I hope everyone enjoyed a week away from school. I am looking forward to seeing the students tomorrow!
We will take a step away from our traditional reading program for the next few weeks as we focus on our artist in residence work. Next week students will be introduced to folk tales, as this will be the connecting thread through the integrated arts during our open house. We will spend time reading and comparing multiple forms of folk tales over the next three weeks, from fairy tales to tall tales. We will continue with our spelling and grammar work, so look for a spelling list that focuses on open and closed syllables this week. Throughout our work before break it was clear that the students needed to spend additional time with measurement and data. We will review this work at the beginning of the week, and then take our assessment at the end of the week. These extra few days should help solidify these concepts for the students. Any additional measuring you can do at home would be extremely helpful! Students have completed their landform research and are now moving into building a model of an island. The island will include 3 landforms they have researched. As we wait for the salt dough to dry, we will jump into our learning about plants and pollinators. Students will complete investigations about seeds and how they travel. As well, they will have the chance to further research a plant species they find interesting. I look forward to meeting with so many of you this week to discuss your child's progress! Let me know if you need to make any changes to your planned conference. Upcoming dates: April 30th- Artist in Residence Work begins May 17th – R/1/2 Open House 5:30
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We will wrap up some loose ends this week before April Vacation.
This week in our reading program, Wonders, we will take our Unit 5 reading assessment. This will be the second full reading assessment the students will take. In the assessment, students will be asked to read two stories and answer questions, both multiple choice and written response. As well, they will be asked to compare the two stories, and use evidence from the text to support their thinking. Finally, we will check in on their vocabulary and phonics skills. I have broken up the assessment into smaller parts, and we will complete a small amount each day. Due to our assessment, there will not be a spelling test next week. The rulers, tape measures, and meter sticks are out in our classroom. We have been busy measuring all sorts of things in the classroom and comparing actual measurements to our estimates. As well, we have identified personal references for an inch, foot, and yard. Next week we will look more heavily at data, as the students compare a bar graph to a line plot, using data they collect from their arm span length and standing jump lengths. It is a nice tie between measurement and data. As we move further into our research, we will begin to shift our writing focus from opinion writing to informational writing. Students are hard at work creating a salt dough island that showcases three of the landforms they have been researching. Accompanying the islands will be an informational writing piece that highlights the important features of the landforms. As well, they will have the chance to showcase their work to the first-grade students, which is always so much fun. You will have a chance to see their work at the open house coming up in about a month. Upcoming dates: April 13th – Report Cards go home April 18th – School Board Meeting 6:30 PTA meeting April 20th- School spirit day, crazy outfit/hair April 23-27 – Spring Recess, no school We are full steam ahead with learning as we move into land form research and projects.
This week in our reading program, Wonders, we will explore the question- Why are rules important? While reading, we will practice the odd spellings of short e, like the ea in bread. We will revisit the skill of cause and effect as we read. The students did an impressive job on their Unit 6 Assessment! I am so proud of how hard they worked to master these new concepts. We have now begun our new unit of learning on measurement. Students will explore both US customary measurement, as well as metric measurement. Any additional practice in measuring at home would be wonderful. We will use rulers, tape measures, yard sticks, and meter sticks in the classroom. Additionally, students are learning about collecting and analyzing data. We will measure standing jumps and arm spans before plotting the data as a bar graph and a line plot. Students will answer questions about the data and create a question that could be answered using the data. Interpreting data is an important skill in grade two and can be tricky for kiddos at times. We will turn our writing focus to research in the coming weeks. Students will learn more about informational writing beyond a simple "how-to" story. They will work to present an opening, supply relevant details, and write a closing sentence. This work will accompany our land form islands we will create in the classroom. Upcoming dates: April 13th – Report Cards go home April 18th – School Board Meeting 6:30 PTA meeting April 20th- School spirit day, crazy outfit/hair April 23-27 – Spring Recess, no school Another great week under our belts. It is hard to believe that it is already the month of April. It feels as if the school year is flying by!
This week in our reading program, Wonders, we will explore the question- How can we protect the Earth? While reading, we will practice the sound /aw/ as in saw. We will revisit the skill of problem and solution as we discuss plot. The students will take their Unit 6 Assessment this week. I am so proud of how hard they had been working to master these new concepts. We have had lots of added practice in the classroom, and the students are right on track. In Unit 7 we switch gears to further explore We will celebrate our opinion writing this week, taking time to share our pieces with our classmates. The students have been hard a work writing opinion pieces to you about something they want or want to do. These are always my favorite writing pieces of the year, and I look forward to sharing them with you during our conferences. We are reflecting on our erosion learning this week, and I am asking students to apply all that they have learned through a mock challenge they will solve as a team. From here we will move into our landform research and projects, all which will be completed in school. Upcoming dates: April 1st – R/1 Parent Information Night 6:00pm April 4th – Quarter 3 grades close April 5th – Community Meeting |
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