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Reading: This week we looked at several versions of Cinderella from different cultures. After reading each version, we charted the story elements and compared them. Partners chose 2 of the stories we read to compare ways they were alike and different. Writing: We continued working on the publishing process of our small moment stories. We learned how to complete each step: rewriting in best handwriting, drawing detailed illustrations, creating a cover, making an about the author page, and dedicating it to someone. After break students will begin to publish their stories in the SCE Publishing Shop. Word Study: We reviewed vowel teams we have learned - ai, ay, ee, ea, and ie. We did different activities to practice reading and spelling words with these patterns. Math: We started reviewing shape names and attributes. We used our Bridges calendar to notice patterns of shapes. Students enjoyed using pattern blocks to graph how many of each shape they could grab with one hand. We did some holiday extension activities. Social Studies:
We finished our Holidays around the World unit. The class enjoyed making paper poinsettias with Mrs. Gill when learning about Mexico. They also made dragons when learning about China in Mrs. Hersland's class. We finished writing about all the countries we learned. News:
Reading: Our learning goal continued to be how to recount folktales and determine their central message. We read several folk tales and recorded their characteristics on a chart. We focused on identifying the moral of the story and text that supported our ideas. We also started to read versions of Cinderella from around the world. We compared the main elements of each. Writing: We continued going through the writing process with our small moment stories. Partners met to have peer conferences about their stories. We started discussing the many things involved in publishing our stories. We discussed how to rewrite our stories in our best handwriting and add detailed illustrations. Students enjoyed finishing their drafts and moving into this last stage of the writing process. Word Study: Our learning goal continued to be exploring vowel teams. We focused on ee and ea. Partners used letters to make as many words with the two patterns as they could find. They did a word search for ee and ea words. As a class, we did a "What Looks Right" activity to try using both vowel teams to spell a word and determine which spelling looked correct. Math: We continued looking at strategies to help us add numbers within 100. We reviewed using the hundred chart and drawing base ten blocks. Students reviewed decomposing numbers and added using "number strings." We chose which strategies we liked the most to solve problems and story problems. The class took an assessment on Friday. Science/Social Studies:
Students enjoyed sharing their animal research presentations. We started a holidays around the world unit. Every two days, the second grade classes will switch to a new room during social studies to learn about a winter holiday in a different country. The class has learned about inventions, art, food, and winter holiday traditions from three countries - France, Israel, Mexico. News:
Reading: We started learning about folk tales. We learned that folk tales are stories or legends handed down from generation to generation. They usually contain a lesson and it happened long ago. We started to read folk tales and recorded their characteristics on a chart. We focused on identifying the moral of the story and text that supported our ideas. Writing: We continued going through the writing process with our small moment stories. Students worked on drafting their introduction and including details and feelings in their stories. I modeled how to use a revising checklist to make our stories more interesting. Students worked on finishing their drafts and adding, changing, and taking out words. Word Study: Our learning goal this week was to read and spell words with "vowel teams." This is when two vowels are next to each other in a word, the first vowel says its name. Students searched for words around our room. We focused on "ai" and "ay" and noticed that "ai" is in the middle of words and "ay" is at the end. Math: Our goal this week was to create picture problems and then write an addition/subtraction story to go with it. Students enjoyed creating their picture relating to presents and choosing a math question for others to answer. We spent the following day solving each other's story problems. We discussed types of math stories (joining, separating, and comparing) and types of strategies to add numbers (using hundred chart, drawing base ten blocks). Science:
The class enjoyed using Google slides this week to create their presentations about their Ohio animal. They practiced logging in to their accounts, adding the text from their research, and including pictures on each slide. We started to share our Slides presentations to the class. News:
Reading: We reviewed our learning goal of knowing and using non-fiction conventions. Students worked on identifying the last convention, maps. We did an I Spy activity to identify text features and played a Text Feature board game. Students took the assessment on Friday. Writing: The class continued learning about small moment stories. Students chose one small moment story from their lives to write about. We reviewed the writing process and how to use a prewriting organizer to record the 5 W’s (who, what, when, etc.). Students wrote about 4 main events from their story on their organizers and wrote a sentence of why this story was special to them. Word Study: We reviewed -ed endings by sorting words by their -ed sound. We used whiteboards to practice hearing the "root word" and then spelling it with the -ed at the end. Students took a short assessment to sort words by the sound the -ed makes. Math: Students worked on using an open number line to add 2-digit numbers. We viewed two images and wrote what math we saw in them (shapes, addition or subtraction equations, etc.) Students reviewed strategies to within 100 by solving how many Skittles could fit into a light bulb (shown on a video). We took a mid-unit assessment on Thursday to see how much we learned. Students also worked on their individual math goals. Science:
We reviewed ways that animals and plants change the environment. Partners did an activity where they needed to spot changes made by plants and animals in two images. We started a research project about Ohio animals. Students chose one animal to research. They started learning about the animal's habitat, food, and how they adapt to their environment. News:
Playing with Snow! Learning how to get on Google Slides with our 4th grade buddies! Reading: This week we continued learning about non-fiction conventions. We looked at how cutaway pictures show us the inside of something. We learned that comparisons help you understand the size of one thing by comparing it to something familiar. Students learned that tables can help organize information in a non-fiction text. Writing: The class began learning about small moment stories. We discussed how a small moment is something small that happens in our lives but has special significance. We read several mentor texts to help us see how to add details and write about a "seed" story not a "watermelon" story. Word Study: Our learning goal was to identify that real words can have an -ed ending when they are in the past tense. The -ed endings can make three sounds - id, d, or t. Students found words in books with -ed endings and sorted them by sound. Partners sorted words by the sound the -ed made. We used whiteboards to practice spelling words with -ed endings. Math: We reviewed how to find missing parts/addends by using a number line. We used whiteboards to represent word problems with an equation and part/part/whole picture. We made individual math goals for ourselves and practiced finding games and activities to help us work on our math goals. Science/Social Studies:
We finished thinking about what plants and animals do as the weather changes. Students did an activity where they identified camouflaged moths and blended in their own "moth" around the room. We also identified ways that plants and animals change the environment. We learned that plants can cause changes by spreading their seeds and causing cracks (think roots). Using videos and images, students discovered ways that animals like beavers, woodpeckers, carpenter ants, and more affect their surroundings. News:
Reading: This week we continued learning about non-fiction conventions. We discussed how diagrams and labels can help a reader. We looked at close-up pictures and discussed how they help us see details in something small. We spent two days focusing on Veteran's Day. We read a book titled America's White Table and students drew a table setting that represented all the things from the book (example: white candle for peace). Writing: The class continued to learn about parts of speech. We learned that verbs are action words. Students wrote one verb to add to our Parts of Speech display and I took a photo of each of them doing their verb. We worked on additional activities to practice writing verbs. The class read short paragraphs and highlighted the parts of speech in each. Word Study: We finished learning the -le syllable. Students used a list of -le words to complete sentences. The class enjoyed finding -le words in word searches. We spent two days thinking about words that end in -ck and -ke. We noticed that words that end in -ck have a short vowel sound (back) and words that end in a -ke have a long vowel sound (bake). Math: Our learning goal this week was to use strategies to add 2-digit numbers. Students practiced decomposing tens and ones to help them add. We reviewed an open number line and practiced adding 1's, 5's, and 10's. On Friday we did a challenge called "Pringle Ringle" where students worked to solve how many Pringles were used in a Pringle arc. Science:
We learned about habitats and classified plants and animals by the environment that would best meet their needs. We discussed the changes in weather during different seasons and the reason for this change. We worked with a guiding question of "What do plants and animals do when the weather changes?" Students learned that animals adapt to their environment through migrating, hibernating, and foraging. Students "foraged" for Smarties around our room. Scroll down to see more photos from our Harvest Party! News:
Reading: This week we continued learning about non-fiction conventions. We noticed how headings help us know what we will read about. Bold or differently colored words can show us what words are important. We learned that photographs help you see exactly what something looks like. Students found captions which are sentences that describe a picture. Writing: We continued to learn about parts of speech. We included an "Adjective Alley" with descriptive words. Students created an acrostic poem with adjectives starting with the letters in their names. We sorted words to notice if they were nouns or adjectives. Wordy Study: This week we learned about the -le syllable. Students noticed that the consonant that comes before -le always joins it when reading the syllable. The class read and sorted words by their -le patterns (-tle, -zle, -fle, -ple, and more). Math: We used a hundred chart to notice multiples of 2 and made addition equations with 2's. We started a new unit about adding and subtracting within 100. The class took a pre-assessment and reviewed how to use an open number line efficiently. Science: We discussed what makes something living. We went outside and collected living and non-living things. Students learned about the 5 needs of plants and animals. We learned about habitats and classified plants and animals by the environment that would best meet their needs. More Harvest Party Photos
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Reading: We discussed the difference between fiction and non-fiction. We charted several differences between the two. We started exploring non-fiction conventions (text features) and how they can help a reader find and understand text information. We learned about table of contents, index, and glossary. Writing: We started learning about the parts of speech. We read several books about nouns. We created a "Noun Town" of drawings of people, places, and things. Students worked on identifying types of nouns. We also learned that a proper noun is a specific person, place, or thing and needs a capital. Word Study: We finished working on the bossy r syllable. Students watched a video about them and went on the website Spelling City to practice spelling them. We took an assessment on Wednesday. We started learning about the -le syllable. Students noticed that the consonant that comes before -le always joins it when reading the syllable. Math: We reviewed place value concepts by creating Place Value Spiders. Students learned different ways to represent a number - base ten numerals, base ten blocks, number word, and expanded form. We reviewed the place value and measuring concepts we studied these past few weeks and took the assessment on Wednesday. We started thinking about repeating patterns of twos and arrays the rest of the week. Science:
As a fun STEAM project to promote our thinking habits, students created and innovated pumpkin lifts. They worked in groups to design a type of elevator that could lift a small pumpkin. The class really enjoyed collaborating and working hard to make "haunted" elevators. News:
Reading: We continued to practice how to retell books. Students wrote down what they had learned about a good retelling. We reviewed themes and retelling across our fingers (using time words like first, next, then, after that, and finally). Writing: We continued learning how to use the writing process to make our stories better. Students took part in peer conferences where they read each other's work and gave 2 stars and 1 wish. We finished by publishing our stories on nice paper in our best handwriting. Word Study: We continued to learn about the r-controlled syllable (the bossy r). Students did a word hunt for er/ir/ur words and noticed where we often find each of these in a word (-er is often at the end, -ir and -ur are often in the middle). The class looked at several words to determine which syllable type it contained (open, closed, magic e, or r-controlled). Math: Our learning goal was about using an open number line. Students practiced taking "leaps" for adding ten and "steps" for adding ones on a board game. They measured the length of beans on their paper by showing arches for adding tens and ones. We practiced marking where we would land on an open number when we add tens and ones. Friday we did some Halloween place value activities to review those concepts. Science:
We finished learning about the properties of air. Using an experiment of putting a paper towel inside a plastic cup, students were surprised to learn that the paper towel does not get wet if you put the cup upside down in water. This helped us discover that air has volume, it takes up space. We also discussed what air pressure is and how it affects us. We reviewed what we have learned and took the assessment on Friday. News:
Reading: We finished learning about how to retell stories. We read several books to help us recognize the theme of the stories. The class wrote a retelling of the characters, problem, solution, and theme of our previous read aloud book Edward Tulane. Writing: Students worked on writing a first draft of their "Best Part of Me" story. We learned ways to revise our work (ACT - add, change, take out). We worked on how we can edit our draft. They learned “COPS – capitals, order, punctuation, spelling” to remember what to look for while we edit. Students used red colored pencils to check for and fix these things in their stories. Word Study: The class did more exploring and activities related to CVCe words (words that have a silent e at the end). Students practiced on whiteboards and inserted CVC and CVCe words in sentences. We took the assessment on Tuesday. We started learning about the r-controlled syllable - when the r is "bossy" and makes the vowels change their sounds (ar, or, er, ir, and ur). Math: Our learning goal this week related to ways to measure efficiently. We discussed how we can use cubes in groups of 5 in alternate colors to help us measure/add more quickly. Students used cubes or tiles to create "snakes" and then measured how long each other's were, counting by 5's or 10's. We then used what we learned about alternating colors of cubes to create a number line that included multiples of 5. Students created their own measuring strips to measure different items in our room. Science:
Our goal this week was to identify and describe the properties of air. Students used anemometers to measure the speed of wind. We learned that air has direction and reviewed the four main directions of north, east, south, and west. Students created windsocks to help us observe the direction the wind is blowing. We discussed that air has temperature. Students learned how to measure with a thermometer. After observing different experiments, we reviewed that hot air expands and cold air contracts. |
dates to rememberMarch 16-April 3: No
School April 10: No School April 13: Spring Photos May 1: COSI Field Trip May 15: Springtacular Related Arts ScheduleApril 6 - April 10
Monday: P.E. Tuesday: Library Wednesday: Art Thursday: Music Friday: No School Books we
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