January 30th-February 3rd

Important Things and Events

• February 10^th: Half Day for students
• February 10^th: Parent and Faculty Ball
• February 20th-24^th: Mid-winter break
• April 9^th: Field Trip to Leslie Science Center
• May 11^th: Field Trip to Hudson Mills Metropark

If you are able, please send in $16 to cover the cost of the admission fees for the field trips.

Intra and Inter Personal Topics

In The City of Sparks, we are hearing and seeing a lot of escalation. One side does something, the next side does something back a little worse, etc. We have been comparing this to escalating behaviors in the classroom and on the playground. In contrast, there are also some characters that deescalate. We are trying to learn these skills and avoid escalating both angry and silly behaviors in the classroom.

Reading

Two readings strategies have been highlighted lately. One is to use causes and effect to help us understand and comprehend. Students can more easily see cause and effect in their personal lives, but it’s a harder skill when he or she has to apply it to understand a character’s actions or an event in a story.

The second strategy we’re working on is to use context and prior knowledge to figure out new vocabulary words.

I hope to start our mini-book report project early this week where students will review characters, plot, setting, problem and solution. 3^rd graders will also do some work on a character’s personality and motivation and how we know these things as readers.

Writing

The Snapshot Tool has been introduced and the 2^nd and 3^rd writers are describing like crazy. A good snapshot gives the reader a picture in her or his head. We practiced this by going to different places in the school in two separate groups. Students had to describe the place they were and then team up the next day with someone from the opposite group and see if their partner could figure out where they had been. We’ll do some more work on this with other activities.

The Snapshot Tool is a great segue for adjectives and we’ve started to study adjectives (and review nouns) this week.

At this point in the year, all students should be writing in complete sentences. I explain that a complete sentence has three parts: a capital, an end mark and a complete thought. Often, this won’t happen during the first attempt or drafting stage. I do hope, and hold accountable, all students for getting capital letters and end marks in each sentence during the editing process. The idea of a complete thought is hard to explain and master, but it comes with consistent practice and guidance.

Math

I still have the dollars! Sometimes a side-trip presents itself in math and we just go with it! Our distraction last week was making flat bread and there was a ton (ha!) of measurement and math in this. We used the recipe to help distinguish between measuring mass (weight) and volume while creating the dough, weigh out 80g of dough, roll the dough out into a 7 inch circle and bake the dough on the griddle for half a minute on each side.

Since we had the balance scales out anyway, we did more weighing and estimating of mass with the Nuts project. We will then turn our data on our favorite nuts into different kinds of graphs.

This is the time of the year when we start really focusing on math facts. It is hard to do the dedicated practice with the intensity students need in a multiage classroom as there are so many different levels. Please make sure that you are helping your child develop speed and accuracy with math facts. It makes the conceptual and higher level things we do in the classroom much easier. The Common Core standards are that 2^nd graders can fluently add and subtract within 20 and that 3^rd graders can fluently multiply and divide within 100. Mary, Tammy and Salli are trying to put together a complete and cohesive list of ways to practice math facts and we will be posting these on the blogs as soon as we get this document done.

We will be doing timed tests once every week or two to keep the kids motivated to develop speed and accuracy with math facts and we will be graphing our results.

Science, Social Studies, Theme and Miscellaneous

February will see us diving into government and rocks and minerals. We will start with rocks and minerals soon! Everytime I say “this week,” it seems like something else comes up!

HAZEL HAS ARRIVED!!

Hazel is the newest member of our class, she is a baby guinea pig (in case you’re the only one who hasn’t heard that she was coming) She is a pretty little red-head and has already stolen our hearts and imaginations. She’s tiny and very young so she will take some time getting used to us. Hazel spent most of the day “hiding out” in her igloo but everyone got a chance to meet her and give her a little pet on the head this morning. Many thanks to the Anderson family for getting her kid friendly! We’re looking forward to fun with Hazel!

Language Arts

This week we’re going to work our way through the writing process to publication on Friday. At least that’s the plan. Today we all wrote about our weekend because that’s a topic that I’ve noticed we can write about in one session. Tomorrow we will work on editing our piece for spelling, capitalization, and end marks. If we stay on schedule, Wednesday should find us revising; moving things around, adding details, making sure everything makes sense. Thursday we will begin publishing and Friday, during our classroom computer time, we will type our stories. I’m excited!

Math

This is the time of the year when we start really focusing on math facts. It is hard to do the dedicated practice with the intensity students need in a multiaged classroom as there are so many different levels. Please make sure that you are helping your child develop speed and accuracy with math facts. It makes the conceptual and higher level things we do in the classroom much easier. The Common Core standards are that 2^nd graders can fluently add and subtract within 20 and that 3^rd graders can fluently multiply and divide within 100.

Science

Today we began our unit on rocks and minerals. Today we read about weathering and erosion and then did some observations during an experiment. We’ve exposed regular classroom chalk to sandpaper, fork, vinegar, and water/ice. Tomorrow we will finish our observations by discovering what happens to a piece of chalk that soaked in water for five minutes and then sat in the freezer overnight. As we continue, we’ll learn about different kinds of rocks, the rock cycle, and how we use rocks and minerals.

Winter is Here!!!!!

Winter is here but many of my friends still don’t have what they need at school for recess. For everyone to get the most out of recess they need to have boots, hats, gloves, snow pants and a coat at school everyday. At least two or three of my friends are missing a couple of these things everyday. Hats and gloves are the biggest issue for us (especially since borrowing a hat is a terrible idea). Please make sure everyone is prepared since we absolutely love recess. If there is a problem obtaining any of these items, please let me know.  

 Have a fantastic week!

This week we will continue to look for details that support the main idea through informational text.  We are going to start our unit on rocks and minerals and we will be using a KWL (know, what do we want to know, learned) chart to help look for these details. From this the students will be writing short summaries to support their knowledge and understanding of what they have learned.  We will also look for adjectives that describe the noun through reading and writing. If you have a second grader, you should have found a short note asking for your child to write a one sentence summary of their reading on the back of their homework grid. This will continue to support their comprehension and build their writing stamina. In about 3 weeks, I will ask that they begin to add 2-3 sentences to their summary.

Math:

We will continue to practice our math facts and we are wrapping up our unit on geometric shapes and solids.  Our focus this week will to come back to measurement using the metric system. In the next couple of weeks we will be introducing fractions and revisiting money that includes adding and subtracting problems that use decimals. Last Thursday, we met with our middle school buddies from Cindy’s math class.  For our activity we created paper quilt squares that expressed through writing/drawing about our favorite activity, academic subject, etc. at Honey Creek.  This quilt will be put together soon and placed near the entrance area by the office for display.  Be sure to check it out!

Social Studies and Science:

For social studies, we will start to look at how the government works and reading about the three branches of government. There will be discussion on what consists in local governments and even within our own school community.  We will also talk about the Core Democratic Values and how it applies to our daily lives and since this is a presidential election year, we will look at how the voting process works as well.

The introduction of rocks and minerals will be our focus for science in the next few weeks.  We will be reading informational text about the rocks and minerals, learn about the rock cycle and the three major categories, igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.  We will be performing some experiments, looking at examples of rocks and writing short summaries of what we have learned.
Mark your calendar: Enrollment Forms: DUE JANUARY 30th!

Field Trips:  Monday, April 9th to the Leslie Science Center

Friday, May 11th to Hudson Mills Metropark Interpretive Center

Thank you to those who have signed up for the field trips.  If you have went on sign-up genius.com and the slots were full, please contact me and I will add you to the list.

Fruit Bowl and Extra Snack:  We must be going through a growth spurt because our fruit bowl has needed to be refilled a couple of times during the week. Lately, the same students are consistently forgetting their snack too. I would appreciate some classroom donations of pretzels or wheat crackers to keep in the cupboard for those who forget their snack.  We have some parents signed up for the fruit bowl and if you have not been able to contribute to our bowl or have forgotten about it please check on this link to sign up.   http://www.doodle.com/4nw9h2q77tr276s2
All students do eat from the fruit bowl on a daily basis.  Also, please feel free to send a water bottle in with your child, it is rather dry in the classroom and this alleviates the constant need to leave the classroom to get a drink of water.

Illness: Please be aware that there is a stomach virus going around the classroom and school at all grade levels. I am doing all I can to sanitize the desks and door handles as well as reminding students to wash their hands before eating.  Let’s hope we have a break soon with this virus and all can stay healthy!

Please also note:  If you see my door closed and I am meeting with a student and their parent, please knock first before entering to retrieve items that your child may have forgotten.  The reason the door is closed is to respect the confidentiality of the student and parent that I am meeting with and your cooperation would be greatly appreciated.  I will try to remember to put a note outside my door as a reminder of this request.  Also, we are trying to teach students independence and responsibility and if they forget something they should try to remember the next time.  Helping to ensure that your child is taking responsibility for their items is important since we have a routine that requires the student to take their snack/lunch bags, homework, planner, etc. with him/her at the end of the day.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Spelling Lists for the Week of January 27-February 3rd.  Please note: The students will need to know the definition in order to spell the homophone correctly.

Spelling List B:  Salli

listb17

Spelling list C:  Tammy

listc15
Spelling List D:  Mary

D homophones week 15-1

Calendar Items:

Friday January 27th is a 1/2 day of school AND CPCs (report cards) will go out to families

April 9th: field trip to the Leslie Science Center

May 11th: field trip to the Hudson Mills Metropark

Continuous Progress Charts (report cards)

These are scheduled to be sent to parents or guardians this Friday, January 27th.  If you have any questions or concerns you can use email to contact me or if at anytime during the school year you would like to speak to me about your child’s progress just contact me and we can set up a conference outside of the regular conference schedule.

Playground Projects

During the process of planning, building, and writing about our playground projects there was a tremendous amount of learning going on, not just for the students and not just academics.  We learned about communities and that we are a part of a large community here at school.  We also learned about ourselves.  Some of my friends discovered that they really do need to keep track of their own things because there was no one else here to do it for them.  During our projects it was evident that some of us are very responsible and can take care of our own things and even help others do the same.  It was also very clear that some of us still need to work on this.  Nothing is more frustrating than leaving your supplies out and not being able to find what you need the next day.  We will continue to work on responsibility by adding layers of responsibility into our day.

Language Arts

Our playground project included a non-fiction writing piece that included using  titles, headings, pictures, captions, diagrams, drawings, and other interesting aspects of non-fiction writing.  We learned about these text features by reading non-fiction and finding those things in what we read.  The most exciting part for me was helping students see that they really can write complete sentences and many of us can really write a WHOLE paragraph by ourselves.

We will continue to use a workshop approach to reading and writing while we study other genres in reading and writing.  The workshop makes it easier for students to work on what is important that day and it gives me the time and freedom to differentiate instruction to meet their needs.

Our spelling words last week were especially difficult for some of my friends.  Some of my friends who ordinarily study only once or twice each week found that they needed to study harder last week.  This week we are looking at suffixes and the rules that make them work.

Math

The math portion of our project found us measuring our structures and the platform that the structure is on.  If you look at the bottom of your child’s project you will find the measurements for perimeter and, for third graders, area of the platform.

We are currently working on measurement again.  This time it is capacity and we are beginning with gallons, quarts, pints, and cups.  Ask your student about Gallonbot.  We will also continue to work with math operations and facts while we study capacity so keep practicing those math facts at home.

After checking student accuracy it is clear that most of them are practicing their math facts at home but some of them need to focus on that a little more.  Once they learn their math facts it makes harder concepts and operations so much easier.

Thank you!

I just want to be sure to thank all of the families who help us to be successful at school everyday!  We truly couldn’t do it without your support for the fruit bowl, helping in the room, making sure we have the supplies we need in the class, making sure we have our snacks, swim gear, gym shoes, getting everyone to school on time, breakfast, and for anything else that I haven’t listed here.  It really makes a difference in the classroom when my students come in prepared and ready for the day!

Thank You!!

Please note: Mary and Tammy have the same list this week.

Salli List B

listb15_WQMFW

Tammy List C

Spelling list C & D Jan. 27

Mary List D

Spelling list C & D Jan. 27

The bus will leave promptly and chaperones are required to drive separately to this event.  It is recommended that you car pool due to the limited amount of parking spaces.  There is no fee for chaperones.

May 11, 2012: Hudson Mills Metropark

The bus will leave around 8:15 a.m. and return around 2:30 p.m. Chaperones must drive separately and car pooling is recommended.  There is a $5.00 per vehicle entry fee or the Metroparks Annual Sticker.  Please note that the Metroparks are separate from any state or county park.  Where we will meet will be determined as soon as that information becomes available.

To help support the student cost of this trip, we are asking for a $16.00 donation per child.  Cash or a check made out to Honey Creek Community School and given to your child’s teacher is greatly appreciated by March 9th.

What does your child need for these trips?

• Dress for the weather-good walking shoes preferably closed toe and older because they might get dirty.
• Snack, drink and sack lunch
• Ready for some fun and learning!

We will continue to use the strategy “look back into the text” to look for details that support the main idea.  This is a difficult concept to look for the main idea of the text in which many students think of the characters and their traits. I will model this strategy during our read aloud sessions and have students practice it during their independent reading time. We learned about adjectives and how they describe the noun last week and we will be practicing to add more adjectives when we write our stories to build details and visualization.

Math: We will spend a good deal this week working on practicing our math facts as well as continue to work with capacity, measurement and weight.  Beginning Monday, we will go back into our practice math groups with the 2-3 teachers.  Students who see me Monday, will begin to learn how to regroup subtraction problems that have double digit minus single digit and double digit minus double digit.  The vocabulary terms we will use are “regroup, borrow ten and take from”.

Social Studies and Science:

Last week we read about Martin Luther King Jr. and the reason he fought so hard for equal rights for all people.  We then worked on expressing our own dreams for their community, country, and the world by making a mobile.  Students have just completed these and I will be hanging up their mobiles in the classroom sometime this week. There will be no social studies or science this since I am still building the lessons for this semester’s unit.

Mark your calendar: Friday, January 27th is an early release day.  School will be from 8:00-12:00 due to professional development for teachers.
Enrollment Forms: These came home in your child’s homework folder and are due January 30th.  They must be filled out even if your child is going to continue to attend Honey Creek next year.  If you have questions, please contact the office.

Field Trips:  Monday, April 9th to the Leslie Science Center

Friday, May 11th to Hudson Mills Metropark Interpretive Center

We will need parent chaperones for these trips and there will be a student fee associated with these field trips, but our chaperones will be free.  I will be sending more information out in a separate email shortly.

Please also note:  If you see my door closed and I am meeting with a student and their parent, please knock first before entering to retrieve items that your child may have forgotten.  The reason the door is closed is to respect the confidentiality of the student and parent that I am meeting with and your cooperation would be greatly appreciated.  I will try to remember to put a note outside my door as a reminder of this request.  Also, we are trying to teach students independence and responsibility and if they forget something they should try to remember the next time.  Helping to ensure that your child is taking responsibility for their items is important since we have a routine that requires the student to take their snack/lunch bags, homework, planner, etc. with him/her at the end of the day.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Calendar Events

January 13, 5:00-7:00 Curriculum Celebration. Our projects will be on display in the A-Wing Centrum January 16, No school in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Our Focus This Week

We’ve been hard at work on our projects for Friday. We have designed our dream playgrounds and will be putting things together, taking pictures, and writing, writing, writing all week. Spelling words went home today however, the teacher forgot to send homework sheets with them. Homework sheets will come home tomorrow. Hopefully that will be our only “re-entry” issue this week. I hope to see all of you on Friday at the Curriculum Celebration!

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Reading: We will be reviewing some of the comprehension strategies that we learned earlier such as check for understanding and looking back in the text for the main idea and details that support the topic. We are currently reading The Diamond of Darkhold, the fourth book of the Jean DuPrau’s City of Ember series. We continue to write predictions and record one sentence summaries to check for comprehension during our read aloud.

Writing: I will be introducing adjectives this week and how it describes the noun in the sentence.
This will help support adding more details to describe the noun and to begin the activity, I usually start with a very basic sentence and ask the students the following question, “How can we make this sentence better?” This leads to adding specific details to help us create a visual picture.

Math: I have completed most of the assessments for the report card and I am noticing that quite a few students still need to practice their basic addition/subtraction, multiplication or division facts. At this point in the year, all of the second grade students should have a good recall of the basic addition and subtraction facts and most of the third grade should be pretty solid with about 70% of their multiplication facts. Please look on your child’s homework grid to see what they should be working on and try to work more than 2 times a week on these facts. It does not have to be anything complicated, while riding in the car quiz your child, or while preparing dinner. Compass Learning is available to help build these facts as well as some of the suggested websites on our classroom page for you to take a look at. On Tuesday, the students were introduced to capacity of gallons, quarts, pints and cups. We will continue to build on this concept and working on measurement both with linear and capacity as well as getting more in depth with time. We also are working on geometric shapes to include symmetry, flipping and turns too.