Monday, January 27, 2014

January Happenings

We've been busy in Room 107 over the past few weeks! Second grade keeps getting closer and closer, and we are working hard to be ready. 
Here are some of the things that have been going on! 

Party time! 
The week before last we earned our third reward party! We had so much fun dancing around the room in some cute costumes. 





Math Explorations: 
In math, we're focusing on expanding our knowledge of measurement, and have been doing lots of fun activities to help our kids experience different forms of measuring and compare them. We measured surface area two different ways, and found equivalencies in the weights of different items. Our kids are so good at working in teams and talking to each other about what they are learning. Always, always ask your child HOW they found their answer in math. Even with simple problems, we want to be able to describe how we know something. 








How To's: 
We are SO CLOSE to publishing our How To's! We've been working incredibly hard on learning about important features of How To books and incorporating those into our writing. We've even been working on improving How To books we check out from the library by adding our own introductions and conclusions. I have to say, this is one of the best groups of writers I've seen with this skill. Their intros are so creative! 
We are also really focused on the Revising and Editing part of the writing process. We have started peer editing, looking for capitals and endmarks, and making sure our drafts have everything they need before moving to publishing. What impressive teamwork this group shows! 










Meteorology: 
In science, we have started our weather unit! We are learning how to be meteorologists, making careful observations and predictions about the world around us. We have reviewed telling temperature to the nearest 2 degrees, a great skill to practice at home, and last week we studied clouds! Look for our great cloud books coming home soon, and ask your child to describe the different types of clouds and name them when they notice them. As always, we want to connect our learning to real world scenarios. 





Thanks for reading! Check back next week for important information about February's events! 





Sunday, January 12, 2014

Welcome Back!

Hi Parents, Families, and Friends! 
I finally have had some time to work on going through the photos from the last month or so after a busy winter break of traveling and a busy week back last week. I hope your kids were as excited to return to Lincoln as I was- break is nice and relaxing but I really missed this class and I was so happy to come back to our wonderful classroom community. 
Here are some things that happened before break- and a few updates on what we're progressing towards for the rest of the year. 

How To's
Just before break we started a new unit in literacy. For the next few weeks we are focused on reading and writing How To books. In order to practice reading and following directions, we are spending lots of time in Reader's Workshop making different things while following a How To. Here are some pictures from before break where our kiddos followed all the steps for How To Make Clay and How To Make Coil Pots. They did an absolutely wonderful job with this project, and I hope you saw the finished product come home before break! 







Winter Concert
Of course, before break we also had our winter music concert! The kiddos spent so much time practicing for this, and wow, did it ever pay off! This was truly one of the best concerts I've seen- and if you haven't heard- our class earned a pizza party from Dr. Brown because ALL our students attended! (This will be happening soon!) Thank you so much to all the parents, grandparents, and family members who made this wonderful after school event a priority. We loved having all our kids there to participate. Also, some stunning outfits were on display! 

Holiday Luncheon
Thanks also for the amazing participation in our holiday lunch party before break! Parents really went above and beyond in bringing in food, and we had so much fun eating food and making crafts from the different holiday traditions we studied and learned about. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time and effort on this, parents! 





Coming Up
Over the next few weeks and months, we will really be cranking up our curriculum to get prepared for second grade! This last half of the year really flies by- so it's important that your student continues to read EVERY day and that you talk with them about what they've read. Here are some helpful questions you can ask your kids after reading.