November 16-20

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

We need ALL names and addresses for our flat kid exchange by TOMORROW!  We will be writing our letters on Wednesday.  If I have not received a name from your family yet, I’ve sent home another copy of the address request form with your child today.  You can fill the paper out or email me with the name and address of someone who would like to participate.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Wednesday is an early release day.  Please plan accordingly.  It is also a school spirit day!  This month it is Wacky Wednesday!  Students are invited to dress in mismatched and/or backwards clothes to celebrate.

THIS WEEK IN...

Spelling:  We are working on unit 5.  The words are:  some, so, these, would, and other.   We’ll practice spelling these words and also how to use them correctly in a sentence.  Our spelling test will be this Friday.

Phonics:  This week we are working on consonant blends.  We’ll practice sl, dr, sk, st, and sp.  Our focus words will be:  slide, slips, dress, drop, skin, task, still, must, crisp, and spell.  

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  rescued, mammal, young, hunger, examines, and normal.  We’ll define these words and build connections with them.  Then, we’ll search for them in the short story called “A Whale is Saved!” by Elizabeth Baker.

Comprehension:  This week, we’ll practice identifying the sequence of events.  That means, we’ll be looking at the order of events in the story.  We’ll look for key words like first, next, then, and last to help us.  When we practice this, it helps us understand the story better.  We’ll practice this skill while we read A Harbor Seal Pup Grows Up by Joan Hewett.

Grammar:  This week, we’ll practice plural nouns.  A plural noun names more than one person, place, or thing.  We add -s to form the plural of most nouns.  We’ll do several examples together and then the team will have an opportunity for independent practice.  

Writing:  This week, we will complete our turkey in disguise projects.  These will be on display in the hallway so if you’re ever at Russell School, come on down and check them out!  We’ll also work on some procedural writing.  After reading A Plump and Perky Turkey we will write all about how to catch a turkey.  These pieces are so much fun to read when they are complete!  Finally, we’ll work on our flat kid letters.  We’ll make a flat version of ourselves and then we will write a friendly letter to our friends and family members who are participating.  We’ll be sure to have all of the letter parts as well as good spelling and neat handwriting.  Our letters will share a little bit about our days at school, the weather, and also ask some friendly questions.  The goal is to have these letters out before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Later this week, we’ll also have the opportunity to show off all of our writing skills in a writing prompt.  We’ll be writing OUCH! stories where we tell about a time that we got hurt.  I’ll be looking for how each student communicates their ideas with others, how they organize their ideas, and how they demonstrate correct conventions.  

Read Aloud:  This week, we will complete Stanley, Flat Again!  We’ve been loving all of Stanley’s flat adventures.

Math:  We have completed our geometry journey.  You should see your child’s goal sleeve with their checklist inside.  The checklist shows the parts your child knows and is able to do.  The goal sleeve contains evidence of their progress.  Some of this work is graded and some is not.  Some work is complete and some is not.  This is because your child got choice in how they practiced each day.  Some days they may have chosen to do worksheets or activities with recording sheets.  Other days they may have chosen to practice on IXL or play a game with a friend.  Any unfinished pages in their goal sleeve can be used for extra practice at home.

Today, we began unpacking our fractions standard.  Here it is:

Partition circles and rectangles into two, three, and four equal shares and describe those shares as halves, thirds, or fourths.  Describe the whole as two halves, three thirds, or four fourths.  Recognize that the same share of a whole does not need to have the same shape.

We used our ninja chopping skills to “air partition” circles and rectangles into equal shares and our best ninja voices to describe those shares as halves, thirds, or fourths.  

The rest of the week will bring a check-in to see where each student will begin their fractions journey, some fun activities to learn the parts of a fraction, and our fun menu choices for how we can practice our individual goals.  

Science:  This is a BIG week in science!  Today, we had an erosion lab!  We made predictions and observed how waves, rain, and wind affected our landform (soil mountain).  We then talked about some ways to prevent erosion should that be something we don’t want.  We learned all about how plants are one of the best ways to prevent wind and water erosion.  More on soil preventions strategies next month.  We also created our very own glacier!  We’ll place the glacier on a dirt mound tomorrow morning and observe it in the afternoon to see how it affected the mountain.  

Later this week, Pete and Penelope might (wink wink) leave us another letter asking us about our very own dream islands!  The team will be given salt dough to create their very own island complete with five different (and labeled) landforms!  Then, we’ll paint our islands, create a map, and write a friendly postcard to Pete and Penelope from our dream islands.  This is definitely going to be a fun project!  

November 9-13

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

There is no school on Wednesday as we observe Veterans Day.  I, for one, will be spending the day thanking my sister (navy), uncle (marine corps), and grandad (navy) for their service!

I will have a substitute teacher in the classroom on Thursday.  I will be involved in a school tour for several teachers from Scarborough and Biddeford, showing them all of the great things we do here at Russell School!  If you have any notes regarding your child’s dismissal plans for the day, please send either a hand-written note or be sure to send an email to Connie Holland at cholland@sad15.org notifying the school of the change.  While I will still be in the school on Thursday, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to check my email throughout the day.

Mrs. Thibodeau will be visiting with us on Friday!  

Very soon this week, you will be receiving a paper from me requesting the name and address of someone out of state who would be willing to participate in our flat kid exchange.  Please send the paper back ASAP!  We will be mailing our letters and flat kids before Thanksgiving.

This week in...

Spelling:  This is our challenge/review week.  Any words your child missed on last week’s summative spelling test automatically become words to practice for this week’s spelling test.  This week, students will practice a total of 10 words.  So, any remaining spaces after their words to review were filled by challenge words from the third grade priority word list.  Each student will be assessed on all 10 words on Friday.

Phonics:  We are working with the long and short /u/ sound.  Our focus words are:  sun, bud, duck, bump, cup rude, rude, fume, dude, and cube.

Vocabulary:  Our new focus words are:  drowns, drifts, desert, gently, burst, and neighbor.  We’ll define these words and build connections to them.  Then, we’ll search for them in the short story called “Plant Power!” by Bradley Roberts.

Comprehension:  This week we will work on drawing conclusions.  When we draw conclusions we think about what we know, clues in the story, and picture clues.  This helps us better understand the story.  We’ll practice this skill while we read The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle.

Grammar:  This week, we will work on adjectives.  Adjectives are words that describe a noun.  We’ll practice identifying the adjectives in a sentence as well as brainstorming adjectives for items found around the classroom.

Writing:  Continuing on our letter writing journey, we’ll read the story called The Day the Crayons Came Home.  This week, we’ll be writing woeful postcards as the crayons that were lost by Duncan.  We’ll tell him where we are and ask him kindly to come get us!  

For some added festive fun, we’ll also be reading the book called Turkey Trouble where poor Turkey knows what is going to happen soon so he tries to dress like other animals to throw the farmer off his trail.  To go along with the book, we’ll be creating our very own turkeys in disguise and writing all about how we are not, in fact, turkeys.  Instead, we might be ninjas or pirates, or ballerinas!  Anything but a turkey.  

Read Aloud:  This week, we join Stanley again in Stanley, Flat Again!  Poor Stanley is flat again but he is sure to go on some wonderful adventures!  

Math:  We are continuing to learn about the wonderful world of geometry.  Lessons this week will focus mainly on counting sides, angles, and faces.  We’ll also work on naming some 3D shapes.  As students show that they are ready to meet their goals, they will be given our final check-in.  Once they pass that check-in, they’ll participate in some geometry challenges.  Most of our challenge work will be with 3D shapes.  A popular choice is building a tower out of geoblocks and creating a 3D drawing of our creation.  

Scholastic News:  We’ll be reading an article this week called “My Mom, the Veteran”.  We’ll meet Kayla who is a mom who served in the armed forces.  We’ll read about her life as a solider and also as a veteran.  Then, we’ll use a diagram of a Humvee to answer questions.  

Science:  This week, we’ll be using “Shape It Up” to help us make inferences about how a landform could have changed over time.  We’ll have to use our schema to help us decide what caused the change and how long the change may have taken.  Want to check it out?  Here is the link:

http://sciencenetlinks.com/media/filer/2011/10/07/forces.swf

We’ll also be watching the episode of The Magic School Bus all about volcanoes!  In this episode, the class is trying to put together a giant globe of the world.  However, there is an island so new that it hasn’t been discovered yet!  The class will dive under the ocean’s surface and explore an underwater volcano.

November 2-5

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Thank you so much to all of you who were able to donate items for our Monster Mash on Friday!  Team Howard had a blast!  We played a lot of fun games and had some delicious snacks to eat.  It was a day for the memory books!

I also wanted to remind everyone that students are allowed to bring water bottles to school with them.  We fill them up in the morning and at snack time.  It helps us stay hydrated throughout the day.  So if you have a water bottle at home, please feel free to send it in to school with your child.

Friendly Reminder:  Please do not send in any snacks that contain peanuts or tree nuts as we do have life threatening allergies in the classroom.  Pretzels, cheese and crackers, low sugar cereals, fresh fruit and/or veggies, and yogurts all make great, healthy snacks to help keep your child energized.  I appreciate your help in keeping our classroom safe for all students.

Spelling Tests:  Apologies for not getting your child's spelling test back today.  With all of the festivities on Friday, we didn't get a chance to take our spelling test.  You'll get their spelling test back tomorrow, instead.  Thank you for your patience!

Class Wishlist:  We are a class that LOVES to engineer things... often!  That usually includes using a lot of tape.  If you would like to donate some tape to our classroom, it would be greatly appreciated!

THIS WEEK IN:

Phonics:  We are working with the long and short "o" sound.  Our focus words are:  box, fox, lock, pot, dog, cone, hope, rose, poke, and rope.  

Spelling:  We are working on unit 4 words.  The words are:  out, them, she, many, and then.  This week's spelling test will be the last one before our summative spelling test and the first four units.  Any words that are missed on the summative test will be added to your child's individual spelling review list for next week.  Each student will practice a total of 10 words.  If they missed fewer than 10 words or received 100%, they will be able to pick words from the third grade priority word list to practice.  

Vocabulary:  Our focus words are:  settled, wrinkled, practiced, cuddle, favorite, and patient.  We'll define these words, build connections to them, and then search for them in the short story called "My New Home" by Miguel Vasquez.

Comprehension:  This week we will practice making and confirming predictions.  A prediction is a reasonable guess about what will happen in a story.  We use the pictures, words, and our schema to help us make predictions.  When we confirm a prediction, we read on in the story to find out whether the prediction was correct or not.  We'll practice this skill while we read My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits.

Grammar:  This week, we will practice combining sentences that have the same predicate using the word "and."  For example, we could take "Nina came from Mexico" and "Marcos came from Mexico" and combine them to say "Nina and Marcos came from Mexico."

Scholastic News:  To continue our study on bats, we'll read an article titled "Bats in Blankets" that is all about special hospitals that help bats when they are in trouble.  Then, we'll use a diagram of a flying fox to answer questions.

Read Aloud:  We finished Chocolate Fever and our now learning all about Flat Stanley!  Today, we learned that he was flattened by a bulletin board.  We are so excited to learn more about his flat adventures.

Writing:  This week, we'll introduce the parts of a friendly letter.  This is a precursor to our Flat Stanley projects that we will be beginning shortly.  Here are the parts below:

We'll read Messages in the Mailbox: How to Write a Letter by Loreen Leedy to help us get started.  The book tells us all about the parts of a letter, different reasons for writing a letter, who we might write letters to, and also gives us some examples.  Then, Team Howard will have some practice writing a letter of their very own.  They'll be asked to write a short letter to me telling me something about themselves that I don't already know.  I'm excited to see what they say!

We'll also read The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.  This story is a collection of friendly letters from the crayons explaining why they quit.  Some feel like they are bored, some feel like they are used too often or too little.  Then, the team will get the chance to take on the point of view of one of the crayons and also write a friendly letter explaining their point of view.

Math:  This week, we will be spending a lot of time working on our individual goals with the use of menus.  Students will have some voice and choice in how they practice their goals.  Their choices are:  worksheets, activities, games, or IXL.  They'll use their checklists to see what they still need to work on and what they already know.  For students who have already mastered the standard, they will be completing various challenge activities.

We also spent some time today practicing different strategies for being able to add or subtract 1 or 2 from a number in a snap.  Then, we put those skills to the test after we learning how to play +/- 1 or 2 bingo!  We also had some mixed review practice on Xtra Math today to keep our skills fresh.

Science:  This week, I have a feeling Pete and Penelope are going to be writing us another letter.  A little birdie (probably a parrot) told me that they have made a troubling discovery on one of the islands they have found.  The island is not looking the same and they want to know why.  I'll be challenging Team Howard in a few investigations next week, but first we'll do some research.  We'll be reading a book called Cracking Up:  A Story About Erosion and watching fun videos like the one below:

From these resources, students should gather that Earth's surface changes slowly and quickly.  Rain, wind, ice, and sun all cause slow changes to Earth's surface.  Floods, earthquakes, and volcanoes all cause quick changes to Earth's surface.


That's it for this week!  Have a fantastic week!

October 26-30

ANNOUNCMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Tomorrow is an early release day!  Please plan accordingly.

Conferences are continuing this week!  I have a few of you scheduled tonight and also on Thursday.  Looking forward to meeting with all of you.  Remember, if you have any specific questions you would like me to answer, please send them ahead of time.  I want to make sure I designate time to answer your questions and also be able to gather the appropriate resources to answer your question.

Friday is our Monster Mash!  Thank you in advance to anyone who is able to donate snacks or volunteer to help with games and/or food.  If you are sending something in, please send it to school by Thursday.  That way, I will be able to pick up anything else we need after school.

Your child's fundraiser paper went home yesterday.  You should be able to see a picture of their artwork as well as a price listing for the items you may purchase with their art on it.  The team really did work hard on creating pieces they thought were special and that you and your friends and family would enjoy!

THIS WEEK IN...

Phonics:  We are working with the short and long /i/ sounds.  Our focus words are:  did, rip, fin, mix, pick, five, nine, side, pipe, and hike.  

Spelling:  We are working on unit 3.  Our new words are:  will, each, about, how, and up.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  deaf, language, signing, cultures, relatives, and celebrate.  We'll define these words, build connnections to them, and then search for them in the short story "A Special Camp" by Kate Jones.

Comprehension:  We will talk about main idea and supporting details again.  The main idea is what the story is mostly about and the supporting details give us more information about the main idea.  We will practice this skill while we read Meet Rosina by George Ancona.

Grammar:  Last week, we focused on the subject of a sentence.  This week, we will focus on the predicate.  The predicate tells what the subject does or is.  

Math:  We are continuing to explore the world of shapes through many different activities.  First, we played "Swat-a-Shape" where we used fly swatters to "swat" the shape that was described.  Then, we played "Spin-a-Shape" where we spun a spinner 10-20 times and selected pattern blocks to use.  We used these pattern blocks to create a picture.  Some of us made cats, some of us made cars, and some of us chose to make a pattern.  When we finished creating our picture, we wrote how many of each shape we used.  We'll also use triangles, squares, rhombuses, trapezoids, and hexagons to create a geometric Jack-O-Lantern.

We also introduced some math fact games and practice ideas.  Everyone was introduced to a great program called XtraMath.  You should have received a paper describing the program yesterday.  It is a web-based program that gives targeted math fact practice for each student and keeps track of their progress.  We also played a fun math game where we rolled two dice and added the two numbers together.  It was important for us to check our answers with our partner and practice appropriate ways to agree or disagree with them.  

Science:  Pete and Penelope have to us again and have requested that we make them a guide to help their crew!  The crew is confused by all of the different landforms and bodies of water they are seeing.  So, we are creating a flip book to help them out!

We also received some healthy choice bracelets.  These bracelets help us keep track of the fruits and vegetables we are eating every day.  To go along with the PEP grant that GNG received, we'll be recording the data.

Read Aloud:  We are loving Chocolate Fever!

Words to Think About:  When life hands you lemons, make some lemonade!

Festive and Spooky Fun:  We have a LOT of fun projects we'll be doing this week!  Here is a quick glimpse at the fun.

Crankenstein:  We read a great story about Crankenstein and how he is cranky much of the time.  The story made us smile and giggle.  Then, we had the chance to create Crankenstein pudding cups out of green pudding and oreo cookies.  We had to take special notice of how we did it though, because we wrote how-to stories that can be shared with someone else so they can make Crankenstein pudding too!

Spiders:  We read a great nonfiction story about Spiders from National Geographic.  As we read, we collected a ton of facts.  Then, we began creating colorful webs and spiders to help us display some "facts that will make you crawl!"

Monsters:  Starting on Wednesday, we are going to read a fabulous book called The Little Shop of Monsters.  It's an amazing book I recently purchased at the book fair.  After reading the story, we will fill out Monster Adoption Applications to see if we are able to adopt a monster of our very own.  Once our applications are approved, we'll then design the monster we would like to adopt and write about how we plan to take care of it.  Later this week, our poor monsters will go missing! A friend in the classroom will have to write a description well enough for everyone to know exactly what our missing monster looks like so that they can be returned to the correct student.

Bats:  We will watch an episode of The Magic School Bus that is all about bats!  Then, we'll create a sunset picture of a bat to help us display some "Wing Flappin'"  facts that we have learned.

Monster Mash:  As you know, we'll be having a Monster Mash on Friday.  Students are invited to dress like non-scary monsters (think Monsters Inc.) to help us celebrate our monster projects!  We'll play some fun minute to win it games and enjoy some festive fall snacks.

October 19-23

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

I just wanted to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for your overwhelming support last week.  It was a tough week, to say the least, but I could tell that every member of Team Howard was loved and supported at home.  I appreciate all the time and careful effort you took in sharing the news with your child and giving them the support that they needed.  I also thank you so much for all the support you gave me.  Although the loss of a student brought on a feeling indescribable sadness, I could feel the support and encouragement from all of you.  Whether it be the emails I received, the hugs in the hallway, or just your encouraging thoughts... thank you.

Bus safety was postponed and we will be attending the assembly this Wednesday instead.

Mrs. Thibodeau will also be visiting us again!  

Conferences begin this week and continue into next week.  Today, each of you should have received an orange half sheet of paper letting you know the time and date for your child's conference.  Remember, these are a three-way conference so your child needs to attend the conference with you.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

Spelling Tests:  Your child's first corrected spelling test went home today.  You'll see two scores.  They received a score for being able to spell the word correctly when given a traditional spelling test and also a score for being able to use the words correctly in a sentence.  Any words that were missed (in spelling or in sentences) will be added to your child's personal review list for our review week.

Homework reminder:  Please refer to your homework survival guide for the spelling words for the entire year as well as a list of suggestions for how to practice.  The unit we are focused on will be labeled on your child's homework packet and listed on this blog.

THIS WEEK IN:

Spelling:  We are working on unit 2.  The words are:  which, said, do, if, and their.  Our spelling test will be on Friday.

Phonics:  We are working with the long and short a sounds.  Here our our focus words:  bag, cap, mad, back, ham, cape, bake, made, ate, and rake.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  safe, flames, tell, forest, and heat.  We'll define these words, use them in a sentence, and build connections to them.  Then, we'll search for them in two short stories called "Firehouse Friendships" and "A Special Bear."

Comprehension:  We will focus on identifying the main idea and supporting details.  The main idea is what a passage is mostly about.  The supporting details give more information about that idea.  We'll practice this skill while we read Fighting the Fire.

Grammar:  We'll be talking about the two parts of a sentence:  subject and predicate.  The subject of a sentence is who or what the sentence is about.  The predicate gives information about the subject.

Scholastic News:  We'll be reading an article all about Mo Willems, the amazing author of the Elephant and Piggie series!  After reading the article, we'll answer questions about fiction and nonfiction texts.

Writing:  This week, we will continue our work with identifying small moments.  Today, we went on a safari and used our binoculars to zoom in on a small moment.  These moments can be called seed stories.  For example, a pumpkin story might be going to the grocery store.  Seed stories could be when I dropped a jar of tomato sauce, getting a squeaky cart, or not being able to find the quinoa.
We'll use our brainstormed list of ideas to begin writing a seed story of our own.  We are really going to focus on the brainstorming piece of writing.  First, how to get an idea.  Second, how to write about our idea.  And last, how to make our story sound even better.

Math:  We are finishing up our unit on graphing and will be moving into the amazing world of geometry!  Here is our second grade standard:

I can identify shapes such as triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, and cubes.  I can identify and draw shapes given specific attributes such as number of sides,number of angles, or number of faces.  I can recognize a 3D shape.

This new adventure is certainly going to be a lot of fun!

Science:  We are SO lucky!  Pineland Farms kindly donated pumpkins to our classroom for a science project!  Since we are working on landforms, we are working on painting our pumpkins to look like globes.  We'll add the oceans, the continents, and labels.  We began painting today and let me tell you... there were some seriously happy students in room 10!

October 13-16

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Homework packets are always due on MONDAY and a new one will be sent home on Monday afternoon.  Hopefully everyone has been able to find a routine that helps homework time go smoothly.

Please remember to sign and return your child's permission slip for this week's field trip!  We are going to Memorial School to visit with our second grade friends and also to see an artist visiting from Mexico.  We need all permission slips by WEDNESDAY!

Please remember to send back your preferences for conferences.  The schedule will be made on a first come, first serve basis.  Also, please send any questions you have for me ahead of time.  That way, I will be able to gather the materials and dedicate time to answer your questions.

We will be having bus safety on Wednesday!  We'll be reviewing all of the rules that help us stay safe on the bus whether we take the bus every day or if we take the bus for a field trip.  

Our first spelling test will be on Friday!  Students will be asked to spell the word correctly and to use it appropriately in a sentence.



This week in...

Spelling:  We are working on unit 1.  The words are:  your, there, can, an, and we.

Phonics:  This week we are focusing on the short o, e, and u sound.  Here are our focus words:  went, tell, pet, job, fog, not, tug, hut, tub, and bun.  We'll sort and spell these words together. Then, we'll complete an activity that helps us practice the words again.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  share, wonderful, company, delighted, thinning, and enjoyed.  We'll define these words, use them in a sentence, and build connections to them.  Then, we'll search for them in the short story called "Making Muffins and a Friend" by Vanessa Lavin.  

Comprehension:  Our focus skill will be to analyze the plot.  The plot is the events that take place in the story.  It gives the story a beginning, middle, and end.  In the beginning, you learn that a character has a problem.  In the middle, something happens to solve the problem.  In the end, the problem is usually solved.  We'll practice identifying beginning, middle, and end while we read Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea by Cynthia Rylant.

Writing:  This week, we will finish up our dream house projects.  So far, students have sketched their dream houses and have answer questions about their dream house such as where is it located, who do you live with, what does your house look like, and why is it special?  This week, the team will finish designed their houses.

We'll also have some fun with riddles.  The team will answer questions about themselves such as what color hair do you have, what color eyes do you have, are you a girl or a boy, and what letter does your name start with?  Then, they'll create a picture of themselves and cover it with a ghost costume.  The team will have to use the clues that the writers have given us to decide who is under the ghost costume.

Finally, we'll begin brainstorm some small moments that could turn into stories.  At a recent workshop, the Russell School teachers were introduced to the idea that students should be writing "seed" stories and not "watermelon" stories.  For example, a watermelon story might be going to the pool with your family.  A seed story might be the time that you jumped off the diving board.  Seed stories are just small moments that writers have expanded.  We'll take a look at some example together and then we'll have a chance to begin some of our own stories.

Read Aloud:  As we finish up Charlotte's Web, we will move into the fabulous story called Chocolate Fever.  It's a great story about a boy who eats nothing but chocolate until one day he breaks out in chocolate hives!  The doctors say it's a case of chocolate fever!  The story takes us on his adventure behind getting rid of this mysterious illness.  

Math:  We will continue our graphing adventure!  We'll continue to practice reading both bar graphs and pictographs and interpreting the data we see.  Then, we'll use this data to answer some specific questions.  We'll do this as a class and independently.  We are getting closer and closer to the end of our journey and when we do, we'll take our final challenge to see if we're ready to take the next trail up Mount Mathmore!

Science:  This week, we'll continue our study of continents, landforms, and bodies of water.  We need to be experts in case Pete and Penelope write to us again!

Have a great week!

October 5-8

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

There is no school for students this Friday, October 9th!  Please plan accordingly.  Russell School teachers will be learning more about a new writing program.  There is also no school next Monday, as we observe Columbus day.  Enjoy the four day weekend!

Mrs. Thibodeau will be visiting us again on Wednesday.  We'll be learning more about Kelso's Choices.

On Thursday, we will be attending a fire safety assembly.

Homework started this week.  You should have received a homework packet and a homework survival guide.  The survival guide stays at home!  This is yours to use throughout the year.  It has an incredible amount of resources for you.  There is:  a how-to guide for homework, questions to ask your child after reading, reading graphic organizers, spelling words for the whole year, ideas for how to practice spelling words, a how-to guide (with pictures!) on how to use and log in to many of the websites that are available for student practice, and a list of letters and numbers on IXL that specifically hit each of our math standards.  Hopefully you and your family find this guide useful.

You'll notice that we are starting on Unit 1 for spelling this week.  Students will not be assessed on these words until next Friday!  We want to give you and your child a chance to get into a homework routine without adding any worry or stress about memorizing any spelling words quite yet.  Second graders are held accountable for not just being able to spell these words correctly, but also being able to USE these words correctly.  You'll notice there are two homophones in unit 1:  there and their.  These are really tricky for some students!  As is the word "an".  Please help your child to practice how to use these words correctly too.  I'll be sending home more information about our spelling program later this week. 

CLASSROOM WISH LIST:  We are requesting apples!  We would love to have some apples donated to the classroom for a "Johnny Appleseed" activity we'll be doing on Thursday.  Send in one, send in a bunch!  Whatever you can send in will be greatly appreciated.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

THIS WEEK IN:

Spelling:  We are working on unit 1.  The words are there, your, an, can, and we.  We'll be doing all kinds of activities to practice these.  We'll be spelling, writing, and reading these words as much as possible. 

Vocabulary:  Our focus words are:  tomorrow, different, groan, excited, carefully, and whisper.  We'll define these words, use them in a sentence, and then create connections with them to help us remember them better.  Then, we'll search for them in the short story called "School is Starting!" by Josh Singh.

Comprehension:  This week, we'll be thinking about character and setting.  Characters are the people the story is about.  When we analyze characters, we think about what they say and do to tell us how they think and feel.  The setting of a story is when and where the story takes places.  When we think about the setting, it helps us understand how the place or time might affect the characters.  We'll practice this skill as we read, David's New Friends by Pat Mora.

Writing:  This week, we will complete one of our class books.  We are creating an ABC book of the Cumberland Fair.  Each student will be creating a page (or two!) that identifies many of the items we found at the fair that started with a specific letters.  Team Howard is held accountable for having a complete sentence with neat handwriting and also a neat, detailed, and colorful picture.  We are also working on our dream house projects.  Each of us had the chance to think of our dream house.  It could be a tent, a fort, a tree house, a cottage, a castle, etc.  It just has to be something that is special to us.  This week, we will be practicing our descriptive writing skills when we write to describe our dream house to someone else.  We will include details about what our house looks like, where it is located, and our favorite parts of the house.  Then, we'll even get a chance to create a 2D model of our house!

Johnny Appleseed Fun:  We are going to be partnering with Miss Davis' class for some apple fun.  First, we'll read a great story about an American legend, Mr. John Chapman!  He is really better known as Johnny Appleseed.  While listening to the story, students will have a small apple snack.  When we are finished with the story, we will create apple poems using a TON of adjectives!  As a team, we'll even be making some of our very own apple sauce in the classroom.  The classroom is going to smell amazing!

Read Aloud:  We are going to finish up the beloved story of Charlotte's Web this week.  The end of the story always brings a tear to my eye!

Math:  We are continuing our unit on graphing.  This week, students will be surveying each other.  Today, students surveyed many of the teammates about what they had for lunch today, if they have any pets at home, or if they were present or absent today!  Then, they sorted that data into a T-Chart.  Later this week, we'll apply this skill to another graphing project.  The team will be asked to come up with a survey question and collect the data from all of their teammates.  Using that data, they will organize it and present it in a bar graph.  Finally, using the bar graph they created, they will answer questions about the data they found.  They will be sharing this information with the team.  

We'll also have a "math minute" where we will be looking at tens frames and trying to quickly decide how many dots we see.  This skill is called subitizing! 

Science:  This week, our friends Pete and Penelope are back with another question!  They are having a horrible time deciding what the world is made of?  Mostly water, mostly land, or an equal amount of both?  The team will conduct an investigation to help them solve their problem.  Then, we'll learn a little more about the continents and a little more about landforms.  Here are two videos we'll be watching.  I find them hysterical!