1/26/2018 0 Comments Mayer Memo 1-16-18Harmonica Instruction and Sound We've had two more sessions of harmonica instruction with Mr. Milan. The students have learned to play many songs! Mr. Milan brought in a very large harmonica to compare with our ten-hole harmonica. He also brought a large and small drum to reinforce the concept of how we can change the pitch of sound. Ask your child to tell you about this! The children planned and conducted additional tests in science. They tested how three different size nails would sound when they tapped them with a pencil. They created this test to see if their previous claim about pitch was correct. They wrote their claim and evidence about this tests, then they planned and conducted a test about what objects sound travels through best. They designed and conducted this test with a partner. They will write their claims and evidence next week. My goal is for the students to become proficient with designing, conducting, and writing about their own fair test in science. Math Last week we wrapped up Unit 3 in Investigations. The students did a great job with this unit! A quiz and assessment were sent home last week and show your . They are becoming much more proficient reading and understanding the action in story problems. They are also becoming more flexible in choosing strategies to solve various addition and subtraction problems with two-digit numbers. Next, we began working with Unit 4 in Investigations which involves the collection and representation of data. In this first investigation of this unit, students identify and sort data by common attributes, including overlapping attributes, as they play Guess My Rule with the class and with Yekttis, a fictional set of creatures with a defined set of attributes. They organize and represent data, and they learn the conventions of picture graphs, bar graphs, and Venn diagrams. In the second investigation, students work with numerical data as they collect information about the number of pockets worn by their classmates and the number of teeth lost by second graders and other elementary-age students. They organize and represent numerical data, and they learn the conventions of line plots. The children are having a lot of fun with these concepts! Reading Last week, during reading workshop we focused on reading fluency. The children learned many methods for making their reading more fluent, such as (1) read aloud in your head, (2) scoop words into longer phrases, (3) talk like the characters, (4) make your voice match the mood, and (5) read with a "just right" pace. The children practiced each day to improve their fluency, and they recorded their reading using SeeSaw. Hopefully, you've had a chance to listen to your child's fluency and comment on what you heard! This week, we worked on understanding literary language. The students learned to (1) pay attention to special language, reread it, think about what is happening in the story, and ask themselves "what does the author want me to know from this language?", (2) notice comparisons (similes and metaphors) and think about how they are alike, (3) figure out what playful language REALLY means, such as silly use of homophones. This work requires lots of thinking and partners worked together to understand the literary language they encounter. Ask your child to tell you about his/her discoveries! Writing Workshop In writing the children are writing opinion letters to their classmates about their favorite books. The students have learned they can write about characters, pictures, favorite parts, lessons learned, etc. Many students seem to struggle thinking deeply enough about books to support their opinions with evidence from the text. Partners are working together to rehearse before they write. You can support your child at home by talking about the books they are reading and helping them identify what they like about their books and why. Word Work Last week we didn't have word work, because it was a short week and we spent this time writing valentines to our classmates. This week, the children compared words that are spelled oy or oi. They discovered the /oi/ spelling comes at the beginning or middle of a word or syllable. The /oy/ spelling comes at the end of a word or syllable. Valentine’s Day in 2 Ma We will celebrate Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, February 14 with a party from 2:00-3:00. Each child has been writing a thoughtful, personalized valentine to each of the other children in the class. Students have also made an envelope to receive their valentines. Because of this, students need not bring store bought valentines or valentines made at home. However, if your child has already made valentines and would like to bring them, s/he may do so as long as s/he brings in one for everyone in the class.
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1/12/2018 0 Comments Mayer Memo 1-12-18Happy New Year! We’re off to a wonderful start in 2018. Now that everyone has had lots of rest and relaxation, we are ready for some challenging new adventures in the coming months. New Science Theme -- Sound We began a science theme this week that focuses on sound. We began the unit by writing our ideas about sound in our science notebooks. The children planned and conducted an experiment with two different sized tuning forks. They wondered how the sound from each fork would be different. They discovered that sound is made through vibration. They also wrote a claim with evidence about the test we conducted. Ask your child to tell you what he/she discovered! If you play a musical instrument and are willing to show us how it makes sound please email me to let me know, and we’ll set up a time for you to come into the classroom! Harmonica Instruction As a part of the science experience, the children also began learning to play the harmonica! Mr. John Milan, a local music teacher and harmonica expert, will be coming in for one hour each week for six weeks to teach the children how to play this versatile instrument. This week we already learned four songs! We are all very excited, and we thank the Lincoln PTO for funding this fantastic opportunity! We will keep the harmonicas at school until the instruction is completed. Many children asked where they could get an extra harmonica. If you'd like to do this, you can purchase one at Austin Music, which is on 6815 W. North Avenue just west of Oak Park Avenue. Writing Workshop The students have moved to our next unit of study which is about opinion writing. They will be writing their opinions about books they love to persuade others to love them as much as they do. Students will learn to state clear opinions and support their ideas with evidence. They will learn to introduce their book by writing about it rather than simply naming it. They will write reasons that support their opinion and use linking words such as and, also, and because to connect their opinions to their reasons. They will also learn to provide a concluding statement or section to their writing. Students will write letters to communicate their opinions and to reinforce their understanding of the books they have read. Motivation for the unit is very high! To help at home, ask your child to identify favorite books (fiction and non-fiction genres), and tell you WHY they are favorites. Look for evidence such as character traits (the main character is a pig and she's funny), setting (I like stories that teach me about different parts of history), writing style (the author uses lovely language), etc. Your conversations will serve as wonderful rehearsal for this type of writing! This week the children wrote their first opinion piece about a topic of their choice. This work is what we call their "baseline" writing and helped me see what what they already know about opinion writing. Next, we talked about the format of a letter and students learned letters have different parts such as the greeting, body, closing, and signature. We thought about favorite characters in books we've read as a class and did some shared letter writing about one of our favorite characters. We rehearsed for our writing by talking about lots of books and then the students wrote their first opinion letter to a classmate. Ask your child to tell you what s/he wrote about! Reading Daily Five Second graders at this time of year are reading bigger books and amping up their reading power! For the next couple of months we will focus on three important aspects of fiction reading: fluency, literary language, and tracking longer stories. We have gone back to using a reading log that goes back and forth between school and home each day. Students will use this type of log for the next few weeks to keep track of the number of minutes OR the pages they read in school and at home. This will provide valuable information about each child that will assist me in designing appropriate reading instruction for each student. This week we focused on the critical foundational reading skill of fluency. Research has shown that fluency has a direct correlation to comprehension. Students worked to "listen" to the voices written on the pages of their books and reread to make sure they are reading as the author intended. Even if your child seems to be able to read many words per minute, you can check to see if they are actually following punctuation, reading according to dialogue tags, reading with voice, etc. We also talked about how students need to scoop words in phrases rather than read read too quickly or read only one word at a time, and how students who read fluently change their voices to reflect the mood or meaning of their text. Ask your child to tell you what s/he has done this week to read more fluently. Math We continued working with stickers to talk about place value and to solve addition and subtraction problems. The children pretended to go to the Sticker Station store to buy stickers in various amounts, such as ones (single stickers), tens (strips of 10 stickers), and hundreds (sheets of 100 stickers). The children continued making sense of the action of different types of addition and subtraction problems and developing efficient strategies for solving them and for recording their work. Students worked with story problems whose actions involved an unknown change and wrote equations such as 34 + ? = 58. They also worked with story problems whose actions involved an unknown start and wrote equations such as ? + 24 = 58. The children are working hard to retell story problems in their own words before they attempt to solve. Because numbers are getting larger, we also emphasize the importance of fact fluency to 20. Knowing the single-digit addition and subtraction facts helps students a they work to develop efficient strategies for adding and subtracting larger numbers. You can help your child become automatic, or fluent, with addition and subtraction facts to 20 by posing these facts on a regular basis and asking your child to tell you HOW they knew the answer. This will show you the strategies your child uses to solve facts to 20! Word Work This week’s word sort was the last of our study of r-controlled vowels. The children discovered that /ur/ says the engine sound, or rrrrrrrrrrrrr, just like the /er/ and /ir/ spelling we’ve already discussed. This makes spelling very challenging, and requires the children to use their eyes and ears to spell words. They must use their eyes to memorize if a word makes the rrrrrrrrrrrr sound with /ur/, /ir/ or /er/. They must also listen for sounds in words so they can try different spelling patterns, then see what looks correct! The children compared the /ur/ pattern with /ur_e/, which also says rrrrrrrrrr, and /-ure/ which makes the long u sound. Some students also learned that when /w/ comes before /ar/ and /or/ the vowel sounds change. /Wor/ sounds like w+rrrrrrr and /war/ sounds like w + or. These students also noticed that when /wa/ sounds like wah. Our language is very tricky, and the students are amazed at all its complexities! |
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Mystery State!Mystery state for June 1 Did You Know...New evidence links handwriting and educational success.
Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand, but they also remain better able to generate ideas and retain information. "When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated,” said Stanislas Dehaene, a psychologist at the Collège de France in Paris. “There is a core recognition of the gesture in the written word, a sort of recognition by mental simulation in your brain. And it seems that this circuit is contributing in unique ways we didn’t realize,” he continued. “Learning is made easier.” Parent's attitudes about mathematics affect their kids!
"A 2015 study showed math-anxious parents who frequently helped their elementary schoolers with homework saw their kids learn significantly less math by the end of the year than kids whose parents didn't express an aversion to math." (Heidi Stevens, Balancing Act and Chicago Tribune) According to Jennifer McCray, Principal investigator at the Erikson Institute's Early Math Collaborative, "Statements from parents are extremely powerful in terms of helping a child decide, 'Who am I going to be relative to math" How should I feel about math?'" If you're a math-averse parent, the article linked above has great tips for addressing this! Archives
June 2018
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