9/22/2017 0 Comments Mayer Memo 9-22-17Math The children spent the last two weeks practicing addition and subtraction strategies to twenty. We discussed the commutative property of addition, by addressing the question, "Does order matters in addition?" The children discovered order does NOT matter, and they are developing their own explanations for this. Please note, I introduced the word, commutative property, but don't expect them to use it yet. By building their own explanations, they will develop a solid, conceptual understanding of this property, rather than just memorize the words. The students have enjoyed playing several wonderful games to support this learning. Ask your child to tell you about the games. The students have used the commutative property to solve number strings, and they've discovered that looking for facts they know--facts to ten, doubles, or doubles plus or minus one--can be helpful and make solving these equations very efficient. What's important is students are becoming flexible is solving equations. Accuracy, flexibility, and efficiency are our goals! For example 8+7+3+3+2=? This might be solved: 8+2=10, 7+3=10, so 10+10+3=23. Or, this might be solved: 3+3=6, 6+2=8, 8+8=16, and 16+7=23. Reading Workshop Our reading focus has been on accuracy and decoding long and tricky words. The students have learned they can take off prefixes and suffixes and flip the middle vowel sound, to name a few strategies for decoding longer words. Meaning is also important when decoding new words. If they read a word and don't know its meaning they must stop to think about what would make sense in the text, then check the letters to help decode the word. We are also working on retelling as we read with partners. Students have marked pages they want to discuss with sticky notes to remember important points for their partner conversations. This is very tricky for most students, and we will need much more work in this area! This week, we finished our read aloud, Jake Drake Bully Buster, by Andrew Clements. The students learned about basic story elements such as identifying characters and their traits, setting (where and when), problem, and solution. The children created story "bubbles" to identify key scenes from the book. They are excited to put these on display in the hallway very soon! Writers’ Workshop The students have been hard at work writing personal narratives, AKA small moments. The children worked with a partner to analyze how published authors of books we love, such as Jane Yolen, Julie Brinkloe, Jonathan London, and Donald Crews add detail to their stories so their readers can make mental images. The students discovered that writers add detail by using dialogue, telling "the inside story" such as how they feel and what they think. Writers also add detail by comparing unlike things using similes and metaphors, and by using onomatopoeia. Our writers marked our favorite books with sticky notes to remind themselves where great writing exists. The students are learning how to make decisions like a writer and work independently as they try writing "moves" like our favorite mentor authors. Social Studies - Communities Theme We read and talked about about types of communities in our social studies book and by watching Brainpop Jr. The children learned that communities are places where people live, work, play, and have fun together. They wrote and drew about urban, suburban, and rural communities. We had great discussions about various aspects of these communities, and they discovered River Forest is a suburban community because it is close to the urban community of Chicago. They also discovered that Illinois is actually more rural than urban or suburban! Word study and high-frequency sight words We have compared short vowel and long vowel /a/ and /o/ spelling patterns over the past two weeks. Through our word study activities, your child should know that short vowel sounds are commonly found when the pattern is CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant). They should also know that the “sneaky” silent /e/ at the end of words CVCe) AND vowel teams (CVVC) make the vowel say its name! The children are expected to differentiate between the spelling patterns and know the rules for each pattern. They write the patterns and the rules on the top of their word work assessment each week. Ask your child to explain his/her spelling patterns and rules to you! The sight words we've practiced are: where, want, went, why, while, add, ask, plant, last, back
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9/8/2017 0 Comments Mayer Memo 9-8-17Reading Workshop Second-grade students grow like beanstalks in reading, and they have been hard at work with reading each day. I am reading aloud Jake Drake Bully Buster, by Andrew Clements. Students are writing their thinking about this book in their Readers' Notebook. In addition to a read aloud, I use a workshop model of instruction that includes explicit instruction about reading strategies and time for students to put that instruction into practice. I confer with students and small groups about their progress with the strategies they are working on, and we share our successes at the end of our reading time. During the past two weeks, we have talked about how students need to choose good fit books to grow as readers. We have also discussed how to look at a book to understand how it should be read, how to build stamina by reading for longer and longer periods of time, how to scoop phrases rather than individual words to improve fluency, and how to ALWAYS stop and think as we read and retell what we comprehend. Many students have discovered that retelling is challenging, and they must reread to be able to retell with detail. Finally, the children have learned many strategies for trying to read long, complex words. Ask your child to tell you about the strategies s/he uses! Word Study The children are learning routines related to studying words and learning common spelling patterns in the English language. We have worked the past two weeks on a sort that differentiates between the beginning consonant digraphs th, wh, sh, and ch. The students have written their words, cut and sorted them, and chose from several activities to practice writing the words. Starting next week, the students will be working on sorts at their own levels. Daily homework for word study will begin next week. Sight Words and Handwriting Each day the students learn a new sight word. We write the words, identify rhyming words, synonyms, antonyms, and create sentences using the words. Sight words do not always follow common English spelling patterns, so students have to memorize them. You should have seen half sheets of paper coming home each day showing the sight words we've worked with so far. Students are also working on using a correct pencil grip and writing with their very best printing. Please ask your child to show you his/her pencil grip. Using the correct grip and proper letter formation will make writing less laborious and will enable your child to move smoothly into cursive handwriting. Thank you for your support with stressing proper pencil grip with your child. If you have questions about this. please let me know. Math We are enjoying our work in mathematics with our new Investigations Math program. Our first unit is called Number Strings and Story Problems. The children have reviewed many different concepts related to counting, understanding the base ten number system, telling time, money, and tools to help students have success with mathematics such as the number line and the hundreds chart. Children have learned many routines for math and are exploring each day by choosing from a variety of math games and activities. Motivation is high among the students, and I am learning a great deal about their existing math skills. Writing Workshop The children are hard at work writing personal narratives, which are also known as small moments. Students have learned that small moments are about one time or event in their life. They stretch the experience over many pages and write detail to bring their stories to life. The students look at the work of published authors such as Jane Yolen's Owl Moon, and Angela Johnson's Leaving Morning, in an effort to write as they do. I am very impressed with the quality of writing I have seen from the children so far! Social Studies - Culture and History Theme Our first social studies theme called Culture and History. The beginning focus is on communities and family. We established a set of community rules for our classroom community. We read Mrs. Mingo's First Day of School by Jamie Harper and Sylvie by Jennifer Sattler to reinforce the importance of being yourself and accepting everyone's differences in a community. We also read the first lesson in our social studies book. Benchmark Testing Your children have taken benchmark assessments for reading and math using the Aimsweb Plus online testing program. Your child’s first experience with the Measures of Academic Progress (MAPs) testing program will take place on September 11 and 13. Your child will be tested in math and reading. The children will take the tests in the classroom using iPads. Open House is Thursday, Sept. 14 Don't miss the Open House where teachers will present an overview of your child's experiences planned for the year. Here's the schedule: 6:30-6:55- 3rd and 4th Grade in classrooms and AM/PM K in Auditorium 7:00-7:25-PTO/Casey Meeting In Auditorium 7:30-7:55- 1st and 2nd Grade in classrooms Author-Musician Visit On Thursday, September 28th, we are excited to welcome Musician and Author Justin Roberts to Lincoln School. He will be sharing his creative endeavors with all the students throughout the day. The students have learned about him and his visit this week in the library. They also received an order form if you would like to order either one of his CDs or picture books. Any questions, please contact Mrs. Brauweiler directly. |
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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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