Math Update

Over the course of the week, the children continued to build their automaticity with their subtraction facts. I can't believe how these scores are growing each day! We also worked to find "half" of even numbers. They solved “What’s My Rule?” problems involving doubling and halving.

We went on to practice reading numbers on a scale. The children reviewed that there are 16 ounces in a pound, and they even noticed that there were 8 ounces in half a pound, and 4 ounces in 1/4 of a pound! We practiced estimating weights of different objects.

Coming up this week, the children will have a “Data Day,” during which they will take turns doing standing jumps. The children will record, sort and analyze the data they collect! Math wasn't this much fun when I was in 2nd grade! :)

Ally is a SUPER star!

It was our Ally's week to shine! We had a lovely visit from Ally's mom, dad, and her younger sister Sidney! Ally and her dad showed us how to create LIGHTNING by rubbing two balloons against the wall and wool gloves to create static electricity. When they put the balloons near each other, we heard them crackle, just like miniature lightning! The kids were excited to go home to try this out! Ally and Sidney then shared a story about Ally's favorite topic- HORSES! We are starting to love horses almost as much as Ally! (She also created a cereal this week called "Horsey Crisps!" We are so lucky to have such a sweet, hard working, and caring student in our class!

Cereal Designers

For our last persuasive writing assignment, the children DESIGNED their very own cereal! First we watched a few cereal commercials online. The children and I generated a list of important words/ideas we gathered from our research, such as: "low in fat/sugar," "full of fiber," "a great way to start your day," "no artificial colors," "tasty" and "will keep you healthy!" The children then went back to their seats and decided what they would call their cereal, the shape of the cereal, and then they began the design of their boxes! The last step was to write a persuasive letter to General Mills explaining why they should consider actually creating this brand new cereal. (Again we made sure to include persuasive terms, including: clearly, obviously, just think about, consider, The children LOVED this project! They were so creative and came up with some truly great ideas. These kids amazed me with both their boxes AND their writing!

Thank you for all of the cereal box contributions (the extra boxes were especially appreciated!:), Having the boxes really helped increase the interest and excitement of this project! These are some pictures of the kids who have already presented their work!

Grammar Update - Linking Verbs!

The children and I talked about action verbs vs. linking verbs this week. Action verbs are verbs you can see, but linking verbs are smaller verbs of "being" (is, am, was, were) and sometimes ATTACH themselves to the action verbs! Sometimes, however, these verbs don’t link to anything at all! Ex: I am 7 years old. The children quickly recognized how these words work. We also reviewed the capitalization of names, places, and important holidays!

Reading Update

Our main reading selection this week was called “Splish! Splash! Animal Baths”. It was full of interesting facts about how animals get clean. Did you know that little birds called oxpeckers sit on a giraffe’s back to pick off ticks? We also learned that pigs coat their skins in mud to stay cool. Ask your child how a moray eel keeps clean- you will be surprised! Our vocabulary words included: beasts, handy, itches, nibble, preen, and puddle. The comprehension skill we focused on was comparing and contrasting. Mrs. Dufern helped us deepen our understanding of this skill by reading us a fictional story about animals in the LMC this week. The children then completed a Venn Diagram on the computer comparing the features and story elements of these fiction vs. nonfiction texts. Over the course of the week, we also reviewed the number of syllables in words, and practiced identifying the character and setting of stories. The children continue to meet with their guided reading groups, too!

Math Update

This week in math, we reviewed Unit 6, and the children took their math assessment. The children brought home their Everyday Math journals earlier in the week. We have worked very hard in our math journals each day at school, but there still may be a page or two that you'll find incomplete. That’s okay, the journal is a work in progress. Feel free to go through the math journal with your child and have them tell you about what they’ve learned throughout the first half of our school year! They are free to complete any additional pages at home as we look ahead to the second half of our year, beginning with Unit 7! In Unit 7 the children will be working on patterns in counting, extending this to counting by any number “n.” The children will be encouraged to describe patterns they see. We will also find complements of 10, including finding differences between 2 digit numbers and higher multiples of 10. There will also be opportunity for the students to build their mental arithmetic skills. adding 3 or more one and two digit numbers. We have already begun! The children have also been HARD at work working on their subtraction facts and subtraction with regrouping. They are really growing more and more comfortable with subtraction! Wahoo!

Eunice is a STAR!

Eunice had a wonderful week being our star student. Her mom and dad came in and showed the kids how to make their very own windmills! They carefully folded a piece of brightly colored paper and then pinned it to the top of a pencil. Eunice brought in the adorable story called "Make Way for Ducklings" which got us thinking about our own Dryden Duck, Gertrude! We then found a video Ms. Breaux made of Gertrude and her ducklings in our school's courtyard from a few years back, and we watched how they all walk right through the building every spring- in a row! What a great story choice, Eunice!