October 24th, 2016

I can’t believe we’re nearing the end of October already!  I’m looking forward to our first class party on Monday, October 31^st.  Our Harvest Party will be at 2:00.  Children may bring their costumes to school if they’d like to wear them for the party.  Please have your child bring their costume instead of wear of it.  I will give them ample to time to change before the party begins. 

During the week we were very busy with Daily 5, math groups, writing our personal narrative stories, and exploring our science concepts.  We took a “Rainforest trek” by following a series of short video clips that were narrated by a tour guide.  After the trek the students wrote a blog detailing some of their favorite aspects of the trek.  I was very impressed with what they learned through this experience.  I hope you had a chance to read their blogs.  They were returned to them at the end of the week.  Our next lesson focused on the desert habitat.  Ask your child to tell you about the “Jeopardy” game we played to explore this habitat more deeply!

Thank you for sending in the photographs for the “Looking Back” writing assignment.  Most children are finishing their first personal narrative story about a celebration.  We will begin writing about our photographs next week. 

Math groups continue to go well.  We added in a new technology component last week.  Most children are using a program called Symphony Math.  This is a program that is directly linked to the common core standards.  It is an adaptive program that tailors to your child as they work. This allows children who need a challenge to work at a level that is appropriate for them.  It also gives kids more time with the concepts they are having more difficulty with.  The goal is that the students work on this program 15-20 minutes, 3 times a week.  We will provide them the time and resources they need here at school.  We ask that the children don’t use this program at home at this time so that we can closely monitor their progress and usage time.  Thank you!

**Some children used Symphony Math in first grade.  Those children were given access to a similar program called Dreambox for second grade.

Here is what the kids had to say about the week…

“My favorite part of the week was reading The Magic Pumpkin story in library,”

                        - Sarah

“My favorite part of the week was going on a rainforest trek.  I also liked listening to a read aloud about a haunted hayride.”

                        - Aashrith

“This week I learned how to make a night sky with owls in art.”

                        - Katelyn

“My favorite part of the week was writing my science blog.”

                        - Elise

October 17, 2016

What a beautiful weekend! I’m loving these warm fall temperatures.  We had a short, but busy week. 

We were lucky enough to have Mr. LaCoste read a class to our suite on Friday about kindness.

Here is what some of the kids thought was memorable about school these past few days…

“My favorite part of the week was playing Prodigy math.”

                                    - Luke

“This week I learned that turn around facts don’t work for subtraction.”

-       Naavya

“This week I learned how to draw an owl sitting on a branch in art.”

-       Madison

“My favorite part of the week was Read to Self because I read interesting books.”

-       Aditi

“My favorite part of the week was listening to rainforest animals.”

                                    - Vineeth

October 10th

We had a great week last week! It started off with a trip to the Living Lab on Monday. The kids had so much fun and learned about plant and animal survival. The students learned about frogs and the various types of feet that they have depending on where they live. We also had fun exploring the Reed Brook. The kids had the opportunity to take on the role of either a plant or animal. They found out how the needs of their plant or animal are met by other brook plants and animals. We are excited to go back for another visit in the spring. 

Speaking of science, in the classroom we did a lesson on how plants and animals depend on one another. The kids had a blast working together in small groups to create their own "hand pollinators." This was done with various materials, such as: plastic spoon, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, clay, marbles, paper clips, etc. They even tested them and every group’s worked!!! Nice work scientists! 

In Math we have begun our Guided Math rotations and it is going really well! The kids are excited to have 3 different activities during the math block. The various activities are: Teachers Choice, Technology, At Your Seat, Hands-On, and Math Facts. "Teachers Choice" is when small groups of kids working on a similar skill level meet with me. For "Technology" the kids have the choice of Prodigy Math, Games on the Everyday Math website, or various math apps. "At Your Seat" is typically math journal pages that reinforce the day's lesson. Finally, "Hands-On" is usually a math game that is part of the Everyday Math program. 

This week we focused on addition strategies. Some of which were: combinations of ten, doubles, near doubles, and making ten. It's exciting to see the children putting these strategies to use while playing games and doing various math activities. 

We had a great first week with our reading groups! It's always so much fun to hear them all read! Most of the groups this week had the opportunity to read, discuss strategies for when they encounter difficult words, and to discuss the book through various oral comprehension strategies. Next week we will discuss making predictions before and during reading. 

Here's what the kids had to say about this week:

“My favorite part of the week was Science.  It was really fun.  We got to invent stuff.”

-       Ava S.

“This week I learned some adding strategies.”

-       Avalee P.

“This week I learned about a new frog.”

-       Ian B.

“My favorite part of the week was picture day and Living Lab.”

                                     - Brandon P.

Upcoming Events: 

- No School on Monday, October 10th for Columbus Day 

- Tuesday, October 11th is School Store for Grade Two

October 3, 2016

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend with your families.  The past two weeks we have really settled into many of our routines, and we are working nicely as a classroom community.  Below are some highlights I’d like to share…

Daily 5 is off and running great!  The children now have 4 choices to make during our language arts blocks.  Those choices include:  Listen to Reading, Work on Words, Work on Writing, and Read to Self.  We are doing 3 “rounds” each day, each lasting 15-20 minutes.  It’s neat to see kids working on a variety of tasks independently for such a lengthy amount of time.  Now that we have our Daily 5 routines down we are excited to begin reading groups next week!

At this time they have 2 choices for Listen to Reading:  Raz- Kids and Tumble Books.  Hopefully you all received your login information for Raz-Kids.  This is a great program to use at home because it is tailored to your child’s reading level.  Also, the kids can use their Raz-Kids time towards their 15 minutes of reading on their reading log.  Tumble Books is a free program offered through the JV Fletcher Library where children can listen to 100’s of picture books!  As long as you access the website through the library page http://www.westfordlibrary.org/pages/JVFletcherLibrary_JustforKids/index you can use the program without a username and password. 

In Social Studies we completed our Apples Economics Unit this week.  The children had several opportunities throughout this unit to work in groups and do some fun, interactive activities that helped them learn the concepts.  I hope your child enjoyed learning all about apples- what a fun way to get excited about the fall!!

We have been talking about Personal Narratives during our writing time.  We learned that these are true stories about things that have happened in our lives.  We will all begin by writing a personal narrative about a celebration as we learn about the structure of personal narrative.  After that the children will be able to write about other topics of their choice.

Over the next few weeks we will be turning our focus back to Science.  We are lucky to have a chance to visit the Living Lab at the Day School on Wednesday to explore more about Plant and Animal Survival.  We will be taking a bus to get there. The permission slips were sent home at the beginning of the year.  I have already received a signed permission slip from everyone so we should be all set!  We may spend some time outside by the Reed Brook, so please keep an eye on the weather so that your child will be comfortable during the outside portion of our visit.

Please note that WEDNESDAY IS PICTURE DAY!!  Our picture time is at 10:05.  I will give the children an opportunity to change clothes and/or shoes before we head to the Living Lab at 11:00.

Here is what some kids thought about this week...

"My favorite part of the week was Language Arts.  I like doing rounds."
                                                        - Katelyn H.

"My favorite part of the week was Art because we drew pumpkins."
                                                        - Alison A.

"This week I learned how to make a new friend on the Buddy Bench."
                                                        - Vineeth G.

"My favorite part of the week was when I listened to Tumble Books."
                                                        - Troy O.