11/17/2017 1 Comment Mayer Memo 11-17-17 It’s almost Thanksgiving! I hope everyone has a wonderful, restful holiday with family and friends! Veteran's Day Celebration The entire Lincoln School population enjoyed a wonderful Veteran's Day celebration in our Lincoln gym on Friday, November 10. Lincoln's halls were adorned with tributes to special veterans created by individual Lincoln students. Students invited special veterans to attend a school wide ceremony, and each grade level contributed a part of the ceremony that honored these veterans. Our own Markus P. represented our class by reading a Veteran's Day poem. Reading Workshop The children have been reading non-fiction informational texts during reading workshop. We've talked about many strategies nonfiction readers use to learn. For example, the children have discovered that informational texts have key words, or "lingo" that helps teach about a topic, and readers have to pay close attention to that "lingo." Students stop to joy key words they learn as they read and have share these with partners. They also post these on our class' Thinking Board so others can see the "lingo" of their topic. The students have also noticed that text and graphic features help them learn as they read non-fiction texts. They've noticed features like bold print, text boxes, labels, labeled diagrams, photos with captions, and more. They use these features and words on the whole page to understand what they are reading. Decoding and understanding words in non-fiction texts can be tricky. The students are working hard to be flexible with their strategies when trying to solve tricky words. Ask your child to tell you about the book(s) s/he is reading during reading workshop and to share some of the "lingo" about their topic! Writing Workshop We continue to practice our informational text writing during writing workshop. The students learned to identify their audience before they write and anticipate questions their audience might have about their topic. We discussed how good introductions should hook their readers right from the start, and we looked at mentor texts to see how published authors introduce their subjects. The students discovered that asking a question and stating the topic with a grabby first sentence are two good ways to hook their audience. They also noticed that descriptive language will help readers visualize their informational writing just like it did in their small moment writing. The children revisited favorite non-fiction books and identified a text feature they want to try in their writing. They learned that choosing the right paper for their writing is very important! Ask your child to tell you what text feature(s) they have included in their non-fiction writing! Math For the past two weeks, the students have been learning about fractions of geometric shapes. Our work has centered on halves, thirds, and fourths. The children discovered that fractions are equal parts of a whole, and they identified fractional amounts of 2-D and 3-D shapes. They learned that fractions of the same whole can look different. They also discovered that half of one shape may be very different than half of another shape. Finally, we looked at unit fractions (1/2, 1/3, 1/4) and non-unit fractions (2/3, 3/4, 4/4) as they appear in various flags. The children have been introduced to fraction notation (1/2,1/3,3/4, etc.), however using words (one fourth, two thirds) to represent fractions at this age seems to be clearer to most students. The children took the end-of-investigation test as well as the end-of-unit 2 assessment this week. Next week we'll begin Unit 3 which focuses on place value of 2-digit numbers and operating on those numbers within 100. They will solve a variety of story problem types (put together/take apart with one or both addends unknown, add to and take from with result unknown, and problems with an unknown change or an unknown start) and identify, read, and write numbers to 500, and add and subtract 10 in that range. Look for a parent letter to come home next week with more information about Unit 3. Social Studies The students took the history test last week. Their culture and history booklet and the history test was sent home last week. The new theme for social studies is geography. The children made "suitcases" to collect information as they "travel America" during this unit. They also brainstormed everything they already know about this topic. We read Laurie Keller's Scrambled States of America, and talked about how states can have land and water borders. We tore a piece of paper to reinforce that Illinois has both land borders which are straight and water borders which are wiggly. We also worked to learn Illinois' state symbols and we've started discussing cardinal and intermediate directions. More to come next week! Word Work We began a discussion of r-controlled vowels, or “bossy r” words last week. The children discovered that words spelled /ar/ say "R!" such as in shark, remark, etc. We compared the /ar/ spelling and its sound with words that have the long a sound and are spelled /-air/ or /-are/, such as in chair, repair, and stare, compare. This week, we continued our discussion of r-controlled vowels. The children discovered that words spelled /or/ actually don't allow the r to be bossy! In words spelled with /or/, such as fork, horn, etc. the “o” makes the long sound and the “r” makes the engine sound or “rrrrrrrr,” so both sounds are heard. We compared the /or/ spelling and its sound with other words that have a long o sound and are spelled /-oar/ or /-ore/. We discovered that all three spelling patterns sound the same, so we have to use our eyes to see if the word LOOKS right as we spell it. Cursive Handwriting The children are excited to be learning to write in cursive! We have learned the lower case letters c, i, e, l, and m. Many students are working hard to use a proper pencil grip and form the letters properly! I ask students NOT to write their names in cursive until I have taught them the correct letter formation. Practice makes permanent . . . and I don't want to have to undo incorrect cursive letter formation as I've had to correct problems with improper print letter formation! Thank you for your support!
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11/2/2017 0 Comments Mayer Memo 11-2-17Naper Settlement Field Trip Was Amazing! The students enjoyed seeing what Illinois life was like during the 1800s at Naper Settlement. We learned about being a blacksmith, a printer, attending school, and living in a one-room log cabin. We also saw a post office, a Conestoga wagon, various early settler’s houses, a fire house, a storage cellar, and we had a chance to visit an Illinois fort. The expectations of boys and girls were very different in historic times. Ask your child to tell you about this! Thanks to Mr. Marx for being our chaperone! Here's what the kids had to say about their experience: Frida I liked how we said ma'am at the school rather than the teacher's name. Wolfie I liked how we said the pledge differently at the school by holding our hand out. Liam B. I liked how the log cabin had bowls and spoons made out of a horn. Marty I liked how the mansion was owned by a Mr. Martin, because that's my name. Jamie I liked how the school was so little. I was sad when we had to leave. Maeve I liked calling the teacher ma'am in the school. Ava I liked the fort because you could run around like it was recess. Tommy I liked writing on the mini chalkboard at the school. Stella I liked how the kids were together in the school from kindergarten to 8th grade. Liam K. It was rough living in a mansion back then because you couldn't come down to breakfast without being dressed! Peter I didn't know the maid put up a sign for the iceman to deliver ice to the mansion. Sylvia The school was interesting because we don't go to a school like that! Kennedi I liked how we got to read a poem in the school. Orion I liked the blacksmith because I liked seeing how he made the horseshoe. Markus I liked the blacksmith and seeing all the stuff he made. Naveen The telephone and the door hinges in the mansion were cool. Lillian It was weird we had to say ma'am after everything at the school. Jahanna I liked watching the blacksmith making a pony shoe. Steven I liked seeing the blacksmith's hammer and anvil. Parent Teacher Conferences I enjoyed having a conversation with each of you about your child's progress so far in second grade. Thank you so much for your support! Reading Workshop Starting last week, we have been reading non-fiction texts during reading workshop. The children have chosen good-fit non-fiction books for their book boxes and are learning that non-fiction reading has many things in common with fiction, but there are differences, too! They know they still have to roll up their sleeves to read tricky words the same as they do reading fiction. But when readers read non-fiction, their purpose for reading is slightly different. They read non fiction to grow KNOWLEDGE! We discussed several things readers must do when reading non-fiction books, such as pay attention to details, put the parts together in your mind, ask questions, and think "what is this book/part teaching me?" The children are also recording their thinking by stopping to jot their ideas on sticky notes. They jot new information, what they wonder, etc. We have also read two more books by Mem Fox for the Global Read Aloud. The children read and wrote about Whoever You Are, and Tough Boris. I hope you've had a chance to see their writing in response to reading by viewing their weekly Seesaw postings. You should be noticing how their writing is becoming more detailed and provides evidence from the text to support their thinking. Writing Workshop The students are also writing non-fiction during writing workshop. They have chosen topics about which they are experts and are looking at mentor texts to see how published authors teach someone about a topic. They are striving to include different subtopics on different pages of their books as well as different types of information to support their work, such as tips, facts, definitions, etc. The children LOVE writing and sharing their expertise. They can't wait to write every day! Cursive Handwriting The students have begun learning how to write in cursive! They have learned to write a lowercase cursive c, i, e, and l. We are also using drawings to support the formation of these letters. Ask your child to tell you about what s/he's learned! Halloween Party & Storyteller The children had a fantastic time celebrating Halloween with their classmates. The storyteller was loads of fun! Thank you to room moms Debbie Kellogg (Jamie's mom), Sarah Kramer, Lauren Behan for running and organizing an awesome party. Plus there were many other parents who volunteered to make Halloween a wonderful, memorable day! Our volunteer parents are awesome! I have posted some photos. LEAP Buddies The children met with their 1st grade LEAP buddies from Ms. Klusak's class. We had worked with them to share our favorite things and draw pictures of one another! It was great fun, and we look forward to many more adventures with Ms. Klusak's 1st grade friends! Math For the past two weeks we've done a second investigation that focused on quadrilaterals, and more specifically rectangles. The children learned that rectangles are quadrilateral polygons that have four right angles and four straight sides. They used square tiles and geoboards to make rectangular arrays and practiced using terms such as rows and columns to describe their arrays. The language of geometry is very challenging for many children at this age! The students took the assessment for this investigation which focused on describing attributes of 2D shapes (number of sides, number and type of angles) and drawing shapes with those attributes. It also asked students to make a rectangle out of same-size squares and specify the number of rows and the number of squares in each row. Please ask your child to tell you about the activities we've been doing in math! |
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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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