READING

Planting the Seeds…The Gardener by Sarah Stewart

The year: 1935, and Lydia Grace Finch leaves the country to go live with her Uncle Jim in the city. Lydia Grace faces this challenge with resolve and a little sadness. After all, she is leaving her family behind, the effects of the Great Depression having taken their toll. The city is a gray dirty place and Uncle Jim is kind but he never smiles. Soon, it’s spring again and Lydia has found a place to call her own (the building’s abandoned roof). Her number one goal is to get Uncle Jim to smile, and she’s fairly certain that the answer to this goal is just around the corner.

While this overview may not initially sound like a picture book for a primary classroom, it is a wonderful children’s story that spotlights the main character, Lydia Grace, as she transforms her uncle’s bakery and brings smiles to customers’ faces with the flowers that she grows. As a class, we planted the seeds for a discussion about story and character development with the reading of this book.

Prior to reading, each child took a random illustrated square cut from a colored copy of a page in the book. The children did not see the larger illustration. Each child was asked to recreate his/her square drawing onto a larger blank piece of paper. We then gathered on the reading carpet in order to assemble the student-created artwork.

The result was a patchwork masterpiece. We had composed our original new picture with each square drawn in a different style. We wondered aloud what this picture could possibly represent. Children shared predictions. We discussed that just as 16 students had created their personal interpretation of artwork to make up one picture, we had 16 different viewpoints and opinions that we would be able to weave together in order to interpret this one story.

We had a guest teacher, literacy expert, Dr. Judy Wallis, join us for 2 lessons last week. She continued our work with The Gardener. She talked with the children about how Sarah Stewart wove her narrative through a series of letters. She modeled how we could find clues to the story’s elements in the first letter. She then set the children off to work on their own with another letter from the story. She assigned them the task of finding clues to the setting, characters, and conflict within the letter they read. This week we regrouped and shared the letters and our thinking about the story elements in each.

Book Pass

As a way to continue exploring biographies, we created a book pass. Using a basket of biographies from the library and our classroom, we discussed how to choose appropriate books to read. Each child received a biography to look over for a short period. Children then passed their book to their neighbor, read the overview of this second book, and then passed books again. Each child was then able to select a biography to read. Using the ideas from the language of new learning, children began reading their biography and tagging pages with yellow sticky notes when their inner voice told them to question, pause at an interesting point or marvel over a new fact. The children posted their facts on a sharing sheet. The final step was to share newfound knowledge with the class as each child presented his/her findings. We found out interesting facts and information on the lives of Walt Disney, Henri Matisse, Rosa Parks, The Wright Brothers, Roald Dahl, Michelle Obama, Helen Keller, Oprah Winfrey, and more!

MATH

We recently finished our math unit on fractions. In this unit, the children learned that a fractions are equal parts of a whole. The children also learned how to write a fraction as a given number of parts over the total number of parts. Once the children understood how to write a fraction, we moved on to comparing fractions using models. We will be moving on to identifying and sorting plane figures (2 dimensional shapes).

SCIENCE

Our study of weather began with a look into the world of the water cycle. We learned about the water cycle, created our own water wheels, and learned the following song, which the children love to sing! Be forewarned, once you start singing, the song has the potential of sticking in your head for a very long time!

The Water Cycle

Sung to the tune of She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountain.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does. Yes it does!

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does. Yes it does!

It goes up as evaporation,

Forms clouds as condensation,

Then falls down as precipitation, yes it does! Yes it does!

MAP Testing

Our class will be taking the MAP test on Thursday, May 17, and Wednesday, May 23. Please make sure your child gets adequate rest the night before each testing date, and eats breakfast on the day of the test. Also, please talk with your child about the importance of trying their best on the MAP test. See April 24 post for more information.

THANK YOU

As a recent mystery reader, Mrs. Geller read Wilfrid Gordon MacDonald Partridge, a class favorite, to the children. Mrs. Keyser entertained the children with the funny tale Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock. The children enjoyed making predictions about what would happen in this story. She also read Little Oink. Mrs. Bringas read an excerpt from Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing. Thank you very much for volunteering your time to come read to us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since our marble party will take up our afternoon on Friday, our library time has been rescheduled to  Wednesday this week. Please help your child remember any books they would like to return tomorrow. Thank you.

The 2-E Team filled our classroom marble jar, so it’s time to celebrate the good behavior, teamwork, creative ideas, and acts of kindness that got them to this point!

We will have our “Pajama Day” marble party this Friday, May 4.

• Children may wear pajamas/comfortable weekend clothes on Friday. Please note that students will still be going out for recess. If the weather is chilly and pajamas are worn, students will most likely need to layer clothes over/under their pajamas.

• We will enjoy a G-rated movie on our classroom Promethean board.

• I will provide juice boxes and popcorn for the children. Please send me an email (kelman@nssd112.org), write me a note, or call me if you would prefer your child to NOT have this food treat.

 

READING

Annie’s Gifts

By: Angela Shelf Medearis

 “Annie’s sister plays the piano. Her brother plays the trumpet. But no matter how hard Annie tries, she can’t play the instruments as well as her sister and brother. Finally, Annie finds her own special gift.”

As we read this story we identified and analyzed the setting. We also focused on monitoring our understanding of what we are reading by focusing on reading ahead for clarification. The children liked the message in the story. Annie didn’t have to be good at the same things that her classmates or siblings were good at, but rather she needed to discover and develop her own talents.

The following week the children read the story Ah, Music! by Aliki. This nonfiction text gave the children a broad overview of music from basic definitions to composing and performing. During work station time the children participated in many activities related to music and sound. Computer station: the children listened to Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin on BookFlix, then read a paired selection which explained the science behind sound. Word Work: the children used the glossary in their student reading anthology to located specific information. Reading: the children practiced rereading Ah, Music!, then read to learn even more about the science of sound in leveled texts from our science curriculum. Reading with the Teacher: the children read books about different types of music and discussed music appreciation. We have also been listening to different genres of music in class.

This week in reading the children are reading a biography called The Life of George Washington Carver. The students will learn features of this genre, that a biography is nonfiction and told in time order. This week we are also tuning in to the “inner voice” that talks to us when we are reading. We are especially looking for the voice to tell us when we have encountered new learning. We recognize that the words our inner voice sometimes uses when we learn something new are, “WOW!,”  “I never knew…”, and “That’s so (cool, gross, interesting…)”. The children will learn many interesting facts about this amazing agricultural scientist, as well as have a chance to read other biographies. Have your child share something he/she learned about George Washington Carver with you at the end of the week.

GRAMMAR/WRITING

In grammar the students are learning about different kinds of adjectives to use to improve their writing. Some of the types include: adjectives that tell about the senses (how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, and or tastes), adjectives that tell how many, and adjectives that compare. We are also looking for examples of writers using these different types as we read. We had a shared reading of All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan. In the story, the main character describes all the places in the area that he lives with vivid descriptions and emotions. After we read the story we focused in on one particular illustration from the story. In the illustration, the little boy telling the story is wearing a yellow raincoat and red rain boots. He is squatting in a marshy area completely surrounded by cattails, looking at a turtle. While looking at this illustration, the children imagined they were in the picture and described some of the things they would see, hear, smell and feel if they were the boy. We recorded these ideas on a chart under a picture of the sense they matched. I encourage the children to add adjectives in their weekly spelling sentences.

MATH

We have finished our unit on clocks, so your child should be able to read an analog clock to the nearest five minute mark.  He/she should also be able to figure out elapsed time and count the number of minutes until the next hour. The children should no longer need to rely on adults to tell them the time. Instead, I encourage you to have them do this for themselves to practice this life skill and become more independent with time management.

We also finished our unit on identifying three-dimensional shapes and their attributes. We sorted 3D shapes into the categories of slide/roll. We identified the parts of the shapes: faces, edges, and vertices. We also used tables to problem solve the number of 2-dimensional shapes on a certain number of 3D shapes. For example, if one cylinder has 2 circles on it, how many circles would 5 cylinders have on them? We organized the information onto a table, looked for a pattern and filled in the table to solve the problem.

You may have noticed your son/daughter become more interested in baseball season this year. If so, it is because we are doing math activities around one of our very own hometeams, the Chicago Cubs. Each day that the Cubs play, we begin by singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”. We then highlight the most recent game on the Cubs’schedule, tally if it was a home or away game, locate the home state of the opponent on a map and color it in, find the total score of the game, find the difference between the winning score and losing score, and graph the wins/losses for the Cubs. It has been a rough start to the season, but the kids have a great deal of spirit and are very excited and cheer whenever the Cubs win.

THANK YOU

As a recent mystery reader, Mrs. Belloff read us the beginning of another Gooney Bird Greene chapter book: Gooney Bird and the Room Mother. The kids really love Gooney Bird’s talent for storytelling. This is a great book to check out from the library and finish with your child. Mr. Jacob’s reading and discussion of Jack’s New Boat really held the student’s attention. Thank you very much for volunteering your time to come read to us!

A few notes…

Wayne Thomas will be administering the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) to students in second grade this spring. MAP is an achievement test, which measures student progress in reading and math. Students in second grade will be taking two tests on the computer. The second grade teachers and Mrs. Hales will prepare the students for the format of the MAP test, so they can be comfortable taking this test on the computer. The MAP assessment is typically administered three times a year in September, December and in May. Your child’s classroom teacher will be providing the specific schedule for your child later this month.

MAP tests are adaptive and adjust to match the skill level of each student. As such, it is very likely that each student will take a slightly different test. As a result, each student has the same opportunity to succeed and maintain a positive attitude toward testing.

MAP testing is a powerful tool for measuring a student’s learning over time and for developing instruction that meets the learning needs of our students.

Sincerely,
Maureen Deely
Principal

 

Now that the weather is getting nicer, please make sure your child has gym shoes at school each day for gym class. Children may not participate in gym in sandal/Croc type shoes for safety reasons. Your child may keep a pair of  socks & gym shoes here in his/her locker to change into before gym.

Reminder: Snacks that are brought to school to be eaten in the classroom must be fruits, vegetables or dairy items. Snacks that do not follow these guidelines will not be allowed in class. Your child may take other items (such as Jell-o, Goldfish crackers, chips, etc. ) to the lunchroom to eat with his/her lunch. Thank you for your help so we can make our classroom a safe place for all students!

 

Spelling

As you may have noticed, I was absent from school yesterday. My substitute got a bit mixed up with our spelling pre-test and lists. The correct spelling list for your child is coming home with him/her today. Please note: If your child already began his/her spelling sentences with different words, I told the children to leave what they had done so far and just choose words from the correct list to finish their sentences. I apologize for the confusion.

Read-a-thon Sheets due tomorrow, April 11!

Tally up those reading minutes and turn in your iRead-a-thon sheets tomorrow with any donations you may have collected for the Foundation. Let’s hope our minutes are enough to put Mrs. Deely on the roof!

HOMEWORK

There are no Home Reading Logs (nor Home Math Logs, if applicable for your child) due on Friday, April 6 as there was no log over Spring Break and there is no school on Friday. New logs will be sent home on Thursday, April 5, to begin on Friday, April 6.

During this week, your child can continue to read for the 112 Foundation iRead program. Mrs. Deely has vowed to work on the roof for a day if our school wins the district trophy for the most minutes read. Information was included on student flyers that came home and can also be found on the 112 Education Foundation website: www.112foundation.com   Together we can accomplish this “raise the roof” task!

Due to the shortened week there will NOT be spelling sentences this week.

NO HOT LUNCH

There is no hot lunch next week, April  9-13. Please plan to send a lunch with your child every day. Thank you!

READING

Before spring break, we began our second StoryTown anthology. Our new theme is called, “Dream Big.” Each of the five stories in this theme focuses on a different aspect of imagination and creativity.

Mr. Putter and Tabby Write the Book

By Cynthia Rylant

We read another entertaining realistic fiction text by Cynthia Rylant. (She is also the author of the popular Henry and Mudge series we read earlier in the year.) In this story, Mr. Putter decides to write a great mystery novel, but runs into several distractions along the way. This story is paired with an interview with author Loreen Leedy. These two resources come at a perfect time to help the children as they work on their own creative stories during our Writers’ Workshop time.

Our focus skill is to be able to identify the setting; both when and where the story takes place. We practiced looking for clue words. For example, the author may not come out and say, “It was winter,” but may give us clues such as, “Mia made a snowman near the barn.” The word “snowman” implies that it is winter.

Our comprehension strategy continues to be about monitoring our own reading and checking for understanding. Good readers monitor how well they understand what they read. When a reader doesn’t understand something about the story, sometimes reading ahead to gather more information can help.

WRITING

Lesson: The children learned how to write a how-to paragraph. The children had this prompt on their morning work list: “Tell me how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich”. Following are a few examples of the directions I received:

“First you get the bread then you put peanut butter and on top of it you put some jeally and then your sandwich is done!”

“First you need two pieces of bread. Then you need peanut butter and jelly. Then you put the peanut butter on one slice of bread and the jelly on the other slice. And finally you can eat.”

“This is how I make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sometimes I do it myself. First I grab bread. (I don’t really care what kind.) Second, I grab a piece of bread and put on peanut butter. (I like smooth better.) Third, I put on jelly. (I like strawberry jelly best.) That’s how I like my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Crunch, Crunch, mmmm!”

The children were very surprised when I began to follow their directions to try to build myself a lunch (we have no peanut allergies in class) and quickly figured out that their directions were not written clearly enough. For example, with the first set of directions, I put the entire jar of peanut butter on the loaf of bread and then put the jar of jelly next to the bread and peanut butter. So, as a class, we rewrote the directions. We found that a how-to paragraph begins with the needed materials. Then each sentence tells a step to follow in order, and is written as a command. The result was a tasty lunch for Mrs. Elman!

Here is our resulting class paragraph:

How to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich (a.k.a PB&J)

First, you need to get peanut butter, jelly, two pieces of bread, a butter knife and a plate. Put the pieces of bread on the plate. Open the jar of peanut butter and the jelly. Next, put a knife in the peanut butter and scoop the peanut butter onto one piece of bread. Spread the peanut butter on the bread to cover it. Scoop some jelly onto the butter knife and spread it onto the other half of bread. Put one of the pieces of bread on top of the other, making sure the peanut butter and jelly are touching. Enjoy your PB&J!

THANK YOU!

Our most recent mystery reader, Mrs. Goldstein she read us the book Yo, Hungry Wolf! This book has 3 short stories you can ‘rap’. All three stories centered on the fairy tale wolf. The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Boy Who Cried Wolf were all very entertaining to hear, and Mrs. Goldstein really impressed us with her rapping ability when reading them! Thank you!

 

Just a few notes:

Today, Wednesday, March 21 there is NO math homework. The students completed a district assessment which took our entire math time, so we did not complete our usual math lesson.

Spelling sentences are still due on Friday, March 23. If your child earned a spelling sentence pass this week for earning 5 “pluses” on previous spelling sentences, please sign and attach the pass to the spelling sentence paper and have your child turn it in by Friday.

Home Reading Logs (and Home Math Logs, if applicable for your child) are due on Friday, March 23. There will be no Home Reading Log over Spring Break, nor the week we return (as we won’t be in school on March 30 to hand a new one out.) Your child should continue to read for the 112 Foundation iRead program. At Wayne Thomas, Mrs. Deely has vowed to work on the roof for a day if our school wins the district trophy for the most minutes read. Information was included on student flyers that came home and can also be found on the 112 Education Foundation website: www.112foundation.com   Together we can accomplish this “raise the roof” task!

Water Bottles:

With the extremely warm weather we have been having lately, I would strongly encourage you to send your child to school with a large water bottle. We have no air conditioning and the students need to have water throughout the day to maintain hydration. We do not have a drinking fountain in our room and it is disruptive and time-consuming for students to be leaving the room for drinks many times during the day. Thank you!

 

 

READING

Recently, our class read Big Bushy Mustache by Gary Soto. This piece of realistic fiction features Ricky, a boy who tries to look more like his father, by borrowing a mustache from a school costume. Ask your child to share what happened to the mustache and how Ricky solved his problem. In tandem with this story, we discussed dialogue, possessive nouns, and learned some new Spanish vocabulary words. We also tried some different paper mustaches on to see how we would look. Everyone had a very good time!

This past week we read Rain Forest Babies by Kathy Darling. This piece of nonfiction features many different kinds of rain forest babies: elephants, tigers, macaws, frogs, kangaroos, and sugar gliders. It provided us with many interesting facts about each type of animal baby.

As we read each of these stories we reviewed the features of fiction and non-fiction writing, as well as focused on the author’s purpose for writing the selection. The children are becoming very accurate at analyzing and determining the type of text they are reading.

 

RAZ KIDS

In class we have visited a reading web site called Raz Kids. Every child has been set up with a personal folder complete with a collection of stories on Raz Kids. Children earn points for the stories read to them, the stories they read, and the comprehension quiz after each story. Once students begin to earn points, they can go to the “Raz Rocket” menu bar and use their earned points to “buy” things to furnish the interior of their rocket. Another feature of this site allows students to check out specific books from the library in order to read and take the online quiz for additional points. Students move up reading levels at their own pace. This site has been added to the links section on our classroom blog and can be accessed from school or home.

 

READ ALOUD

Gooney Bird Greene
By Louis Lowry

Two-time Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry introduces a new girl in class who loves being the center of attention and tells the most entertaining “absolutely true” stories. There’s never been anyone like Gooney Bird Greene at Watertower Elementary School. What other new kid comes to school wearing pajamas and cowboy boots one day and a polka-dot t-shirt and tutu on another? Gooney Bird has to sit right smack in the middle of the class because she likes to be in the middle of everything. She is the star of story time and keeps her teacher and classmates on the edge of their seats with her “absolutely true” stories. Along the way, the class learns not just about Gooney Bird, but how to tell a story, and how everyone has a story to tell.

 

GRAMMAR

The children are getting plenty of practice working with singular and plural possessives. We are also learning about pronouns. We began our study of pronouns by reading the book The Planet Without Pronouns by Justin McCory Martin. In this story, Stanley Sharpelton touches down on the planet Krimular where he encounters a purple planet filled with friendly, six-armed aliens – but absolutely no pronouns! Stanley saves the day by teaching his new friend all about pronouns.

 

Synonyms took center stage this week as we worked in teams to create a classroom forest of synonyms to use in our own writing. We found out that synonyms are different words with similar or the same meanings. We gathered on the reading carpet where students were given an index card. They then went on a hunt to find a student holding a card that was a synonym to their word. Once we reviewed all of the synonym pairs, we discussed how a thesaurus is used. Working in pairs, students used a thesaurus to look up their word and write the synonyms on green leaves. These leaves were then cut out and glued onto tree trunks to serve as a forest of synonyms for our classroom of writers. The children are really enjoying finding more descriptive ways to write.

 

WRITING

Kite Acrostic Poems
We welcomed spring into our classroom by watching a short clip from the 1964 Mary Poppins film featuring the song “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.” We also watched a video clip from a kite festival in California. We then brainstormed words for the letters “K-I-T-E-S.”  Our acrostic poems used the word “KITES” as a base and became the tails of our decorated kites. The kites are flying high in our classroom. Following are a few writing samples:

 

Kids like kites
I like kites
Tall kites, small kites
Every day I wish I could fly
Some in the wind

By Alex

 

Kites

In the air it’s like a person
Tiptoeing to a rhythm
Exciting neon colors
Soaring through the air

By Sydnie

 

Kites tilt in the sky
If it’s stuck in a
Tree, then I take it out
Every kite is interesting
Swaying side to side

By Nathan

 

Kinds of kites:

Indigo, purple,

Turquoise, green.

Each one

Soars in the air!

By Sophie

 

Kids can fly their kites

In the blue sky

The kites have

Every possible color

Seeing kites in a festival is fun!

By Jerry

 

MATH

Each day in room 109 a silver bell is passed along to a new child. The bell is rung spontaneously by the new “keeper of the bell.” Every time we hear it ring, children take turns volunteering to look at the classroom clock and tell the time. Marbles are added to the classroom marble jar for the correct time. Additional marbles are added to the marble jar if students are able to repeat the time that was shared with the class. This authentic time telling has helped build background for our current unit in math – Time. Working with your son or daughter to tell time at home will help reinforce the concepts we will be exploring. In class we use both analog and digital versions of clocks for practice telling time.
Our goals for this unit include:

• Exploring the measurement of time in minutes and in hours.
• Telling and showing times to five minuntes.
• Estimating and measuring elapsed time.
• Understanding relationships of units of time, including minute, hour, day,
week, month, and year.

 

SOCIAL STUDIES

For the past few weeks we have been learning about maps. We began our investigation with a treasure hunt. It was very difficult to find the treasure because we had no idea where it was hidden! A treasure map helped us to locate the treasure of “fancy” pencils. When looking at maps, the children have noticed many details such as the numbers and letters that are along the sides and the “t” with a N, S, E and W on it. We now know these numbers and letters are called a grid and are used to locate information, and the “t” is the compass rose. As we continue to focus on maps, we will build our understanding of map reading. We will focus on the compass rose, tracing a route on a map, and making our own map.

 

SCIENCE

We will complete our unit “Science in the Kitchen”, a study of matter, this week. During the unit we divided the concept of matter into three kinds: solids, liquids, and gases. We learned that solids do not change shape, volume, or mass. We learned that liquids take the shape of their container, but do not change volume or mass. We learned that gases take the shape of their container, change their volume and are often invisible.

The children solved riddles about everyday objects after hearing some of the properties of the given object. For example: I am yellow. I am fragile and bruise easily. I am long and narrow and usually measure about 20 centimeters long. My outside skin is a smooth texture, but the end of my stem is rough. After my covering comes off, my insides are soft. I smell sweet. I do not make a sound, except for a quiet ripping when my skin comes off. I taste very good and most children like me. What am I? (A banana)

We have also been playing a very fun game, similar to 20 questions. I think of an object and each group can ask me yes/no questions about one of the following properties of the item: its size, shape, color or feel. The children have been very good at narrowing down and figuring out the objects. They really enjoy this game; try playing at home!

Finally, at the end of this coming week we will read the book Bartholomew and the OOBLECK, by Dr. Seuss. We will then get to explore with Oobleck. Oobleck is really cool because it has the properties of both a solid and a liquid!

To make your own Oobleck, follow this simple recipe:

Mix 1 box corn starch and 1 cup of water that has had green food coloring added to it. Be sure to color the water first, because it is almost impossible to color the oobleck once it is mixed. The mixture should be runny but thick enough to push or roll into a ball. Do not throw the oobleck down your sink when you are finished with it. Have fun!

 

STAR STUDENTS

Three cheers to Devyn and Jerry, our last two star students. For her read aloud, Devyn shared a book called The Mixed-Up Princess. The book was cut into different sections, with each section containing different parts of sentences. Depending on how the pages were turned we  created interesting, and sometimes funny, resulting sentences. This gave us a great strategy for writing sentences with a twist of creativity. For his current event article, Jerry highlighted the recent tornadoes. In addition to teaching us about this kind of weather and safety precautions, it gave us the opportunity to also find out that Jerry would love to be a storm chaser when he grows up.

 

MYSTERY READERS

Our classroom mystery readers are a wonderful way to end our week. The children love these surprise visits from parents. Thank you to our most recent group of mystery readers. Mrs. Belloff read The Incredible Book Eating Boy, Mrs. Taitler shared The Cat in the Hat with us during Dr. Seuss week, and, most recently, Mrs. Mann showed off her French skills when she read Bonjour, Butterfly. She also read us a few poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends.

 

THANK YOU!

A big thank you to all the families who shared their copies of Dr. Seuss books with us during Dr. Seuss week.

Thank you also for attending spring conferences. It is always so great to have the children get to show off the things they have been working on in school. The children were very excited when preparing for conferences and each one did a terrific job of showing off how we use the Promethean Board; sharing his/her Portfolio and other work samples. I am extremely proud of them!

Think Central

Students now have access to their reading and math curriculum at home. StoryTown Reading and HSP math resources are now available to your child through the ThinkCentral website: thinkcentral.com Once there, choose either the Reading & Language Arts tab or the Mathematics tab. If you choose Reading & Language Arts, next choose StoryTown. If you choose Mathematics, next choose HSP Math. You should be prompted to log in. Enter the following information:
In most cases, your child’s login name will be their “FirstnameLastname”. The password is dist112. The resources you will find are the same books that students use while in the classroom. This week we are reading At Play: Long Ago and Today and finishing Chapter 10 in math.

Math

In math we have reviewed the coins and their values. Students should be able to easily identify the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and half dollar, as well as their values. The students have also learned to order coins in a collection from greatest to least,  to find their total value. Please have your child practice counting quarters up to $1.00. We will soon be comparing coin amounts, adding and subtracting with money, and making change to $1.00. There are a few new money links added to the home page of our classroom blog to help with counting money. Check them out!

Science

The children worked on an experiment where they described the properties of oil and water. We predicted what would happen when we mixed them in a jar. After mixing them, we found that while they initially appeared to combine, the oil and water quickly formed layers in our sealed jars. Oil rose to the top; water formed the bottom layer. We extended this experiment by making slight changes to the experiment. We then added a mysterious bright yellow liquid to the container. After shaking to mix the materials, we found that the mysterious bright yellow liquid (dishwashing soap), actually caused the oil and water to mix, eliminating the separation into layers. We read the book Oil Spill and discussed how something as simple as dishwashing soap can be used to clean birds and wildlife coated in oil – all because of its specific properties.

Star Students

Our most recent star students were Laura and Jason. Laura wowed the students with her photo of and drawings by Dan Povenmire of the TV show “Phineas and Ferb.” They thought it was really cool that she had met him while on vacation in Aruba. We also enjoyed listening to Jason read Snow Bear to us. The children enjoyed the story and recalled times when they or a sibling had momentarily been lost from a parent. It was a teachable moment to remind students of safety rules for public places!

Mystery Readers

Thank you to our most recent mystery readers. Mrs. Merens read us Stephanie’s Ponytail, a funny, yet cautionary tale, about copying someone else, by author Robert Munsch. Mrs. Jacobs read Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss, a great kick off for Read Across America Day which is March 2. If your child has any Dr. Seuss books at home, they may bring them to school in the next few weeks to share with our class in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday and Read Across America Day. Please make sure your family name is in each book so they may be returned with ease. Thank you!

Valentine Party

Thank you  to Mrs. Bringas, Mrs. Goldstein, and Mrs. Taitler for organizing and running the Valentine party. The children had a wonderful time creating a skateboarding pig, listening to Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink and playing Bingo. It was really sweet of you to share your time and talents with our class!

Read to Succeed

Congratulations to the following students who participated in the Six Flags Read to Succeed program and completed 6 hours of reading to earn a free admission ticket:  Jack, Jaden, Olivia, Mason, Sam, Sarah and Sophie. Way to go!

The students recently completed animal research projects that they had been working on for several weeks during library and technology. The students worked in teams to research specific animals and information about their habitats. Mrs. Hales had the students use graphic organizers to take notes on the diet, size, location, habitat, coloring, and interesting facts about a specific animal as they read a non-fiction resource. She then guided them to turn their notes into a paragraph of information about their animal. Finally, the students typed their completed paragraph into ActivInspire and added artwork to complete their work. The completed projects can be viewed in my flickr gallery at right.