Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Monday, December 10, 2012

I apologize for net getting this out yesterday. 

This week's IA: Music
Next week's IA: PE

Reader's Workshop
We are still reading and thinking about Chris VanAllsburg books. While we read, we are paying attention to words that are unfamiliar to us. Yesterday, we learned three new vocabulary words from the book, Jumanji. These words were monsoon, stampede, and slouch. We wrote these words in our reading journals, decided if they were nouns, verbs, or adjectives, wrote a definition of each, and drew a picture to go with the words. I am encouraging students to look for these words everywhere; in books, outside, on tv or the computer, and listen for or use these in their daily speaking and writing. It would be great if families could encourage this at home as well. Vocabulary can be a huge roadblock for students when it comes to comprehending what they are reading. 

Writer's Workshop
We have finished up publishing our persuasive letters. We are very much looking forward to sharing these with you on Wednesday at 11:00. Hopefully many of you can make it in for this time. Let me know if you have any questions. 

Math
Addition and subtraction are two big areas of math in second grade. I've been working with students to become "Fact Power Superheroes." They know that this means they need to memorize their addition facts. Currently, we are learning different strategies for adding two-digit and three-digit numbers. This can be tricky, especially if students aren't proficient with basic addition facts. One way to help with this, is to practice with flash cards at home. Students should have fact triangles at home that were in one of their Home Links. 

Expedition
We have finally completed compiling and graphing the data we collected at the Starlighting. This year, for the first time, students used a program on the computers to create these graphs! We will be going to the Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce to present our graphs and findings to the Executive Board sometime in January. I will also post these graphs on Kidblog so you can see and comment on them. It would be great if you would share these graphs with extended family and friends so students have a large audience for their work. 





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