Today we talked about our schema. Schema is everything you know and all the experiences you've had. Great readers activate their schema to help them understand what they are reading. We read Jamaica Tag Along today and made connections to our schema.
The children received their reader's notebooks this week. We did our first quick write today. A quick write is a 10 minute write time that follows our reader's workshop. It is a time for children to think and write about their thinking connected to their reading. Our notebooks become a showcase of our thinking and learning and are an important part of who we are becoming as readers.

During our vocabulary lesson today we focused on the words content and compassionate. Our discussion was quite powerful. We talked about children around the world who live in poverty and how we can show them compassion. This lead to a great discussion about being content with what we have as well. Our class would like to participate in a program called Operation Christmas Child as an extension of this lesson. This program collects small toys, school supplies, toothbrushes and other such toiletries, and small items that can be placed in shoe boxes. Shoe boxes are filled with the items and then sent around the world to children living in poverty. It is a wonderful program that helps the children learn not only about the world, but also about the importance of helping others. I will be sending home more information next week.

We finished up our first unit in math today. Our lessons this week have focused a lot on place value. We reviewed math symbols such as < and > and applied those to place value. We have also been working a lot with balancing equations. Learning the skip counting 6 song has also been another highlight of our math week. We can now count by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10's. The children are starting to apply their skip counting skills to multiplication and division.

Many of our pupae are now completing their metamorphosis and beetles are beginning to emerge. It has truly been exciting watching them break free. The children have made many wonderful and exciting observations and are learning a lot about the life cycle of insects. Later this week we will be introduced to milkweed eggs.

Learning together is so much fun! I think we're all loving second grade.

September photos

2011-09-24T18:20:00.001-05:00

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2011-09-21T21:14:00.000-05:00

Our mealworms are changing! We now have many pupa in our mealworm habitats. It's pretty exciting to watch all the changes taking place in our mealworms. We've observed several mealworms molting too. We used our hand lenses today to look at the pupa and then drew what we observed. We're looking forward to our first darkling beetle. It could happen any day now.

During our math lessons the past few days we have been talking and learning about equivalent numbers. There are many ways to make a number. We played a game I call Beat the Teacher yesterday and today. The kids are given a target number. They must then write down as many ways as they can think of to make that number in 60 seconds. While they record their thinking on their dry erase boards I record mine on the smartboard. Any equation or equivalency they come up with that I also have is crossed off the smartboard. The object of the game is for the kids to come up with more ways than the teacher to make a number. After eliminating all duplicates between kids and teacher today the kids had 14 and the teacher 5. We play this game throughout the year and as the year progresses the kids really do some incredible thinking.
We also added calculators to our math kits and learned how to program them to skip count.

Reading pizza has been the topic of our reader's workshop this week. We learned that reading is thinking. Just sounding out words is not real reading. Real reading happens when we combine words with thinking, much like a pizza isn't a pizza if it's just crust. When we read the text is like the crust and the thinking we do is like the toppings. We read two books about pizza too. As an extension of this idea, today we talked about a reading fog. Sometimes when we are reading a fog settles into our brain. We don't understand what we are reading. If we don't understand what we are reading we need to go back and reread and slow down and think. Thinking and understanding are a vital part of real reading.

In our writer's workshop we have talked a lot lately about all the things that writers write about. Today we created a chart with all the things that writers write about. Since we decided that writers write about the treasures of their hearts (friends, family, memories, places, pets, knowledge, etc) we made our chart look like a treasure chest. We will hang it on our wall to remind us of what we can write about.

We have learned some new songs this week too. The kids are really enjoying the Alphabet Island song. We are getting to know Active A this week. We learned that he can be a bit of a naughty letter and gets into a bit of trouble at times. Only two letters are allowed to babysit him. Y babysits for him at the ends of words and I babysits for him in the middle of words. They both scold him a lot saying "A, stop that, A don't throw your peas." When we see or hear the long A sound at the end of a word it is usually spelled ay. When we hear the long A sound in the middle of a word it is often spelled ai.

In spelling we are also working on their and there. We learned two songs to help us remember how to spell there and their and when to use each one. In addition, we are working on identifying base words and suffixes.

We are learning a lot and having a great time together!

2011-09-17T12:49:00.000-05:00

We finished up our first unit in reading on establishing a reading community. We've learned how to share our thinking with our talking partners and have practiced talking about a lot of cool books. On Friday we read a book called Those Shoes. In this story a little boy wants a certain pair of shoes really badly, but his family can't afford them. He finds a pair at a thrift store, but they are too small. He wants them so badly that he buys them anyway. Eventually he decides to give them away to another little boy who has smaller feet than he does (and who also can't afford new shoes). We used this book to launch a talk about finding good fit books. Often young readers struggle to choose books that are a good fit for them. They want to read chapter books like an older sibling or a friend or they gravitate to difficult non fiction books that look really cool. Those books are like books that don't fit us. While they look really cool, just like Those Shoes, they don't help us because they aren't just right for us. I brought a variety of shoes in differing sizes and used them to teach the lesson about finding those just right books. The kids thought it was really funny when I tried to slip my foot into a doll shoe.

We played a game in math class called Dog Bone. This is a number grid game that can be found online on our froggy fun page of our class website. We had a blast playing the game together. Our record is 8 bones in 60 seconds. We also did some number grid puzzles in our math books. These can be quite challenging, but the children did pretty well for our first time. Our skip counting is going really well too. We've got the 3's and 9's down. We're working on the 4's song now.

Our afternoon was filled with excitement. We started our first science unit on insects. We received a shipment of mealworm larva. Those little wiggly worm like critters caused quite an excitement in the classroom. The kids made observations about the larva using magnifying glasses and then created small habitats for their larva in small vials. We added oatmeal for food and sweet potato for water. In a few days our larva should enter the pupa stage. The excitement has only just begun.

2011-09-15T17:27:00.000-05:00

Our classroom is starting to feel like home. We've gotten to know each other and we are settling into our routines. We are enjoying learning together.
Today we learned how to use the laptop cart. The children learned their user names and passwords and practiced logging in. It was a monumental event in our lives! Your child needs to be able to type their first and last name, separated by a period (firstname.lastname) and memorize their 6 character password. The kids absolutely loved using the laptops. We will use them a lot as the year progresses.
Writer's workshop continues to be a favorite time of the day for many of the children. We have been learning about where authors get ideas. We've read several books by Donald Crews and learned that most of his stories come from his own personal experiences, the places he's been and the things he remembers. Today we read a book called Treasures of the Heart. We talked about how writers can write about the things they hold near and dear to their hearts whether it be a memory, an artifact or even an idea.
We've been practicing doing read to someone and read to self this week and have worked at building our reading stamina. We also learned how to use raz-kids.com to do listen to reading. The kids each got a card with instructions and their password so that they can utilize the program at home as well.
Our math lessons this week have focused on various number patterns. We have made many discoveries about the number grid and found many interesting patterns. We can now skip count by 2's, 3's, 5's and 9's. We've been using our new skip counting skills to work on multiplication. Today we also learned about how to work in small groups in math class. We practiced using our quiet voices, showing respect and being responsible.
Our day was filled with many wonderful experiences and we had a great time learning together!

2011-09-09T19:47:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Munch came to visit again today. The kids were so excited to see her again. She only wanted to eat contractions today. It didn't take the kids long to figure out what she wanted to eat.
We worked on addition skills in math this morning. We did a variety of activities on the smartboard and then played addition top it. We are moving quickly through the review material and eager to dive into more depth in mathematics. We've been doing a little with algebra and have learned that letters can take the place of numbers in math equations.
We were excited to start read to someone in reader's workshop today. We practiced using our EEKK voices. These are teeny tiny voices like a mouse voice that can only be heard by our partners. When we do read to someone we sit EEKK (Elbow to Elbow and Knee to Knee). This allows us to use our tiny voices. We read a story called Noisy Nora about a very loud mouse and talked about how loud noises can make it very difficult to concentrate and learn. That is why we need to use our tiny EEKK voices during our workshop time.
The children applied for classroom jobs today. They were able to apply for 3 different job positions. Children will receive their job placements on Monday. Jobs will be held for 1 month and then the children will have the opportunity to apply for new positions. The kids are excited about this opportunity. It is my hope that this will build a sense of responsibility in the children and also help them develop a good work ethic.
Mr. Oaks came to our classroom today for art. He taught the children to use oil pastels. The children are working on a weaving project using the pastels.
We spent some more time looking at the writing of Donald Crews today and then spent time writing in our notebooks. It's so exciting to see the kids enjoying writer's workshop. I am hoping that the laptop cart will be ready by next week so that we can start working on the computers during writer's workshop.
Our days are busy, but they are filled with lots of learning and lots of fun!

2011-09-08T20:43:00.000-05:00

Busy day in second grade today. On Thursdays we have both music and gym. Today we also had to squeeze in picture day. Still, we got in lots of learning! Our math lesson today focused on telling time. We talked a lot about the hour hand placement at half past the hour. The hour hand "travels" to the next number as the hour progresses. It keeps asking "are we there yet?"
We read a story titled Bigmamas by Donald Crews in writer's workshop. Crews wrote about a special place he would visit when he was growing up, As writers, we can also write about places we have visited. There was some great book talk going on as we read Bigmamas. It is filled with great vocabulary and takes place many years ago when people often traveled by horse and buggy and drew water from their wells.
Later in the day we read The Water Hole by Graeme Base. I used this book to launch our sharing circle procedures. We call our carpet area the watering hole. It is here that we gather to talk, learn and share. We learned the word "perimeter"too. We sit on the perimeter of the watering hole when we do a sharing circle.
The children met Gogo today during our spelling time. Gogo is a frog puppet who is a bit bashful. He likes to whisper in my ear. Gogo eats strange things and gets stomach aches often. He gives us clues to help us guess what he ate. Today he ate a chain and a train.
Tomorrow during reader's workshop we will be starting "read to someone". Our reading block consists of 4 components: read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, and write about reading. We are excited about adding read to someone tomorrow. In anticipation we had a discussion about what read to someone will look like and sounds like and created an anchor chart with the expectations.
Our day was full and busy. =) It was a good day!

2011-09-07T21:34:00.000-05:00

We are really off to a great start in second grade. We are having such a grand time learning together. Today we learned about math tools that we can use at home and at school to become better mathematicians. We started putting together our math kids. Today we added dice, rulers, clocks and a dry erase marker and sock. Later this week we will be adding our math cards. We also practiced skip counting by 3's and worked on multiplying. We learned that multiplication can by shown using an x or by using parenthesis. We found all kinds of number patterns on the skip counting grid for 3's. We played a game called Start-Stop counting where we start by counting by 10's, then stop and switch to 5's and finally switch to counting by 1's.

During our writer's workshop today we listened to an interview with Tomie Depaola. He talked about drawing and writing books. Writers sometimes draw pictures and then write, while other times they write first and then illustrate. When we don't know what to write about we can draw a picture and then write about it just like Tomie did.

We read a books called The Best Place to Read in reader's workshop. We are learning to make good choices when we choose a reading spot. We must think about ourselves as readers and choose wisely. Making wise choices is an important part of taking responsibility for our own learning.

Our spelling lesson focused on contractions today. We played a game on the smartboard called Fly By. The game is linked on our Froggy Fun page on our class website. The kids can play and practice at home if they'd like.

Don't forget that picture day is tomorrow. =)

Launching our week

2011-09-06T18:39:00.000-05:00

We launched head first into learning today. Now that we've got the rules and procedures established and have gotten to know each other a bit we are ready to get down to the nitty gritty. We started out our day with our very first "smartwork." Smartwork is our daily warm up. It starts out with a fix it sentence and then has a variety of math and language problems for the children to do. The children work independently on this for the first few minutes of the day while we wait for daily announcements and take care of lunch and attendance count. We then go through the material together on the smartboard and the children make corrections to their own work. This sheet goes home daily in the frog binder. It will allow you to see what learning targets we are working on in class.

After smartwork we started off with our first math lesson of the year. We worked with number sequence, number patterns, and skip counting. We played Froggy Number Squeeze on the smartboard after finishing our math journal assignment.

Writer's workshop is quickly becoming one of our favorite times of the day. Today we reviewed our lesson from last week about how everyone has a story to tell. Today we took it a little further and we started a list of things that writers can write about. The kids learned some more workshop procedures and then had time to write stories in their writing notebook. We ended our workshop with an author's share using the ipevo (A thank you to the pto for providing ipevo document cameras to all the teachers at Robinwood.). The kids LOVED sharing their writing! We practiced giving positive feedback to writers as well as suggestions for adding to their piece.

Reader's workshop follows our lunch and recess each day. Today we read McDuff Moves In. We practiced turn and talk with our reading partners and had a great discussion about how we must take time to learn new rules and procedures when ever we move into a new situation, just as McDuff did. We continued working on building our reading stamina and reached the 12 minute mark. We are excited to see our stamina graph growing and can't wait to see it reach the top (22 minutes).

During spelling today we reviewed how we can make new words by adding or removing letters. We did a smartboard activity using virtual "refrigerator magnets" and we had a blast! We also learned about contractions. We will be working with contractions a lot more this week.

After specials we spent some time putting together our frog binders and getting to know all the components inside. We learned how to fill out our daily reflection. The children will be reflecting on their behavior at the end of each day and scoring themselves on the Cool in the Pool reflection sheet in their binder. They will be using a wet erase marker, which they will keep in their zippered pouch in their binder. You should use this same marker to initial their behavior log each day. Be sure to take time to go over your child's frog binder this week. It is a vital part of our home/school connection. The newsletter section in the back has information about school pictures (this Thursday). One child left their papers on the floor. If you do not have the information please let me know and I will direct the papers to the correct binder.

I would like to request your help in keeping our classroom dry. We continue to have many water spills from water bottles that are not spill proof. Please only send water bottles that can be tipped over with out spilling. Water bottles that can spill seem to spill often. Also, please only send water. Juice is not allowed in the classroom except for special classroom activities. Thank you so much for your help in this area.

We had a really great day today! The kids are really starting to settle into our routines and we are having a lot of fun learning together.

Days one and two part 2

2011-09-03T12:13:00.001-05:00

First days of school

2011-09-03T11:56:00.002-05:00

Day two

2011-09-02T21:52:00.000-05:00

Today was a great day in second grade! The highlight of our day was meeting Mrs. Munch. The kids absolutely LOVED her. Mrs. Munch is a flip top garbage can converted into a frog. She's a real wild frog who loves to eat. Mrs Munch is very picky and only eats certain things. She often eats sound patterns such as long vowels or certain sound chunks such as tion. The kids have to figure out what her rule of the day is based on what she will eat and what she refuses. Today she was eating bad classroom behaviors. The kids fed her post it notes with words written on them. If it was an inappropriate classroom behavior Mrs. Munch willingly ate it. She refused to eat things such as raise your hand or put your supplies away. The kids were quick to figure out what she wanted to eat and we had a good discussion about the behaviors we want in our classroom.

Another highlight of our day was reader's workshop. Today we learned about how readers have stamina. Stamina is being able to do something for a long time. We practiced reading independently from our self selected books. We read a book about Booker T. Washington titled More Than Anything Else. It's about Booker's desire to learn to read more than anything else in this world. We saw how he had stamina and never gave up on his dream to become a reader.

During writer's workshop today we read a book called Something to Tell the Grandcows. It is a story about a cow aboard Admiral Bird's South pole expedition in 1933. We talked about how everyone has a story to tell. We don't have to go on grand adventures in order to have a story to tell. We also talked about writer's workshop expectations. The kids were excited to get their writing notebooks and enjoyed having some time to write.

Math was a blast today. We explored all the different manipulatives in the classroom and got to work independently and with partners. I love the creativity that kids have. One group spelled their names with math rods and then counted how many rods it took to make their names. Another group grabbed buttons and played estimation games and then counted to verify their answers. Some built with math base 10 blocks and practiced counting large quantities. We also learned to skip count by 3's today and worked on multiplication of 3's.

Our special today was art class. Mr. Oaks is our art teacher this year. On Fridays he comes to our classroom for art class. Since this was our first art class Mr. Oaks reviewed art class expectations and then the kids drew pictures and practiced using the supplies respectfully and responsibly.

We ended our day with a brief, but much needed playground break. =)

I will be posting pictures of our first two days of school soon. Be sure to check back soon.

First Day of School

2011-09-01T19:43:00.000-05:00

What a whirlwind of a day! We started out our day on a tour of the playground and lunch room to review behavior expectations and procedures for those places. We got to practice going to lunch. =)

We learned a LOT of procedures for our classroom today too. We started out by learning about how we line up and walk in the hall. We read a book called My School's a Zoo and it was a real riot. It was filled with craziness and chaos. This started our conversation about what we want our own classroom to be like. We learned some new words like chaos and anarchy. Chaos is when things get wild and crazy and out of control and anarchy happens when someone doesn't care about the rules and does whatever they want. This of course leads to chaos. We all agreed we didn't want a classroom filled with chaos.

We also read The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash. Jimmy's boa causes chaos on a school field trip to the farm. We used this story to learn about the four levels of social behavior. The highest level, Democracy/level 4 is when someone makes the right choices regardless of whether anyone is looking. They do the right thing just because it's the right thing to do. Level 3, Cooperation, is when someone does the right thing because they are hoping to avoid punishment or gain a reward. Level 2, Bossing, is when someone only makes the right choices when bossed or reminded by someone in authority. Level 1, Anarchy, is when someone ignores the rules and does whatever they want. The children will be learning to use these levels to reflect on their own behavior.

The children drew pictures and wrote about ways that they could model responsible and respectful choices in our classroom.

We got to go to music class with Mrs. Rynders this morning. The kids got to sing and play instruments and had a great time.

Lunch was a little chaotic. There was a little mix up with lunch numbers and this caused some long lines in the cafeteria. Tomorrow will be much smoother now that children all know their lunch numbers.

After lunch we had some time to relax and read some of the books they shopped for at Back to School night. It was exciting to see the kids enjoying their books. We can't wait to start reader's workshop tomorrow afternoon.

Later in the afternoon we practiced bus dismissal procedures with the whole school. We wanted to make sure everyone knew exactly where to go and what to do at the end of the day. It made the afternoon dismissal time much smoother. I'm excited about the change in dismissal procedures this year. It is a welcome change.

Our first gym class was today. The kids came back just a tad bit tired. Just a reminder that the kids should wear gym shoes to school on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

At the end of the day we learned about the items available for indoor recess and the children had a little time to play with friends.

Today was a day of procedures and rules. Tomorrow we will be diving into our regular routines and the fun will begin. =)

2011-08-31T21:30:00.002-05:00

The Big Day is just hours away...

2011-08-31T21:19:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! The first day of school has finally arrived. Many hours of preparation have gone into transforming an empty room into our home away from home. The bean bags have been fluffed, supply baskets filled with new crayons and the flowers set on the table. All that's missing is 24 little learners eager to soak up knowledge. I'm so excited I can't sleep. I am eager to start this new learning journey with my new class. I can't wait to see what this year holds for each of us.

Swinging into the new year

2011-01-03T15:32:00.000-06:00

We are swinging into the new year and looking forward to many more fun filled days of learning. Today was a great day back after a long break. The kids jumped right back into learning without any bumps. We started out our day talking about New Years resolutions. We talked about changes to make life better and talked about changes we might want to make in our classroom. We also wrote personal resolutions in our reader's notebooks. I made some changes to our schedule and we talked about those as well.

We added a writing component to our reader's workshop. This will allow us to do some more focused writing in our writer's workshop. Today we worked on writing paragraphs. We used a color coded system: green to start off our topic sentence, yellow to slow down and give our details and red to bring the paragraph to a stop and tie it all up. Our goal is to be able to write 3 paragraphs with 5 or more sentences each that include a topic sentence, supporting details and a conclusion.

During math we worked on strategies for adding multiple numbers as well as sets of double digits. I'm always amazed at how well the children do with math strategies. We will be doing a lot with problem solving, multiplication and division during this unit.

I made some changes to homework procedures. The children will be bringing home a packet every Monday. I will collect packets the following Monday and send home a new one. I'm open to feedback on how this works for your family.

I'm excited about what this new year holds for us in second grade. =)

2010-12-14T18:59:00.000-06:00

The holiday break is approaching quickly! We are working hard to finish up our reader's workshop unit on inferring. Today we started a new book with some rich vocabulary. We used our inferring skills to figure out the meaning of the unknown words. Sometimes the author left clues in the pictures that could help us. Other times she left clues in the text. We also used our own schema to help us make inferences.

In math today we learned about 3D shapes. We reviewed 2D shapes on the smartboard and then explored similarities and differences between a variety of shapes. We noted such things as how many vertices and faces each shape had, looked at the angles and even looked at whether or not they would roll.

Most of the children have mastered our 35 priority words for 2nd grade so we took a core word spelling pre test today. We tested on 28 of our 2nd grade core words to see which words we need to focus on in the coming weeks. I asked each child to choose 3 or 4 words from the list that they missed to work on this week and next. The tests were sent home in binders today. If your child got a perfect score or missed only 1 word, I gave them 3 additional challenge words on the back of their test.

During our science time we spent a little time repeating the investigation we started yesterday in order to get our brains ready to write our lab report today. The kids just had a ball balancing those pencils! Today was the first independent lab report the children have written. We will review them tomorrow and talk about what they might be able to add to their report.

Tomorrow is twin day. Kids can dress like a friend.
The food drive is continuing until this Friday.

2010-12-13T18:28:00.000-06:00

We were off to a ROARing start today. It's so nice to see everyone working hard to be respectful, organized and responsible. Our morning went by very smoothly. We finished reading Christmas Tapestry today. It ywas an awesome book and we did some great inferring. We also read a book about verbs and learned about helping verbs. It seemed like the morning just flew by.

Our math focus right now is geometry. We are learning about polygons, angles, lines, and quadrangles. We play a sorting activity on the smartboard and reviewed some of our lesson material from last week.

Science was the highlight of our day. We worked on balancing pencils on their point using wire and counterweights. I must admit it was pretty loud in our classroom during science, but the kids sure had a great time learning about balance. I took some great pictures of our budding scientists. Hopefully I will find time soon to post new pictures.

2010-12-09T15:34:00.000-06:00

We've had a couple of busy days! The kids have been getting ready for the Holiday concert this week. Today was our last rehearsal. We will be performing twice tomorrow, at 10am for the student body and at 1:30 for family and friends. Your child should dress up tomorrow.

Yesterday we had library. During library the librarian was reading my class a story so I took the opportunity to pull some books from the shelves and sat and read for a few minutes. When the librarian finished reading a group of kids gathered around me to see what I was reading. Upon seeing that I had discovered a new stash of Patricia Polacco books they made a dash for the P section and then promptly returned quite upset because in their words, "YOU TOOK THEM ALL!" LOL! I of course, had not taken them ALL so I redirected them to the correct location where a near riot practically ensued as they clamored for the rest of the Patricia Polacco books on the shelf. It was a sight to behold. It's great to see such a passion for books and a love for an author who has become, with her words, our classroom friend.

We started reading one of the new books I found this morning. While I had another book picked out, I couldn't resist setting that one aside for Christmas Tapestry. We haven't even gotten to the exciting part and we are already loving the book. We have been using our inferring skills to figure out unknown words and to figure things out in the story. I can't wait until tomorrow. I hope we can find time to read some more of the story.

During math we have been working on a geometry unit. It's been a lot of fun. We have learned about line segments, end points, parallel lines and parallelograms. Today we did some cutting and worked on creating a variety of shapes with paper triangles and rectangles. We also explored a new website using the laptop cart. It's called arcademics and it's incredibly fun! It's great practice for math facts. The faster you answer the questions the faster your boat or jet ski goes. Kids can actually compete against other classmates. I have the site bookmarked on our froggy fun page on our class website.

We will be having an indoor recess tomorrow due to the concert so snowpants aren't needed tomorrow.

Please let your child know if you will be taking them home after the concert tomorrow. I will try to have those children packed up and ready to go so that when the concert is over you can pick them up in the classroom.

2010-12-07T18:41:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we started the Clip Up Chart. The chart has 7 colored sections. All children start out on the middle section labeled "Ready to Learn". Throughout the day children can "clip up" by modeling good choices or "clip down" by making poor choices. Once children move up to the top section (labeled outstanding) they can then advance to the "Top of the chart" by clipping up to the top edge. The final move is to clip off the chart. If they clip off the chart they get to pin their clip on my name tag lanyard and I wear their clip as long as they continue to make good choices. Children's wages are based on where their clip is at the end of the day. The children love to work towards clipping off the chart. We had a great day and I ended the day with a necklace of clothespins around my neck. I just love great days like today! =)

We finished reading another Patricia Polacco book today called Junkyard Wonders. It was in incredible story about a young group of children with special needs. The children are teased by other children about being in a special class. They call it the junkyard. The teacher believes in each of her students and teaches them to believe in themselves. The children discover that junk from a junkyard can be turned into unbelievable stuff. They use junk from the junkyard to build a model plane that they launch at the science fair. It is a powerful story about dreams, individuality, compassion and purpose. The book ends with an afterward in which the author shares how the children in that classroom went on to fulfill their dreams because of what was instilled in them during their time in the "junkyard" with Mrs. Peterson. One went onto become a engineer for NASA. Another went onto become a fashion designer in Paris. Another went onto become a famous children's author, Patricia Polacco! We had some great discussions while reading the book and were able to practice inferring as well. We also took time to share our own hopes and dreams.

We started a new unit in math today. We tested on unit 4 yesterday and the children did quite well. Our new unit is a geometry unit. Today we learned about line segments and end points. We learned about naming line segments based on their end points. It was a really fun lesson.

In spelling we are focusing on the words to, too, and two. It is a challenge to remember which one to use when we are writing. We practiced some oral sentences, with the children identifying which to, too or two should be used in the sentence I said. We also did a page in our spelling book. Overall the children did pretty well. We still need a little more practice though. I encourage you to practice giving your child sentences at home and ask them to identify which kind of "to" they need.

Science is a ton of fun. We did some more balancing with new shapes. We added an arch and a triangle. The children explored with ways to use counterweights to balance each of the shapes on a small stick taped to a solid surface. We discovered that the counterweights need to be placed beneath the balance point in order to get the shapes to balance. We wrote up a lab report after finishing our exploration.

The guidance counselor came to do a lesson with us today about how to handle conflicts. We learned about how to handle situations in a cool manner instead of a hot or cold manner. The kids had a chance to role play how they would respond in certain situations.

We missed out on library today due to the 6th grade spelling bee taking place in the library. We rescheduled to visit the library for check out tomorrow.

The food drive is taking place this week. If you wish to participate you can send canned or dry goods to school with your child this week.

Now that our world has turned white with cold, wet stuff called snow children need to bring snowpants, boots, mittens and hats to school. Children are limited to the black top if they do not have all their snow gear. Also, the children are outside for 30-40 minutes for lunch recess everyday. It's pretty cold outside and it's important for your child to have adequate protection from the cold. (I know because I have recess duty this week and it's been COLD!)

2010-12-02T18:22:00.000-06:00

Mrs. Munch came to visit today. The kids always love it when she visits. Mrs. Munch is a frog garbage can that loves to eat, but is very picky about what she will eat on any given day. Today she only wanted long o words. The kids offer her words that have been written on post it notes and she either agrees or refuses to eat what is offered. The kids must then figure out what her rule for eating is for the day. She is quite a character and brings loads of excitement to the class.

I used a puzzle to talk about inferring today. Reading is like putting together a puzzle. When we look at one piece of the puzzle we can't tell what the picture will be. However, when we start to put the pieces together the picture begins to appear. When we read the author often leaves clues or bits of information along the way. We must put together all the information given to us in order to build comprehension. Inferring is like putting puzzle pieces together to figure things out.

We had a "ketchup and mustard" day in math. These are days when we catch up on any missed worked, review things that might have been confusing and then play games to reinforce concepts we've learned. We will be finishing up unit 4 tomorrow so this gave us a chance to see what we might need to practice more before testing on the unit.

Writer's workshop was a buzz with activity again today as the kids are working on writing and typing their stories. I love the passion that the children are developing for writing. During choice time yesterday almost half of the class opted to write during choice time instead of playing. It sure put a smile on my face.

We watched the first part of a video about Remember Patience Whipple in social studies today. The video tells of the life of the pilgrims upon landing in America. You could have heard a pin drop in our classroom during the movie.

We also had the pleasure of attending the band concert today.

2010-12-01T18:41:00.000-06:00

We had another great day today. We've been working on transitioning more quickly and quietly this week. Every time the kids met the transitioning expectation they earned a tally mark. I told them that when they reached 10 tally marks I'd reward them with a choice time. Boy have our transitions been improving! =) They reached the 10 mark today so we got to have some choice time in the afternoon. It's amazing how many of them chose to write or work on their writer's workshop piece they are typing.

I used shoes in reader's workshop today to talk about inferring. I had a bag of shoes. As I pulled each one out I asked what they could infer about the owner of the shoe. We talked about how the jelly shoe must belong to a girl. She was probably a teenager based on the size of the shoe. She probably liked girly things because jelly shoes are a girly type shoe. We also had a hiking boot, a frog slipper, a doll shoe, and a tennis shoe. The kids are really starting to catch onto what inferring means. I'm looking forward to diving into some great books in the coming weeks and watching them learn to infer as readers.

In spelling we are working on the long o sound. We call it the brave o sound. We learned that since o is such a show off letter he hates to see baby A. Babies always get all the attention and O would rather get all the attention with his showing off so when he sees Baby A he says "Oh no, not that baby!" So when we see oa we know it says the brave o sound. We did some sorting activities with the o sound on the smartboard and also worked on a sort page in our spelling journal.

We continued with our unit on estimation today and worked on adding double digit numbers using estimation. We learned about ball park guesses and played an estimation game on the smartboard.

During social studies we continued reading from the Diary of Remember Patience Whipple. While a difficult text with a lot of new vocabulary, the kids are really enjoying it.

2010-11-30T20:00:00.000-06:00

We had fun inferring in reader's workshop today. I brought baggies with cotton balls soaked in a variety of liquids such as pickle juice, mustard, salad dressing, etc. Children had to smell the baggies and try to figure out what the cotton balls were soaked in. If they couldn't figure it out based on smell, they got to look at the cotton ball. If they still needed more clues I would give additional clues. We talked about how readers look for clues as they read to help them figure things out and to find answers to their questions. Some things we figure out quickly and easily. Other things require deeper thinking and more clues. This is what inferring is all about.

During art today the kids got to string the beads they made during our science unit on rocks. They were pretty excited. Their beads look great!

Math was great today. We were working on adding double digit numbers along with estimation. We learned how to round to the closest ten and use that as a strategy to quickly add double digits. Our lesson included a shopping activity where we had to decide if we had enough money to purchase a variety of items. There were some challenging problems to solve and the kids did great.

We have been able to use the laptop computer cart this week during writer's workshop. Many of the children are working on publishing a piece. They are learning many computer skills along the way. If you have not yet sent in a flash drive for your child please do so as soon as possible. Also, if you have any unwanted flashdrives laying around home (you know the old ones that had little memory and you no longer want or ones you've picked up at conferences) we'd love to have them at school.

Our balance unit is off to a great start. The kids are having so much fun learning about balance and counterweights. We explored some more with our paper crayfish and clothespin counterweights and then wrote our first lab report for this unit. We started a science notebook today where we will be recording our learning throughout the unit.

I want to thank everyone who participated in our Operation Christmas Child. We collected enough stuff to fill 19 boxes! I delivered the boxes to the pickup spot tonight. There will soon be 19 children somewhere in the world who will have a smile on their face when they receive their box. Thank you! I think the children learned a valuable life lesson.

Class Rules

2010-11-29T21:17:00.000-06:00

Oh I Wonder Song

2010-11-29T21:06:00.000-06:00

Writer's Circles

2010-11-29T20:38:00.000-06:00

Spelling song

2010-11-29T20:16:00.001-06:00

2010-11-29T18:18:00.000-06:00

Wonderful day today! It was absolutely great to be back together again. We dove right back into learning and had a wonderful time. We started a new unit in reader's workshop this morning. As a follow up to our questioning unit we are now exploring the inferring strategy. We talked about how the Scooby Doo gang uses clues to figure out mysteries. They must use the clues and make inferences in order to figure out who did it. As readers we must also be detectives. Authors leave clues in the text and sometimes the pictures. We can use these clues to figure things out. We read a book about a magic fish and I modeled how a reader infers. We also learned a new song about inferring.
Later in the morning we learned some new spelling songs. We are working on the words some, these, would, and so. Many words are not spelled the way they sound so we must memorize how to spell them.
During math today we were working on estimation. We learned how to round to the closest 10 and did some problem solving with money and estimation. The kids caught on quickly. We even practiced in the hallways on the way to lunch. In order to advance to the next stop someone had to answer my estimation problem.
Writer's workshop was great today. Many of the children are working on publishing a piece of their writing. We were able to use the laptop cart for those who needed to type. The children are getting better at logging in and trouble shooting technology issues. It is very helpful to have flash drives. If you have not yet purchased a flash drive for your child I would encourage you to do so.
Science was a blast today! We started our unit on balance and motion. Today we explored balance using paper crayfish. Children worked on finding ways to balance the crayfish on their finger. We then added counterweights (clothespins) and they found new ways to balance their crayfish. We learned some new vocabulary while having an awful lot of fun exploring the concept of balance.
It really was a wonderful day!

2010-11-23T16:51:00.000-06:00

Can you believe that it is already Thanksgiving? It seems that just yesterday was the first day of school.

We finished up reading Train to Somewhere yesterday in reader's workshop. It's the story of orphans who were sent west in the 1800's in search of families to adopt them. It is a moving story of hope and sorrow all wrapped up into one. Many of the children are adopted not because they are loved, but because of how strong they are (so they can work the farms). The main character was left behind in New York City by her mother, who promised to return for her after she made a new life for them in the west. She never returned. The girl hopes to find her mother at each stop only to encounter disappointment each time. She is a homely child and is overlooked at each stop that the train makes. All the other children are adopted and she is the lone child left when the train reaches its final destination. The family waiting at that stop to adopt had hoped for a boy, but soften towards the girl and tell her that sometimes what we find in the end may not be what we had hoped for, but can be better. Our focus during this story was on questioning how characters feel to help us understand the story. We had some great discussions. The children are some amazing thinkers.

Today we read a poetry book about Thanksgiving and learned about fluency. We noticed the rythem of the words and talked about how important it is to not read too fast or too slow. Poetry books are a favorite in our classroom right now (Can you believe that we have boys arguing over who get the poetry book next?). Fluency is an important part of reading poetry.

In writer's workshop we have been spending a lot of time in the computer lab. Many of the children are working on publishing a book they've written. We've had to do some schedule shifting in order to be able to use the lab as it has very limited availablity. Many of the children have opted to give up some of their recess time in order to come in and work on their pieces. Our focus has been on both revision and editing.
Today the children worked on writing Thanksgiving poems during writer's workshop.

During math we have been working a lot with problem solving diagrams. Yesterday we reviewed temperature, worked on using thermometers, and practiced using change diagrams to solve temperature problems.

This morning we took time to look at all the things that have been brought in for the Operation Christmas Child project. We are all very excited about this project. The children are so proud to be playing a part in providing toys and things for orphans around the world. We will collect items next Monday and Tuesday as well. I will be delivering the shoeboxes to the collection center next Tuesday after school. Several of the children asked about taking boxes home to fill with their families. If you'd like a box please let me know and I can send it home next Monday. You can also use a regular shoebox instead.

At this Thanksgiving time I am so thankful for the many blessings I have in my life. I count it one of my greatest blessings to be able to partner with you in your child's learning journey. It is a joy to be able to go to work and spend my days with your children teaching them to read, write and above all else to have a passionate desire to learn. May your Thanksgiving holiday be filled with love, laughter, and many happy memories.

2010-11-18T15:13:00.000-06:00

We've been learning all kinds of cool stuff this week. We learned about plurals and how to add s or es to words to make them plural. We also talked about irregular plurals like child/children. We've also been working with the ou and ow chunks in word work and have been learning to spell words like about and around.

In reader's workshop we have finished up our author study of Patricia Polacco and are winding up our questioning unit. We've read some powerful books that have caused many questions to bubble up in our minds. Our focus this week has been on seeking answers to our questions in the text. This will lead into our next unit on inferring, where we must use clues in the text and pictures along with our schema to figure out answers to questions which aren't explicitly answered in the text.

During writer's workshop we have been working on revision. This is such a challenging task. We will revisit it often throughout the year. We will be working more on bringing pieces to completion through the publishing process. This means we will be spending more time in the computer lab (as often as we can). I would like to ask that every child keep a flash drive in their Jungle Book. This will allow them to work on their pieces both at home and at school. Please label your child's flash drive with a sharpie. Please feel free to help your child type their pieces at home.

In social studies we have been learning about the journey of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower. We have been reading a Dear America chapter book about Remember Patience Whipple. Our conversations have often focused on the reasons that the Saints and Strangers came to America. We have had some great conversations about freedom and also about thankfulness. We will be starting a project called Operation Christmas Child in connection with our social studies unit. This program collects small toys and items for orphans and children in 3rd world countries. We are hoping to fill 4 shoeboxes with items for children who do not share in the same freedoms and privileges that we do. I will be sending home a letter about this project today. We are very excited about it.

In math we have been working on a variety of different problem solving strategies and diagrams. We have been practicing frames and arrows, change to more diagrams and part/part/total diagrams. Today we learned about area and perimeter and used our skip counting skills as a strategy to solve problems.

I will not be sending homework this week since we have only a 2 day week next week. Enjoy the break. =)

2010-11-15T19:51:00.000-06:00

We jumped right back into learning today. Reader's workshop was awesome. We finished up the book about Richie and the ultimate dare. I am impressed with some of the questions the kids are asking. We talked today about how important it is for a reader to clarify when they come to unfamiliar words. We can go back and reread and think about what the unfamiliar word might mean. This type of questioning is very helpful as we move into more challenging texts.

We went over our math tests today. The first two pages covered material that we have worked on to mastery. The third page contained newer material. The last page of the test is called an open response. It is a problem solving problem. I did not grade this portion of the test. Rather, we went over the problem together today and talked about how to solve the problem and how to explain our thinking. Most children found this question very challenging. With practice, this type of question will get easier. =)

We also worked on change to more story problems in math. We used fish to practice these types of problems. The kids did quite well with it.

I think one of the favorite parts of our day was spelling today. We played hangman on the smartboard. The kids loved it!

During writer's workshop I modeled how a writer revises a piece of writing. Revision takes a lot of bravery, hard work. You can't be afraid to make changes. You can't be lazy. You've got to take the writing sentence by sentence and look for ways to improve it. The children all selected a piece from their writing cubbies to take take home to work on revising as part of their homework.

2010-11-12T20:11:00.000-06:00

We've had a busy week. We've been asking all kinds of questions in reader's workshop. We read The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco on Wednesday. The kids are loving all the Patricia Polacco books. The Bee Tree is about a little girl who doesn't want to read. Her grandfather takes her on a chase to a bee tree. It's quite an adventure. When they finally find the bee tree they get the honey and take it home for a celebration. Her grandfather puts a dab of the special honey on the cover of her book and tells her that just as it was work to get the sweetness of the honey, you have to work at reading. She discovers that books are filled with sweetness and that sometimes you have to work for that sweetness. The children asked some great questions and we did some great digging for answers to those questions. We also started another book by Polacco called Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare. The kids moaned when we had to put in the bookmark.

In addition to working on the questioning strategy we have been working on using a variety of decoding strategies to help us when we encounter unknown words. As children begin to move into more challenging texts they encounter much longer words. Being able to use strategies to tackle these larger words that are not a part of their sight word bank is an important skill. Today we talked about all the many sounds that the letter a can make. One strategy we can use is flipping the sound. When one sound doesn't make sense we can try another sound.

Writer's workshop has been a lot of fun this week. The kids are enjoying learning how to confer with their peers. They have discovered that it is harder than they first thought. Being able to give helpful feedback is challenging. Today we also added peer share groups at the end of workshop time. Children shared their writing in groups of 3 or 4 and offered each other feedback on works in progress. Next week we will focus on the process of revision.

In social studies we are reading a Dear America book about the Pilgrims voyage to America. There are so many interesting stories that took place on the Mayflower. We're all having a lot of fun learning about the Pilgrims.

We completed unit 3 in math this week and took the unit test today. WE also finished up unit 3 in spelling and took our spelling test. After such a busy day we ended our day with a little bit of choice time.

2010-11-09T17:53:00.000-06:00

Beautiful day in the neighborhood. You'd hardly know it was November. While it would have been nice to be outside enjoying the sunshine, we managed to enjoy our time inside with some great learning.

We finished reading I Can Hear the Sun. We talked about thick and thin questions. I used glue and water on a slant board to illustrate what happens with our questions. Some questions are thin questions. They pop in our heads and then the answer pops right in. Thick questions are questions that linger in our heads. They stick around like glue. We have to really think about them. Thin questions are questions such as "I wonder what that boy's name it" whereas thick questions are questions such as "why did Fondo end up in the orphanage?" I collected the questioning sheets the children were working on and was impressed with some of the deep thinking they did.

In writer's workshop we learned how to conduct a peer conference. Several children modeled how to do a peer conference. It went very well. Later during composing time quite a few of the children gave it a try. Learning to give great feedback isn't an easy task. Learning to accept feedback can be an even more difficult task. We will spend some time on this skill.

We worked on making change in math today. We practiced counting up to make change. This lesson was an introductory lesson and not a lesson to mastery. If your child is finding it difficult to make change don't fret. It will get easier with time. You can play shopping games, allow your child to pay for their own purchases when you go out, and have your child play the money games on our learning pad website.

We enjoyed singing our new spelling songs today. The kids love the AROUND song. =) I took a quick video of them singing it and will try to post it soon.

2010-11-08T18:33:00.000-06:00

Boy are we enjoying the book we are reading in reader's workshop! Today the children used a graphic organizer to record the questions they had as I was reading. They were just full of questions and I was so proud of how they worked and engaged in the text. They came up with some great questions. We can't wait to read some more and find out what happens to Fondo. None of us really think he will learn to fly, but we sure are wondering.

Our math lesson today was a new concept for us. We have been working with frames and arrows quite a bit lately. Today we worked with double rule frames and arrows. These can be quite a challenge. In double frames and arrows you must follow two rules such as add 5 and then subtract 2, repeating this pattern. The kids did quite well for a first attempt. During FLIP time we worked on data and bar graphs in small learning groups.

We learned two new spelling songs today. They were a blast. We got to do a lot of movin and grovin' as we learned to sing the about song and the around song. The kids loved them.

In writer's workshop we felt a little like we'd just filled up our plate to overflowing at the buffet. You know how you fill up your plate and then discover it is a bit too much to digest at once? I introduced the writing process of taking a piece from the idea stage all the way through publishing. We learned about planning, composing/drafting, peer conferencing, teacher conferencing, revision, editing, reviewing and publishing. I wanted kids to see the big picture before focusing in on each component. After the big picture lesson we focused on what a peer conference looks and sounds like. I modeled a peer conference with one of the students. They thought it was pretty funny that I was pretending to be 7. The kids are biting at the bit to start peer conferences.

It was a really good day. =)

Reader's workshop in action

2010-11-07T16:15:00.000-06:00

2010-11-06T13:56:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that the first quarter has come to an end already. It doesn't seem possible. I've been working on report cards and they will be going home next Friday.

We had a great day on Friday. The classroom seemed to hum like a well oiled machine most of the day. =) I love standing back for just a moment and just watching all my little ones hard at work during reader's workshop. I took a minute out from my conferring time on Friday during our workshop time and took a quick video of the kids hard at work. Most were so engaged they didn't even notice.
We've been working on the questioning strategy in reader's workshop. We started a new book by Patricia Polacco called I Can Hear the Sun. It's a great book for questioning. Even the title evokes some deep questions in the brain. We talked about how great readers ask questions before, during and even after reading. We agreed that generally we have more questions toward the beginning and middle of a book, but that sometimes we have lingering questions even after finishing a book.

We continued our work in spelling on words that end with ll or le. We made some observations and discovered that words that end in le generally have 2 consonants before the le chunk. We talked about needing to double consonants in words with only 1 consonant before the le chunk (apple, little, fiddle, ect.). Words like spindle, grumble, etc. don't need to have a letter doubled because they already have 2 consonants. We also learned a new spelling song for "which" and learned to turn the t into a broom to remind us that a halloween witch is spelled witch. The kids did great on their spelling test at the end of the week. I'm really pleased with how well they are doing with using there/their correctly in their writing. We will be adding each and about to our list of no excuse words this week.

We took our end of the unit test on pebbles, sand and silt this week. Our next unit will teach us about balance and motion. It should be a lot of fun!

We read some books in social studies this week that took place during world war 2. We had some great discussions about people, countries, and power. Now that we have finished up our unit on communities and people we will be shifting our focus to how people and the world have changed over time.

We've had a lot of fun and learned a lot from Patricia Polacco in writer's workshop. Our next unit will begin next week and we will be working on revision. Revision is often a difficult concept and skill for young writers. It differs significantly from editing. While editing is primarily for the purpose of fixing spelling, punctuation and grammar, revision requires looking at content and often involves some deep reflection and hard conversations. I'm excited about this unit and can't wait to see how the children embrace revision.

It's been a great quarter and I am looking forward to the next quarter with great anticipation of some wonderful learning moments.

2010-11-02T18:44:00.000-05:00

Did you know that when we read questions can just bubble over in our heads? =) It can be like a bubble bath in our brain. Today we talked about questioning as a comprehension strategy. I used baking soda and vinegar to demonstrated how questions can just bubble up in our brains as we read. We started a new book in reader's workshop today called The Harmonica. It takes place during world war 2. We had all kinds of questions bubbling up in our heads, some even before we started reading. The cover itself brought out a lot of questions. Great readers ask questions as they read and then think deeply about what the answers to those questions might be. This helps the reader engage in the text and better understand what is happening.

We read Crazy Like A Fox in writer's workshop today. We did a quick refresher of similes and then looked at the usage of verbs in the text. We are learning about giving our writing some muscle by using powerful verbs.

In art class this morning the children learned how to draw realistic trees. We had some really great tree drawings. The art teacher even commented that we were doing as well as the 6th graders with our tree drawings.

We took our shopping lesson in math a step deeper today and worked on making change. Instead of paying with the exact change we paid with larger amounts and then the kids worked on giving back the correct change. This is a challenging skill.

The guidance counselor came today to do a lesson on emotions. Understanding our emotions and learning to respond in appropriate ways is very important. While it seems like such a simple thing, it is amazing to see how difficult it can be for children to interpret a situation and respond appropriately.

After library today we worked on our lab reports for science. Learning to write expository writing is a new challenge for us. Up to this point we have been focusing on narrative writing in writer's workshop. We talked about topic sentences (a review from last time) and then worked on organizing our ideas into three main points (3 things we learned from our observations). We will be working more on this skill in the coming weeks.

2010-11-01T18:16:00.000-05:00

After a long weekend we were all excited to be back together for a day of learning fun. Our morning went pretty smoothly. We began a new unit in reader's workshop focusing on questioning as a reading strategy. I brought in a jicama. The kids were full of questions about it. No one had ever seen a jicama before, much less tasted one. We talked about how our brains can explode with questions as we read. Asking questions helps us understand the stories better. I finished reading Mrs. Mack and modeled what my thinking looked like when I added questioning.
In writer's workshop we talked about powerful verbs. We looked at how Patricia Polacco used powerful verbs to engage us as readers and to bring the story to life.
This afternoon we worked with money in math. We practiced counting and adding coins to make purchases from the "fruit stand". The kids really enjoyed the activity.
During science we explored the different soil samples that were brought in by the children. We looked at similarities and differences between the soils including color, texture, make up, consistency, etc. The children then added water to their soil samples and observed what happened. We made quite a mess, but they did a great job cleaning up. The tables looked spotless!
In music the children have begun practicing for the Holiday Concert.

Sunshine

2010-10-27T20:10:00.001-05:00

It may have been a blustery day outside, but inside we had a little "Sunshine." My vent puppet (named Sunshine) came to school with me today and made a surprise visit during reader's workshop to teach us about the importance of choosing just right books. I think they kids loved her as they kept asking for her the rest of the day. =)

During writer's workshop today we looked at how Patricia Polacco awakened our hearts to help us connect with the characters. We read another chapter and were moved by the emotion contained within the passages. I love to hear the kids thinking as we read. They are beginning to bubble over with some wonderful thinking.

One of the biggest concerns kids had today in writer's workshop was for those children who are assigned to share their writing on Thursdays. They seemed to think it was a horrible catastrophe that they would not have the opportunity to share in author's chair this week. You would have thought they were being told they couldn't have any more recess for the rest of the year. Oh the moaning and groaning and protests! To my surprise, when I suggested they could come to school tomorrow many wanted to take me up on the offer. What a joy teaching is!

Our afternoon was filled with FLIP math time. My small groups worked on place value activities with me and then rotated through partnership math games, investigations and facts and practice. The kids just love FLIP time. Measuring is a favorite in the investigations right now. We also took our end of the quarter fact quiz for addition and subtraction today.

We managed to squeeze in a little bit of choice time at the end of the day.

Reader's notebooks went home today. Please take time to read through your child's notebook and then write them a response letter encouraging them as a reader. Be sure to return the notebooks on Monday as the children will need them for quick write.

The only homework this weekend is to get a soil sample to bring to school on Monday. Soil sample should be about 1/4 of a cup in a ziplock bag or disposable container. Multiple samples are welcome.

2010-10-25T18:05:00.000-05:00

We had some great learning fun today! The kids love starting off their day with writer's workshop. We are continuing our author study with Patricia Polacco. Our focus is on attending to how she develops her characters. We've made some great observations about how the author does so much more than just describing the characters. We get to know them through their dialog, interactions with others and responses to situations. I'm hoping to see the children begin to think about their own characters. It's a big step to go from seeing and knowing the character in your head and putting the character on paper so that others can know them.

In reader's workshop we practiced writing a connections reflection. This is a skill that takes much work. It's pretty easy to write a retell, but writing about your own thinking requires reflection and the ability to organize your thoughts.

Our spelling focus today was on the l sound at the ends of words. We learned that Lady L doesn't care to be at the ends of words by herself (except in suffixes such as ful). In words that are one syllable she takes along her twin sister to keep her company and encourage her. (ball, well, still). In multisyllable words she takes along Everloving E (little, simple, example). We practiced spelling words using the rule we learned. We also reviewed the ou and ow chunks. O is a naughty letter and he likes to pinch u and w. When he pinches them they say "ou". Sometimes W sees O coming and he says "Oh no you don't". So, sometimes ow says ou and sometimes it says o.

Math was a ball today. We played Beat the Teacher and the kids scored 52 points, an all time high for them and I scored 6 points. We played with place value today as well. We learned about Place Value Street and did a bunch of fun activities on the smartboard. We also learned how to play the digit game. Players turn over 3 cards and make the largest number possible. The highest number wins all the face up cards.

Tomorrow is the last day of parent teacher conferences. Remember that your child will be presenting at conferences. We have a very tight schedule. We are booked solid from 4:15 to 7:45 without a break and most projects are taking right at about 15 minutes.

2010-10-21T20:13:00.000-05:00

It has been a very full and busy day with conferences following a full day of teaching and learning. The children were excited to share their presentations during parent teacher conferences. I was very proud of them.

Our day started out with writer's workshop. We continued reading from Mrs. Mack, looking at character development. We noticed how the author develops the characters beyond just physical description. We looked at dialog and how that plays a part in character development.

During reader's workshop today I brought a "suitcase of stuff" that I might take along on a trip to a conference. As I pulled out each item we talked about whether that item was important to pack to take along. I wouldn't need my dog's ball, but I would definitely need my toothbrush. We tied this into making meaningful connections. When we read we might make some connections that don't really help us understand the story. We call those just for fun connections. True meaningful connections really help us understand the story.

We worked some more on spelling and using there and their correctly today. We also learned a new song for the word said.

We had an extended math time today. This afternoon we worked on ways to make 24. We also looked at some different strategies to subtract 9 and 8 and then spent some time with double digit subtraction. I worked with some small groups while children participated in FLIP today.

2010-10-20T18:52:00.000-05:00

Our day got off to a great start. We started off with a great discussion about being a good citizen and about what we can do to have a happy classroom. Together we created an anchor chart to remind us of what we can do to be a good classroom citizen.

During writer's workshop we spend some time discussion topic selection. We came up with some guidelines to help us and then set off to write. I love watching the kids write. It's awesome to see their excitement and passion for writing growing.

Our reader's workshop lesson today focused on text to text connections. We read a book called It Was a Terrible Day. We made connections to Alexander and the Horrible No Good Very Bad Day which we read earlier this year. We even made some connections to No David.

One of our spelling targets this week is to spell words that end in y. We practiced using our dry erase boards. We really had a lot of fun.

In math today we worked on subtraction strategies. We came up with a list of 5 strategies we can use to help us with subtraction. We were able to put them to practice later in the lesson when we played subtraction top it.

We've been enjoying a read aloud chapter book called Hello Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. The kids moaned when we had to set it aside this afternoon to head off to gym class. Those are the kinds of groans I love to hear.

At the end of the day we went to visit the book fair for a sneak preview. I think that was probably one of the highlights of day. The kids are so excited to bring you conferences and then off to the book fair.

2010-10-19T18:31:00.001-05:00

We had two birthdays to celebrate today. =) We celebrated one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

The children are really enjoying the book we are reading in writer's workshop. It's called Mrs. Mack. Today we looked at the way that the author, Patricia Polacco, zoomed in on characters and painted a picture with her words that helped us "see" them and get to know them.

In science today we finished our sand sculptures. We discovered that working with sand is more difficult than working with clay. It was quite a messy exploration, but we had a lot of fun too.

This afternoon we worked on function machines in math. We used the laptop cart and explored a site on the internet that allowed us to practice solving function machine problems. We also used the cart to finish up our parent teacher conference projects.

The guidance counselor came to visit today and did a lesson about feelings and appropriate responses to those feelings. It was a great lesson. We had some good discussion.

The library is filled with the book fair right now. We still managed to find books in the open sections during our library time. It was hard to keep from peeking into the bookfair though. It looks like there are some great books in there.

Don't forget to bring your dimes tomorrow for our One for Books competition. =)

School time fun

2010-10-18T22:08:00.002-05:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

2010-10-18T18:06:00.000-05:00

We began an author study in writer's workshop today. We will be reading many of Patricia Polacco's books. She is an incredible author. We started with Mrs. Mack today. We read the first few pages of the book with the eyes of a writer. We noticed that Polacco is writing about her own life experiences. We discussed the difference between an autobiography which is entirely true and personal narrative or historical fiction, which is based on true events, but may contain additional embellishments. We also noticed that she writes in such a way to show emotion. Emotion is used to connect the reader to the story.

We also looked at Mrs. Mack during reader's workshop, only with the eyes of a reader. We talked about the difference between meaningful connections and just for fun connections. If I say that I have a friend named Patricia (the character in the book) it doesn't really help me understand the story in any way. However, if I make a connection to learning how to ride a horse as the character in the book is doing, it helps me understand what is going on in the story and how the character if feeling, thinking and reacting.
Later in the morning I modeled how to write a notebook reflection using a connection. A good reflection references the event in the story, tells a personal connection and then goes on to explain how that connection helps them understand the story.

During math today we learned about "what's my rule" problems. We first reviewed our lesson about frames and arrows from last week. We built upon what we had already learned. We used the smartboard and played a fun game with a function machine. We had a great time. By the time we got to the math student book most of the kids felt pretty comfortable with the concept.
We also had a FLIP day in math today. FLIP stands for Fact Practice, Learning Group, Investigations and Partner games. Children choose one of the activities to explore and build math skills. It's a lot of fun and great learning all wrapped up together. The kids love FLIP time.

In spelling today we reviewed there and their. We did an activity where the children had to decide which type of their/there was needed to complete the sentence. We also worked with antonyms and worked with partner to complete a page in our spelling book.

The book fair starts this week. The PTO is sponsoring a friendly competition between classes. Each class has a coin jar. Kids can bring in coins to fill the jar. The money will be used to buy new books for our classrooms. The winning classroom will also get a pizza party. So check your couch cushions, dig into those pockets and send in your change (we'll take bills too. =).

Be sure to check binders tonight. Lots of notes went home today. Conference reminders went home. No need to return the sheet unless you are unable to make your scheduled time slot.

2010-10-14T19:00:00.000-05:00

We started an anchor chart in writer's workshop to anchor all of our learning about what writers can do. We added several things to our list including zooming in on small moments, adding details, using descriptive, juicy words and using comparison. We looked at a book by Eve Bunting called Anna's Table. We noticed the great description she used and talked again about finding balance. Having too many comparisons can be over done making our writing like pancakes with too much syrup.... soggy.
In reader's workshop we worked on making connections. We read The Relatives Came by Rylant and I modeled what thinking looks like when I read and make connections. I also modeled how we can use post it notes to track our thinking. Many of the kids were excited to give the post it notes a try.
In spelling we are learning about the e and i sounds at the ends of words. We learned that Y stands in and does their job and says their names for them at the ends of words. She fills in for e in longer words and for i in shorter words.
This afternoon and math we worked with frames and arrows. We used the smartboard a lot for some interactive frames and arrows. We did some really challenging ones. The kids really love using the smartboard.
In art class today the children worked with sand and matrix mixture to create sand sculptures. They will be finishing them next week.

2010-10-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

We read a story today called Like Butter on Pancakes. We found some great similes in the story. One of our favorites talked about the moon spilling in like white milk on the floor. We noticed that the author didn't over use similes, but rather used a variety of different things to bring the book to life.
Later we read a book about a duck with a rubber leg. It was a really cute story. The kids noticed right away that there was a fox in the story and immediately began talking about schema. We did some great activating of our schema and it really helped us understand the story. It was really great to hear their discussion.
In addition to talking about schema we also tied this book into spelling and talked about how writers stretch out words.
The art teacher worked on an integrated project with us today. She started a clay project with us as part of our science unit on rocks. They talked about where clay comes from and learned about the kiln that will be used to fire their project. Then they spent time making clay beads, which they will later paint and string into necklaces. It was a pretty exciting morning.
This afternoon we checked out the laptop cart and worked on our parent teacher projects. Many of the children have finalized their projects now. When they finished their project they worked on the computers visiting math sites found on our classroom website. They also played the math game we learned yesterday. It was a whirlwind afternoon. We even managed to squeeze in a few minutes outdoors after library. =)

10/11/10

2010-10-11T18:36:00.000-05:00

We read a really great book in writer's workshop today. It's called Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. The description was powerful and she made great use of similes. We looked at how she used the similes to create images in our heads. We are working hard to get better at finding just the right words to put into our comparisons.

In reader's workshop we revisted Oliver Button is a Sissy. We discussed the ways that connections can help us as readers. We created a chart that included the many ways that our connections help us. The list included things such as:
*It helps us understand how a character feels.
*It helps us understand what a character might be thinking.
*It helps us understand why a character is doing something.
*It helps us understand why a character says something.
*It helps us understand what a character is doing.
*It helps us understand what is happening in the story.
*It helps us understand the setting of a story.

This afternoon we had a great math lesson. We learned about balancing equations. We did an activity on the smartboard with a number balance. Then we practiced balancing some equations. We also learned a new game called Name that Number. I think it quickly became the kids favorite game so far. They moaned when it was time to clean up.

We spent a little more time on our parent teacher conference projects today. We used the laptop cart. I was excited that most of the kids now have their user names and passwords committed to memory. Everyone is excited about our projects and they are looking forward to their presentations.

It was a gorgeous day... a perfect day for a fire drill. =) We got called out of music class for the drill.

A small peek inside our reader's workshop

2010-10-09T23:34:00.000-05:00

During reader's workshop children spend one rotation reading to self. During their other rotation they can choose between listen to reading or read to someone. Listen to reading is done either on a computer or with an mp3 player. Listen to reading helps build both fluency and comprehension. While the children read I spend time conferring with readers one on one. I listen to children read, discuss growth and teach skills tailored to the child's needs. We set reading targets together, record them in their reader's notebook and agree upon their next step in moving toward becoming a stronger reader.

Quick Write Time

2010-10-09T23:09:00.000-05:00

We end each reader's workshop with a 10 minute quick write. Children reflect on their reading, thinking, and learning from reader's workshop in a composition notebook. I take these notebooks home each weekend and write a letter to each child in response to their reflections and our conferring notes. Kids love reading their letters on Monday morning. I love seeing their thinking and reflection.

2010-10-07T15:31:00.000-05:00

This morning we looked at a book we had read earlier in the year and noticed several spots where the author had used a comparison to help paint a picture in our head. It's fun to watch the kids give it a try. We talked about how difficult it can be to come up with just the right comparison.

In reader's workshop I introduced spinner the spider. He reminds us that great readers make connections when they read. We make connections from our schema to the text. We read a funny story called The Roly Poly Spider. It is illustrated by Tedd Arnold, a class favorite. We noticed that his illustrations are easily identified even without looking at the illustrator's name on the cover.

We sand the farmhand F song today in spelling. We reviewed the ph sound and the story we learned to remind us of the sound it makes.

Our afternoon was spent working on our computer projects for parent teacher conferences. We are all really excited about doing our student lead conferences in a couple of weeks.

Today was our double special day so we ended with music and art. What a great day!

2010-10-06T20:11:00.000-05:00

This morning we read a really funny book in writer's workshop. It was titled, My Dog is as Stinky as Dirty Socks. In the book a young girl draws her family, but decides the drawing doesn't do her family justice. She decides to describe them instead using as to compare them to other things. The kids loved the book. We then talked about using comparison words such as like and as when we write in order to give details that will paint a picture in the reader's mind. I was excited to see many of the kids give it a try in their writing today.

In reader's workshop we talked about making connections. When we use our schema and connect it to something in the story we call that making connections. We focused on text to self connections today. We reread Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. We had a sheet we used to record our connections to the text.

In Spelling we focused on the gh sound chunk. We reviewed the story we learned yesterday about Goofy G and Hopeful H.

We spent some time in the computer lab this morning learning how to save files to our personal folders. We also learned how to insert pictures into the smartboard software called Notebook. We encountered some technical difficulties, but the kids managed and we accomplished a lot. We went back to the lab later in the afternoon to work some more on our projects. I found a fix for our clip art troubles and taught the kids another way to insert picture files. It's amazing how quickly children catch on to technology. They quickly learned to open a hyperlink, use the edit menu to select and then copy the image and finally go back to their project and paste it in.

In math we worked on subtraction skills. After reviewing the scores from our subtraction fact quiz yesterday I can see that we need a LOT of work on subtraction. The children cut out fact triangles (flash cards) today during math. They were asked to put their fact triangles in their Jungle book zippered pouch. I encourage you to work with your child to master the subtraction facts.

September photos

2010-10-05T18:47:00.001-05:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

2010-10-05T17:13:00.000-05:00

Writer's workshop is such a great way to start our morning. The kids are really enjoying their workshop time and some great stories are starting to spring up. We are continuing to talk about how authors write small, including the tiniest details in order to make their writing explode big. Today we talked about how an author uses all five senses to not only paint a picture in a reader's mind, but also to bring the piece to life so that the reader can not only see it, but feel it, smell it, hear it and sometimes even taste it. We looked at some examples in Ralph Fletcher's book.

Later in the morning we read a book called Grandpa Loved. Our focus in reader's workshop this week is schema. In the story a young boy tells about all the things that Grandpa loved and how he shared those things with him. The language used is very powerful and creates very vivid images in the eyes of the reader (a great tie in to writer's workshop). All the experiences the young boy had with his grandpa became a part of his schema. All the things we have experienced build our background knowledge and schema. This in turn helps us understand the story and the characters. In the story we discover at the end that the young boy's grandpa has died, but he still has his memories. Those memories are a part of his schema. We had a really great class discussion about schema, experiences, and life.

The children took a walking trip in the halls of the school to learn how to critique artwork today. They had a great time and learned a lot.

In spelling today we focused on digraphs: ch, th, sh, wh, gh, and ph. We learned a story about Hopeful H. He loves to take pictures. He is at the fair taking pictures and s comes along. Sloppy S wants his picture taken, but he talks and talks and talks. Hopeful H finally tells him "sh" so I can take your picture. When we see sh we know it usually says sh. Next Clever C came along. He wouldn't smile because he had lost his two front teeth. H tells him to say cheese. When we see ch it usually says ch, ch ch like cheese. Later Tired T came along. He'd been up all night worried. When he had his picture taken he fell asleep. When he saw the photo he said " I th, th, think th, th, that's awful!" Next in line was Wonderful W. He was full of questions like what, when, where, why. This reminds us of the sound that wh makes. When Goofy G came along he was all sad because he couldn't remember any of his jokes. He wouldn't say anything at all. When we see gh we just scratch our heads and say nothing at all. Lastly Pleasant P came along. Only it wasn't really P at all. It was really just Farmhand F dressed up like Pleasant P. His wooden leg gave him away and all he could say was fffffff. When we see ph we say fffff. We learned a song to remember that one.

I had to leave at mid day for a doctor's appointment. The children were scheduled to visit the computer lab to work on math activities on the learningpad website. They practiced addition and subtraction facts. They also had guidance with Ms. Tuckwood and then went to library.
The science lesson todaty involved sandpaper and I'm sure they had a ball with it. At the end of the day they were going to play domino top it and do what we call "ketchup and mustard" where they catch up on any missed or unfinished math work.

2010-10-04T17:38:00.000-05:00

We started our unit on schema on Friday. We learned that your schema is made up of all of your experiences and knowledge. Our schema helps us as a reader to better understand what we read. When we read we activate our schema and make connections or lay a foundation for building more schema. I introduced Clever Foxy as a way to remember to activate our schema. We read The Gingerbread Boy on Friday and talked about how foxes tend to be "clever" animals. There are many sayings such as "being out foxed" that imply that foxes are clever animals. Clever Foxy can remind us to be clever too and activate our schema. Today we added Clever Foxy to our reading target board. Today we read Alexander and the Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. We've all had bad days. Our own experience with bad days helps us understand how the character in the story is feeling.

We also used this book as a teaching point in writer's workshop. We have been talking a lot about what writers write about. Bad days or things that trigger our emotions can create powerful writing opportunities. We looked at how Judith Viorst, the author, really did a great job of writing "small" and including tiny details that made the piece come to life. I modeled with a piece of my own as well before sending the children off to give it a try themselves.

This afternoon we worked on fact families and subtraction facts in math. I introduced the math rods and the children spend about 10 minutes exploring and had a blast. They were a real hit. We also learned how to play domino top it, reviewed double facts and practiced mental math.

After math we took a spelling test. Our spelling today was a cloze test. A cloze test is a paragraph with words omitted. Children listen to the passage being read and fill in the missing words. We are working hard to learn when and how to use "there" and "their". We have learned some spelling songs to help us remember.

One of the most exciting parts of our day was our science walk. Rocks are used all over the world by people and animals. We took a walk around the school yard and looked for things that are made with rocks. It was a beautiful day for a walk.

I sent home scholastic book club flyers today. You can order online by visiting the scholastic web site or by sending in the order form. Each time you order online our class receives a free book from scholastic. We also earn points that can be used to purchase more books for our classroom.

2010-09-30T18:57:00.000-05:00

Did you know that wet clay is quite messy? We had a ball in science exploring with clay and water. We had a layer of gray powder all over everything. The kids loved the lesson. They were able to observe how clay settles when mixed with water. They observed changes in the properties of the clay when exposed to water or air overnight. We ended our science time by writing a paragraph about our observations. We learned about topic sentences, details and concluding sentences.

We took our first math fact quiz today. Mastery of facts to 18 is expected by the end of second grade. Children must complete 36 problems in 2 minutes. Today we took the baseline addition test. Tomorrow we will be taking the subtraction test. There are many ways that you can have your child practice their facts at home. There are many websites that offer interactive and engaging activities to practice facts. There are many links on our froggy fun page of our classroom webpage. (www.thelearningpad.net) If you have an ipod touch or iphone there are several free apps that are lots of fun.

We read a book today called If Everybody Did. It goes through a variety of situations and asks what would happen if everybody did that. We used this as a spring board to talk about why it is so important for everyone to follow procedures in our class.

In reader's workshop we are still working on learning how to set reading targets. We also talked about targets in writer's workshop. One of the targets we discussed was penmanship. We read a book called Hallie's Horrible Penmanship. It was a fun book. We only got through the first two of three chapters. The kids are anxious to finish it tomorrow.

2010-09-29T18:16:00.000-05:00

It's nice to be settling into routines. Writing workshop is so much fun. This morning we watched a short video clip of a teacher conferring with a young writer. We talked about the difference between editing and revising. We will be starting to work on revising our pieces.

During reader's workshop we read a funny story about a mouse who has a red vest. Everyone else wants to try it on. The animals get progressively bigger and the sweater stretches and stretches. We talked about how we are all different and we all need different things. As readers, one child may need to work on stretching words whereas another student may need to work on making connections. We aren't one size fits all readers. We are starting to set reading goals in our reader's notebooks. We need to set goals that are just right for us. We don't set goals/targets because someone else is setting that goal. Children will be setting goals in their reader's notebooks.

Our math focus today was on turn around facts and adding 9. We learned a little story about Mr. 9. He is a thief. He doesn't like being 9. He wants to be 10. So, when ever Mr. 9 gets next to another number he steals one away. He becomes a 10 and you add in the left overs. We also played beat the calculator.

We are working on contractions in spelling. I created a graphic of two cars with words written on them. I modeled how the cars crash together and form a new word. We also worked on a page in our spelling journal.

We ended the day working on the laptops. We are playing around with notebook software in preparation for working on our parent teacher conference presentations.

2010-09-28T20:33:00.000-05:00

Writer's workshop is more and more fun every day! Today we talked some more about writing small. We are starting to see evidence of small moments popping into the children's writing.

The children were a bit disappointed that we didn't get to have a regular reader's workshop today. We had art in the classroom this morning so we weren't able to fit in reader's workshop. We got some new books for our classroom and they were just dieing to get their hands on those new books. Art was followed by library. Library was moved to the morning to accommodate MAPs testing.

Science was a real hit today. We explored clay. Anytime the kids get to experiment with water they love it. =) I think they had as much fun washing the tables and work areas with wet wipes as they did with the clay though.

We finished up MAPs testing after science. The math test was pretty intense. MAPs is designed to allow children to go as high as they can. They start out with a question. If they get it correct they are given a harder question. If they get it incorrect they are given an easier question. There were some really challenging questions popping up on those screens today.

After so much hard work on MAPs testing we needed a brain break so we spent a few minutes outside enjoying the beautiful fall afternoon.

2010-09-27T18:13:00.000-05:00

Our MAPs testing had to be delayed until tomorrow due to some technical difficulties with the software this morning. We will be testing tomorrow afternoon at 2:15.

This morning we spent some more time reading from Fletcher's book about writer's notebooks. Today's chapter dealt with writing small. It is easy to write big (I had fun, I went to the beach). However, a great writer writes small, focusing on the little details. We looked at several samples written by other children before heading out to give it a try.

We visited the computer lab after writer's workshop for MAPs testing, but since the software was down we spent a few minutes on Math Blaster before learning about Notebook software. Notebook software is the software we use on the smartboard. I will be teaching the children how to create a file for the smartboard over the next few weeks. My plan is for the children to create a notebook file that they can use for parent teacher conferences. We will be trying student led conferences in our class this year. We have a lot of learning and work ahead of us to prepare these projects, but I am excited about them. Today the kids learned how to change the background color and insert images from the gallery.

This afternoon we learned about double facts in math. While most of the children know their double facts, we focused more on using double facts to help us solve other facts like the doubles plus 1 facts. We also spent some time on place value and played place value top it. Our math game time was interrupted by a fire drill.

Our spelling lesson today was pretty challenging. We are learning how to add a suffix to a word. We were working on knowing when to double the consonant before adding a suffix.

Check for Comprehension Song

2010-09-24T21:44:00.000-05:00

2010-09-24T17:31:00.000-05:00

This morning during writer's workshop we continued our lesson from yesterday about fog. We reviewed what we learned yesterday about being in a reading fog and talked about how important it is to understand what we read. Of course, we had to sing our comprehension song again. We also read a story called Hide and Seek Fog. It's a great story with a lot of wonderful words that capture the heart and the imagination. We will be using this text as a mentor text in the coming days to learn about things that great writers do.

We continued reading form Fletcher's book about writer's notebooks. Several children shared things they had added to their notebooks. It is exciting to see them taking ownership of their notebooks. We added "unforgettable stories" to our What Do Writers Write About chart from our lesson yesterday. Then we read portions of the chapter about Wonderings. Writers can write about the deep wonderings they have.

Our math lesson focused on more problem solving activities. I used the children's names in many of the stories and they thought that was really cool. =) We learned how to play a new game today too. It's called Beat the Calculator. Children compete to see if they can come up with the answer to a math problem faster than a friend with a calculator can. They loved this game!

Book orders were sent home today. Thank you to everyone who ordered books. A new order sheet will go home in October.

2010-09-23T22:25:00.000-05:00

Full day! I realize this blog is coming quite late, but I didn't get home from work until after 9pm. Thanks to all the parents who came to the PTO meeting this evening. Maybe just maybe we might win the ice cream contest. =) If not, that's ok.

We learned a new song today in reader's workshop. We are learning about checking for comprehension when we read. I made up a little chant to help us remember to check for comprehension. The kids loved it. Though, they did say I dance funny. I'll try to get a video of them doing the comprehension song soon.
We talked about fog and how sometimes when we read our brain seems to be in a fog. It is hard to understand what is going on. When that happens we need to go back and reread. Sometimes we may find that the fog doesn't clear because the book is too challenging or not a good fit. In that case we may choose to abandon the book or we may choose to read the book with help.

During writer's workshop we read another chapter from Fletcher's book for young writers. It talked about unforgettable stories. These are the stories that touch our hearts. These are the stories that make us feel. These are the stories that writers write about. We are all different and what touches the heart of one may not touch the heart of another. A true writer writes from the heart.

We started unit 2 in math today. Today's lesson involved problem solving using story problems. We had fun with it. We also worked hard.

Our science lesson was a continuation of yesterday's lesson. Today we were able to make observations of the sand and water in the vials from yesterday. We found that a layer of silt had formed on top of the sand. It was really cool looking. We didn't have time to finish the lesson because we had to head off to specials. Hopefully we can finish up exploring the silt and follow up with some great discussion tomorrow.

2010-09-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

Writing workshop in the mornings is working out very well for us. The kids seem to enjoy starting out the day with writing. Today they got their writer's notebooks. Our lesson was about what a writer's notebook is and how to use it. We learned that a writer's notebook is like a storage place for our thoughts, ideas, feelings, noticings and wonderings. When something peaks our interest we can jot it down in our notebook. Later we can go back and find things in our notebooks that we want to write more about or that we can include in a piece we are writing. We are reading a book by Ralph Fletcher about writer's notebooks. We enjoyed the introduction this morning. I just know that we are going to learn a lot from delving into this book. We are looking forward to learning how to live the life of a writer.

During reader's workshop we talked about how important it is to have a busy brain. We read a story about Lazy Ozzie. Real readers aren't lazy. They have busy brains when they read, using both decoding and comprehension strategies to help them better understand what they read. We also did our first quick write today. Each day at the end of reader's workshop we take 10 minutes to write about our thinking in our reader's notebooks. I collect these notebooks on Fridays and respond to the children in the notebook over the weekend.

We finished up unit 1 in math yesterday and took the unit test today. Part of the test includes an open response in which children must explain their thinking. The open response portion was a bit challenging. It requires that the children problem solve and explain their thinking in writing.

In science we looked at sand. After reading a story about sand we were able to use hand lenses to look at vials of sand. We poured them out, felt them, looked at them, etc. Then we added water to the vials of sand and shook them up. We did some great noticing. Tomorrow we will look and see if there are any changes to the vials. We drew what we saw today and will draw again to show changes tomorrow.

Busy Brain Song

2010-09-22T20:17:00.000-05:00

2010-09-21T18:20:00.000-05:00

This morning in writer's workshop we read How I Became a Pirate by David Shannon. We talked about treasures. We related this back to the treasures we have in our lives. Writers write about the things they treasure. We made a list of things that we treasure on a treasure chest poster. We also talked about how we all treasure different things. We all have stories inside of us that come from our hearts, from the things that we treasure: our memories, our collections, our experiences, the people we love, our friends, etc.

The art teacher took us on a leaf hunt during art class to collect leaves for an art project we are working on. The kids had a great time collecting different shaped leaves.

We also had library today. The librarian started reading us a chapter book about some mice that find a mysterious stone. We can't wait to find out what happens next week.

This afternoon we had a substitute teacher come in to help out while I worked on doing running records. Running records are individualized reading tests to test reading levels. The sub monitored the room while I did one on one testing with the kids. It was kind of a rough afternoon. The children needed many reminders about classroom rules and procedures and about being respectful. I had a conversation with the children at the end of the day about how important it is to always be respectful and responsible even when I am not in the room. This might be a great talking point for a dinner time conversation.

We learned a new song in readers workshop today. We are still talking about reading power and how important it is to have a busy brain. Readers are thinkers! I took a video of the children singing our new song and will hopefully get it posted later tonight.

We're lovin' 2nd grade!

2010-09-20T18:30:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful day! We got off to a great start with writer's workshop this morning. When I reminded the children as they came in the door that we would be starting with writer's workshop many responded with joyful excitement. YES! I love to see kids excited about writing. =) We read a story called Too Few of Me before composing time. We reviewed how important it is to use our resources because there is only one of me and they don't want to waste their precious writing time waiting in line for me. We were blessed to have a parent helper this morning too. Our door is always open for volunteers for writer's workshop!

MAPs testing went pretty smoothly today. Several children still need to finish up tomorrow afternoon. You will receive your child's scores during parent teacher conferences. If you have not signed up for a time slot it's not too late. The sign up sheets are still in the hall outside the library.

During math today we learned about math symbols and worked with place value and numbers in the 1000's. We reviewed greater than and less than, practiced writing and saying the equations with correct terminology, and then ended our time with addition top it. We will begin addition and subtraction time tests later this week.

In science we did some sorting with vials of assorted rocks. We separated sand, gravel and pebbles. We also learned a new term, cobble. Cobble is smaller than a boulder, but larger than pebbles. The kids love exploring the rocks. Today we also looked at some of the rocks from my daughter's rock collection. Several of the children shared the rocks they've brought in from home. It's amazing how exciting a rock can be.

We took a word preview test in spelling today. We are working hard on there and their. The word "your" was also a bit tricky for some of the children. I encourage you to practice these words at home.
We've been working a lot with base words and suffixes over the past few days. The children seem to be getting a firmer grasp on this and we will now be working on when to double a consonant when adding a suffix. At the end of our spelling lesson we reviewed contractions and played two contraction activities on the smartboard. What fun!

Our day ended with music. The children were singing and playing instruments when I picked them up today. It was a great end to a great day.

2010-09-17T18:06:00.000-05:00

Whirl wind of a day today! We started off with banking day. The kids love banking day. They love trading in all their hard earned nickels and dimes for dollar bills. The excitement level was high today in anticipation of our first JUNGLE Shop.
We did a little tweeking with our schedule today. We tried out writer's workshop first thing in the morning, followed by reader's workshop. We moved math to the afternoon. We've been struggling a little with settling into quiet writing time after lunch. Since we play a lot of games in math I am hoping that the switch makes things flow a little smoother. We'd love to have some parent helpers join us first thing in the mornings for writers workshop. =)
This afternoon we did some activities with programming our calculators and the kids really enjoyed that. We also did some practice with counting 100's, 10's and 1's. We ended our math time by playing coin top it.
After gym class we watched a Magic School Bus video about erosion and did JUNGLE Shop. The kids were so excited about shopping I think we may end up having to watch the movie at another time.
We have a few things that we are in need of in the classroom. If anyone has any old clipboards they no longer want we could really use about 10 more. Also, if anyone has any playground balls, soccer balls, basketballs, jump ropes, etc that they would be willing to donate we would be ever grateful.
I will be placing our scholastic order tomorrow. The books should arrive within about a week. Thank you to everyone who ordered.

The Metacongnition Song

2010-09-16T21:45:00.000-05:00

2010-09-01

2010-09-16T19:37:00.001-05:00

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2010-09-16T18:27:00.000-05:00

We are really starting to settle into our morning schedule and are all loving reader's workshop. This morning we talked about meta-cognition, being aware of our thinking. As a reader we need to have busy brains because reading is thinking. I used a pizza analogy to teach the children the importance of thinking when you read. If we were to order a pizza and all they brought us was a crust we would complain that it wasn't really a pizza. A pizza needs cheese and toppings to make it complete. Text in books is like the crust upon which we build our thinking. Our thinking is like the toppings. We read a few excerpts from a book and I modeled how I thought about what I was reading and added my thinking to the text. Text + Thinking = Real Reading. We made a giant pizza on the smartboard as we added thinking to the text. When we add thinking to the text we have reading power!
I introduced our reader's notebooks this morning as well. I modeled how to make an entry in our notebook in order to track our thinking. I distributed their notebooks this morning during our final work rotation. Several of the children dove right in and have already created their first notebook entry. We will be using our notebooks often during reader's workshop. We also learned the meta-cognition song this morning. =)

During math we learned about equivalent numbers. As part of our lesson we played beat the teacher. Beat the teacher was a favorite last year in our class and I can tell it will continue to be a favorite. Today's number was the number 20. The children had 60 seconds to write down as many name/equivalent numbers for 20 as they could. I used those same 60 seconds to record equivalent names for 20 on the smartboard. After the 60 seconds was up children shared their answers. If I had the same number I crossed it off. If they gave a new one I had not recorded I added it in a different color. In the end I had 6 points and the kids had 26 points!

During writer's workshop today I read Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One. We discussed the 5 W's... who, what, when, where, why. Thinking about these questions can help us bring our writing to life. The children are loving writer's workshop. It's still not running as smoothly as I would like, but I am excited about the enthusiasm the children have for writing and am looking forward to what this year holds for us as writers. If anyone is interested in helping out during writer's workshop, we'd love to have your help.

We had art and music in the afternoon to end our day.

2010-09-14T18:12:00.000-05:00

What a gorgeous day! It was hard being inside when the day was so nice outside. Still we managed and got a lot of learning in today. Our day started off with math and we learned about participating in groups. We also practiced addition facts and worked on skip counting. We learned about ordinal numbers and sequencing and then ended our math lesson by playing top it in groups of 4.
The art teacher came to our classroom for art today and we worked on a pumpkin project. The projects are really looking great! I think they should be finishing them up soon.
We also had our first library visit today. We learned about library rules and expectations and then got to browse the library and check out books. Second graders are allowed to check out 3 books. Our library day will always be on Tuesdays so be sure to have your child return their books by Tuesday. We will be doing some lessons on choosing just right good fit books later this week.
After lunch we had a great science lesson. We learned about different sizes of rocks. We used screens to separate a mixture of sand, gravel and pebbles. It was a lot of fun... and quite a messy activity too. I think we will be cleaning up sand for days. =) Some of the messiest lessons are the ones we remember for years to come. They are real memory builders. We also went outside and looked for rocks for our classroom collection.
During writer's workshop we went back to the story we read yesterday titled Puddles. We looked at the first two pages through the eyes of an author and talked about what Jonathan London did to bring the moment to life. Rather than just saying it rained he exploded the moment like a volcano and talked about the sound of the thunder and the splish splash of the rain and the crash of the lightning. During the composing time of writer's workshop the children worked on their stories trying to explode their small moments to bring their writing to life. After the crafting lesson and the composing time we ended with our communicating time where children shared their stories on the document camera. They love this time of writer's workshop.
At the end of the day our class was video taped saying the pledge for tomorrow's Rocket Vision broadcast. They were pretty excited about being selected. We are all anxious to see the broadcast tomorrow. (Rocket Vision is the school's closed circuit video newscast)
We will be taking our first spelling word preview test tomorrow. I modeled the process of taking the test and the process of how we correct the word preview today.
There is still time to place a scholastic book club order. I will be placing the order this weekend. If you need directions on how to order online send me an email. You can also place your order by sending in the paper order form that was sent home. Thank you to all who have ordered. Your orders will help us purchase new chapter books for our classroom. =)

2010-09-13T18:05:00.000-05:00

We made it through our first day of maps testing today. Today's test was language usage. Next Monday we will be testing on reading and the following Monday we will be testing on math.
During math we explored our math reference books and learned how to use them to help us when we have questions. We also learned how to play the penny plate game. The penny plate game helps reinforce math facts. We used 12 pennies today. One partner would hide some of the pennies under a plate and then the partner had to figure out how many based on how many were left on top of the plate. This is a game you can play at home. You can use any number of pennies.
This afternoon we learned about igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. We watched a cute video with the Rock Wizard. We learned about the layers of the earth, what rocks are made of, and how they are formed and break down by weathering and erosion.
In writer's workshop we read Puddles by Jonathan London. We talked about how great writers zoom in on a small moment. Rather than telling everything they did that day, a writer chooses a small moment and gives lots of details about that moment.
We also had a birthday treat and spent a few minutes outside enjoying the wonderful weather before heading off to music class where the children worked with melodies.

Week two comes to an end

2010-09-10T18:24:00.000-05:00

We had a real geologist visit our classroom today!!! The kids were so excited! The loved all the rocks and were full of questions. Thank you Mrs. Lorenz!
We also had our first banking day today. Mrs. Mains came in and the children were able to make trades at the bank and collect their pay day earnings. The children are so excited about their money and how quickly it is growing. They are anxious for our first Jungle Shop. If you're interested in helping out with Jungle Shop please let me know. We'd like to hold our Jungle shops twice a month on Friday afternoons from 3:00-3:45. Responsibilities include setting up the shop, "working the register" and helping children count their money and change.
In math workshop we cut out play dollars to use for the dollar exchange game. The kids had a blast playing the game. Many of the children asked to take their mats and play dollars home to play at home. We will be using the items again in later lessons so please be sure that the items are returned to the Jungle books.
In reader's workshop we continued learning about endurance and read more from Spirit of Endurance. The kids are just loving this book. They beg for more. We left off at a great spot today... one that left us hanging. =) We also learned the procedures for listen to reading. Raz-kids accounts are all set up now and ready for use. To log in visit www.raz-kids.com . On the log in screen enter Coats when it asks for your teacher name. This will take you to a screen with each child's name. Click on your name and you're all set to go.
We read Sylvester and the Magic Pebble before writer's workshop. We've been talking about how everyone has a story to tell. Some stories come from our imaginations, some from our experiences. Where ever they come from, writer's write.
At the end of the day we watched a 15 minute video clip about Arthur writing a story. It was a great tie in to our writer's workshop lessons this week.
I still need one more room parent. Room parents primary responsibility is to make 12 phone calls to recruit volunteers for the spring carnival. If you are willing to help in this way please contact me.

2010-09-01

2010-09-08T21:52:00.001-05:00

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2010-09-08T20:34:00.000-05:00

Today was a big day! We added "Read to Someone" to our reader's workshop. We made the 15 minute stamina goal during Read to Self so we were ready to take the next step. We created an anchor chart of expectations before having a go at it. We made 6 1/2 minutes of stamina in Read to Someone. It was pretty exciting.
We are continuing to read Spirit of Endurance during reader's workshop. The kids are really getting into the story. We've found a lot of signs of endurance in the crew and are having some great discussions about how endurance plays a part in our reading journey. It's really exciting!
During math we learned how to work with partners. We then had the opportunity to play addition top-it with a partner to practice our new workshop skills. The children had a great time playing and hardly realized they were really working on addition.
We've been having a lot of fun with our science lessons as well. Today we explored rocks and water. We made observations about what happens to different types of rocks when they are placed in water. We saw bubbles coming up from the lava rocks. We saw rocks change colors and we observed changes in the water as the rocks were placed in it.
Writer's workshop was cut a bit short today because science took a bit longer than planned. Still we found time for a story and had about 20 minutes to write.
After gym we went to the computer lab for the first time this year. The computer system has changed this year and so we had to learn new log in procedures including individual user names and passwords. Each child has their own user name (full first name.last name) and a 2 letter 4 digit password. I was amazed at how well they did with logging in for the first time. After getting logged in they were able to explore Tux Paint, a kids paint/drawing program.
Another great day!
Remember that tomorrow is picture day. Don't forget to send your money envelope if you wish to purchase pictures.

Busy day

2010-09-07T19:13:00.000-05:00

We had a busy day today. In math we reviewed calendar and time skills. We added demonstration clocks to our math tool kids and practiced telling time.
During reader's workshop we began learning about endurance. We connected this to stamina and learned that endurance is much like stamina. When we have endurance we not only have stamina, but we give it all we've got and don't give up. We began reading a book called Spirit of Endurance. It is a true story about Sir Shakelton's expedition to the south pole. We read the first few pages and looked for signs of endurance. We found that determination is a big part of endurance. We also found that planning can play a part in endurance as can preparation. We will continue reading this book over the next few days, digging in and looking for signs of endurance and relating that back to our own adventures in learning to read. I'm looking forward to some great discussions.
The art teacher came to our classroom for art class today. We will have art in our classroom every Tuesday. The children worked on a fall project involving pumpkins and 3-D art. They did a fantastic job.
After art we had time for a round of reader's workshop. We built our stamina time to 12 minutes and 28 seconds. We were very excited! Our next goal is 15 minutes, with an eventual goal of 30 minutes.
After lunch we had science today. We began our unit on the study of rocks called Pebbles, Sand and Silt. We observed the properties of 3 different types of rocks using hand lenses and explored what would happen when we rubbed the rocks together. We also read a story called Stone Soup. The kids said they would love to make stone soup at the end of our rock unit. =) Maybe, just maybe...
During writer's workshop we talked about noise levels that are appropriate for work time. We read a story called Too Much Noise. It was a great springboard for our discussion.
We also took time to take a pretest of our priority spelling words. These are the no excuse words that children will be expected to spell correctly in their daily writing. I was quite pleased with the scores.
Towards the end of the day we began putting together our JUNGLE Books. This is our three ring binder which we will bring back and forth between home and school each day. Information about picture day on Thursday is in the JUNGLE Book front pocket. We focused on adding the writing items to our notebook today. We will continue to add items over the next few days. Your child should also have brought home their smartwork in their JUNGLE Book today. We begin each morning with smartwork. Smartwork includes a fix it section where students edit sentences for spelling, punctuation and grammar, a math fact section and several additional sections that change based on what we are working on. We go through the smartwork each morning together making corrections as we go. Please initial the smartwork each day. Children receive a frog shop nickel each time it is returned with a signature. The purpose is to keep you informed about what skills we are working on in class.
We ended our day with Mr. Nelson, who talked to us about Robinwood ROAR (respect, organization, and responsibility). Afterwards he came to our classroom and pulled a ROAR slip from our smiley bucket and gave out a prize to the winner. I also pulled some slips and gave out some quarters.
Some where in our day we also found some time to squeeze in a little choice time. The children enjoyed "working" on building relationships and classroom community.

First week

2010-09-03T21:25:00.000-05:00

Our first week has come to an end. It's been a wonderful week. We've been having a great time reading, learning, and sharing together.
Today we worked on counting coins and skip counting in math. We also talked about math tools, played with calculators and reviewed tally marks. We will be putting together our math tool kits next week. Your child will need 4 quarters, 10 nickels, 10 dimes and 20 pennies.
During our reader's workshop we read a story titled Amber on the Mountain. The story is about a young girl who lives on a mountain in the late 1800's. There is no school and no one to teach her to read. One summer she meets another child who is visiting the mountain for the summer while her father works on the mountain. Anna teaches Amber to read. The story is a powerful example of stamina. We reviewed stamina and worked on building our reading stamina.
Before lunch we had a "ball" stretching out the yarn we used on the first day of school for our get to know you web. We wanted to see how long it was and how far it would stretch. It stretched ALL the way around the main hallway that circles the library. =)
This afternoon we read Mr. Katapat's Adventures. The kids loved the book. We talked about what writers write about. We also discussed our writer's workshop yesterday and created an expectations chart. Our "composing" time went very well. Our writer's workshop contains 3 components: a crafting lesson, a composing time and a communication time when we share our writing with each other.
After gym class we ended our day by watching a magic school bus video about a volcano.

2010-09-02

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Day two...

2010-09-02T18:01:00.000-05:00

Today was another wonderful day. It was a very full day! We launched reader's workshop today We started out by reading a book titled More Than Anything Else. This is the story of Booker T. Washington and how he yearned to learn to read more than anything else. We talked about the urgency of becoming strong readers. After reading the story I introduced "read to self", the first of the three things we will be doing each day to grow as readers. Our focus was on reading stamina. The children learned that stamina is being able to do something for a long time. We created a chart to anchor our thinking and brainstormed what it would look and sound like in our room during reader's workshop. After creating our list we spent some time modeling both the wrong way and right way to do read to self. The kids then had an opportunity to practice building their stamina.
We also dove into math today and reviewed skip counting, using a number line, and discussed how math is used in everyday life. The kids loved using the smartboard. We read a math story that included problem solving questions on each page. We used a variety of strategies to solve the problems.
In the afternoon we read Something to Tell the Grandcows. This is a very funny story about a cow who goes on an adventure to the south pole so that she will have stories to tell her grandcows. We learned that everyone has a story to tell. Our lives are filled with experiences that we can share through writing. Each child shared a story with their talking partner and then spent some time writing. We used the make shift document camera I have rigged up using a webcam to share our writing on the smartboard.
Our day ended with music and art class today. Tomorrow we will have gym so be sure to have your child wear gym shoes.

First Day Adventures

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First Day of Second Grade

2010-09-01T19:42:00.000-05:00

I just got home and plopped down into my easy chair, letting out a long, but satisfied sigh. I love second grade! We had a wonderful first day. It was great to see old friends and meet new friends.
We spent the morning getting to know each other and learning and reviewing classroom procedures and rules. We created a web of yarn as part of our get to know each other activity. Each child shared a little about themselves while holding a yarn ball. When they finished they held on to a strand of the yarn and then threw the ball to another child. As each child shared we created a web. Our discussion afterward centered on communities and how we are all tied together as a community of learners, a web so to speak. We made a promise to be good citizens and good friends and stick together this year.

Of course, we followed that up with a read aloud, The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash. We learned about anarchy and chaos and discussed how those can affect a community. The book was a great springboard for our discussion as it was full of chaos.
We learned the 5 classroom rules: Rule 1 Follow procedures, Rule 2 Raise your hand for permission to speak, Rule 3 Only make smart choices, Rule 4 Give it all you've got, and Rule 5 Show respect to everyone. Each child received their money pouch. As part of a community we each have a job. My job is to teach. Their job is to learn. Just like I get a paycheck for doing my job well, they will each get paid 1 Frog Shop dollar each week as their pay. Once or twice a month they will be able to spend their earnings at the Frog Shop. We also learned that when we break the rules we have to pay fines. If I speed I can get a speeding ticket. Most classroom infractions carry a nickel fine.
We also learned about the Robinwood ROAR. ROAR stands for Respect, Organization, and Responsibility. This is a school wide behavior model being implemented at Robinwood this year. We had a great discussion about the meaning of each of these words and how they are a part of our classroom and school expectations. We did a lot of practicing of procedures and learning how to do things in our classroom. The children made pictures and wrote about important procedures in our class and shared them with each other. We also played a math game on the smartboard and the kids had a blast!

After lunch the kids came in from recess very hot and sticky. We cooled down with water and sat back to enjoy another story. We read a really neat book called Wild About Books about the bookmobile going to the zoo. All the animals learned to read and went wild for books. After the story each child shopped for 1 book they really thought they'd go wild for and then we had a reader's circle. Each child shared WHY they chose that particular book. We talked about the many reasons to choose books and then spent some time shopping for 4 additional books to put in our book bins in preparation for the start of reader's workshop tomorrow. We took a little time to just sit back and enjoy the books we'd picked with friends.
Later in the day we read Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook. The kids loved this book. We discussed why writer's write and started a list of those reasons on the smartboard. We ran out of time and headed off to gym class, knowing that we will be able to finish our chart tomorrow.

As our day was winding down we took time to "unpack our learning" from the day. We reviewed all the important things we'd learned today. No first day is complete without a little time to play with friends, both old and new so we ended the day with 20 minutes of choice time.

It was a wonderful day! We are all excited for tomorrow when we will be starting reader's workshop and writer's workshop. We'll be learning about stamina and working to build our reading stamina in reader's workshop.

I will be uploading pictures of our first day adventure soon.

p.s. Don't forget to send a water bottle to school with your child if you haven't already done so. Please send only spout top or non spillable water bottles.

Classroom transformation in progress

2010-08-19T20:50:00.000-05:00

I've been busy all week transforming our pond into a rain forest. It's starting to come together. I posted some pictures below. I'm still looking for a simple floor lamp and a few fake plants. I"m excited to see all my little learners again and restart our learning adventure.

2010-08-19

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Wild about learning

2010-07-10T09:09:00.000-05:00

As I look forward to second grade I have been thinking about expanding our "pond" classroom into a jungle. If anyone has any jungle type things they might be willing to donate it would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking for a jungle print rug, jungle print pillows or pillow coverings, fake trees, etc.

2010-06-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

Oh the tears that were shed today! Saying goodbye is so hard. Our classroom was a very sad place for a little while. After a wonderful year filled with many memories it is hard to move on. I have loved every moment I have spent in first grade this year. It is hard to believe that the year has come to an end.

The children each brought home a copy of the end of the year slide show in their white report card envelope. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did today. After the slide show (and many tears) the children were able to shop one last time in the frog shop. We went outside to play after shopping. We played tiger tag and had a great time. Our day ended with a final sharing circle and good bye hugs.

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful summer. Please remember to have your child spend some time daily reading to keep skills strong.

May 18

2010-05-18T21:44:00.000-05:00

We got a couch today! We are all so excited about this new addition to our classroom. It's so nice to have a home-like feeling.
We have been learning about summarizing and retelling this week during reader's workshop. I've been using fairy tales to model retelling and then using fairy tale reversals as read alouds that we use for practice with retelling. Yesterday we read a version of the three little pigs called The Three Havelinas. Today we read a story called The Wolf Who Cried Boy. Retelling is an art. Learning to retell with not only detail, but also with expression and voice is a skill that takes practice. We will continue to practice with a variety of fairy tales throughout the week.
In word work we have been reviewing a variety of phonics rules and applying them to unknown words. We have been taking what we know about sound chunks and using that knowledge to build larger words. We are focusing particularly on syllabication in this process.
During math we are working on adding double digit numbers. We've practiced using the number grid as a resource. We've also learned that the ones sometimes "have to go next door to borrow a ten" kind of like a neighbor borrowing a cup of sugar.
In social studies we have been learning about occupations. Yesterday we participated in a role playing activity to discover that many people are needed for a variety of different jobs that are all necessary in order to create a product. The kids enjoyed role playing as cotton pickers, taxi drivers, store clerks, etc.
After computer class we took advantage of the wonderful sunshine and spent a few minutes playing outside.

2010-04-15

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2010-05-15

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2010-05-15

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2010-05-15

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Budding Author's Exhibition

2010-05-14T17:29:00.000-05:00

Our Budding Author's Exhibition was a wonderful success! The children had an awesome time sharing their books. Many hours of hard work went into researching, writing, typing, editing and illustrating their books. I am so proud of each and every one of my students! It is my hope that they will look back on this day with many fond memories. I know that I will. Thank you to all the families and friends who showed up to celebrate with us.

2010-05-04T18:51:00.000-05:00

I come home with pockets full of plastic coins on a regular basis because I forget to take them out of my pocket at school. My husband always teases me that he is going to show up at school someday with all the piles and piles of coins I have at home and flood my classroom economy. Well, today he showed up at the end of the day to surprise me for our 20th wedding anniversary. We came in from science outside to find him sitting in my chair with a bag full of coins. He started asking questions and handing out coins to those with answers. I must admit it was pretty funny. Not to mention the excitement of the kid at getting all this "free money." =)

We've been busy the past week working on our animal reports. Several of the children have finished up their books, including illustrations. They are super excited about the finished product. We would like to invite you to come to an author's celebration in the library on Friday May 14th at 3pm after the spring concert. We will have some refreshments and the children will read their books. (The spring concert starts at 1:30 on May 14th.)

Our critters (bess beetles and pill bugs) arrived last week and we had a wild and crazy time observing, exploring and investigating. I got some great pictures that I will try to post soon. We are learning about the parts of an insect, what makes an insect an insect, and how living things grow and change. Yesterday and today we participated in an organism scavenger hunt. The kids had a great time finding all the things on the list and had some awesome group discussions and shares after completing the hunt. The weather was perfect too!

In math we tested on unit 8 yesterday and began unit 9 today. Unit 9 has place value as a primary focus with an emphasis on double digit addition and subtraction. We played a place value game today with a number grid and explored adding 10's to a number.

During reader's workshop we are continuing our unit on synthesizing. I have been completely amazed at how the children are grasping this topic and are quickly incorporating the language and strategy into their daily book talk.

I will be out of the building tomorrow for a science training event.

2010-04-26T21:04:00.002-05:00

We are busily working on our research reports. A district administrator visited our room this afternoon while we were working on them and was really impressed with what the children were doing. It is a pretty cool sight to see 21 little first graders working away on "research papers". The excitement in the room is awesome. I can't wait to see the finished products.

Of course we are busy doing a lot of other things too. In math we did some review work on money and making change. We'll be starting fractions tomorrow. In science we are observing our living organisms. Today some of the fish were eating another fish that had died. Some of our pumpkin seeds sprouted up over the weekend and are HUGE! We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our Bess Beetles and pill bugs. During our reader's workshop time we are learning about synthesizing. I was so excited to hear some of the children already starting to use this strategy in their independent reading time. Our story today was called Mrs. Spritzer's Garden. It is about a teacher who plants "seeds" and takes care of them all year. Of course she isn't really planting real seeds, but seeds of learning and is growing a garden of children. =) We got some good discussion from the book. I love listening to my first graders talk about books. Sprinkled into our day is also some time devoted to pronouns, contractions, using a good lead to start a writing piece, making good choices, respecting others, etc. It's great fun learning in first grade.

We will be working on our reports this week from 2:30-3:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Volunteers are welcome!!! =)

2010-04-22T21:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a fun filled day. We spent a good deal of time "doing science." During the morning we put together our terrariums and observed moss samples and evergreen seedlings, which we then planted in our terrariums. We also discussed habitats and worked in our science journals. Later in the day we put together our aquariums. The highlight of the day was observing the critters that arrived. The kids loved observing the guppies and snails.

We also started our research reports yesterday. We worked on organization and created learning webs to guide our research. We are using our webs to create table of contents for our reports. We are using Microsoft Word to write our reports. We have learned to do a lot of "stuff" with Word: changing font and font size and color, centering and aligning text, using shift keys to capitalize and make punctuation marks, and enter key. Today we learned how to insert page breaks. I must admit that it is a pretty monumental task running around helping 21 first graders on laptops doing research, but the kids are loving it and are learning a LOT! I wish I had 21 sets of hands. =)

We finished our maps testing yesterday. I was very pleased with the test results.

2010-04-20T20:25:00.002-05:00

Whoa! Today was quite a busy day. We spent our morning MAPS testing (standardized assessment). We completed the math portions of the test in the morning. After lunch we took the first reading portion and will finish the second reading portion tomorrow morning.

We also spend time this afternoon preparing for our non fiction writing project. Children will be researching an animal of their choosing and writing a book about it. We've been practicing creating graphic organizers using Kidspiration software for the past few weeks. We will be using it to create our graphic organizers for our book. Today I modeled creating one for our book. The children then each selected their animal and we spent time in the library locating books on our topics. Most of the children are now armed with books and ready to start their research. Our graphic organizers will help us prepare a table of contents and begin our rough drafts. We will be typing our projects using the computer lab and mobile lab. In past years many of the children have taken such an interest in this project that they have taken it home to work on as well. If your child would like to do this please provide them with an inexpensive flash drive, labeled with their name.

Our "critters" have arrived and we will be assembling terrariums and aquariums tomorrow afternoon. It will be an exciting day!