We have been learning how at this point in the school year we are all beginning to read or have been reading much longer books. It's been studied by reading researchers that when you start reading longer books you sometimes go off in la la land and can't remember what is happening, which is a BIG problem. As a way to help when this problem occurs there are many handy dandy strategies that can be used. These past few days we have been learning all of those different strategies and excitedly been applying them to our own reading. Take a peek at our anchor chart to see this different strategies and ask me to model them for you at home. You can also take a look at our readers hard at work!
In math we have been studying 3 digit numbers and we are not pros at identifying which digit is located in a specific place. Today we learned a new game that will help build our mental math strategies with adding and subtracting 10 or 100 from a 3 digit number. The game is called Shake, Rattle, and Roll. To play you need a recording sheet, addition/subtraction cards, 3 dice, and a partner. Partner 1 rolls the 3 dice and each partner then writes down the digits that were rolled. Then each partner thinks deeply about where to place each digit to ensure they are creating the largest number possible. After, they each pick up a +/- 10/100 card and apply that to their number. They then need to write the number mentally adding or subtracting the 10 or 100 and then lastly compare their numbers to determine who had the higher one and how they know. The kids were so proud of their ability to add and subtract 10 or 100 mentally!
In writing this week we have become more cognizant of our audience (or who we are writing too). We learned special ways to ensure we are thinking deeply about our reader when we begin writing our opinion letters. As writers we learned that determining and planning out who will be reading our letters is a very important step in the writing process. In order to write a strong opinion letter to a specific reader we need to include details the reader will enjoy, get the reader interested, retell interesting parts, and make sure to not give away the ending of the text we are writing about! We sure did an amazing job of using these strategies to tailor our letters to a specific reader. Next week will begin delivering these letters to our readers!
Today is known as World Water Day and in celebration of this special day author Christine Ieronimo came to visit our school. She is the author of the book A Thirst For Home. This book is about Christine's daughters home land Ethiopia and focuses on the story of water across the world. Today she came in to share with us the importance of water and bring awareness to how much we use. The United States uses 60 gallons of water per day while in Ethopia an average person only uses about 1-2 gallons. We learned the process Ethopians need to go through in order to getting clean water. It was eye opening to see the strenuous process these individuals go through daily just to get water. After we learned all about the importance of water Christine then read her amazing for us.
Today was an extra special day because we had Morris and Warren Elementary School visit us! Not only were we able to collaborate, communicate, and have fun with fellow second graders, we also had the opportunity to learn all about the Spanish culture. It was so much fun listening to the music, watching the dancers, and seeing the outfits that are accustomed to this culture. Not only did we have a special Spanish day, but we also a very special My Plate assembly. We learned all about the importance of nutrition and keeping our body healthy. We have started our new writing genre, which is opinion writing. To start this unit we have learned how to write letters stating our opinions about a favorite character, part or develop an opinion by using the pictures. We have also learned that strong writers not only include their opinion but give reasons and evidence to back it up. The kids have been including the word because to link these reasons and evidence back to their opinions. Today we took it a step further by incorporating not on the transition because, but a new transition phrase for example. The kids are really enjoying writing letters about their favorite characters, parts, and books. Ask me to share my opinion with you!
Today was an exciting day as we had a visit from the science guy! He came here to teach us more in depth information about matter in a fun and exciting manner. We learned all about atoms and how the atoms move around in a solid, liquid, and gas. Mr. Green also taught us how to make bubbles, change the state of matter, and why things sink or float. We had a blast learning all this new knowledge on such an interesting topic. Today we had a visit from two special people from the Susan B. Anthony Project in Torrington. They wanted to talk to us all about conflict and how to correctly work through these situations. We learned all about the anger rules: 1. Don't hurt yourselves 2. Don't hurt others 3. Don't hurt toys or other things 4. Do talk about it. We had a special puppet Irving teach us all about a problem he was having with his sister and how he was SO ANGRY! We discussed ways that he could effectively work through the situation following the anger rules and also use take 5 to help me calm down. We then received a special bookmark with the anger rules on one side and were able to write 5 different ways that we plan to take 5.
In our first bend of the new unit the class has started to learn all about the importance of fluency. They have learned different strategies to help improve your fluency. For example, rereading to rehearse your reading voice, scoop up words into phrases, and notice and use dialogue tags. Today I taught the class how to stretch out the last strategy even more. Each student chose a fiction text that they have been working on during this bend. Today we discussed the importance of getting into character and how you may need to reread specific parts a few times to get into the character. The class practiced their books independently rereading their sections aloud, then had the opportunity to "perform" for their reading partner. Ask me to "perform" my reading to you tonight! |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2016
Categories |