It's hard to believe that the holidays are right around the corner. Some days it feels that we just started school a few days ago! On a serious note, your kids have been doing great things and making great strides in their learning every day.
In Math we have been working on extended facts, division and multiplying and using our knowledge of x0, x1, x2, x5 and x10 facts to apply them to multi step number stories. We have also been working on explaining our steps and how to do a problem. This has proved challenging for some but it has helped the whole class be able to use multiple strategies to solve equations.
In Writing we have had some fun celebrating this past week. We finished our second(and even some third) published Personal narratives and students did final editing and illustrating before we went to two second grade classes to read to some second grade students our masterpieces. The boys and girls wrote pieces of writing advice on paper stars and read and gave them to the second graders about everything they had learned about writing personal narratives. It was truly inspiring to see students engaged and working together. Second grade students then read some of their stories to third graders for help on what they should do next. When asked what my students thought of the experience, here are some of their thoughts-"I was impressed with how well the second graders can write." "They had some really nice comments." "They listened really well." One second grade teacher even told me that a reluctant writer in her class, got his writing out and started writing immediately after we left--which left her speechless. We can't wait to share more stories in the future together! (to see some great photos of sharing stories, check out the photos tab of my website!) Our next unit will focus on Non-fiction writing. We will begin by working on how to write a non fiction paragraph. We call these stoplight paragraphs.
In Reading we also have been wrapping up our Building a Reading Life unit and learning about good fit books, predicting, summarizing and looking for traits in our characters. We are excited to start a new unit on Mysteries next week! You will notice that your students have mystery books in their book baggies which they may have started reading and our new Read Aloud is a mystery called, The Thanksgiving Thief!
We had an assembly last week with author Greg Trine visited and told us about how he became an author and about some of his books, starring, Melvin Beederman. It was very interesting and now the kids are motivated to read some of his books. I am currently working on getting some of these books for our class library.
As you know student led conferences are happening Mon. 11/21 and Tues. 11/22. Please bring your student with you as these conferences are a time for your student to celebrate all their accomplishments and to set goals for the next quarter. I look forward to meeting with all of you. Thank you for signing up for a conference. I will do my best to keep a tight timetable. If you have further questions or want to speak with me privately, please email me to set up an alternate appointment.
We continue to have Officer Rooney come into our classroom with the DARE program to talk about being safe, following rules and to be kind and responsible. She is a great role model and the kids are loving getting to know her.
School assembly-Fri. 11/18 to Honor Veterans--Happy Veteran's Day!
There is NO SCHOOL Tues. 11/22-Fri. 11/25-Thanksgiving Holiday
Scholastic Book Fair-starting next week-11/14-11/22.
As always thanks for reading this post and for allowing me to spend so much valuable time with your children. They teach me new things every day! If you have any questions/comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me either via email at [email protected] or phone: 363-1800.
Have a safe and happy holiday season!
All the Best!
Tracy
In Math we have been working on extended facts, division and multiplying and using our knowledge of x0, x1, x2, x5 and x10 facts to apply them to multi step number stories. We have also been working on explaining our steps and how to do a problem. This has proved challenging for some but it has helped the whole class be able to use multiple strategies to solve equations.
In Writing we have had some fun celebrating this past week. We finished our second(and even some third) published Personal narratives and students did final editing and illustrating before we went to two second grade classes to read to some second grade students our masterpieces. The boys and girls wrote pieces of writing advice on paper stars and read and gave them to the second graders about everything they had learned about writing personal narratives. It was truly inspiring to see students engaged and working together. Second grade students then read some of their stories to third graders for help on what they should do next. When asked what my students thought of the experience, here are some of their thoughts-"I was impressed with how well the second graders can write." "They had some really nice comments." "They listened really well." One second grade teacher even told me that a reluctant writer in her class, got his writing out and started writing immediately after we left--which left her speechless. We can't wait to share more stories in the future together! (to see some great photos of sharing stories, check out the photos tab of my website!) Our next unit will focus on Non-fiction writing. We will begin by working on how to write a non fiction paragraph. We call these stoplight paragraphs.
In Reading we also have been wrapping up our Building a Reading Life unit and learning about good fit books, predicting, summarizing and looking for traits in our characters. We are excited to start a new unit on Mysteries next week! You will notice that your students have mystery books in their book baggies which they may have started reading and our new Read Aloud is a mystery called, The Thanksgiving Thief!
We had an assembly last week with author Greg Trine visited and told us about how he became an author and about some of his books, starring, Melvin Beederman. It was very interesting and now the kids are motivated to read some of his books. I am currently working on getting some of these books for our class library.
As you know student led conferences are happening Mon. 11/21 and Tues. 11/22. Please bring your student with you as these conferences are a time for your student to celebrate all their accomplishments and to set goals for the next quarter. I look forward to meeting with all of you. Thank you for signing up for a conference. I will do my best to keep a tight timetable. If you have further questions or want to speak with me privately, please email me to set up an alternate appointment.
We continue to have Officer Rooney come into our classroom with the DARE program to talk about being safe, following rules and to be kind and responsible. She is a great role model and the kids are loving getting to know her.
School assembly-Fri. 11/18 to Honor Veterans--Happy Veteran's Day!
There is NO SCHOOL Tues. 11/22-Fri. 11/25-Thanksgiving Holiday
Scholastic Book Fair-starting next week-11/14-11/22.
As always thanks for reading this post and for allowing me to spend so much valuable time with your children. They teach me new things every day! If you have any questions/comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me either via email at [email protected] or phone: 363-1800.
Have a safe and happy holiday season!
All the Best!
Tracy