Week ending 10/26

Hello families!  It is definitely starting to feel like October but the sunshine is great for recess!

Important information:

• Be sure to watch the weather and the temperatures as we're still planning on being outside for recess as much as we can.  You may decide to send in extra clothes to keep your child's locker in case they get wet at recess.  Also, our room can be hot, but other times over the weekend it may become chilly so wearing layers they can put on and off is important.  
• Thursday, November 1st is an early release day.
• Halloween is next Wednesday,  so please remember that students will not be wearing costumes to school and please refrain from sending in candy for snack or lunch. 
• We had an evacuation drill today and I'm so impressed with how quiet they were and how well they followed directions.  
• Starting Thursday, we would like to invite parents in to join us at morning meeting.  It is offered the first Thursday of each month, for three parents at a time, from 8:30-8:50.  Please use the sign up right here if you'd like to join us: Morning Meeting Sign Up

3, 2, 1 things you should know about our week...

3 math areas we worked on this week were subtracting within number stories, identifying shapes and Geoblocks, and finding a Geoblock that fit our pieces among many choices.  We have moved into geometry and it's exciting to see the students so engaged with the Geoblocks.  

*Ask your child what they drew today for the "Draw the Geoblock" activity.  

2 read alouds were heard during reading workshop were Tuesday (focusing on predictions) and Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (focusing on character traits and using evidence from the text to prove their thinking).
*Ask your child what they think was going to happen at the end of the book Tuesday.

1 10-minute math routine we're learning is Quick Images - Shapes.  A shape is quickly shown two times and students draw what they see or recall.  After shown for the third time, students can revise their drawing.  This helps the students really focus on the shape and share what they notice (four sides, straight sides, number of vertices, sides the same length, etc.).

Screentime has come up in conversation in a few conferences this past week. I wanted to share some great questions that Mrs. Uzzell also shared with her families, that you can use as well during meal times.  Having a screen free dinner, for everyone, is a great way to have some wonderful conversations with your kids about how school is going.  

Who do you look forward to seeing the most at school each day?
What's the best thing about being in Second Grade?
If you could pack you own lunch, what would you pack?
Who is someone at school who needs a friend?
What's your favorite part of the school day?
Who did you sit by at lunch today?
What's the best thing about being in Room 250?
What are you learning now in Social Studies?
Who's the friendliest person in your class?
What food did you like the most at lunch?
Who did you hang out with the most today?

Week ending 10/5/18

Hello families!
October has started off strong, I feel we have routines and expectations all in place and the whole class has begun to show me what wonderful, curious, and hard working learners they all are.

Important information:

• If you'd like to donate some paper towels to our class, we would greatly appreciate it!  Those clean up spills so well.  
• There is no school Monday, October 8...enjoy this day with your family.  
• If you have not signed up for a conference yet, please let me know and I will send you the link to do so.  Thanks!

3, 2, 1 things you should know about our room this week...

3 math activities we worked on were deciding if the cubes were enough for the class, identified which subtraction facts we knew and which ones we were still working on, and we practiced our coin counting and trading skills when we played Collecting 50 cents with 2 partners.  Many students said they knew the subtraction facts so I challenged them to be speedy in saying the answer and those that weren't so speedy would be those to practice.  The students are really loving math workshop and so am I! 

2 social skill problem solving areas we've been really focusing on is cooperation (What does it look like?  How do know if we've cooperated today?  Tell about someone who showed cooperation today.) and whether something is a Glitch or Disaster.  This will help us identify what is something that might not go our way, but it's really something with a quick or easy fix and then we can move on or do we need help moving on from a teacher or a friend, and responses and strategies we can work on when we feel something is more than a glitch.

1 new piece of information for families is homework!  Each night we are expecting students to be reading for 20 minutes.  Reading can look like your child reading in their head, reading out loud, reading with a family member, taking turns reading, or even listening to a story read by you.  

Additionally, this month, students will bring home today the Heritage Bear Project.  Please read it over with your child and work on it with them by the 22nd.  This is something that you should talk about together, brainstorm together, but the final project should be something made by the students.  In class, they will present their bear and we will learn so much more about each of our classmates!

Here's a peek at what math looked like this week: