4/24/2018 0 Comments Mayer Memo 4-27-18Writing Workshop
The students chose a piece of realistic fiction from their collection of work they wanted to published. They fixed up and fancied up this piece and shared it with their classmates and our first grade LEAP buddies. The children took the end-of-unit assessment and have really become wonderful story tellers! This week, the students began writing poetry. They learned that to say things in new ways, they need to look at things through a poet's eyes. We looked at ordinary objects such as a pinecone, candle, paint brush, shell, and seeds, and the children imagined what else these items might be. We also talked about listening for line breaks to help their writing look like poetry with stanza and verse. We even wrote our first poem as a class: Pinecone Hotel A hotel with many floors. For ants and insects and more. Gathering, storing all their food. Tucked inside for winter. Reading Last week and this week, we continued reading poetry and looking for the seven tips: It sometimes rhymes; has rhythm (keeps a beat); it says things in new ways (metaphor, simile, alliteration, adjectives, adverbs); it repeats important ideas; has shape; expresses feelings; and it ends on its best line. The students are becoming quite the experts on poetry, and have begun selecting poems they will include in an anthology of poetry they are creating. Social Studies New Theme: Citizenship We began a new social studies theme this week about how our government is structured. We watched some videos to support our learning. We discussed how voting allows citizens to choose their leaders, and the students had a mock election to choose a mascot for our class. There were several good candidates, and the Black Panther won! Math We finished Unit 6 -- linear measurement -- last week. The students took the assessment for the end of the second investigation and the results were sent home last week. Please give your child things to measure using standard inch/foot/yard and centimeter/meter units. They could all use more practice in this area. We started Unit 7 which is about partners, teams, and other groups. This unit's first investigation provided students with the opportunity to investigate even and odd numbers and create a working definition for both concepts. They took the assessment for this investigation, and you should have seen those results on Thursday. In the second of this unit, students work with two contexts—buildings with the same number of rooms on each floor and pattern blocks covered by copies of a single shape—to explore sums of equal groups. They create tables that display the multiplicative relationships and consider why some tables look the same even though they represent different contexts. About Math Fact Fluency By the end of second grade, students should fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies, and know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers. This is an expectation according to Common Core State Standard 2.OA.B.2. Throughout the year, your children have brought home math pages that show six addition or subtraction facts they are working on. Although the example shows the answer to the equation, these pages show the equation WITHOUT an answer so your child can use the page to practice. Please note the clue line on which students are to write an equation they know which helps them solve the equation. You can support your child at home by cutting out the facts "cards" and quizzing your child with them regularly. I am attaching a blank "Practicing the Facts" page here if you'd like to have your child make more of these cards for practice at home. If you have questions, please let me know. Word Work Last week, the students learned a rule for words ending with -ch. They discovered that short vowel words that end in -ch are spelled -tch such as match, stitch, fetch. Long vowel and other vowel words are spelled -ch with this pattern, such as beach, couch. If there is an l, r, or n before the ch, those letters are heard and used in the spelling of the word, such as gulch, porch, bench. This week, we discussed a rule for words that end with y. The children discovered that when a word has one syllable, the y says the long i sound as in cry, shy, why. If there word is greater than one syllable, the y says the long e sound such as family, baby, treaty. Erin's Law Presentations Coming Erin’s Law, House Bill 6193 was signed by Governor Pat Quinn on January 24, 2013. This law requires schools to implement an age-appropriate sexual assault and abuse awareness and prevention curriculum for grades pre-K through 12. District 90 researched best practices and programs for delivering this instruction. We reviewed several recommended programs and visited several area school districts to observe programs in action. We are very pleased to share that Victor Pacini will be visiting Lincoln School on May 2 to deliver his program entitled, Be Seen and Heard©, a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program. Below is a link to information regarding his presentation. Please contact Mr. Godfrey if you have other specific questions or if you prefer your child not participate. https://www.victorpacini.com/peace-of-mind/
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4/13/2018 0 Comments Mayer Memo 4-13-18Math After Spring break, the students started Unit 6 in the Investigations Math program. This unit focuses on linear measurement using the United States customary measurement system of inches, feet, and yards as well as the metric system of centimeters, and meters. The first investigation, provided students with experiences measuring using nonstandard objects such as paper clips, shoes, popsicle sticks, and connecting cubes. Through this experience, the children discovered common units are necessary for comparing lengths. They created their own "Inch-Brick" measuring tool, and focused on measuring correctly. Students also discovered that individuals can come up with different measurements for the same object by measuring with different size units, measuring different dimensions of the object, or by making measurement errors, such as miscounting, having overlaps, or having gaps in their measurements. In the second investigation, students were introduced to 12-inch rulers, yardsticks, and measuring tapes. They found body parts to represent benchmarks for one inch, six inches, and 12 inches. Ask your child to tell you his/her benchmarks. The students use their benchmarks to estimate the length of various objects, then they measure the object with the appropriate tool. Students also completed many story problems comparing the lengths of various objects. The children have also started using centimeters and meters to measure. Reading The children wrapped up their realistic fiction series study the first week back from Spring break. After much wonderful discussion, each group created a "quilt" to explain the important parts of the series to their classmates. Their quilts are on display in the hall. We also started reading January's Sparrow by Patricia Polacco, which is historical fiction about slaves who escape slavery and travel north to Michigan then Canada. The comprehension strategy we're working on with this book is "Ask and Answer Questions." The children are noticing when a question pops in their head as we read. They jot down their question and look for the answer as we continue reading. We reviewed question words such as who, what, where, when, why, and how, and the students discovered that by starting their questions with these words, they will have "thick" questions which generate more detailed answers. "Thin" questions can be answered with a yes or no. We are practicing turning "thin" questions into "thick" questions. Ask your child to tell you a question s/he has from the story. This week, we started our unit on poetry! The children read and discussed a variety of poems and discovered that good poetry includes seven tips. The students have learned the first three tips: It sometimes rhymes, has rhythm, and it says things in new ways (with metaphor, simile, alliteration, adjectives, adverbs). We have been finding these things in the poems we are reading. Next week we’ll continue to “marinade” in poetry, so we begin to take on the flavor of a poet and learn the five other tips of good poetry! If your child has a book of poetry at home, please have him/her bring it in to share! Writing The children are hard at work writing realistic fiction. They are truly pushing themselves to incorporate the things they notice mentor authors doing to make their stories gripping and interesting. The children are striving to write good beginnings, tell the inside and outside of their characters, drop a hint about what a character might be thinking or feeling that ties to the problem, and make the problem worse and worse for the character rather than wrap the story up to quickly. The children used the narrative checklist to evaluate their work and took a gallery walk through one another's favorite pieces. We will continue more realistic fiction writing over the next two weeks. Science We planned and conducted several fair tests about light, and we wrote lab reports for each test. The children learned that when light travels best through transparent materials such as clear plastic, it travels somewhat well through translucent objects such as wax paper, and does not travel well through opaque materials such as solid paper. They also worked to find out how light can travel in another direction. The children shone a light on mirrors and paper and realized light bounces off the mirror's shiny surface back in the direction it came while the paper absorbs light. They also discovered that light can be refracted, or appear to bend, when light travels through air compared to water. Ask your child to tell you about this! Word Work Last week the children reviewed rules for adding -ing suffixes onto words. They discovered short vowel words must end with two consonants before adding -ing. Sometimes, these words already end with two consonants and you do nothing to add -ing, such as picking, passing, thanking. Something short vowel words end with only one consonant so you need to double the consonant before adding -ing, such as swimming, batting, running. Long vowel words that have vowel teams need nothing before adding -ing, such as meeting, mailing, floating. Long vowel words that end with e need the e dropped before adding -ing, such as taking, smiling, mining. This week, the children worked with sorts at their level. Some looked at words that end with the soft g sound. If the word has a short vowel, the soft g is spelled -dge, such as judge, badge, ledge. If the word has a long vowel, it is spelled with the CVCe pattern, such as page, huge, cage. If you hear an l, n, or r before the ge, those letters should be written, such as bulge, large, range. You should expect the rules for the word sorts we are working on now and through the end of the year to be challenging for most students. Please ask your child to tell you about his/her word study each week! News from the Library The deadline for ordering Michelle Schaub's poetry book (4/24 visit) has been extended. Families have until April 20th to submit their form for a personalized and autographed copy. Please contact Mrs. Brauweiler directly if you have any questions. Join the 2018/2019 PTO team There is a lot you can do for the PTO and for Lincoln School whether you are a working parent or a stay at home parent. Volunteer opportunities are available for events taking place at school during the week or on weekends. And opportunities are available for you to work from the comfort of your own home while younger children nap. Please click here to view the list of positions available for the 2018-19 school year. |
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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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