Queridas familias, 5-25-2017
The kids had a wonderful time on our field trip to Ada businesses! Thank you so much to all our families who were able to come and join us on the trip! We appreciate your time and energy!
Tomorrow is Field Day. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately (especially footwear) to be outside and active for the morning.
Hello families!
Have you been doing some spring cleaning? Have you discovered some Spanish books that your children no longer read or are too old for? We are looking for some books to start up some summer reading activities. Please consider donating any unwanted or unused books. We can help you get these books into the hands of children! A box will be made available just inside the school starting on Tuesday, May 30. Feel free to drop these off there and we will make sure they find good homes. :)
Thank you!
This week, the kids continued to talk about how to be a good citizen at Ada Vista and in the world. They constructed a poster and rehearsed it before presenting it to the class. I took videos of this and I’m in the process of sharing with the kids’ Google accounts through school. I am also sharing the pictures I took on our field trip with the kids too.
We have continued to study Patricia Polacco and her stories. This week, we read Thunder Cake, “La colcha de los recuerdos”, and “El pollo de los domingos”. Which story was your child’s favorite? Has your child figured out what Patricia Polacco writes about? Can your child tell you about these wonderful stories?
In math, we have continued to do centers, playing math learning games. We have tried something new that has several of the kids stumped. They are working on papers where there are two or three-digit numbers that are being added. In these numbers, there are blanks in different spots that the kids have to fill in. It gets confusing for them at times. I have attached a sample of this. We are also continuing to provide support for kids who are still learning certain math concepts. My goal is to send home a sample packet for each kid, showing you different concepts that you can continue to practice over the summer to make sure that your child comes back in the fall, ready to jump into third grade. One of the biggest is to make sure that your child continues to practice addition and subtraction facts through 20. It is very easy to lose what you don’t use regularly.
The kids have had plenty of opportunities to read alone, read with partners, and write this week. It’s exciting to see them doing this and look back at where they started the year!
If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please let me know.
Thanks!
Janell
The kids had a wonderful time on our field trip to Ada businesses! Thank you so much to all our families who were able to come and join us on the trip! We appreciate your time and energy!
Tomorrow is Field Day. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately (especially footwear) to be outside and active for the morning.
Hello families!
Have you been doing some spring cleaning? Have you discovered some Spanish books that your children no longer read or are too old for? We are looking for some books to start up some summer reading activities. Please consider donating any unwanted or unused books. We can help you get these books into the hands of children! A box will be made available just inside the school starting on Tuesday, May 30. Feel free to drop these off there and we will make sure they find good homes. :)
Thank you!
This week, the kids continued to talk about how to be a good citizen at Ada Vista and in the world. They constructed a poster and rehearsed it before presenting it to the class. I took videos of this and I’m in the process of sharing with the kids’ Google accounts through school. I am also sharing the pictures I took on our field trip with the kids too.
We have continued to study Patricia Polacco and her stories. This week, we read Thunder Cake, “La colcha de los recuerdos”, and “El pollo de los domingos”. Which story was your child’s favorite? Has your child figured out what Patricia Polacco writes about? Can your child tell you about these wonderful stories?
In math, we have continued to do centers, playing math learning games. We have tried something new that has several of the kids stumped. They are working on papers where there are two or three-digit numbers that are being added. In these numbers, there are blanks in different spots that the kids have to fill in. It gets confusing for them at times. I have attached a sample of this. We are also continuing to provide support for kids who are still learning certain math concepts. My goal is to send home a sample packet for each kid, showing you different concepts that you can continue to practice over the summer to make sure that your child comes back in the fall, ready to jump into third grade. One of the biggest is to make sure that your child continues to practice addition and subtraction facts through 20. It is very easy to lose what you don’t use regularly.
The kids have had plenty of opportunities to read alone, read with partners, and write this week. It’s exciting to see them doing this and look back at where they started the year!
If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please let me know.
Thanks!
Janell
add_missing_digits.pdf | |
File Size: | 23 kb |
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Queridas familias, 5-22-2017
I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend! I was out sick today. Someone breathed on me and passed me a cold that has knocked me off my feet. I hope to be back tomorrow. I hope the kids enjoyed having Sra. Moreno as a guest teacher!
In math, we have concluded the final chapter of our math book. From here on out, the kids will be working on math centers, small group reteaching, and expanding on their current knowledge.
In social studies, we have been talking about how to be a good citizen. The main focus of this has been how to be a good citizen in our class and at Ada Vista. The kids read about it through the Social Studies Alive program. Then we did a couple of writing lessons on this. The kids also are currently working on completing a presentation. I have been encouraging the kids to do these things at recess and some have been reporting back how they are positively impacting others.
We started an author study on Patricia Polacco. I love this author! She writes compelling stories about people who do not feel like they fit in. This goes along perfectly with our social studies unit. We read the stories “Gracias Sr. Falker” and the story Babushka Baba Yaga. Can your child tell you what they think Patricia Polacco wanted them to learn after reading these stories?
During writing time, the kids have been learning about how to write a process. Last week, they wrote about how to get dressed to go outside in the winter in Michigan. In this, they are learning to use connecting words like: first, second, third, then, next, after, etc.
The kids were also given another picture to describe. Several of our kids are still learning how to write noun and adjective agreements.
I have been trying to mix up the traditional Daily Five so that the kids are more interested in what we are doing. Some times, the kids have been given pages in their social studies packet to finish. Other times, they have been given a story to read and comprehension questions to answer. When they answer these questions, they are supposed to look back through the reading to verify their answers.
The kids have also been given a few new poems to read. Several of them were written by Shel Silverstein. What can your child tell you about this author? What does he do in his writing? What is his/her favorite poem so far?
We have a ton of special events coming up soon.
Please don’t forget that we have our field trip on Wednesday! I can’t wait and hope it doesn’t rain.
May 26th is Field Day. We go in the morning.
May 29 No School - Memorial Day
May 31 KDL Visit regarding Summer Programs - see Sra. Vance
May 31 1st Grade Field Trip to Zoo
May 31 Talent Show Rehearsal, Grades 3 & 4 in Cafeteria
June 1-2 Book Buddies at Lunchtime
June 1 Talent Show Rehearsal, Grades 1 & 2 in Cafeteria
June 2 Talent Show Grades 1 & 2
June 5 Talent Show Grades 3 & 4
June 6 4th Grade Whitecaps Game Field Trip
June 6 Last SAP Meeting
June 6 June Staff Meeting
June 7 PTO Board Meeting - Wrap Up/Transition
June 8 ½ day for Students/Teacher Record Marking in p.m., Dismissal at 11:20 am
June 9 Last Day of School; ½ day for Students/Teacher Record Marking in p.m., Dismissal at 11:20 am
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns that I can help with. Have a wonderful week!
Janell
I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend! I was out sick today. Someone breathed on me and passed me a cold that has knocked me off my feet. I hope to be back tomorrow. I hope the kids enjoyed having Sra. Moreno as a guest teacher!
In math, we have concluded the final chapter of our math book. From here on out, the kids will be working on math centers, small group reteaching, and expanding on their current knowledge.
In social studies, we have been talking about how to be a good citizen. The main focus of this has been how to be a good citizen in our class and at Ada Vista. The kids read about it through the Social Studies Alive program. Then we did a couple of writing lessons on this. The kids also are currently working on completing a presentation. I have been encouraging the kids to do these things at recess and some have been reporting back how they are positively impacting others.
We started an author study on Patricia Polacco. I love this author! She writes compelling stories about people who do not feel like they fit in. This goes along perfectly with our social studies unit. We read the stories “Gracias Sr. Falker” and the story Babushka Baba Yaga. Can your child tell you what they think Patricia Polacco wanted them to learn after reading these stories?
During writing time, the kids have been learning about how to write a process. Last week, they wrote about how to get dressed to go outside in the winter in Michigan. In this, they are learning to use connecting words like: first, second, third, then, next, after, etc.
The kids were also given another picture to describe. Several of our kids are still learning how to write noun and adjective agreements.
I have been trying to mix up the traditional Daily Five so that the kids are more interested in what we are doing. Some times, the kids have been given pages in their social studies packet to finish. Other times, they have been given a story to read and comprehension questions to answer. When they answer these questions, they are supposed to look back through the reading to verify their answers.
The kids have also been given a few new poems to read. Several of them were written by Shel Silverstein. What can your child tell you about this author? What does he do in his writing? What is his/her favorite poem so far?
We have a ton of special events coming up soon.
Please don’t forget that we have our field trip on Wednesday! I can’t wait and hope it doesn’t rain.
May 26th is Field Day. We go in the morning.
May 29 No School - Memorial Day
May 31 KDL Visit regarding Summer Programs - see Sra. Vance
May 31 1st Grade Field Trip to Zoo
May 31 Talent Show Rehearsal, Grades 3 & 4 in Cafeteria
June 1-2 Book Buddies at Lunchtime
June 1 Talent Show Rehearsal, Grades 1 & 2 in Cafeteria
June 2 Talent Show Grades 1 & 2
June 5 Talent Show Grades 3 & 4
June 6 4th Grade Whitecaps Game Field Trip
June 6 Last SAP Meeting
June 6 June Staff Meeting
June 7 PTO Board Meeting - Wrap Up/Transition
June 8 ½ day for Students/Teacher Record Marking in p.m., Dismissal at 11:20 am
June 9 Last Day of School; ½ day for Students/Teacher Record Marking in p.m., Dismissal at 11:20 am
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns that I can help with. Have a wonderful week!
Janell
Queridas familias, 5-5-2017
I am one very spoiled, overwhelmed (in a good way) teacher right now. I am incredibly grateful to everyone for all of your generosity this week! I have been completely spoiled with flowers, cards from the kids and families, yummy goodies, supplies for the classroom, huge hugs, gift cards, coffee, and the list goes on. I am blessed every day to be working with all of these amazing kids and I can’t tell you “thank you” enough times to express my thanks.
Did you know that the “summer slide” is very real? There is a ton of research to back up the fact that kids loose so much of their reading and math abilities during the summer months when they do not continue to practice them. Just like running, if you took a summer off, building up those abilities again will take time. I am getting together with a team of teachers in the building to start putting together some ideas for families of things that they can do over the summer to keep your child’s abilities in tact and to grow on them. If you know of a website or other activity that we should keep in mind, please let me know. Thanks! Also stay tuned for those ideas…
We had our last WHALES Tales trip this past Monday. Can your child tell you three important things he/she learned throughout his/her experience?
There is a permission slip coming home today for our trip to the Ada businesses. Please let me know if you do not receive it. We love to have several parents join us for this fun trip. If you are able to come, please indicate this on the form. If paying for the field trip is an issue, please note that there is a section to mark for that as well so that we do not continue to ask for the permission slip.
This week, the kids have transitioned from learning about plants to learning about how individuals can change their community. We read about four people throughout history who realized that there was a problem in their community and who worked to change it. Then I gave the kids a problem: suddenly kids are taking their working time and changing it into visiting time. I asked them what we could do to help this problem without changing me into a police officer while I’m trying to do reading groups or math groups. At first, the kids came up with a list of ideas that the teacher would need to do. Then they came up with some ideas of things they could do to help with this. That afternoon, the kids were much more productive.
In math, the kids are through section 9.6. Each one of these lessons is fairly long, so we are taking our time going through it. The kids are getting small group help or papers to review concepts that they are still working on. This has been a mixture of new concepts and old concepts.
For our read aloud in Spanish, we started a Roald Dahl book “El dedo mágico”. The kids seem to be enjoying it so far. We have talked about him as a writer and the kids mentioned other stories that they knew he wrote. We are talking about perspective in a story, word choice, and introduction / problem / solution.
The kids have been working a lot with their spelling word patterns in Spanish. They were given a pre-assessment on Thursday so that they could practice the words that they are still learning.
In writing, the kids had the opportunity to write about other problems in our classroom or building community. They also had to write about ways to solve these problems. On another day, the kids were given a picture and were asked to describe it, using an introduction, eight details, and conclusion format.
The kids read a poem called “Opuestos”. Then they were supposed to use the same format and write out their own poem, changing the similes to use other items to compare things. Ask your child about this and see if he/she can tell you about one that he/she wrote.
During English time, the kids have been writing a poem. We have been continuing to read Bunnicula. The kids received new words for Word Journeys this week. I sent an email to all families with each child’s list of words. Please let me know if you received this. If not, I can resend it to you.
We have our Fiesta Latina today. What did your child think of this event?
That about wraps up our week. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns that I can help with.
Enjoy your weekend!
Janell
I am one very spoiled, overwhelmed (in a good way) teacher right now. I am incredibly grateful to everyone for all of your generosity this week! I have been completely spoiled with flowers, cards from the kids and families, yummy goodies, supplies for the classroom, huge hugs, gift cards, coffee, and the list goes on. I am blessed every day to be working with all of these amazing kids and I can’t tell you “thank you” enough times to express my thanks.
Did you know that the “summer slide” is very real? There is a ton of research to back up the fact that kids loose so much of their reading and math abilities during the summer months when they do not continue to practice them. Just like running, if you took a summer off, building up those abilities again will take time. I am getting together with a team of teachers in the building to start putting together some ideas for families of things that they can do over the summer to keep your child’s abilities in tact and to grow on them. If you know of a website or other activity that we should keep in mind, please let me know. Thanks! Also stay tuned for those ideas…
We had our last WHALES Tales trip this past Monday. Can your child tell you three important things he/she learned throughout his/her experience?
There is a permission slip coming home today for our trip to the Ada businesses. Please let me know if you do not receive it. We love to have several parents join us for this fun trip. If you are able to come, please indicate this on the form. If paying for the field trip is an issue, please note that there is a section to mark for that as well so that we do not continue to ask for the permission slip.
This week, the kids have transitioned from learning about plants to learning about how individuals can change their community. We read about four people throughout history who realized that there was a problem in their community and who worked to change it. Then I gave the kids a problem: suddenly kids are taking their working time and changing it into visiting time. I asked them what we could do to help this problem without changing me into a police officer while I’m trying to do reading groups or math groups. At first, the kids came up with a list of ideas that the teacher would need to do. Then they came up with some ideas of things they could do to help with this. That afternoon, the kids were much more productive.
In math, the kids are through section 9.6. Each one of these lessons is fairly long, so we are taking our time going through it. The kids are getting small group help or papers to review concepts that they are still working on. This has been a mixture of new concepts and old concepts.
For our read aloud in Spanish, we started a Roald Dahl book “El dedo mágico”. The kids seem to be enjoying it so far. We have talked about him as a writer and the kids mentioned other stories that they knew he wrote. We are talking about perspective in a story, word choice, and introduction / problem / solution.
The kids have been working a lot with their spelling word patterns in Spanish. They were given a pre-assessment on Thursday so that they could practice the words that they are still learning.
In writing, the kids had the opportunity to write about other problems in our classroom or building community. They also had to write about ways to solve these problems. On another day, the kids were given a picture and were asked to describe it, using an introduction, eight details, and conclusion format.
The kids read a poem called “Opuestos”. Then they were supposed to use the same format and write out their own poem, changing the similes to use other items to compare things. Ask your child about this and see if he/she can tell you about one that he/she wrote.
During English time, the kids have been writing a poem. We have been continuing to read Bunnicula. The kids received new words for Word Journeys this week. I sent an email to all families with each child’s list of words. Please let me know if you received this. If not, I can resend it to you.
We have our Fiesta Latina today. What did your child think of this event?
That about wraps up our week. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns that I can help with.
Enjoy your weekend!
Janell
Queridas familias, 4-27-2017
Our plants are beginning to grow! Some of the kids were convinced that their plant was dead and wouldn’t grow. For anyone who had a plant that isn’t growing, they received a new seed to try. Each day, the kids come in and take care of their plant. Then they write about it in their plant/seed journal. Finally, we gather on the carpet. The kids help each other correct their writing. Then I pull sticks and those kids read their journal. The kids have to help figure out where periods and capitals belong. This is a short lesson each day to help the kids improve parts of their writing.
During math, we are only through section 9.3. These lessons are pretty long and take a couple of days to do. Plus, the idea of fractions can be a bit difficult for some of the kids. We are taking our time. At the same time, I am working with small groups of kids at a time on the math concepts they are still learning. I am also trying to push kids in new areas who are ready to expand on their current knowledge of second grade content. The kids are working on different papers as well, based on what they are learning.
During reading groups, the kids are learning different concepts. Some of our kids are working on reading fluency. Others are working on comprehension of more details in a story. Which is your child working on? What is the process that they are using to help improve this?
Most of our reading and writing right now revolves around plants and learning more about them. During read with a partner, the kids are reading books from the library on different ideas about plants. They have also been reading a book from the Reading A-Z and trying to figure out some mixed up words that are in the book.
The kids received new words for their separating words, based on the most recent spelling assessment. Some of the kids are repeating a pattern that they already had, but didn’t get on the assessment. I have switched the words for new ones and tried to find some that were more difficult to spell. Some of the kids have completely new word patterns. What is your child working on? During this time, the kids have been introduced to the words, wrote them out, separated the words, cut them out, and looked for words with the same patterns in books.
During writing time, the kids worked on correcting a story of a plant’s life cycle that they already wrote. They were to add more details and check for the things that we are correcting in our morning work.
In English, the kids have been working with word patterns in Word Journeys. Almost all of our kids have the opportunity to read with adults twice each week because we are fortunate enough to have so many parent volunteers. Thank you!! The kids are also working on writing a poem called a Six Room Poem. This is very new, but they seem to be picking up the concept pretty easily.
As soon as we have the information finalized for our field trip to Ada businesses, we will send home a permission slip. This is a fun trip for the kids. It will be crazy with all of the changes that are happening, but we are looking forward to it. The second grade teachers and Sra. Rerucha (one of our PTO parents) have been busy trying to get some new businesses involved and to expand the field trip. With all of the new buildings going up in Ada, there are many opportunities. If you happen to know a business owner in Ada who would like to participate, but have not been involved, please let me know. We would love to have them involved.
Thank you so much for all of your support at home!
Janell
Our plants are beginning to grow! Some of the kids were convinced that their plant was dead and wouldn’t grow. For anyone who had a plant that isn’t growing, they received a new seed to try. Each day, the kids come in and take care of their plant. Then they write about it in their plant/seed journal. Finally, we gather on the carpet. The kids help each other correct their writing. Then I pull sticks and those kids read their journal. The kids have to help figure out where periods and capitals belong. This is a short lesson each day to help the kids improve parts of their writing.
During math, we are only through section 9.3. These lessons are pretty long and take a couple of days to do. Plus, the idea of fractions can be a bit difficult for some of the kids. We are taking our time. At the same time, I am working with small groups of kids at a time on the math concepts they are still learning. I am also trying to push kids in new areas who are ready to expand on their current knowledge of second grade content. The kids are working on different papers as well, based on what they are learning.
During reading groups, the kids are learning different concepts. Some of our kids are working on reading fluency. Others are working on comprehension of more details in a story. Which is your child working on? What is the process that they are using to help improve this?
Most of our reading and writing right now revolves around plants and learning more about them. During read with a partner, the kids are reading books from the library on different ideas about plants. They have also been reading a book from the Reading A-Z and trying to figure out some mixed up words that are in the book.
The kids received new words for their separating words, based on the most recent spelling assessment. Some of the kids are repeating a pattern that they already had, but didn’t get on the assessment. I have switched the words for new ones and tried to find some that were more difficult to spell. Some of the kids have completely new word patterns. What is your child working on? During this time, the kids have been introduced to the words, wrote them out, separated the words, cut them out, and looked for words with the same patterns in books.
During writing time, the kids worked on correcting a story of a plant’s life cycle that they already wrote. They were to add more details and check for the things that we are correcting in our morning work.
In English, the kids have been working with word patterns in Word Journeys. Almost all of our kids have the opportunity to read with adults twice each week because we are fortunate enough to have so many parent volunteers. Thank you!! The kids are also working on writing a poem called a Six Room Poem. This is very new, but they seem to be picking up the concept pretty easily.
As soon as we have the information finalized for our field trip to Ada businesses, we will send home a permission slip. This is a fun trip for the kids. It will be crazy with all of the changes that are happening, but we are looking forward to it. The second grade teachers and Sra. Rerucha (one of our PTO parents) have been busy trying to get some new businesses involved and to expand the field trip. With all of the new buildings going up in Ada, there are many opportunities. If you happen to know a business owner in Ada who would like to participate, but have not been involved, please let me know. We would love to have them involved.
Thank you so much for all of your support at home!
Janell
Queridas familias, 4-20-2017
As the final weeks of second grade are ticking by, we are busy at work. I am checking in with small groups on reading, writing, and math progress. We are doing small groups to help the kids progress, especially if they have been stuck in a concept.
We had a wonderful trip to Howard Christensen’s Nature Center. Luckily the weather ended up being perfect. Thank you to our parents who were able to come and help us.
Don’t forget that tomorrow is the Native Speaker Enrichment Campaign’s auction night. This fundraiser goes directly to paying our aides salaries for the year. I can’t even explain how much of an incredible help it is for the teachers to have aide time. Other schools in the district do not have aides because there is no funding. We are so fortunate and blessed to have these amazing women working in our building and helping each and every child in our school! Our aide time is used to run Spanish reading groups, support math concepts, run RTI groups, help teachers and kids with expanding Spanish vocabulary and grammar, and the list goes on. If you would like to support this cause, but are unable to attend the event, the PTO would love to accept any amount of a donation that you are able to give. We are very appreciative of all of your support; monetary support, time, energy, and emotional support!!
In math, we took the pre-test for chapter 9 and the final test for chapter 8 went home this week. The kids did great on the chapter 8 assessment. The kids will be learning about fractions in this chapter. We also started a new round of RTI. What is your child learning in his/her group?
In science, we continue to learn about plants, their parts, the parts’ functions, and a plant’s life cycle. We are reading books about plants with partners and in read alouds. The kids are writing about plants during their writing time. The kids planted seeds this week and are keeping a journal of its growth and progress.
During the Daily Five, the kids cover reading with a partner, read to self, listen to reading, writing, and working with words.
During read to self, the kids are starting with the Reading A-Z books that they chose to read in class. The kids all have different goals that they are trying to achieve. The purpose of this is to read and reread aloud for continuing to grow fluency. This also helps the kids increase their comprehension of books at their individual level. As the kids finish their books, they read the other books that they have chosen from our classroom library.
During read with a partner, the kids have been working on completing one page a day of a packet on plant parts and their functions. The page has a small paragraph and then questions to answer. After that the kids have been reading the book “¿Qué nos dan las plantas?”
During listen to reading, the kids have been accessing their RAZ-Kids’ accounts and listening to books in their library.
During writing time, the kids have been writing in their white hard covered books that were provided by our fantastic PTO. They love this! The kids also wrote a book on plants. We are working on correcting these.
During working with words, the kids have completed different activities. They have been taking practice tests in which they have to write out the words, in the correct categories when their partners read the words. The kids have been reading books and trying to find words that fit into their categories. They have been listing these on a sheet of paper. We will be taking the assessment tomorrow and the kids will receive new words next week.
Book Buddies: Student Council will again be hosting Book Buddies on April 27-28.
Books will be sold for $1 each during lunch recess. If you have any books at home that you are done reading please consider donating them in the basket in the lobby. All money earned goes to The Power of Education Foundation and buys textbooks for students in Haiti. Last month we earned $132 for Haiti and had 132 books go into the hands of Ada Vista students!
As we roll into the end of the year, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or stories to share.
Thanks!
Janell
As the final weeks of second grade are ticking by, we are busy at work. I am checking in with small groups on reading, writing, and math progress. We are doing small groups to help the kids progress, especially if they have been stuck in a concept.
We had a wonderful trip to Howard Christensen’s Nature Center. Luckily the weather ended up being perfect. Thank you to our parents who were able to come and help us.
Don’t forget that tomorrow is the Native Speaker Enrichment Campaign’s auction night. This fundraiser goes directly to paying our aides salaries for the year. I can’t even explain how much of an incredible help it is for the teachers to have aide time. Other schools in the district do not have aides because there is no funding. We are so fortunate and blessed to have these amazing women working in our building and helping each and every child in our school! Our aide time is used to run Spanish reading groups, support math concepts, run RTI groups, help teachers and kids with expanding Spanish vocabulary and grammar, and the list goes on. If you would like to support this cause, but are unable to attend the event, the PTO would love to accept any amount of a donation that you are able to give. We are very appreciative of all of your support; monetary support, time, energy, and emotional support!!
In math, we took the pre-test for chapter 9 and the final test for chapter 8 went home this week. The kids did great on the chapter 8 assessment. The kids will be learning about fractions in this chapter. We also started a new round of RTI. What is your child learning in his/her group?
In science, we continue to learn about plants, their parts, the parts’ functions, and a plant’s life cycle. We are reading books about plants with partners and in read alouds. The kids are writing about plants during their writing time. The kids planted seeds this week and are keeping a journal of its growth and progress.
During the Daily Five, the kids cover reading with a partner, read to self, listen to reading, writing, and working with words.
During read to self, the kids are starting with the Reading A-Z books that they chose to read in class. The kids all have different goals that they are trying to achieve. The purpose of this is to read and reread aloud for continuing to grow fluency. This also helps the kids increase their comprehension of books at their individual level. As the kids finish their books, they read the other books that they have chosen from our classroom library.
During read with a partner, the kids have been working on completing one page a day of a packet on plant parts and their functions. The page has a small paragraph and then questions to answer. After that the kids have been reading the book “¿Qué nos dan las plantas?”
During listen to reading, the kids have been accessing their RAZ-Kids’ accounts and listening to books in their library.
During writing time, the kids have been writing in their white hard covered books that were provided by our fantastic PTO. They love this! The kids also wrote a book on plants. We are working on correcting these.
During working with words, the kids have completed different activities. They have been taking practice tests in which they have to write out the words, in the correct categories when their partners read the words. The kids have been reading books and trying to find words that fit into their categories. They have been listing these on a sheet of paper. We will be taking the assessment tomorrow and the kids will receive new words next week.
Book Buddies: Student Council will again be hosting Book Buddies on April 27-28.
Books will be sold for $1 each during lunch recess. If you have any books at home that you are done reading please consider donating them in the basket in the lobby. All money earned goes to The Power of Education Foundation and buys textbooks for students in Haiti. Last month we earned $132 for Haiti and had 132 books go into the hands of Ada Vista students!
As we roll into the end of the year, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or stories to share.
Thanks!
Janell
Queridas familias, 4-13-2017
We have had a very full week! The kids have been busy and hard at work.
The kids took home their conference reports today. If you have and questions about what you are seeing, please let me know.
It has been super busy for me this week too. I have tried to keep up on emails, but if you emailed me and didn’t get a response, please email me again. I apologize in advance if I didn’t get back to you right away!!
On Friday morning, the kids will be seeing a puppet presentation put on by some college students from GVSU.
In math, we are finishing chapter 8 in math. For this assessment, the kids need to know the different two and three-dimensional form. They also need to have the concept of how to make an array when given a multiplication story problem. We keep doing examples of this. We have talked a ton about how multiplication is just how many times something happens.
In science, we have started studying flowers. This week, the kids have worked with the life cycle of a plant. They have been learning the different flower parts in Spanish. We read and talked about what plants need to survive and thrive. Currently, the kids are learning about the different plant parts and what each part does for the plant.
During the five different parts of the Daily Five are: read to self, read with a partner, writing, working with words, and listening to reading.
During working with words, the kids received new words. They have learned their new patterns. Then they worked alone to try and draw pictures that go with all the words that they know. The next day, we got together again to review the vocabulary and they finished drawing the pictures of the vocabulary they didn’t already know. The kids also separated their words and then put them in alphabetic order. Then they wrote the words out in this order.
During read to self, the kids read the books from our library that they have chosen. Each child is working on an individual goal to improve their reading.
During read with a partner, the kids read about plant needs. After each paragraph, they talked with their partner and then they flipped the paper over and wrote about the important facts. Another activity involved reading a packet of information on what each plant part does for the plant. Each of these pages has some questions about what they read. It also has some activities that they have to do to identify the verbs, nouns, and other grammar activities.
During listen to reading, the kids listened to a story on RAZ-Kids called “Plantas raras”. The first day they just listened to it and followed along. The second and third day, they worked with a partner to try and find a list of words from the story. They were given mixed up letter and had to figure out which words they were.
During writing time, the kids colored and cut out pictures of the life cycle of a plant. Then they pasted these into a book and wrote a sentence or two on each page about what happens to the plant. The kids are using the vocabulary and the ideas of how the plants grow. Once they finish this short story, then they work on the hard cover book.
We have been doing circle time. This has been a time for the kids to talk about what they did over vacation. The kids all have fun stories to share. I told them about my exciting week of sleeping in, household improvement projects, and family time. Some of the kids talked for almost ten minutes. Others for only a few minutes. It has taken us all week to hear about all the kids’ adventures and we shared for over a half an hour each day. It’s been great to hear the kids talk and to have some of the kids help correct some of their friend’s Spanish.
That about sums up our week. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know.
Thanks!
Janell
We have had a very full week! The kids have been busy and hard at work.
The kids took home their conference reports today. If you have and questions about what you are seeing, please let me know.
It has been super busy for me this week too. I have tried to keep up on emails, but if you emailed me and didn’t get a response, please email me again. I apologize in advance if I didn’t get back to you right away!!
On Friday morning, the kids will be seeing a puppet presentation put on by some college students from GVSU.
In math, we are finishing chapter 8 in math. For this assessment, the kids need to know the different two and three-dimensional form. They also need to have the concept of how to make an array when given a multiplication story problem. We keep doing examples of this. We have talked a ton about how multiplication is just how many times something happens.
In science, we have started studying flowers. This week, the kids have worked with the life cycle of a plant. They have been learning the different flower parts in Spanish. We read and talked about what plants need to survive and thrive. Currently, the kids are learning about the different plant parts and what each part does for the plant.
During the five different parts of the Daily Five are: read to self, read with a partner, writing, working with words, and listening to reading.
During working with words, the kids received new words. They have learned their new patterns. Then they worked alone to try and draw pictures that go with all the words that they know. The next day, we got together again to review the vocabulary and they finished drawing the pictures of the vocabulary they didn’t already know. The kids also separated their words and then put them in alphabetic order. Then they wrote the words out in this order.
During read to self, the kids read the books from our library that they have chosen. Each child is working on an individual goal to improve their reading.
During read with a partner, the kids read about plant needs. After each paragraph, they talked with their partner and then they flipped the paper over and wrote about the important facts. Another activity involved reading a packet of information on what each plant part does for the plant. Each of these pages has some questions about what they read. It also has some activities that they have to do to identify the verbs, nouns, and other grammar activities.
During listen to reading, the kids listened to a story on RAZ-Kids called “Plantas raras”. The first day they just listened to it and followed along. The second and third day, they worked with a partner to try and find a list of words from the story. They were given mixed up letter and had to figure out which words they were.
During writing time, the kids colored and cut out pictures of the life cycle of a plant. Then they pasted these into a book and wrote a sentence or two on each page about what happens to the plant. The kids are using the vocabulary and the ideas of how the plants grow. Once they finish this short story, then they work on the hard cover book.
We have been doing circle time. This has been a time for the kids to talk about what they did over vacation. The kids all have fun stories to share. I told them about my exciting week of sleeping in, household improvement projects, and family time. Some of the kids talked for almost ten minutes. Others for only a few minutes. It has taken us all week to hear about all the kids’ adventures and we shared for over a half an hour each day. It’s been great to hear the kids talk and to have some of the kids help correct some of their friend’s Spanish.
That about sums up our week. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know.
Thanks!
Janell
Queridas familias, 3-23-2017
We are quickly rolling to Spring Break. Just a reminder that next week, we have school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We have a half day of school on Thursday with dismissal time at 11:20. There is no school on Friday and we are on Spring Break the following week.
March is reading month and our Battle of the Books continues. Next week will be the final round. What does your child think about this whole process?
We had a special visitor this week from GVSU. Profesor Yancey came to talk to the kids about the writing process and how they make puppets for their presentations. Did your child enjoy this visit?
In math, we have been talking about two and three-dimensional shapes. The kids need to know the following shapes/terms: rectángulo (rectangle), cuadrado (square), triángulo (triangle), rombo (rhombus), trapecio (trapezoid), pentágono (pentagon), hexágono (hexagon), cilindro (cylinder), esfera (sphere), cubo (cube), prisma rectangular (rectangular prism), paralelo (parallel), ángulo (angle), vértices (vertices), and lados (sides). How is your child doing with being able to identify these? Is this something that he/she should practice a bit more at home?
In math, we are through section 8.8. We have also been going to a new round of RTI groups. What is your child learning in his/her new group? We have been doing some short assessments as well to see how the kids are progressing with different math concepts, especially those that were not secured by the last report card. This is in preparation for conference reports that will come home after Spring Break.
On Monday, the kids all had the opportunity to read their description of their leprechaun. Then the kids voted as to which leprechaun they described. This week, the kids are describing one of four different caterpillars. We will be doing the same process as with the leprechauns. During these descriptive writings, we have been focusing on making sure that our adjectives match our nouns.
To help the kids further develop the idea of matching an adjective with a noun, we played a game. The kids were divided into two groups. I told them a noun and the representative from the group had to choose if it is a feminine or masculine noun. Then the first person who answered correctly, had to use the article, noun, and an adjective that matched it. The kids seemed to have fun with this.
On Wednesday, Sr. Santillán came to visit our class. He read the class a story. The kids enjoyed the story. During writing time for that day, they wrote a thank you note to Sr. Santillán to thank him for taking time out of his very busy day to come and read with us.
During English time, we have been fortunate to have several opportunities for the kids to do reading groups with family members. We have been talking more about short vowel sounds as well. I have been reading the story Bunnicula to the class. This story is a wonderful one to talk about narrators, voice, and tolerance of others who are different from us. This is one of my favorite read alouds that I do with the kids each year.
As I told many families during conferences, we retook our Word Journeys’ qualifying spelling test to see how the kids are progressing. I’m really pleased with the results of the testing. We will be starting new spelling groups when we come back from Spring Break.
During English time, the kids have been writing thank you notes. One note is to Sra. Pool for organizing our trip to the Lollipops Concert. The other one is to their trail guide from Goodwillie Environmental School. The kids seemed to have a great time on the trips! I took some pictures that I’m in the process of sharing with the kids in our class on their Google account. If your child knows his/her password, they can show you these at home.
If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thanks!
Janell
We are quickly rolling to Spring Break. Just a reminder that next week, we have school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We have a half day of school on Thursday with dismissal time at 11:20. There is no school on Friday and we are on Spring Break the following week.
March is reading month and our Battle of the Books continues. Next week will be the final round. What does your child think about this whole process?
We had a special visitor this week from GVSU. Profesor Yancey came to talk to the kids about the writing process and how they make puppets for their presentations. Did your child enjoy this visit?
In math, we have been talking about two and three-dimensional shapes. The kids need to know the following shapes/terms: rectángulo (rectangle), cuadrado (square), triángulo (triangle), rombo (rhombus), trapecio (trapezoid), pentágono (pentagon), hexágono (hexagon), cilindro (cylinder), esfera (sphere), cubo (cube), prisma rectangular (rectangular prism), paralelo (parallel), ángulo (angle), vértices (vertices), and lados (sides). How is your child doing with being able to identify these? Is this something that he/she should practice a bit more at home?
In math, we are through section 8.8. We have also been going to a new round of RTI groups. What is your child learning in his/her new group? We have been doing some short assessments as well to see how the kids are progressing with different math concepts, especially those that were not secured by the last report card. This is in preparation for conference reports that will come home after Spring Break.
On Monday, the kids all had the opportunity to read their description of their leprechaun. Then the kids voted as to which leprechaun they described. This week, the kids are describing one of four different caterpillars. We will be doing the same process as with the leprechauns. During these descriptive writings, we have been focusing on making sure that our adjectives match our nouns.
To help the kids further develop the idea of matching an adjective with a noun, we played a game. The kids were divided into two groups. I told them a noun and the representative from the group had to choose if it is a feminine or masculine noun. Then the first person who answered correctly, had to use the article, noun, and an adjective that matched it. The kids seemed to have fun with this.
On Wednesday, Sr. Santillán came to visit our class. He read the class a story. The kids enjoyed the story. During writing time for that day, they wrote a thank you note to Sr. Santillán to thank him for taking time out of his very busy day to come and read with us.
During English time, we have been fortunate to have several opportunities for the kids to do reading groups with family members. We have been talking more about short vowel sounds as well. I have been reading the story Bunnicula to the class. This story is a wonderful one to talk about narrators, voice, and tolerance of others who are different from us. This is one of my favorite read alouds that I do with the kids each year.
As I told many families during conferences, we retook our Word Journeys’ qualifying spelling test to see how the kids are progressing. I’m really pleased with the results of the testing. We will be starting new spelling groups when we come back from Spring Break.
During English time, the kids have been writing thank you notes. One note is to Sra. Pool for organizing our trip to the Lollipops Concert. The other one is to their trail guide from Goodwillie Environmental School. The kids seemed to have a great time on the trips! I took some pictures that I’m in the process of sharing with the kids in our class on their Google account. If your child knows his/her password, they can show you these at home.
If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thanks!
Janell
Reading Night: We are cooking up a great evening of reading for our AV students and their families! Save the date for March 23, from 6:00-7:30! Ada Vista will be hosting its third annual Reading NIght in the Media Center. We would love for you to join us! Look for more details coming home soon!
Queridas familias, 3-12-2017
March has definitely reversed us back to cold weather. This past week will probably go down as one of the most unique I have had as a teacher.
On Wednesday, we lost electricity at 10:26. It stayed off for the entire rest of the day. It was fairly dark in the hallways, but we had more than enough light from the windows to conduct class like normal. The kids did a great job of continuing their day and learning.
On Thursday and Friday, we had the pleasure of temporarily having an additional child in our class. One of our aides, who speaks Spanish with her child at home, has a second grader who attends Thornapple. Since they didn’t have school on Thursday and Friday, that child came and joined us. The kids in our class are awesome! They embraced her and were very welcoming to her. She fit into our class fantastically, but will be going back to her home school as of Monday.
On Monday, March 13th, we will be going to Goodwillie Environmental School. Please make sure that your child is dressed warmly to spend a few hours outside in the cold. We will be gone for the morning.
On Wednesday, March 15th, we will be going to a Lollipop concert. Thank you to Sra. Pool for organizing this for us! We will be gone for the morning.
In math this week, we finished up chapter seven in math and took our final assessment. We will be starting chapter eight this week. The kids also began their first round of RTI in math. RTI stands for Response to Intervention. I went though assessments that we have taken to see where each child could use some extra support. Each child was placed in one of six groups, based on these assessments. Ask your child what he/she is learning in his/her groups.
We did a couple of read alouds this week. We have been talking about new vocabulary and how to figure out what words mean. We have also been talking about lessons learned in stories, as well as the introduction, problem, and steps to resolve the situation.
As a class, we have been learning about natural emphasis in words and when/why we use accents. Can your child explain this to you? This is still a fairly new concept, but some of the kids are really starting to understand. This is a concept that even native speakers can have problems with. All of the kids’ Palabras a su paso deal with this concept.
During writing time, I filed all of the kids’ writing that they should have finished over the previous three weeks. Then I marked a graph with all of the writing that they have turned in. Anything that was missing was something that they worked on finishing this week. The kids also received a new descriptive writing piece. There was a leprechaun owl that the kids described. This week, we will be using these writing pieces to work in groups and correct any errors that the kids have.
The kids have been reading their Battle of the Books books. We begin our battle this week. The kids receive extra points for knowing the name of the author. This week, we wrote out notecards with this information that they can then study to try and memorize.
In social studies, the kids are learning about how communities change over time.
During English time, the kids have been learning new spelling patterns. Can your child tell you what Word Journey words they have? The kids have also been reading a ton. In addition, they have started using a word wall. Every few days, we put new words on the list. When we write, the kids put up their word walls (on folders) and use them to write these words correctly. We are so fortunate to have several families who are able to donate time to our class. Thank you so much to everyone who comes to help us!!
If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please let me know.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
Janell
March has definitely reversed us back to cold weather. This past week will probably go down as one of the most unique I have had as a teacher.
On Wednesday, we lost electricity at 10:26. It stayed off for the entire rest of the day. It was fairly dark in the hallways, but we had more than enough light from the windows to conduct class like normal. The kids did a great job of continuing their day and learning.
On Thursday and Friday, we had the pleasure of temporarily having an additional child in our class. One of our aides, who speaks Spanish with her child at home, has a second grader who attends Thornapple. Since they didn’t have school on Thursday and Friday, that child came and joined us. The kids in our class are awesome! They embraced her and were very welcoming to her. She fit into our class fantastically, but will be going back to her home school as of Monday.
On Monday, March 13th, we will be going to Goodwillie Environmental School. Please make sure that your child is dressed warmly to spend a few hours outside in the cold. We will be gone for the morning.
On Wednesday, March 15th, we will be going to a Lollipop concert. Thank you to Sra. Pool for organizing this for us! We will be gone for the morning.
In math this week, we finished up chapter seven in math and took our final assessment. We will be starting chapter eight this week. The kids also began their first round of RTI in math. RTI stands for Response to Intervention. I went though assessments that we have taken to see where each child could use some extra support. Each child was placed in one of six groups, based on these assessments. Ask your child what he/she is learning in his/her groups.
We did a couple of read alouds this week. We have been talking about new vocabulary and how to figure out what words mean. We have also been talking about lessons learned in stories, as well as the introduction, problem, and steps to resolve the situation.
As a class, we have been learning about natural emphasis in words and when/why we use accents. Can your child explain this to you? This is still a fairly new concept, but some of the kids are really starting to understand. This is a concept that even native speakers can have problems with. All of the kids’ Palabras a su paso deal with this concept.
During writing time, I filed all of the kids’ writing that they should have finished over the previous three weeks. Then I marked a graph with all of the writing that they have turned in. Anything that was missing was something that they worked on finishing this week. The kids also received a new descriptive writing piece. There was a leprechaun owl that the kids described. This week, we will be using these writing pieces to work in groups and correct any errors that the kids have.
The kids have been reading their Battle of the Books books. We begin our battle this week. The kids receive extra points for knowing the name of the author. This week, we wrote out notecards with this information that they can then study to try and memorize.
In social studies, the kids are learning about how communities change over time.
During English time, the kids have been learning new spelling patterns. Can your child tell you what Word Journey words they have? The kids have also been reading a ton. In addition, they have started using a word wall. Every few days, we put new words on the list. When we write, the kids put up their word walls (on folders) and use them to write these words correctly. We are so fortunate to have several families who are able to donate time to our class. Thank you so much to everyone who comes to help us!!
If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please let me know.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
Janell
Queridas familias,
The time has completely gotten away from me! I will be sending out an email with our newsletter on Sunday.
We will be going to Goodwillie Environmental School on Monday, March 13th. We will be going throughout the morning. The kids are taken around by the sixth graders and are taught all about the changes that the forest goes through in the spring. This is a field trip where we do not bring parents. Goodwillie specifically requests this. The forest always seems to feel colder than it is. Please make sure that your child is dressed for the weather. Cold kids are a trip are miserable kids.Since my weather app is telling me that the weather is only going to be around 31 degrees, I will be wearing my snow pants, boots, hat, mittens, scarf, and winter coat to stay warm. We go in the rain, snow, and shine. We would only cancel in the event of a thunderstorm.
On Wednesday, March 15th, we will be going to a Lollipops concert. This is another field trip that happens in the morning This is also a field trip where we do not need parents to come with us.
The two field trips in April and May that we go on are organized by the second grade teachers and we do take parents with us on those trips.
Have a wonderful Sunday and don't forget to spring your clocks forward!
Janell
The time has completely gotten away from me! I will be sending out an email with our newsletter on Sunday.
We will be going to Goodwillie Environmental School on Monday, March 13th. We will be going throughout the morning. The kids are taken around by the sixth graders and are taught all about the changes that the forest goes through in the spring. This is a field trip where we do not bring parents. Goodwillie specifically requests this. The forest always seems to feel colder than it is. Please make sure that your child is dressed for the weather. Cold kids are a trip are miserable kids.Since my weather app is telling me that the weather is only going to be around 31 degrees, I will be wearing my snow pants, boots, hat, mittens, scarf, and winter coat to stay warm. We go in the rain, snow, and shine. We would only cancel in the event of a thunderstorm.
On Wednesday, March 15th, we will be going to a Lollipops concert. This is another field trip that happens in the morning This is also a field trip where we do not need parents to come with us.
The two field trips in April and May that we go on are organized by the second grade teachers and we do take parents with us on those trips.
Have a wonderful Sunday and don't forget to spring your clocks forward!
Janell
Queridas familias,
Just a heads up that our permission slip for WHALE Tales went home today. This is a program that promotes safety around water. I considered myself to be a great swimmer as a kid, but could have used some of these lessons to help keep me safe. If you want to volunteer, we would love to have you come, but we really need you to be able to get in the water with us. If you would like to volunteer, you MUST fill out a volunteer consent form soon, so that we can have you come with us. I wanted to attach the form, but the computer isn't cooperating with me. If the form didn't make it all the way home, please let me know and I will send another one home with your child tomorrow.
The kids also brought home their popcorn slips!
Thanks,
Janell
Just a heads up that our permission slip for WHALE Tales went home today. This is a program that promotes safety around water. I considered myself to be a great swimmer as a kid, but could have used some of these lessons to help keep me safe. If you want to volunteer, we would love to have you come, but we really need you to be able to get in the water with us. If you would like to volunteer, you MUST fill out a volunteer consent form soon, so that we can have you come with us. I wanted to attach the form, but the computer isn't cooperating with me. If the form didn't make it all the way home, please let me know and I will send another one home with your child tomorrow.
The kids also brought home their popcorn slips!
Thanks,
Janell
Queridas familias, 3-2-2017
We have had a busy week! The kids have been hard at work and we have started some new activities.
The kids all took home another section of math homework to complete. These should not take the kids more than 5 minutes or so to complete. If they take too much longer than that, pleases let me know. The assignment from today is due on Monday.
Last week, the kids brought home their newest MAP score results. If your results didn’t make it all the way home, please let me know and I will get them printed out again and sent home as soon as possible.
March is READING MONTH! Hopefully your child already has an established routine for reading, but if not, this month would be a great time to start. The kids took home two different calendars for this month. One calendar had an option of earning tickets to go see the Whitecaps by reading. The other one had different activities that the kids could do each day to celebrate.
A few families have asked me if we need anything for the classroom. If you would like to donate one of these, we would really appreciate it. Recently, our pencil sharpener decided to die. I still have access to one in the office, but it would be wonderful to have one in our classroom again. We are also running super low on Kleenexes. I can provide a substitute, but it is not nearly as soft on the kids’ noses. Also, please ask your child how their supply of crayons / markers / etc. are doing. These are items that the kids keep in their desks and we do not share them. Over the years, I realized that when the kids are responsible for their own crayons, they take better care of them and they are picked up off the floor.
In math, we will be through section 7.7 in math. This deals with measuring with different units of measurement. It talks about using personal references to help measure. The kids did a few graphs and we did more with a picture graph. I am looking at the kids taking their assessment on chapter seven by the end of next week.
In social studies, we have been learning about how to be a good shopper. Can your child tell you about some of the factors they should consider before buying something? During read with a partner time in our Daily Five, the kids had a packet of different scenarios and they had to decide if the person was being a good shopper or a bad shopper and why. The next time your child begs for something at the store, this information may come in handy. J
The kids have been meeting with me this week to learn more about where natural stresses on words in Spanish happen and why. Some of them have also learned why we need to use accents in some words (those are the rule breakers). The kids are at different levels of understanding this concept and these are their Palabras a su paso words for this week. We have four different levels of this and kids are learning at their unique pace and their ability to be able to extent the concept to other words.
Our fantastic aide, Sra. Gomez has been coming to our room to work with kids in different leveled reading groups. She has also been reviewing some of the math concepts that they are still learning.
During writing time, the kids have been learning to write descriptive writing pieces. I provided a picture of Mickey and of Bob the Minion. The kids then use the format of introduction, details, and conclusion. They are focusing on using noun adjective agreements. Twice this week, I wrote my own descriptive writing that the kids had to correct. I deliberately made many mistakes. Then the kids got together with partners to correct them. When I first introduced the idea, I told the kids that I worked on it for a long time. Then I let them read it. After a couple of minutes, I asked them what they thought of it. A couple of kids gave me a thumbs up. Some hesitantly said that they found a couple of errors. After they worked on it with partners to correct it, we went through it as a class. Once we were done correcting it, one of the kids asked me if I had made those mistakes on purpose. I love it!
The kids have been reading the Battle of the Books. Almost every day the kids have gotten out the books for this and have read them. As a class, we are reading Nunca beses a los sapos. The kids tend to love this story. It is a twist on the classic story of the girl who kisses the frog and he turns into the prince. In this story, it doesn’t quite work out the way the girl thought it would.
During reading with a partner, the kids have worked with the Battle of the Books books. They have been writing out summaries and have been trying to learn the authors’ names. The kids also read through other stories and tried to find words that fit their Palabras a su paso pattern.
Every other day this week, I have been completing running records with the kids. Many of them have advanced a level. I have tried to keep the kids’ RAZ-Kids accounts current. You should be able to look there to see if your child is at a new reading level.
I have also started doing some running records in English. I typically do one kid per day. I have started updating the RAZ-Kids’ accounts to reflect the new levels. Please let me know if you have questions about this. It will take a while to get through all of the class.
I hope that this helps keep you up to date with what we are doing in the classroom. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns that I can help with. Please also feel free to share any fun stories that you have about your child.
Have a wonderful evening!
Janell
We have had a busy week! The kids have been hard at work and we have started some new activities.
The kids all took home another section of math homework to complete. These should not take the kids more than 5 minutes or so to complete. If they take too much longer than that, pleases let me know. The assignment from today is due on Monday.
Last week, the kids brought home their newest MAP score results. If your results didn’t make it all the way home, please let me know and I will get them printed out again and sent home as soon as possible.
March is READING MONTH! Hopefully your child already has an established routine for reading, but if not, this month would be a great time to start. The kids took home two different calendars for this month. One calendar had an option of earning tickets to go see the Whitecaps by reading. The other one had different activities that the kids could do each day to celebrate.
A few families have asked me if we need anything for the classroom. If you would like to donate one of these, we would really appreciate it. Recently, our pencil sharpener decided to die. I still have access to one in the office, but it would be wonderful to have one in our classroom again. We are also running super low on Kleenexes. I can provide a substitute, but it is not nearly as soft on the kids’ noses. Also, please ask your child how their supply of crayons / markers / etc. are doing. These are items that the kids keep in their desks and we do not share them. Over the years, I realized that when the kids are responsible for their own crayons, they take better care of them and they are picked up off the floor.
In math, we will be through section 7.7 in math. This deals with measuring with different units of measurement. It talks about using personal references to help measure. The kids did a few graphs and we did more with a picture graph. I am looking at the kids taking their assessment on chapter seven by the end of next week.
In social studies, we have been learning about how to be a good shopper. Can your child tell you about some of the factors they should consider before buying something? During read with a partner time in our Daily Five, the kids had a packet of different scenarios and they had to decide if the person was being a good shopper or a bad shopper and why. The next time your child begs for something at the store, this information may come in handy. J
The kids have been meeting with me this week to learn more about where natural stresses on words in Spanish happen and why. Some of them have also learned why we need to use accents in some words (those are the rule breakers). The kids are at different levels of understanding this concept and these are their Palabras a su paso words for this week. We have four different levels of this and kids are learning at their unique pace and their ability to be able to extent the concept to other words.
Our fantastic aide, Sra. Gomez has been coming to our room to work with kids in different leveled reading groups. She has also been reviewing some of the math concepts that they are still learning.
During writing time, the kids have been learning to write descriptive writing pieces. I provided a picture of Mickey and of Bob the Minion. The kids then use the format of introduction, details, and conclusion. They are focusing on using noun adjective agreements. Twice this week, I wrote my own descriptive writing that the kids had to correct. I deliberately made many mistakes. Then the kids got together with partners to correct them. When I first introduced the idea, I told the kids that I worked on it for a long time. Then I let them read it. After a couple of minutes, I asked them what they thought of it. A couple of kids gave me a thumbs up. Some hesitantly said that they found a couple of errors. After they worked on it with partners to correct it, we went through it as a class. Once we were done correcting it, one of the kids asked me if I had made those mistakes on purpose. I love it!
The kids have been reading the Battle of the Books. Almost every day the kids have gotten out the books for this and have read them. As a class, we are reading Nunca beses a los sapos. The kids tend to love this story. It is a twist on the classic story of the girl who kisses the frog and he turns into the prince. In this story, it doesn’t quite work out the way the girl thought it would.
During reading with a partner, the kids have worked with the Battle of the Books books. They have been writing out summaries and have been trying to learn the authors’ names. The kids also read through other stories and tried to find words that fit their Palabras a su paso pattern.
Every other day this week, I have been completing running records with the kids. Many of them have advanced a level. I have tried to keep the kids’ RAZ-Kids accounts current. You should be able to look there to see if your child is at a new reading level.
I have also started doing some running records in English. I typically do one kid per day. I have started updating the RAZ-Kids’ accounts to reflect the new levels. Please let me know if you have questions about this. It will take a while to get through all of the class.
I hope that this helps keep you up to date with what we are doing in the classroom. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns that I can help with. Please also feel free to share any fun stories that you have about your child.
Have a wonderful evening!
Janell
Queridas familias, 2-17-2017
Each week, as I sit down to write out our newsletter, I get the chance to reflect back on what we have been learning and accomplishing. It is definitely satisfying to see the kids as they are growing socially and academically.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!! Thank you so much to Sra. McFarland, Sra. Weber and Sra. Alfonso for putting together a wonderful Valentine’s Day party for us. The kids enjoyed it.
Please keep in mind that we do not have school next Monday, February 19th.
In science, we did our last two switches for Measurement Camp. The kids went to both Sr. Podehl’s class and Srta. Jernstadt’s class. What did they learn about in those classes?
We started talking about being a good shopper, which is part of the social studies’ program. Can you child tell you what kinds of factors a shopper should consider when buying something?
In math, we have finished chapter six. We are ahead of the other second grade classes in math. This will give us time to make sure that we work on our math concepts covered so far this year. It also gives me a time to expand on the concepts already achieved by the kids. One of the most difficult concepts in this chapter, aside from the idea of a subtraction story problem, is the idea of estimating a number. I teach the kids to look on the hundred’s chart. We have a line drawn between the four and five, all the way down the cart. If the number falls after that line, they go to a bigger number. If it falls before the line, they go to a smaller number. All of the final numbers must end in 0.
I have also had the opportunity to meet with some addition and subtraction groups. Some of our kids are still trying to increase their fluency in addition and subtraction. If you have access to the internet, a great resource is the Xtra Math program at xtramath.org. This is separate from our Daily Math, but it simply drills the kids on their facts. If you need your child’s access code again, please let me know and I would be happy to provide it.
The children did a few different writing assignments this week. One of the big ones is hanging in the hallway for everyone to admire. The kids wrote about how they know that someone loves them. Another writing assignment was to observe how our mixtures and single substances changed after the water evaporated. They needed to fill out some parts of their science journal. A final assignment was to use a picture of a dog laying in a field of flowers and describe it in lots of details. The kids needed to do an introduction, eight details with adjectives, and a conclusion. We are focusing in on how adjectives change depending on whether they are a masculine or feminine nouns and singular or plural.
When the kids read with a partner, they have been using the books from the Battle of the Books. This is something new to kids in second grade. They have almost a month to read several books and memorize the authors. At the end of this time, we get into groups and try to answer questions to the best of their ability. If they can name the authors, they get extra points. The group to win the final round of elimination, wins a prize at the end. The kids all received a graph to keep track of the books that they read.
When Working with Words, the kids had a few different activities. They worked with separating their words from Palabras a su paso and writing them in different ways. The kids also got a Valentine’s Day word search to complete. We also took part of this time on Tuesday for the kids to pass out Valentine’s Day cards. We took our quiz on the words from Palabras a su paso today to see how the kids are progressing.
In English this week, the kids had the opportunity to read in reading groups. They also worked with more Dolch Words. The kids wrote some Valentine’s Day letters to you. I didn’t check them and they went home for a Valentine’s Day gift. I hope that you received yours!
In English the kids received their “Word Wall”. In Spanish, we have a large one on the wall. In English, they are in a folder that doubles as a privacy partition. Each child has their own folder. Every couple of days we will be adding words to this. This allows the kids to have the correct spelling of many of the Dolch Words right in front of them at all times.
The kids received new words for Word Journey’s. They take the first five minutes of each day to sort their words, read their words, and then practice their Dolch Words.
That’s it for us this week. Thank you so much for all of your support at home! I hope everyone has a wonderful three days with your child!
Janell
Each week, as I sit down to write out our newsletter, I get the chance to reflect back on what we have been learning and accomplishing. It is definitely satisfying to see the kids as they are growing socially and academically.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!! Thank you so much to Sra. McFarland, Sra. Weber and Sra. Alfonso for putting together a wonderful Valentine’s Day party for us. The kids enjoyed it.
Please keep in mind that we do not have school next Monday, February 19th.
In science, we did our last two switches for Measurement Camp. The kids went to both Sr. Podehl’s class and Srta. Jernstadt’s class. What did they learn about in those classes?
We started talking about being a good shopper, which is part of the social studies’ program. Can you child tell you what kinds of factors a shopper should consider when buying something?
In math, we have finished chapter six. We are ahead of the other second grade classes in math. This will give us time to make sure that we work on our math concepts covered so far this year. It also gives me a time to expand on the concepts already achieved by the kids. One of the most difficult concepts in this chapter, aside from the idea of a subtraction story problem, is the idea of estimating a number. I teach the kids to look on the hundred’s chart. We have a line drawn between the four and five, all the way down the cart. If the number falls after that line, they go to a bigger number. If it falls before the line, they go to a smaller number. All of the final numbers must end in 0.
I have also had the opportunity to meet with some addition and subtraction groups. Some of our kids are still trying to increase their fluency in addition and subtraction. If you have access to the internet, a great resource is the Xtra Math program at xtramath.org. This is separate from our Daily Math, but it simply drills the kids on their facts. If you need your child’s access code again, please let me know and I would be happy to provide it.
The children did a few different writing assignments this week. One of the big ones is hanging in the hallway for everyone to admire. The kids wrote about how they know that someone loves them. Another writing assignment was to observe how our mixtures and single substances changed after the water evaporated. They needed to fill out some parts of their science journal. A final assignment was to use a picture of a dog laying in a field of flowers and describe it in lots of details. The kids needed to do an introduction, eight details with adjectives, and a conclusion. We are focusing in on how adjectives change depending on whether they are a masculine or feminine nouns and singular or plural.
When the kids read with a partner, they have been using the books from the Battle of the Books. This is something new to kids in second grade. They have almost a month to read several books and memorize the authors. At the end of this time, we get into groups and try to answer questions to the best of their ability. If they can name the authors, they get extra points. The group to win the final round of elimination, wins a prize at the end. The kids all received a graph to keep track of the books that they read.
When Working with Words, the kids had a few different activities. They worked with separating their words from Palabras a su paso and writing them in different ways. The kids also got a Valentine’s Day word search to complete. We also took part of this time on Tuesday for the kids to pass out Valentine’s Day cards. We took our quiz on the words from Palabras a su paso today to see how the kids are progressing.
In English this week, the kids had the opportunity to read in reading groups. They also worked with more Dolch Words. The kids wrote some Valentine’s Day letters to you. I didn’t check them and they went home for a Valentine’s Day gift. I hope that you received yours!
In English the kids received their “Word Wall”. In Spanish, we have a large one on the wall. In English, they are in a folder that doubles as a privacy partition. Each child has their own folder. Every couple of days we will be adding words to this. This allows the kids to have the correct spelling of many of the Dolch Words right in front of them at all times.
The kids received new words for Word Journey’s. They take the first five minutes of each day to sort their words, read their words, and then practice their Dolch Words.
That’s it for us this week. Thank you so much for all of your support at home! I hope everyone has a wonderful three days with your child!
Janell
Queridas familias, 2-10-2017
As the days are flying by and conferences are being held, I can’t help but look back at what all the kids are like when they first entered our class. I am so impressed by all of their accomplishments!
Tomorrow is Mismatched Clothes Day. I’m excited to see what the kids wear. We have been talking about it all week, so hopefully it doesn’t come as a surprise.
A huge thank you to all of our families who donated books to our class! The kids were very excited to see these new books become part of our classroom library!
This week, the kids have been super busy! We had the opportunity to switch with both Sr. Podehl’s class and Srta. Jernstadt’s class for Measurement Camp. What did your child learn and do in their classes? In our class, we talked about evaporation. We also talked about single substances and mixtures. We mixed some items together with water and they are on our windowsill for us to watch as they change over time.
In math, we have completed through section 6.6. These sections deal with number stories and graphing. Number stories tend to be fairly confusing for the kids, so I encourage them to try to draw out what the story is telling them. This helps them visualize it and see if they need to add or subtract.
When the kids have been meeting with me during the Daily Five, they have been learning about adjectives and how they change depending on whether they are with masculine or feminine nouns and singular or plural nouns. I also spent two days introducing the new spelling patterns to each group. Can your child tell you about their words for these two weeks?
During the Daily Five, the kids have continued to use their RAZ-Kids’ accounts to listen to stories.
During their writing time, the kids have been writing stories. They also wrote a descriptive piece of writing. I put up a picture and told them that they needed to describe at least ten different items in the picture. We talked about what possible nouns they could describe. The kids also had the outline of an introductory sentence, ten supporting details, and a conclusion. I’m hoping to get these into a book that the kids can read. We will be meeting in small groups to correct our nouns and adjectives before they go in the book.
During their read with a partner time, the kids have been reading and completing an outline of the story.
As a class, we talked about the verb “gustar”. This verb doesn’t follow the typical verb conjugation format that the kids are used to. We reviewed the verb, verbally did many examples, and then the kids all wrote a page that they will be putting in a class book.
On 100 Day, the kids spent 100 minutes in the afternoon reading. They read for a while on their own, then we read one of the new stories that was given to us by the PTO from the book fair. Next the kids read with a partner. Then we read another story as a class. Finally, the kids read with a different partner. While the kids were reading with partners, I met with some kids and completed some running records to make sure that I am staying on top of advancing the kids’ reading levels.
I am truly grateful to all of our families for all of your support at home! It has been obvious to me that the kids are doing their reading and homework at home as they are making great progress in reading.
If you ever have any concerns, questions, or fun stories to share, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you do not receive a response in 24 hours, please email me again. I do not want to miss any emails!
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Janell
As the days are flying by and conferences are being held, I can’t help but look back at what all the kids are like when they first entered our class. I am so impressed by all of their accomplishments!
Tomorrow is Mismatched Clothes Day. I’m excited to see what the kids wear. We have been talking about it all week, so hopefully it doesn’t come as a surprise.
A huge thank you to all of our families who donated books to our class! The kids were very excited to see these new books become part of our classroom library!
This week, the kids have been super busy! We had the opportunity to switch with both Sr. Podehl’s class and Srta. Jernstadt’s class for Measurement Camp. What did your child learn and do in their classes? In our class, we talked about evaporation. We also talked about single substances and mixtures. We mixed some items together with water and they are on our windowsill for us to watch as they change over time.
In math, we have completed through section 6.6. These sections deal with number stories and graphing. Number stories tend to be fairly confusing for the kids, so I encourage them to try to draw out what the story is telling them. This helps them visualize it and see if they need to add or subtract.
When the kids have been meeting with me during the Daily Five, they have been learning about adjectives and how they change depending on whether they are with masculine or feminine nouns and singular or plural nouns. I also spent two days introducing the new spelling patterns to each group. Can your child tell you about their words for these two weeks?
During the Daily Five, the kids have continued to use their RAZ-Kids’ accounts to listen to stories.
During their writing time, the kids have been writing stories. They also wrote a descriptive piece of writing. I put up a picture and told them that they needed to describe at least ten different items in the picture. We talked about what possible nouns they could describe. The kids also had the outline of an introductory sentence, ten supporting details, and a conclusion. I’m hoping to get these into a book that the kids can read. We will be meeting in small groups to correct our nouns and adjectives before they go in the book.
During their read with a partner time, the kids have been reading and completing an outline of the story.
As a class, we talked about the verb “gustar”. This verb doesn’t follow the typical verb conjugation format that the kids are used to. We reviewed the verb, verbally did many examples, and then the kids all wrote a page that they will be putting in a class book.
On 100 Day, the kids spent 100 minutes in the afternoon reading. They read for a while on their own, then we read one of the new stories that was given to us by the PTO from the book fair. Next the kids read with a partner. Then we read another story as a class. Finally, the kids read with a different partner. While the kids were reading with partners, I met with some kids and completed some running records to make sure that I am staying on top of advancing the kids’ reading levels.
I am truly grateful to all of our families for all of your support at home! It has been obvious to me that the kids are doing their reading and homework at home as they are making great progress in reading.
If you ever have any concerns, questions, or fun stories to share, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you do not receive a response in 24 hours, please email me again. I do not want to miss any emails!
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Janell
Queridas familias, 2-3-2017
I have completely enjoyed sitting down with families at conference times to discuss how each child is progressing. I’m so proud of our kids and all of their efforts at being great friends and at achieving academic success!
Save the Date-Fiesta Latina-Thursday, May 11 from 5:30-7:30
Come celebrate Latin America as a family on Thursday, May 11 at Ada Vista Elementary School. Mark your calendars to join your fellow Ada Vista community during our "Fiesta Latina" event. Get your passports stamped at various different booths representing a specific Spanish speaking country. Learn about their culture, their food and other fun and interesting facts. Various authentic food choices will be available for purchase as well as live music and a school wide "Art Show". This is a free event brought to you by the Cultural Arts committee as part of your Ada Vista PTO and partnering with the Hispanic Center of Grand Rapids. We hope to see you and your family there-more information will follow as the event draws closer.
Please remember that our class policy is not to give food treats to other children in the class. This applies to Valentine’s Day as well. I am sending this notice late, so if you need to replace the ones you have purchased and need help to cover the cost, I can help provide some cards. As a class, we have been talking about how we don’t give candy treats to friends throughout this week. I know that I found out at the age of 35 that I am allergic to macadamia nuts. I do not want any of our kids learning that they are allergic to something because of a gift they were given. My number one goal as your child’s teacher is to make sure they are safe. One of the things we have found over the years, is that having the kids sign their name and not write the name of the other person on the card, speeds up the process. Then they do not have to find specific people to pass the cards to.
This week, we had a mix of both social studies and Measurement Camp. We managed to switch with Sr. H’s class again, but not with the other classes. What did your child learn in his class? We will hopefully be able to complete our switching this week.
In social studies, we talked about service jobs. The kids had to pick a service job that they would like to do when they become an adult. Then they drew a picture of this. After their picture was finished, they wrote an essay. The essay included an introduction, four reasons why they want that job, and a conclusion. Finally, the kids did a short video. In the video, they talked about why they wanted that job. These projects are hanging in our hall for everyone to admire.
In math, the kids got through section 6.2. These first two sections were about subtraction story problems involving differences. The kids filled out a diagram, wrote out a number model, and finished with the answer.
During our Daily Five, the kids did several different activities. In working with words, they read stories and tried to find words that fit into their spelling categories for Palabras a su paso.
During writing time, the kids have been writing stories. Most of our kids know how to write a story with an introduction, problem, and a solution. Now we have started to talk about how the good stories try more than one solution before resolving the problem. The kids have been busy writing this week and have been encouraged to try this as well.
Instead of reading with a partner this week, the kids have done reading with the teacher or read to self. The kids have been meeting with me in small groups to discuss adjectives. We have been reading a story as a small group and the kids have to identify when they find an adjective. Then they had to identify the noun that it was describing. Finally, they wrote these out on a sheet of paper that was divided into four different sections. These sections were for masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural. We have been reading The Mitten, which is one of my favorite books.
The kids took their MAP test this week. The results of this test will be going home soon, but first we have a few kids who need to still take the test because they weren’t here for it. I will send you an email on that day, letting you know to expect it to come home.
That about wraps up our week. As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please let me know. If you do not receive a response in 24 hours, please email me again. I do not want to miss responding to any emails.
Thanks!
Janell
I have completely enjoyed sitting down with families at conference times to discuss how each child is progressing. I’m so proud of our kids and all of their efforts at being great friends and at achieving academic success!
Save the Date-Fiesta Latina-Thursday, May 11 from 5:30-7:30
Come celebrate Latin America as a family on Thursday, May 11 at Ada Vista Elementary School. Mark your calendars to join your fellow Ada Vista community during our "Fiesta Latina" event. Get your passports stamped at various different booths representing a specific Spanish speaking country. Learn about their culture, their food and other fun and interesting facts. Various authentic food choices will be available for purchase as well as live music and a school wide "Art Show". This is a free event brought to you by the Cultural Arts committee as part of your Ada Vista PTO and partnering with the Hispanic Center of Grand Rapids. We hope to see you and your family there-more information will follow as the event draws closer.
Please remember that our class policy is not to give food treats to other children in the class. This applies to Valentine’s Day as well. I am sending this notice late, so if you need to replace the ones you have purchased and need help to cover the cost, I can help provide some cards. As a class, we have been talking about how we don’t give candy treats to friends throughout this week. I know that I found out at the age of 35 that I am allergic to macadamia nuts. I do not want any of our kids learning that they are allergic to something because of a gift they were given. My number one goal as your child’s teacher is to make sure they are safe. One of the things we have found over the years, is that having the kids sign their name and not write the name of the other person on the card, speeds up the process. Then they do not have to find specific people to pass the cards to.
This week, we had a mix of both social studies and Measurement Camp. We managed to switch with Sr. H’s class again, but not with the other classes. What did your child learn in his class? We will hopefully be able to complete our switching this week.
In social studies, we talked about service jobs. The kids had to pick a service job that they would like to do when they become an adult. Then they drew a picture of this. After their picture was finished, they wrote an essay. The essay included an introduction, four reasons why they want that job, and a conclusion. Finally, the kids did a short video. In the video, they talked about why they wanted that job. These projects are hanging in our hall for everyone to admire.
In math, the kids got through section 6.2. These first two sections were about subtraction story problems involving differences. The kids filled out a diagram, wrote out a number model, and finished with the answer.
During our Daily Five, the kids did several different activities. In working with words, they read stories and tried to find words that fit into their spelling categories for Palabras a su paso.
During writing time, the kids have been writing stories. Most of our kids know how to write a story with an introduction, problem, and a solution. Now we have started to talk about how the good stories try more than one solution before resolving the problem. The kids have been busy writing this week and have been encouraged to try this as well.
Instead of reading with a partner this week, the kids have done reading with the teacher or read to self. The kids have been meeting with me in small groups to discuss adjectives. We have been reading a story as a small group and the kids have to identify when they find an adjective. Then they had to identify the noun that it was describing. Finally, they wrote these out on a sheet of paper that was divided into four different sections. These sections were for masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural. We have been reading The Mitten, which is one of my favorite books.
The kids took their MAP test this week. The results of this test will be going home soon, but first we have a few kids who need to still take the test because they weren’t here for it. I will send you an email on that day, letting you know to expect it to come home.
That about wraps up our week. As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please let me know. If you do not receive a response in 24 hours, please email me again. I do not want to miss responding to any emails.
Thanks!
Janell
Estimadas familias, 1-26-17
We have finally managed to get in a full week of school! We have been doing a lot of work this week and we have been busy.
If you have been on-line for our math program, you have probably noticed that it showed us being in chapter six already. The program does not know when we had Snow Days or substitute teacher days. I have updated our calendar and it should reflect where we are currently. We will be taking our chapter five assessment tomorrow, Friday, to see how the kids are progressing. We will be slowing down a bit to do some review as well next week.
On Monday, I met with the kids to introduce them to their new Spanish spelling patterns. Since then, our Daily Five time has been devoted to completed reading assessments. So many of the kids have moved up in levels. If your child hasn’t brought back their books to exchange for new ones this month, they probably should have done so. You can access the kids’ RAZ-Kids’ accounts to check to see where they are reading.
I have also updated the RAZ-Kids’ accounts to show where your child is starting English. The kids all have access to an English section as well. For homework, please make sure that your child is still spending about 15 minutes reading Spanish each night. Once the kids figure out how to read in English, many times they prefer it and will get complacent with practicing their Spanish. I would hate to see the kids’ Spanish reading abilities stagnate or fall back because they stop practicing at home.
During the Daily Five, the kids have been working with a spelling pattern. They have written it out, drawn pictures to go with the words, and copied them with rainbow spelling.
During read with a partner, the kids have been reading stories and then filling out a paper that has: los personajes, el escenario, la introducción, el nudo, and el desenlace. Ask your child what each of these is. Can they explain it to you?
During writing time, we are back to writing stories. The kids have been focusing in on an introduction, problem and solution. They are beginning to focus on a multi-step solution to the problem. This means that the problem isn’t easily solved on the first attempt. The best of stories need several tries before they solve the problem.
In listening to reading, the kids have had the opportunity to read in their RAZ-Kids’ account. Did you know that the kids can take quizzes on these books? It is built into the system. You can also check to see how your child is doing. If they are failing the quizzes, they should probably be reading the story more than once. In fact, many of the kids read the stories once and then tell me that they are done. When books go home, the children are told to read each story at least three times to increase fluency and comprehension of the stories. They should be doing this in the RAZ-Kids’ account as well.
During our English time, the kids start every session by separating their word patterns for Word Journeys. Then they read through their sight word cards to practice those. If there is extra time, the kids read independently. Then I gather the kids up and we have been doing different read alouds and we have worked with word families. The kids are learning how to write out a word family and to use the alphabet to add letter to the word family and make words. This week, we have stuck to working with short vowels to learn how to do this. I have also been teaching the kids how to play Ouch! Can you child teach you about this game? If your child would like this game at home, it is easy enough to make. The Dolch words are listed on our web site. You write these on cards and then add a bunch of cards that say Ouch! Your child knows the rules and can teach you how to play. Knowing the Dolch words quickly and fluently is vital to being a great English reader.
Thank you so much to our many volunteers who are coming in to help us with English time! We are flying through checking our Dolch words. We also have enough families to do reading groups successfully throughout the week. I am so grateful for all the help and I know that the kids love having you here!
I am looking forward to seeing all families at conferences next Thursday and the following Tuesday! I’m excited to show you how your child is progressing!
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns or stories to share. If you have emailed me and have not received a response, PLEASE email me again. I don’t want to miss responding to an email.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Janell
We have finally managed to get in a full week of school! We have been doing a lot of work this week and we have been busy.
If you have been on-line for our math program, you have probably noticed that it showed us being in chapter six already. The program does not know when we had Snow Days or substitute teacher days. I have updated our calendar and it should reflect where we are currently. We will be taking our chapter five assessment tomorrow, Friday, to see how the kids are progressing. We will be slowing down a bit to do some review as well next week.
On Monday, I met with the kids to introduce them to their new Spanish spelling patterns. Since then, our Daily Five time has been devoted to completed reading assessments. So many of the kids have moved up in levels. If your child hasn’t brought back their books to exchange for new ones this month, they probably should have done so. You can access the kids’ RAZ-Kids’ accounts to check to see where they are reading.
I have also updated the RAZ-Kids’ accounts to show where your child is starting English. The kids all have access to an English section as well. For homework, please make sure that your child is still spending about 15 minutes reading Spanish each night. Once the kids figure out how to read in English, many times they prefer it and will get complacent with practicing their Spanish. I would hate to see the kids’ Spanish reading abilities stagnate or fall back because they stop practicing at home.
During the Daily Five, the kids have been working with a spelling pattern. They have written it out, drawn pictures to go with the words, and copied them with rainbow spelling.
During read with a partner, the kids have been reading stories and then filling out a paper that has: los personajes, el escenario, la introducción, el nudo, and el desenlace. Ask your child what each of these is. Can they explain it to you?
During writing time, we are back to writing stories. The kids have been focusing in on an introduction, problem and solution. They are beginning to focus on a multi-step solution to the problem. This means that the problem isn’t easily solved on the first attempt. The best of stories need several tries before they solve the problem.
In listening to reading, the kids have had the opportunity to read in their RAZ-Kids’ account. Did you know that the kids can take quizzes on these books? It is built into the system. You can also check to see how your child is doing. If they are failing the quizzes, they should probably be reading the story more than once. In fact, many of the kids read the stories once and then tell me that they are done. When books go home, the children are told to read each story at least three times to increase fluency and comprehension of the stories. They should be doing this in the RAZ-Kids’ account as well.
During our English time, the kids start every session by separating their word patterns for Word Journeys. Then they read through their sight word cards to practice those. If there is extra time, the kids read independently. Then I gather the kids up and we have been doing different read alouds and we have worked with word families. The kids are learning how to write out a word family and to use the alphabet to add letter to the word family and make words. This week, we have stuck to working with short vowels to learn how to do this. I have also been teaching the kids how to play Ouch! Can you child teach you about this game? If your child would like this game at home, it is easy enough to make. The Dolch words are listed on our web site. You write these on cards and then add a bunch of cards that say Ouch! Your child knows the rules and can teach you how to play. Knowing the Dolch words quickly and fluently is vital to being a great English reader.
Thank you so much to our many volunteers who are coming in to help us with English time! We are flying through checking our Dolch words. We also have enough families to do reading groups successfully throughout the week. I am so grateful for all the help and I know that the kids love having you here!
I am looking forward to seeing all families at conferences next Thursday and the following Tuesday! I’m excited to show you how your child is progressing!
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns or stories to share. If you have emailed me and have not received a response, PLEASE email me again. I don’t want to miss responding to an email.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Janell
Hola familias, 1-14-2017
Well, that was definitely a short week. Two days off makes for one. Please keep in mind that next week will seem equally short. The kids have no school on Monday, but teachers will be doing professional development. Then on Thursday and Friday, the kids have a half day. Dismissal time is at 11:20.
I have been working on a volunteer schedule for English. If you contacting me about volunteering and haven’t heard back from me regarding what times to come in, please contact me again. I hope I haven’t missed anyone! We are definitely blessed with the number of families who are able to volunteer their valuable time to help our awesome kids!!
In math, we progressed through section 5.7. This included adding or subtracting 1’s, 10’s and 100’s. The kids were given a three-digit number and told to add these on. The kids also learned to use an open number line. This is when they are given a line without numbers and they mark their own numbers to add or subtract in a story problem. The kids have also been completing some short assessments to see how they are progressing with the different math standards that are on the report card.
This week, I have been frantically trying to finish up some running records for report card marking. My goal is to make sure that all kids have enough running records to show that they are at a great level for their reading abilities. The kids are making great progress and I’m very proud of them and all of their hard work!
The kids started Measurement Camp. Due to our snow days, the kids missed two of the three times that they switch with other teachers. We will be extending Measurement Camp by another week to make sure that we can do those lessons that they missed. What did they learn when they went to Sr. H’s class?
In the Daily Five, the kids have continued to work with their words that they received last week. They had the opportunity to write them in rainbow form. They also read books with a partner and looked for words that fit their pattern to write down on a sheet of paper that was divided into the different word patterns.
During their read with a partner time, the kids worked on filling out a story outline. They read a story and as they read it, they completed a story outline that asked for characters, scene, introduction, problem, and the series of events that solved the problem.
During their writing time, they worked on writing a story. These stories have an introduction, problem, and multiple steps for solving the problem.
Every day, the kids have 20-30 minutes to read to themselves. They find a comfortable spot to work and they are not supposed to be moving from that spot.
If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please feel free to contact me.
I hope everyone is have a great weekend!
Janell
Well, that was definitely a short week. Two days off makes for one. Please keep in mind that next week will seem equally short. The kids have no school on Monday, but teachers will be doing professional development. Then on Thursday and Friday, the kids have a half day. Dismissal time is at 11:20.
I have been working on a volunteer schedule for English. If you contacting me about volunteering and haven’t heard back from me regarding what times to come in, please contact me again. I hope I haven’t missed anyone! We are definitely blessed with the number of families who are able to volunteer their valuable time to help our awesome kids!!
In math, we progressed through section 5.7. This included adding or subtracting 1’s, 10’s and 100’s. The kids were given a three-digit number and told to add these on. The kids also learned to use an open number line. This is when they are given a line without numbers and they mark their own numbers to add or subtract in a story problem. The kids have also been completing some short assessments to see how they are progressing with the different math standards that are on the report card.
This week, I have been frantically trying to finish up some running records for report card marking. My goal is to make sure that all kids have enough running records to show that they are at a great level for their reading abilities. The kids are making great progress and I’m very proud of them and all of their hard work!
The kids started Measurement Camp. Due to our snow days, the kids missed two of the three times that they switch with other teachers. We will be extending Measurement Camp by another week to make sure that we can do those lessons that they missed. What did they learn when they went to Sr. H’s class?
In the Daily Five, the kids have continued to work with their words that they received last week. They had the opportunity to write them in rainbow form. They also read books with a partner and looked for words that fit their pattern to write down on a sheet of paper that was divided into the different word patterns.
During their read with a partner time, the kids worked on filling out a story outline. They read a story and as they read it, they completed a story outline that asked for characters, scene, introduction, problem, and the series of events that solved the problem.
During their writing time, they worked on writing a story. These stories have an introduction, problem, and multiple steps for solving the problem.
Every day, the kids have 20-30 minutes to read to themselves. They find a comfortable spot to work and they are not supposed to be moving from that spot.
If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please feel free to contact me.
I hope everyone is have a great weekend!
Janell
Estimadas familias, 1-9-2017
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I’m so sorry that this update is coming so late. I spent the weekend down with a cold and didn’t get a chance to write this.
Our Club Verde is selling some items for a fundraiser. There are reusable bags for snacks and water bottles available. I bought some for my husband and I since we always pack some snacks in our lunch and I do not like throwing away plastic bags that will sit in landfills. The kids can purchase these during lunch / lunch recess.
New sandwich/snack bags: 1 for $6 or 3 for $15
Older model bags: 1 for $5 or 3 for $13
Stainless Steel Water Bottle: $15 (these proceeds go to the high school for their Broken Bottle Project.)
In math last week, we completed section 5.1 through 5.4. These sections cover counting money and making change. This is a fairly difficult concept for many of our kids, especially when they need to count quarters. Can your child count money? Some of our kids have been working with me and others have been working with our aide, Sra. Fernandez, to learn this concept.
In social studies, we finished our chapter on learning how goods are made and transported. This week, we are doing Measurement Camp. This is one of our science units. During this week and next week, the kids will be rotating classrooms to learn different concepts and will learn from all of the second grade teachers.
In reading, we have rotated back to learning about fiction reading and writing. The kids are learning about scene, characters, introduction, problem, and solutions with multiple steps to resolve problems.
During our Daily Five, the kids have been working on…
Writing: The kids wrote about their break. The kids also started writing a story. They started by writing an outline and then started to make it into a story.
Palabras a su paso: Before break, the kids took another assessment to see how their spelling patterns have improved. This is our first year using this program and I was really impressed by how much the kids have learned so far this year. The kids received new words last week. Some of the kids told me that they already had their words before. I told them that they would be doing some more work with these words and the spelling pattern to try and learn the pattern because they got it wrong on the assessment.
Reading with a partner: When the kids read with a partner, they looked for plural nouns and put them in the correct column according to if they were feminine or masculine nouns. I’m starting to hear some of the kids correcting their friends. That is awesome! I’m only one person and can’t be everywhere. Having the kids do it increases the amount of correction that they receive.
Listening to reading: The kids have been listening to stories and following along with them on their RAZ-Kids’ accounts. I had to give all of the kids new passwords for their accounts. Twice recently, children have gone into someone else’s account and used all of their stars to build a robot. All of the kids have a different password now and they have been told not to share it with anyone in the class.
We started English last week. The first week was filled with some of my favorite, short read alouds. The kids all had the opportunity to go through our classroom library and pick out five books: one difficult, two perfect, and two easy. The kids also completed the spelling assessment for Word Journeys. This program is similar to the Spanish Palabras a su paso, but in English. The kids will begin receiving their words tomorrow. We will be working on spelling patterns and not focusing on spelling specific words correctly.
That kind of wraps up our last week.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. I appreciate feedback from families.
Have a wonderful week!
Janell
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I’m so sorry that this update is coming so late. I spent the weekend down with a cold and didn’t get a chance to write this.
Our Club Verde is selling some items for a fundraiser. There are reusable bags for snacks and water bottles available. I bought some for my husband and I since we always pack some snacks in our lunch and I do not like throwing away plastic bags that will sit in landfills. The kids can purchase these during lunch / lunch recess.
New sandwich/snack bags: 1 for $6 or 3 for $15
Older model bags: 1 for $5 or 3 for $13
Stainless Steel Water Bottle: $15 (these proceeds go to the high school for their Broken Bottle Project.)
In math last week, we completed section 5.1 through 5.4. These sections cover counting money and making change. This is a fairly difficult concept for many of our kids, especially when they need to count quarters. Can your child count money? Some of our kids have been working with me and others have been working with our aide, Sra. Fernandez, to learn this concept.
In social studies, we finished our chapter on learning how goods are made and transported. This week, we are doing Measurement Camp. This is one of our science units. During this week and next week, the kids will be rotating classrooms to learn different concepts and will learn from all of the second grade teachers.
In reading, we have rotated back to learning about fiction reading and writing. The kids are learning about scene, characters, introduction, problem, and solutions with multiple steps to resolve problems.
During our Daily Five, the kids have been working on…
Writing: The kids wrote about their break. The kids also started writing a story. They started by writing an outline and then started to make it into a story.
Palabras a su paso: Before break, the kids took another assessment to see how their spelling patterns have improved. This is our first year using this program and I was really impressed by how much the kids have learned so far this year. The kids received new words last week. Some of the kids told me that they already had their words before. I told them that they would be doing some more work with these words and the spelling pattern to try and learn the pattern because they got it wrong on the assessment.
Reading with a partner: When the kids read with a partner, they looked for plural nouns and put them in the correct column according to if they were feminine or masculine nouns. I’m starting to hear some of the kids correcting their friends. That is awesome! I’m only one person and can’t be everywhere. Having the kids do it increases the amount of correction that they receive.
Listening to reading: The kids have been listening to stories and following along with them on their RAZ-Kids’ accounts. I had to give all of the kids new passwords for their accounts. Twice recently, children have gone into someone else’s account and used all of their stars to build a robot. All of the kids have a different password now and they have been told not to share it with anyone in the class.
We started English last week. The first week was filled with some of my favorite, short read alouds. The kids all had the opportunity to go through our classroom library and pick out five books: one difficult, two perfect, and two easy. The kids also completed the spelling assessment for Word Journeys. This program is similar to the Spanish Palabras a su paso, but in English. The kids will begin receiving their words tomorrow. We will be working on spelling patterns and not focusing on spelling specific words correctly.
That kind of wraps up our last week.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. I appreciate feedback from families.
Have a wonderful week!
Janell
Hola,
So, we have a date set for a second grade field trip. We are going to Howard Christensen Nature Center on APRIL 19th. I wanted to make sure that I passed the information along the moment that it was finalized. Please mark the date. This will be an all day field trip. We will be reinforcing information that we will be learning about plants. This is always a fun field trip, even in the downpouring rain.
We started English time! We didn't start with the most interesting of activities. We started one of favorite books that the kids always enjoy. We also did an assessment to see where each child will be starting English with regard to English spelling patterns. This is called Word Journeys.
Soon, we will be needing some parent volunteers. Our English time is from 2:35 - 3:05 each day. We need a handful of parents who can commit to coming each Tuesday to read in groups with kids. My mom will be working with the kids too. She is a retired first grade teacher and an amazing reading teacher. She and I work with our kids who need the most amount of direct support with English reading. Our other reading groups are run by parents. The reading groups tend to run for about 15-20 minutes. The rest of the half hour is used to help run groups working with Dolch words, reading aloud to kids, working with word families, etc. Even if you do not read with your child's group, there will be plenty of time to work with your child once we are done with our reading group.
We also need some parents who are willing to come in and do Dolch words with kids. We would love to have two parents a week if possible. If you can commit to once a week or once a month, that would be great. Dolch words are the sight words that the kids should know because they are used frequently and/or they are the words that you can't pronounce. Gaining dominance over these words is vital to kids' learning to read more fluently. Since our reading groups are on Tuesdays, we would love to have help with these words on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, from 2:35 - 3:05.
If you would like to volunteer to help us out in the classroom during English reading time, please let me know. We would love to have you!!
Please make sure that you have a volunteer consent form filed with the office so that we can have you work with kids in groups in our class.
Thank you so much and have a fantastic night!
Janell
So, we have a date set for a second grade field trip. We are going to Howard Christensen Nature Center on APRIL 19th. I wanted to make sure that I passed the information along the moment that it was finalized. Please mark the date. This will be an all day field trip. We will be reinforcing information that we will be learning about plants. This is always a fun field trip, even in the downpouring rain.
We started English time! We didn't start with the most interesting of activities. We started one of favorite books that the kids always enjoy. We also did an assessment to see where each child will be starting English with regard to English spelling patterns. This is called Word Journeys.
Soon, we will be needing some parent volunteers. Our English time is from 2:35 - 3:05 each day. We need a handful of parents who can commit to coming each Tuesday to read in groups with kids. My mom will be working with the kids too. She is a retired first grade teacher and an amazing reading teacher. She and I work with our kids who need the most amount of direct support with English reading. Our other reading groups are run by parents. The reading groups tend to run for about 15-20 minutes. The rest of the half hour is used to help run groups working with Dolch words, reading aloud to kids, working with word families, etc. Even if you do not read with your child's group, there will be plenty of time to work with your child once we are done with our reading group.
We also need some parents who are willing to come in and do Dolch words with kids. We would love to have two parents a week if possible. If you can commit to once a week or once a month, that would be great. Dolch words are the sight words that the kids should know because they are used frequently and/or they are the words that you can't pronounce. Gaining dominance over these words is vital to kids' learning to read more fluently. Since our reading groups are on Tuesdays, we would love to have help with these words on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, from 2:35 - 3:05.
If you would like to volunteer to help us out in the classroom during English reading time, please let me know. We would love to have you!!
Please make sure that you have a volunteer consent form filed with the office so that we can have you work with kids in groups in our class.
Thank you so much and have a fantastic night!
Janell
Queridas familias, 12-15-2016
I hope that everyone is staying warm! What a cold week! The poor kids have been trapped inside during recess and haven’t had the opportunity to go out and run due to the super cold temperatures and tomorrow doesn’t look much better.
We had a wonderful trip to the Nutcracker! What did your child think of it? As I looked down the row of kids, they all seemed to have their eyes glued to the stage. I will honestly say that the first year I went with second grade, I thought they were crazy to go, but each year the kids love it. Thank you so much to Sra. Hillary, our fantastic culture teacher for organizing this trip for us!
Last week, I was out of the classroom on Thursday and Friday to attend a workshop called the Healing Racism Institute. It was an amazing and eye opening experience. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to go and grow as a teacher and as a human being. I definitely missed the kids, but the substitute left a great note telling me that the kids did a fantastic job. It is always nice to come back to such wonderful news!
This week has been a packed week for us! In spite of an afternoon out for the Nutcracker, we accomplished a ton.
In math, the kids have been learning about how to measure to the closest foot, inch, and centimeter. The hardest part of this is for the kids to learn how to start at zero and not at the end of the ruler. The kids also learned about how to draw an array (matriz). This is used to start introducing the idea of multiplication. The kids get a number and have to figure out how to divide it out into equal rows and columns. This is just an introduction and the kids will continue to learn about these ideas. While the kids have been working on this, I’ve been checking in with kids on reading a clock and to see how they are progressing in their fluency of addition and subtraction. Some of the kids have shown that they are able to read a clock to the closest five minutes, so I started to teach them how to read a clock to the closest minute. Reading a clock to the closest minute is not a second grade standard, but I don’t want the kids to get bored and continue to do something that they know how to do.
Next week, we will be taking the final assessment for chapter four in math. The kids will be assessed on reading a clock to the closest five minutes, writing the hands on a clock to the closest five minutes, counting base ten blocks, writing numbers in “notación expandida”, and measuring to the closest inch and centimeter. Please do not worry if a concept is still not solidified. We continue to work with these ideas and help support the kids until they understand them.
In social studies, the kids have finished up chapter five and we introduced the new vocabulary for chapter six. In this chapter, the kids will be learning about products, how they are made, and how they are transported. If you would like to support your child with learning the vocabulary for this chapter, you can access it on the class website under the Social Studies button.
During the Daily Five, the kids choose which order they would like to accomplish their jobs.
In reading with a partner, the kids have been making a four-column list of four different types of verbs; present, past, future, and infinitive. While they read stories with a partner, they need to look for these verbs and classify them.
For listening to reading, the kids are listening to the same stories that they did last week. Next week, the kids will be talking and writing about the lessons that they learned in these stories.
During working with words, the kids have done different activities with their words. One of these activities was a rapid sort. This is when the kids read the words and separate them into the correct columns. Then they do it two more times, to see if they can learn to read the words quickly and to sort them appropriately. Another activity was a pre-assessment with a partner. Their partner read the word and they wrote it in the correct column. If they got it wrong, they circled it and continued on. Once they were done, they wrote out all of their words that were wrong ten times. A final activity was to work with a partner and look for other examples of their patterns in their reading.
During writing time, the kids worked on three different activities. The first one was to give feedback on the substitute. The sub system asks teachers for feedback. I wanted to know what the kids thought about the sub. They had to say if she should come back or not. Then they had to give four reasons and finish the story with a conclusion. A second writing activity was to finish writing their index in the non-fiction story that we have been doing together. The third writing activity was to get a book and write a story that interested them.
I have been meeting with kids in their reading groups. Based on running records each week, the kids have been switching their reading goals. Currently I have three different goals going on. Can your child tell you what he/she is working on?
- Read with a partner at the same time to learn fluency. When a child reads at the same time as a partner, they can find which words are read as syllables. They can also hear when they are not pausing at punctuation. It also makes them listen to themselves and to others.
- Show, don’t tell. How is the author telling us how the character feels by their actions? If the author says that the character’s cheeks turn pink, that sometimes means that they are embarrassed. A mom character that puts her hands on her hips normally means that she is upset about something.
- Using an outline to retell a story, making sure to talk about the introduction, the characters, the setting, the problem, the buildup of the problem, and the solution.
I hope that everyone is staying warm! If you have any questions about what is happening in class, how your child is doing, or any concerns about something your child has said to you, please let me know. I value the open communication between school and home.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Janell
Hola familias, 12-1-2016
We have officially entered December. The cold weather seems to be coming as well. Please make sure that your child is prepared to go outside for recess, even in the cold weather.
A few things to note. Tomorrow is a half day for the students. They will be dismissed at 11:20. Teachers will be in the building to work on professional development and improving our teaching techniques.
In math, the kids have been learning about how to read a clock to the closest five minutes. Several papers have gone home with the kids on this. You can track how your kids are doing with this concept, using these papers. This tends to be a difficult concept for the kids to learn. They have to know which hand is which, know which hand reads the numbers and which hand counts five by five. They also need to understand that once a clock passes an exact hour, the hour hand passes by the number. This means at 9:20, the hour hand isn’t directly on the 9, but slightly after. At 9:55, the hour hand is really close to the 10. Although many of the kids are having a hard time learning how to read a clock, I haven’t sent home any homework on it. I am doing this on purpose because I do not want to turn parents into teachers. Many of my friends tell me about how frustrated they get when their child doesn’t learn something at school and then has homework for it. I don’t believe in doing this to parents. Homework should not be something that you need to teach your child how to do. In second grade, it should be about showing you what they can do and reinforcing new concepts that they do know. The kids also learned about a.m. and p.m. Finally, they learned about “notación expandida”. This is when the kids see a number like 534, it is equal to 500+30+4.
In social studies, we started to learn about how people use natural resources. The kids are also learning about how humans contaminate the air, the water, and the Earth. These involve some more advanced vocabulary that you can access from the class website.
During our Daily Five, the kids have been doing a few different activities.
Writing: The kids have written two different writings that they needed to turn in. When they finish these, the kids are able to do free writing. They wrote about something interesting that they did during their Thanksgiving break. The kids also wrote about which animal is the best and why. They follow the format of an introduction, four supporting reasons, and a conclusion.
Listening to Reading: The kids listened to me finish the story “¿Pavo para la cena de gracias? ¡No gracias!” They also had the opportunity to go to their RAZ-Kids’ account and read some stories. Finally I taped myself reading the story “Celebra Hanukkah con un cuento de Bobbe”. The kids had the option of listening to that while they used the book to read along or they had the option of listening to the story “Cómo el Grinch robó la Navidad” and following along with the story. Both stories have a wonderful lesson that the kids can learn about how to treat others and that family and friends are what is most important in life.
Working with Words: During this time, the kids have been doing different activities, including reading poems that have their word pattern, finding their word patterns in reading, practicing their words with rainbow spelling or using the Boogie Boards to practice the words.
Reading with a Partner: During this time, the kids have been reading and looking for the pretense verb tener. The kids wrote the different forms on a sheet of paper. Each time they found tener conjugated in present tense, they put a tally mark in that section.
While the kids are working on the Daily Five, I meet with reading groups and the different spelling pattern groups. As I’ve found time to complete running records with kids, I am beginning to reformulate goals for some of the kids. Some have demonstrated mastery of their current goal and need to move to new ones. I am excited to see how the kids are reading and how they are improving. I’m very proud of each and every kid in our class! They are self-motivated and love to see their own progress. It helps motivate them to continue to proceed.
That kind of sums up our week. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Janell
We have officially entered December. The cold weather seems to be coming as well. Please make sure that your child is prepared to go outside for recess, even in the cold weather.
A few things to note. Tomorrow is a half day for the students. They will be dismissed at 11:20. Teachers will be in the building to work on professional development and improving our teaching techniques.
In math, the kids have been learning about how to read a clock to the closest five minutes. Several papers have gone home with the kids on this. You can track how your kids are doing with this concept, using these papers. This tends to be a difficult concept for the kids to learn. They have to know which hand is which, know which hand reads the numbers and which hand counts five by five. They also need to understand that once a clock passes an exact hour, the hour hand passes by the number. This means at 9:20, the hour hand isn’t directly on the 9, but slightly after. At 9:55, the hour hand is really close to the 10. Although many of the kids are having a hard time learning how to read a clock, I haven’t sent home any homework on it. I am doing this on purpose because I do not want to turn parents into teachers. Many of my friends tell me about how frustrated they get when their child doesn’t learn something at school and then has homework for it. I don’t believe in doing this to parents. Homework should not be something that you need to teach your child how to do. In second grade, it should be about showing you what they can do and reinforcing new concepts that they do know. The kids also learned about a.m. and p.m. Finally, they learned about “notación expandida”. This is when the kids see a number like 534, it is equal to 500+30+4.
In social studies, we started to learn about how people use natural resources. The kids are also learning about how humans contaminate the air, the water, and the Earth. These involve some more advanced vocabulary that you can access from the class website.
During our Daily Five, the kids have been doing a few different activities.
Writing: The kids have written two different writings that they needed to turn in. When they finish these, the kids are able to do free writing. They wrote about something interesting that they did during their Thanksgiving break. The kids also wrote about which animal is the best and why. They follow the format of an introduction, four supporting reasons, and a conclusion.
Listening to Reading: The kids listened to me finish the story “¿Pavo para la cena de gracias? ¡No gracias!” They also had the opportunity to go to their RAZ-Kids’ account and read some stories. Finally I taped myself reading the story “Celebra Hanukkah con un cuento de Bobbe”. The kids had the option of listening to that while they used the book to read along or they had the option of listening to the story “Cómo el Grinch robó la Navidad” and following along with the story. Both stories have a wonderful lesson that the kids can learn about how to treat others and that family and friends are what is most important in life.
Working with Words: During this time, the kids have been doing different activities, including reading poems that have their word pattern, finding their word patterns in reading, practicing their words with rainbow spelling or using the Boogie Boards to practice the words.
Reading with a Partner: During this time, the kids have been reading and looking for the pretense verb tener. The kids wrote the different forms on a sheet of paper. Each time they found tener conjugated in present tense, they put a tally mark in that section.
While the kids are working on the Daily Five, I meet with reading groups and the different spelling pattern groups. As I’ve found time to complete running records with kids, I am beginning to reformulate goals for some of the kids. Some have demonstrated mastery of their current goal and need to move to new ones. I am excited to see how the kids are reading and how they are improving. I’m very proud of each and every kid in our class! They are self-motivated and love to see their own progress. It helps motivate them to continue to proceed.
That kind of sums up our week. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Janell
Hola familias, 11-19-2016
We have had a super busy week. I don’t know about you and your child, but I am exhausted. I finally got home at a decent hour last night and went straight to bed.
I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to sit down with all of our families and talk about what your children are doing in our class. If you have thought of anything, please do not hesitate to ask.
In math, we finished chapter three and took the assessment. Please look for these to come home next Monday. The test was mostly on subtraction. How quickly can your child figure out subtraction facts? Can your child explain to you some of the “tricks” that I have taught them? I did a quick assessment on the kids and noticed that many of them need some more practice to make subtraction more fluent. We will continue to work on building fluency with the facts through 20.
In social studies, we have finished our study of the different bodies of water and landforms. The kids have been writing a non-fiction book on the different landforms. The books will hopefully be finished next week so the kids can take them home to show them off to you. The kids are learning how to use a table of contents, an index, and a glossary.
I have been trying to complete two running records per day to see if kids are ready to move to another level or not. Many of the kids have made great strides in their reading!
Each afternoon, the kids do our Daily Five. When the kids come back from lunch, they all do read to self. This is a great activity for them to decompress and calm down.
The other activities are read with a partner, writing, listen to reading, and working with words.
When the kids read with a partner this week, they were also in charge of finding feminine nouns and putting them in columns of singular or plural. When the kids have a goal, they are able to concentrate more on their reading.
During writing, the kids have written two assigned writing activities. They first wrote an opinion paper on which season of the year is the best and why. The kids are learning to write with an introduction, four supporting reasons, and a conclusion. The second assignment was to write a paper on what they are thankful for. This also had an introduction, what they were thankful for and why, followed by a conclusion. Once they completed these assignments, the kids then had time to write whatever they wanted.
During working with words, the kids had several different jobs. On Monday, each group met with me to learn what their new spelling pattern was. Then they wrote out the words and I checked them. Finally they cut out their words and wrote their name on the back of each one. Can your child explain their spelling pattern to you? Then the kids were in charge of identifying the meaning of the words. They had to draw a picture next to the words that they cut out. The next day, each group met with me to go over their words and make sure they knew the vocabulary. The next day the kids had the opportunity to choose if they wanted to do rainbow spelling with their words or if they wanted to write a sentence with these words.
During listening to reading, the kids accessed their Google account that is provided to them through the school. I had read and video tapped a story. This story was put onto my Google drive and shared with the kids. They were then able to go into their account and listen to the story Gracias el pavo de Thanksgiving.
The girls and I also had a discussion about why the toilets in the girls’ bathroom continue to get clogged and cause a flood in the bathroom. Some of the girls are using too much toilet paper and then trying to flush it and it isn’t going down. An alternate reason is that the child before them didn’t flush and instead of flushing it first before using the toilet, they use the toilet and then try to flush all of this. I am hoping that by informing the girls of this, that we can help out our wonderful custodians and cut down on the extra work that they are doing.
Please remember that next week only has two days of school. I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend and a fantastic Thanksgiving. I hope you are blessed with fantastic family time and much love in your life!
Thanks,
Janell
We have had a super busy week. I don’t know about you and your child, but I am exhausted. I finally got home at a decent hour last night and went straight to bed.
I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to sit down with all of our families and talk about what your children are doing in our class. If you have thought of anything, please do not hesitate to ask.
In math, we finished chapter three and took the assessment. Please look for these to come home next Monday. The test was mostly on subtraction. How quickly can your child figure out subtraction facts? Can your child explain to you some of the “tricks” that I have taught them? I did a quick assessment on the kids and noticed that many of them need some more practice to make subtraction more fluent. We will continue to work on building fluency with the facts through 20.
In social studies, we have finished our study of the different bodies of water and landforms. The kids have been writing a non-fiction book on the different landforms. The books will hopefully be finished next week so the kids can take them home to show them off to you. The kids are learning how to use a table of contents, an index, and a glossary.
I have been trying to complete two running records per day to see if kids are ready to move to another level or not. Many of the kids have made great strides in their reading!
Each afternoon, the kids do our Daily Five. When the kids come back from lunch, they all do read to self. This is a great activity for them to decompress and calm down.
The other activities are read with a partner, writing, listen to reading, and working with words.
When the kids read with a partner this week, they were also in charge of finding feminine nouns and putting them in columns of singular or plural. When the kids have a goal, they are able to concentrate more on their reading.
During writing, the kids have written two assigned writing activities. They first wrote an opinion paper on which season of the year is the best and why. The kids are learning to write with an introduction, four supporting reasons, and a conclusion. The second assignment was to write a paper on what they are thankful for. This also had an introduction, what they were thankful for and why, followed by a conclusion. Once they completed these assignments, the kids then had time to write whatever they wanted.
During working with words, the kids had several different jobs. On Monday, each group met with me to learn what their new spelling pattern was. Then they wrote out the words and I checked them. Finally they cut out their words and wrote their name on the back of each one. Can your child explain their spelling pattern to you? Then the kids were in charge of identifying the meaning of the words. They had to draw a picture next to the words that they cut out. The next day, each group met with me to go over their words and make sure they knew the vocabulary. The next day the kids had the opportunity to choose if they wanted to do rainbow spelling with their words or if they wanted to write a sentence with these words.
During listening to reading, the kids accessed their Google account that is provided to them through the school. I had read and video tapped a story. This story was put onto my Google drive and shared with the kids. They were then able to go into their account and listen to the story Gracias el pavo de Thanksgiving.
The girls and I also had a discussion about why the toilets in the girls’ bathroom continue to get clogged and cause a flood in the bathroom. Some of the girls are using too much toilet paper and then trying to flush it and it isn’t going down. An alternate reason is that the child before them didn’t flush and instead of flushing it first before using the toilet, they use the toilet and then try to flush all of this. I am hoping that by informing the girls of this, that we can help out our wonderful custodians and cut down on the extra work that they are doing.
Please remember that next week only has two days of school. I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend and a fantastic Thanksgiving. I hope you are blessed with fantastic family time and much love in your life!
Thanks,
Janell
Queridas familias, 11-10-2016
I loved having the opportunity to sit down with so many families tonight! I look forward to seeing the rest of our families on next Tuesday night. If you have any questions that were not answered during your conference, please let me know and I would be more than happy to answer them.
Just a reminder that if you have not supplied us with your child's lunch order for the Thanksgiving Feast, we ask that you please do so by Friday. Even if your child is bringing lunch from home, we need to know so that we can plan accordingly. https://goo.gl/forms/jZLiCFL3ppXjrPck1
This week we had a wonderful visit from five members of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra. They did a fantastic presentation for the kids. What was your child’s favorite part? That afternoon, the kids’ writing assignment was to write a thank you note. A huge thank you to Sra. Pool for organizing this event for the kids!
This week in math, we have progressed through section 3.8 in the math. This chapter is focusing on subtraction. The kids are learning different ways to work with subtraction. Some of the kids brought home homework from today’s lesson of 3.7 and working with the function machines. Unfortunately, I left school without my paper letting me know who I need to email. I will be sure to send that email out to families tomorrow morning.
The kids have played a few different games with subtraction. We adapted the Supéralo game to include subtraction. The kids used decks of cards. In pairs, the kids each took two cards. They subtracted the cards and compared their answers to see who won. Can your child teach you this game?
In social studies, the kids have continued to study different bodies of water and landforms. I have used these concepts to also teach non-fiction characteristics. The kids are working on writing a book that includes the different aspects of non-fiction. They are writing about the different landforms and bodies of water. What can your child tell you about the what they have learned so far?
During the Daily Five, the kids have been working on different reading and writing goals. During reading with a partner, the kids have been looking for just singular and plural masculine nouns. Can your child tell you examples of masculine nouns?
During listen to reading, the kids have been logging onto their RAZ-Kids accounts and following along with the stories. This is to help the kids learn to hear what reading with fluency sounds like.
During writing time, the kids have done different activities including writing a thank you note to our visitors from GRSO, writing a story of their option, and writing anything that they want. The one writing activity that several of the kids thought was great was writing about who in their family should be president and why. I can’t wait to read these!
During working with words, the kids have learned how to do Rainbow Spelling. This is where they use three crayons to write the words. Then they circle the spelling pattern. They have also worked with me on the poem that they received that goes along with their spelling pattern. They searched for the pattern and circled all of these words. They kids also worked with a partner to take a pretest of the words. Any word that they misspelled was written on a sheet of paper. Then the kids had to write the word five times, underlining the word pattern. The kids will be taking an assessment tomorrow to see who is ready for new patterns and who needs to work a bit more on the one they have.
While the kids work on the Daily Five, I meet with reading groups and spelling pattern groups. Each reading group is working on a different goal. What is your child’s goal? Can he/she explain it to you?
I have also been trying to get some more running records completed.
Our aide time has been used to work on reading groups. I am so grateful to have aide time where the kids get extra practice reading with a wonderful adult.
That’s all I have for this week. I hope that everything is going great at home. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Janell
I loved having the opportunity to sit down with so many families tonight! I look forward to seeing the rest of our families on next Tuesday night. If you have any questions that were not answered during your conference, please let me know and I would be more than happy to answer them.
Just a reminder that if you have not supplied us with your child's lunch order for the Thanksgiving Feast, we ask that you please do so by Friday. Even if your child is bringing lunch from home, we need to know so that we can plan accordingly. https://goo.gl/forms/jZLiCFL3ppXjrPck1
This week we had a wonderful visit from five members of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra. They did a fantastic presentation for the kids. What was your child’s favorite part? That afternoon, the kids’ writing assignment was to write a thank you note. A huge thank you to Sra. Pool for organizing this event for the kids!
This week in math, we have progressed through section 3.8 in the math. This chapter is focusing on subtraction. The kids are learning different ways to work with subtraction. Some of the kids brought home homework from today’s lesson of 3.7 and working with the function machines. Unfortunately, I left school without my paper letting me know who I need to email. I will be sure to send that email out to families tomorrow morning.
The kids have played a few different games with subtraction. We adapted the Supéralo game to include subtraction. The kids used decks of cards. In pairs, the kids each took two cards. They subtracted the cards and compared their answers to see who won. Can your child teach you this game?
In social studies, the kids have continued to study different bodies of water and landforms. I have used these concepts to also teach non-fiction characteristics. The kids are working on writing a book that includes the different aspects of non-fiction. They are writing about the different landforms and bodies of water. What can your child tell you about the what they have learned so far?
During the Daily Five, the kids have been working on different reading and writing goals. During reading with a partner, the kids have been looking for just singular and plural masculine nouns. Can your child tell you examples of masculine nouns?
During listen to reading, the kids have been logging onto their RAZ-Kids accounts and following along with the stories. This is to help the kids learn to hear what reading with fluency sounds like.
During writing time, the kids have done different activities including writing a thank you note to our visitors from GRSO, writing a story of their option, and writing anything that they want. The one writing activity that several of the kids thought was great was writing about who in their family should be president and why. I can’t wait to read these!
During working with words, the kids have learned how to do Rainbow Spelling. This is where they use three crayons to write the words. Then they circle the spelling pattern. They have also worked with me on the poem that they received that goes along with their spelling pattern. They searched for the pattern and circled all of these words. They kids also worked with a partner to take a pretest of the words. Any word that they misspelled was written on a sheet of paper. Then the kids had to write the word five times, underlining the word pattern. The kids will be taking an assessment tomorrow to see who is ready for new patterns and who needs to work a bit more on the one they have.
While the kids work on the Daily Five, I meet with reading groups and spelling pattern groups. Each reading group is working on a different goal. What is your child’s goal? Can he/she explain it to you?
I have also been trying to get some more running records completed.
Our aide time has been used to work on reading groups. I am so grateful to have aide time where the kids get extra practice reading with a wonderful adult.
That’s all I have for this week. I hope that everything is going great at home. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Janell
Queridas familias, 11-4-2016
If you can believe this, it is already November. Conferences are quickly approaching. I am looking forward to sitting down and showing you how your child is progressing academically and socially. Our class is awesome and I’m excited about everything that I see happening with them.
Please join the Ada Vista PTO for movie night Friday 11/4 at 6:30 p.m. to watch Zootopia. Snacks will be provided and this event is free. Please bring you blankets, pillows and water bottles. This event is NOT a drop off event. We look forward to seeing everyone there.
The kids all brought home homework in math yesterday. They have until Monday to complete it. It was on section 3.2 and deals with fact families. Some of the most difficult ideas for the kids to understand is that you cannot change the members of the family for other numbers. You also must start the subtraction with the biggest number or the family won’t work.
In math, we have completed through sections 3.4. The kids are learning different subtraction strategies. We have mostly discussed using fact families and other addition strategies to solve subtraction problems. For any child who I see still learning their addition facts fluently, those kids have been working with me on building more specific addition strategies.
In social studies, we have started to study the different bodies of water and different land forms. These include: plains (la llanura), mountain (la montaña), desert (el desierto), valley (el valle), plateau (la meseta), island (la isla), lake (el lago), river (el río), swamp (el pantano), well (el pozo), and ocean, (el océano). The kids need to be able to identify and describe these.
The kids have received a new set of words for Palabras a su paso. This is their Spanish spelling patterns. What pattern is your child working on right now?
We are fully into the Daily Five in class. The kids are choosing their own order for centers and it seems to be going much better this week than last week. Some of the kids are still learning how to mark their graphs to indicate what they are working on.
Here are some different activities that the kids have done during the Daily Five:
In groups with me, the kids were introduced to their new spelling pattern, drew pictures to go with the new words that they didn’t know. Wrote out a list of the words, divided into the correct category. In reading groups, I met with each group and we talked more about what their focus was and the kids all had individual time to practice their skills while I listened in and helped guide them appropriately. What is your child’s goal at school?
We have started studying non-fiction books. The kids learned about the glossary (el glosario) and the contents (el contenido). What does your child remember about these? Can your child find them in a book?
We fill each and every day with as many active, hands on activities as possible. I try hard to keep each and every child engaged and learning at the most appropriate level for them. If you notice that a homework assignment that comes home is way too hard, the books are too hard or easy, please let me know. I can always re-evaluate a child to check on his/her progress. I am trying to complete at least two running records a day with kids. This takes at least 20-25 minutes a day though.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need anything. If you do not hear back from me within a 24-hour period, please re-email me. I don’t want to miss responding to anything.
I hope everyone has a happy and fun weekend!
Thanks,
Janell
If you can believe this, it is already November. Conferences are quickly approaching. I am looking forward to sitting down and showing you how your child is progressing academically and socially. Our class is awesome and I’m excited about everything that I see happening with them.
Please join the Ada Vista PTO for movie night Friday 11/4 at 6:30 p.m. to watch Zootopia. Snacks will be provided and this event is free. Please bring you blankets, pillows and water bottles. This event is NOT a drop off event. We look forward to seeing everyone there.
The kids all brought home homework in math yesterday. They have until Monday to complete it. It was on section 3.2 and deals with fact families. Some of the most difficult ideas for the kids to understand is that you cannot change the members of the family for other numbers. You also must start the subtraction with the biggest number or the family won’t work.
In math, we have completed through sections 3.4. The kids are learning different subtraction strategies. We have mostly discussed using fact families and other addition strategies to solve subtraction problems. For any child who I see still learning their addition facts fluently, those kids have been working with me on building more specific addition strategies.
In social studies, we have started to study the different bodies of water and different land forms. These include: plains (la llanura), mountain (la montaña), desert (el desierto), valley (el valle), plateau (la meseta), island (la isla), lake (el lago), river (el río), swamp (el pantano), well (el pozo), and ocean, (el océano). The kids need to be able to identify and describe these.
The kids have received a new set of words for Palabras a su paso. This is their Spanish spelling patterns. What pattern is your child working on right now?
We are fully into the Daily Five in class. The kids are choosing their own order for centers and it seems to be going much better this week than last week. Some of the kids are still learning how to mark their graphs to indicate what they are working on.
Here are some different activities that the kids have done during the Daily Five:
- Wrote a story or finished an old story.
- Separated spelling pattern words with a partner.
- Drew pictures to go with their new words to see which were new vocabulary. Then they reviewed this with me in groups.
- Wrote sentences with ten of their new words.
- Read with a partner, looking for nouns (sustantivos) and which category of feminine singular, masculine singular, feminine plural or masculine plural that they belonged in. Wrote these nouns on a sheet of paper.
- Read a new poem and discussed it with a partner.
- Listened to various stories on their RAZ-Kids account.
- Read to self, while looking for words that fit their spelling patterns.
In groups with me, the kids were introduced to their new spelling pattern, drew pictures to go with the new words that they didn’t know. Wrote out a list of the words, divided into the correct category. In reading groups, I met with each group and we talked more about what their focus was and the kids all had individual time to practice their skills while I listened in and helped guide them appropriately. What is your child’s goal at school?
We have started studying non-fiction books. The kids learned about the glossary (el glosario) and the contents (el contenido). What does your child remember about these? Can your child find them in a book?
We fill each and every day with as many active, hands on activities as possible. I try hard to keep each and every child engaged and learning at the most appropriate level for them. If you notice that a homework assignment that comes home is way too hard, the books are too hard or easy, please let me know. I can always re-evaluate a child to check on his/her progress. I am trying to complete at least two running records a day with kids. This takes at least 20-25 minutes a day though.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need anything. If you do not hear back from me within a 24-hour period, please re-email me. I don’t want to miss responding to anything.
I hope everyone has a happy and fun weekend!
Thanks,
Janell
Did you know that our music teacher, Sra. Pool, has her own class website? You can find it at https://sites.google.com/a/fhps.net/sra-pool-ada-vista/ .
Hola familias, 10-27-2016
Are you ready for this weather? I know that I’m not. The kids never seem to be bothered by it when they are outside, but it’s amazing how they are bothered by it while they are in the classroom. The temperature in our classroom can go from slightly warm to slightly chilly. Please make sure that your child is wearing layers that he/she can put on and take off.
If you have not yet had the opportunity to sign up for conferences, please do it soon. I will be getting in contact with families who are not on my list to schedule a time to get together with me. I’m excited to share with you how your child is progressing so far this year.
We have a special day tomorrow. I’m sorry for the late notice. It completely slipped under my radar. We have University Day tomorrow. The kids can come with apparel of their favorite university.
We will be having our first class party on Monday. If you would still like to donate money toward this and haven’t had a chance, please send it in and we will get it home to our fantastic room parents.
This week was a big change for the kids. In the afternoon, we always do our language arts activities. This week, the kids all started doing Los cinco de cada día. Each day, we do five different language arts activities; read to self, read with a partner, listen to reading, writing, and working with words. Before this week, I told the kids what order they would be doing these activities. This week, the kids started to be able to pick the order that they would like to complete their activities. Each child has a chart that is specified for them. Twice a week, each child has a time that he/she meets with me for reading groups or to work with their words from Palabras a su paso. Some of the kids need a bit more guidance on how to choose appropriate working partners. Some of the kids are choosing great friends that they play well with, but do not work well with. I am trying to guide them to make better choices.
When the kids are doing each of these activities, they also have an additional job to complete. For example, while the kids were reading with partners this week, they searched for words that fit into their word patterns in Palabras a su paso. These words were written on sheets of paper. Another activity was to look for infinitive verbs and make a list.
While the kids did listen to reading on the computer, they simply listened to the story and followed along in the book. Over the last two days, they were to also make a list of all verbs they saw in the book. They were working with partners to accomplish this.
While working with words, they separated their words in different manners. They also looked through their book, trying to find examples of their words.
In writing, they are finishing up their fictional stories that they are working on. I will be using these and the kids’ fairy tales to write their conference reports. I’m enjoying reading them.
When the kids meet in reading groups with me, I have been teaching them a new way to help them improve their reading, based on their goals. It’s been great to watch them make the connections.
Tomorrow, we will be taking an assessment to see how the kids are progressing in their word patterns for Palabras a su paso. This is something that we only work on at school. I would prefer that the kids spend their time at home reading. If the kids show me that they have learned the pattern, they will get a new list next week. If not, they will be receiving another similar list to work on the spelling pattern.
The kids have been reading some poetry. I picked a couple of poems by Shel Silverstein. As a kid, I LOVED reading his poems and I still love them. I enjoy passing that love along to the kids. While reading these poems, we have talked about making mental images, new vocabulary, and different verb tenses.
The kids will also be taking an assessment to see how they are progressing with learning about maps. The kids have been doing a great job of learning the terms and working with maps. On Monday we will begin learning about what geography is. There are several terms that the kids will want to learn to be successful with this chapter. Please see the tab on the website that deals with Social Studies / Science vocabulary.
A final assessment that will happen is the chapter two math assessment. I’m hoping to get those checked, recorded and home by Monday. We will begin chapter three next week Monday.
Please note that I will not be sending any homework home with kids on Monday, October 31st. I know that many of the kids have plans for trick or treating or other parties. Free night!
I don’t even know if I can express my appreciation for all of your support at home! The kids are a wonderful, caring, sweet group of kids. They are definitely a positive reflection on their families.
Please don’t ever hesitate if you have any question, concerns, or fun stories to share. If you don’t hear back from me within 24 hours, please send the email again. I don’t want to miss anything.
Thanks and have a wonderful weekend!
Janell
Are you ready for this weather? I know that I’m not. The kids never seem to be bothered by it when they are outside, but it’s amazing how they are bothered by it while they are in the classroom. The temperature in our classroom can go from slightly warm to slightly chilly. Please make sure that your child is wearing layers that he/she can put on and take off.
If you have not yet had the opportunity to sign up for conferences, please do it soon. I will be getting in contact with families who are not on my list to schedule a time to get together with me. I’m excited to share with you how your child is progressing so far this year.
We have a special day tomorrow. I’m sorry for the late notice. It completely slipped under my radar. We have University Day tomorrow. The kids can come with apparel of their favorite university.
We will be having our first class party on Monday. If you would still like to donate money toward this and haven’t had a chance, please send it in and we will get it home to our fantastic room parents.
This week was a big change for the kids. In the afternoon, we always do our language arts activities. This week, the kids all started doing Los cinco de cada día. Each day, we do five different language arts activities; read to self, read with a partner, listen to reading, writing, and working with words. Before this week, I told the kids what order they would be doing these activities. This week, the kids started to be able to pick the order that they would like to complete their activities. Each child has a chart that is specified for them. Twice a week, each child has a time that he/she meets with me for reading groups or to work with their words from Palabras a su paso. Some of the kids need a bit more guidance on how to choose appropriate working partners. Some of the kids are choosing great friends that they play well with, but do not work well with. I am trying to guide them to make better choices.
When the kids are doing each of these activities, they also have an additional job to complete. For example, while the kids were reading with partners this week, they searched for words that fit into their word patterns in Palabras a su paso. These words were written on sheets of paper. Another activity was to look for infinitive verbs and make a list.
While the kids did listen to reading on the computer, they simply listened to the story and followed along in the book. Over the last two days, they were to also make a list of all verbs they saw in the book. They were working with partners to accomplish this.
While working with words, they separated their words in different manners. They also looked through their book, trying to find examples of their words.
In writing, they are finishing up their fictional stories that they are working on. I will be using these and the kids’ fairy tales to write their conference reports. I’m enjoying reading them.
When the kids meet in reading groups with me, I have been teaching them a new way to help them improve their reading, based on their goals. It’s been great to watch them make the connections.
Tomorrow, we will be taking an assessment to see how the kids are progressing in their word patterns for Palabras a su paso. This is something that we only work on at school. I would prefer that the kids spend their time at home reading. If the kids show me that they have learned the pattern, they will get a new list next week. If not, they will be receiving another similar list to work on the spelling pattern.
The kids have been reading some poetry. I picked a couple of poems by Shel Silverstein. As a kid, I LOVED reading his poems and I still love them. I enjoy passing that love along to the kids. While reading these poems, we have talked about making mental images, new vocabulary, and different verb tenses.
The kids will also be taking an assessment to see how they are progressing with learning about maps. The kids have been doing a great job of learning the terms and working with maps. On Monday we will begin learning about what geography is. There are several terms that the kids will want to learn to be successful with this chapter. Please see the tab on the website that deals with Social Studies / Science vocabulary.
A final assessment that will happen is the chapter two math assessment. I’m hoping to get those checked, recorded and home by Monday. We will begin chapter three next week Monday.
Please note that I will not be sending any homework home with kids on Monday, October 31st. I know that many of the kids have plans for trick or treating or other parties. Free night!
I don’t even know if I can express my appreciation for all of your support at home! The kids are a wonderful, caring, sweet group of kids. They are definitely a positive reflection on their families.
Please don’t ever hesitate if you have any question, concerns, or fun stories to share. If you don’t hear back from me within 24 hours, please send the email again. I don’t want to miss anything.
Thanks and have a wonderful weekend!
Janell
Hola familias, 10-13-2016
Another quick week has flown by! As I reach the end of each day, I always ask myself if we have learned new information, what went well, and what needs to be taught in a different way. The kids seem to be doing well in class and with homework. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. If you have emailed me and didn’t get a response, please send me the email again. I do not want to miss responding, but sometimes I think I will have time to respond more completely later and it gets lost in the lineup of emails. Resending an email in not bugging me or an inconvenience. It is reminding me and making sure that things are taken care of.
If you speak Spanish fluently and would like to volunteer in our class, please email me. I am in the process of setting up Spanish speaking volunteers to help with reading groups and math centers. We would love to have you help out! If you speak English, we will be looking for those volunteers a bit later in the year, but keep us in mind because we would love to have you help us out when we start English.
A couple of parents have asked about our field trips. We have a field trip to Howard Christensen Nature Center in the spring and another to some of the businesses in Ada in the spring. The other field trips that are set up by our music department and our culture department and we do not take volunteers on those trips. As a second grade team, we are going to try and set up the dates in the next couple of weeks and I will let you know what those end up being. Thank you for your patience as we organize this portion of our year.
Next week, we will be starting something called Palabras a su paso. If you have older children in the building, this is similar to the English Word Journeys. This is a way to teach spelling in Spanish that follows a progression through the learning process. It is individually determined, based on how the kids do on a pre-assessment. This assessment shows us what the kids already know how to do and what areas of growth we can work on. The kids will be taking an assessment every 2-3 weeks, but this isn’t something that should be studied at home. We will be working with the sounds every day in class. The assessment every few weeks is not intended to be a process of learning how to spell a handful of words and move on. These assessments are to show growth in spelling patterns. I would prefer that kids use their time at home to read, read, read, and do the occasional math page.
This week, some of the kids have started to have Home Links to complete at home. I email families to let you know if your child has homework and which section it is. If your child brought home a page and you didn’t receive an email, your child wanted to do the work at home to earn a ticket.
All of the kids now have reading homework. RAZ-Kids should be at your child’s appropriate and ready to go. If you need your access code again, please email. I would be happy to pass that along. In addition to RAZ-Kids, the kids are all working on different goals with the books that they are have at home. The kids also received two copies of these to use in class. They chose which books they would like to work on at school. We will be using these books to work on fluency as well as your child’s individual goals.
The kids are all in reading groups and are working with our aide in these groups. Based on their level and goals, they were put into groups. The kids will begin meeting with me to work on their reading goals as well.
Our aide time has also been used to help reinforce math concepts and to help teach some of the kids how to add two-digit numbers with carrying. The kids all have addition and subtraction math packets at school. As they finish the packet, I correct it and they get it back to fix any errors. Once the packet is correct, the kids receive a new packet. These packets are used when the kids finish the other math assignments and are waiting for their friends to finish up their work. This way, the kids always have something to work on.
In math this week, we have been studying how to use strategies to help the kids add fluently. We reviewed doubles. Then the kids did almost doubles. They learned how to use a doubles fact to solve an almost doubles fact. It is done by using a doubles fact plus or minus one. We reviewed how to make groups of tens. Then the kids learned how to make groups of tens when they have larger numbers and then to add on the rest of the numbers. We have also talked about inverse sums. (4+3=7 and 3+4=7).
We have played games to help with these concepts. Ask your child about how to play A la pesca de 10, roll a dice and double the number (or use cards), Cambia el dinero, and Dominos. (Pull a domino and write the sum. Then write the inverse operation.)
The kids have continued to study urban, suburban, and rural communities. The assessment on these will be tomorrow. Next week, the kids will begin studying maps. There are several terms for the kids to learn. These terms have been added to our class website. If you would like to help your child learn these terms at home, feel free to print them off. If you do not have a printer and would like a copy, please email me and I will get a copy of them sent home.
The kids have been learning how to identify preterit verbs in the él/ella/Ud and the ellos/ellas/Uds. forms. We talked about the pattern and wrote it out. Then we read the story “Los tres cerditos y el lobo no tan feroz”. As we read the story, we learned new vocabulary and went looking for verbs that went into these categories. After two days of practicing this as a class, the kids got together with partners and while they read together, they were writing down the words that fit into these categories. The kids took home the paper that we filled in as we read our story together. Can your child explain what is written on their paper?
The kids also did a class book, working on the phrase “Yo puse”. All of a sudden, I am hearing the phrase “yo poní”. This follows the preterit pattern, but is incorrect. This phrase is now on the wall so that the kids can help each other correct this error.
That’s what I have for us this week. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share.
Have a wonderful night!
Janell
Another quick week has flown by! As I reach the end of each day, I always ask myself if we have learned new information, what went well, and what needs to be taught in a different way. The kids seem to be doing well in class and with homework. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. If you have emailed me and didn’t get a response, please send me the email again. I do not want to miss responding, but sometimes I think I will have time to respond more completely later and it gets lost in the lineup of emails. Resending an email in not bugging me or an inconvenience. It is reminding me and making sure that things are taken care of.
If you speak Spanish fluently and would like to volunteer in our class, please email me. I am in the process of setting up Spanish speaking volunteers to help with reading groups and math centers. We would love to have you help out! If you speak English, we will be looking for those volunteers a bit later in the year, but keep us in mind because we would love to have you help us out when we start English.
A couple of parents have asked about our field trips. We have a field trip to Howard Christensen Nature Center in the spring and another to some of the businesses in Ada in the spring. The other field trips that are set up by our music department and our culture department and we do not take volunteers on those trips. As a second grade team, we are going to try and set up the dates in the next couple of weeks and I will let you know what those end up being. Thank you for your patience as we organize this portion of our year.
Next week, we will be starting something called Palabras a su paso. If you have older children in the building, this is similar to the English Word Journeys. This is a way to teach spelling in Spanish that follows a progression through the learning process. It is individually determined, based on how the kids do on a pre-assessment. This assessment shows us what the kids already know how to do and what areas of growth we can work on. The kids will be taking an assessment every 2-3 weeks, but this isn’t something that should be studied at home. We will be working with the sounds every day in class. The assessment every few weeks is not intended to be a process of learning how to spell a handful of words and move on. These assessments are to show growth in spelling patterns. I would prefer that kids use their time at home to read, read, read, and do the occasional math page.
This week, some of the kids have started to have Home Links to complete at home. I email families to let you know if your child has homework and which section it is. If your child brought home a page and you didn’t receive an email, your child wanted to do the work at home to earn a ticket.
All of the kids now have reading homework. RAZ-Kids should be at your child’s appropriate and ready to go. If you need your access code again, please email. I would be happy to pass that along. In addition to RAZ-Kids, the kids are all working on different goals with the books that they are have at home. The kids also received two copies of these to use in class. They chose which books they would like to work on at school. We will be using these books to work on fluency as well as your child’s individual goals.
The kids are all in reading groups and are working with our aide in these groups. Based on their level and goals, they were put into groups. The kids will begin meeting with me to work on their reading goals as well.
Our aide time has also been used to help reinforce math concepts and to help teach some of the kids how to add two-digit numbers with carrying. The kids all have addition and subtraction math packets at school. As they finish the packet, I correct it and they get it back to fix any errors. Once the packet is correct, the kids receive a new packet. These packets are used when the kids finish the other math assignments and are waiting for their friends to finish up their work. This way, the kids always have something to work on.
In math this week, we have been studying how to use strategies to help the kids add fluently. We reviewed doubles. Then the kids did almost doubles. They learned how to use a doubles fact to solve an almost doubles fact. It is done by using a doubles fact plus or minus one. We reviewed how to make groups of tens. Then the kids learned how to make groups of tens when they have larger numbers and then to add on the rest of the numbers. We have also talked about inverse sums. (4+3=7 and 3+4=7).
We have played games to help with these concepts. Ask your child about how to play A la pesca de 10, roll a dice and double the number (or use cards), Cambia el dinero, and Dominos. (Pull a domino and write the sum. Then write the inverse operation.)
The kids have continued to study urban, suburban, and rural communities. The assessment on these will be tomorrow. Next week, the kids will begin studying maps. There are several terms for the kids to learn. These terms have been added to our class website. If you would like to help your child learn these terms at home, feel free to print them off. If you do not have a printer and would like a copy, please email me and I will get a copy of them sent home.
The kids have been learning how to identify preterit verbs in the él/ella/Ud and the ellos/ellas/Uds. forms. We talked about the pattern and wrote it out. Then we read the story “Los tres cerditos y el lobo no tan feroz”. As we read the story, we learned new vocabulary and went looking for verbs that went into these categories. After two days of practicing this as a class, the kids got together with partners and while they read together, they were writing down the words that fit into these categories. The kids took home the paper that we filled in as we read our story together. Can your child explain what is written on their paper?
The kids also did a class book, working on the phrase “Yo puse”. All of a sudden, I am hearing the phrase “yo poní”. This follows the preterit pattern, but is incorrect. This phrase is now on the wall so that the kids can help each other correct this error.
That’s what I have for us this week. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share.
Have a wonderful night!
Janell
Update - State of The Program Information Night
In FHPS we have great appreciation and respect for special holidays which are observed by our school community families. We have recently learned that our original date of October 11 interferes with the special celebrations that take place on the eve of Yom Kippur. For that reason, we are respectfully rescheduling our State of The Program Information Night to Monday, October 17 at 6:00 p.m.
In FHPS we have great appreciation and respect for special holidays which are observed by our school community families. We have recently learned that our original date of October 11 interferes with the special celebrations that take place on the eve of Yom Kippur. For that reason, we are respectfully rescheduling our State of The Program Information Night to Monday, October 17 at 6:00 p.m.
Hola familias,
Just a quick note to let you know that I just found out that my email address will be changing Monday, October 10, between 5-6 pm. After that time, you will be able to reach me at [email protected].
Thank you so much!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Just a quick note to let you know that I just found out that my email address will be changing Monday, October 10, between 5-6 pm. After that time, you will be able to reach me at [email protected].
Thank you so much!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Hola familias, 10-6-2016
What a quick week! I don’t know if your child felt this way, but I know I do.
Friday, October 7th, we will be having a PJ Day! The kids are also allowed to bring a stuffed animal/doll with them. It needs to be smaller than their backpacks. If it needs its own seat, it's too big. :-) The kids have done an incredible job. Our sub left a note telling me how awesome our class was. I was in the building and each time I walked by, I heard the kids speaking in Spanish to one another. That is commitment to the language experience!
Tomorrow, Friday, October 7th, is a half day for students. Dismissal time is at 11:20.
The kids’ chapter one math assessment went home with the kids today. Just a reminder that the top copy (blue) is the final assessment is on the top. The green one was the pre-assessment that we take before we study the chapter. This allows you and your child to see what he/she has learned in this chapter. Please do not worry if there are areas that are still not mastered. We continue to address these issues and our program is designed to be cyclical. The kids do not learn something and move on. We constantly review.
In math, we will be through section 2.3. Due to having a substitute and two days of MAP testing, we have only completed three sections this week. We are on target with all of the second grade classes with this. As teachers, we have a weekly meeting to make sure that we are staying together. Tomorrow, some of the kids may have Home Links to complete as homework, but you will receive an email if this is the case.
I have one child left to read with and then all the children are at an appropriate level. I have updated all of the kids’ RAZ Kids accounts. Please let me know if your child’s RAZ Kids account isn’t the same as your child’s book. Each child is working on a goal, based on individual needs. We will be working on these in class too. Please keep in mind that all of the levels sometimes have some books that are bit easier or a bit harder than the average in that level. If you have any questions about why your child is at the level he/she is at, please ask. I’d be happy to share with you what I found during the running records.
In social studies, the kids have been learning about different types of communities: suburban (una comunidad suburbana), urban (una comunidad urbana), and rural (una comunidad rural). These are things that all of the kids should learn and know. They should be able to associate a suburban community with a neighborhood, an urban community with a city, and a rural community with small towns or the countryside.
The kids also had the opportunity to make a community worker. We have been talking about how community workers help people in their communities. What kind of community worker did your child make with the substitute?
As a focus for Spanish language arts, we have continued to talk about verbs in the infinitive form and in the imperfect form. Our focus has been on how these have pattern that we follow when writing them and when we read them. As a class, we made a chart and then we read a book, looking for the imperfect pattern. Then the kids read with a partner and looked for these patterns again. These patterns can tell us who is doing the action without necessarily needing the pronoun. Next week we will begin the process of talking about verbs in the preterit. We are focusing on verbs in the past tense because that is what is used when reading fairy tales.
Another focus for Spanish language arts has been on gender agreements with nouns. This is something specific for Spanish that doesn’t exist in English. We have been talking about why words use el/la and un/una. We have also extended this to include how adjectives are included in this idea. I do not expect that the kids will do this perfectly after only a few weeks of introducing it, but my goal is to make them aware of it and to start correcting themselves and each other.
I have told the kids that they need to be teachers when it comes to helping their friends with their Spanish grammar. I am only one teacher and I can’t be everywhere at once. We have talked a lot about how to correct others and how our tone of voice is important. I love hearing the kids starting to help their peers improve their Spanish!
The kids have been doing a wonderful job of writing their Spanish fairy tales. Many of them are in the stage of illustrating them. They are proud of their stories and I can’t wait to hear them!
The kids did the first part of the MAP testing that we are doing in second grade. What did your child think of this process? They seemed to do well with it. Some kids needed support in how to click and drag. Others needed some more support with getting into the program. Once we worked out those details, it seemed to go well from an outsiders’ point of view. What were your child’s thoughts?
We have one more section to do tomorrow and then we are done with MAP testing for the fall session.
That’s what I have on my end. Please let me know how things are going on your end. Do you have a question? Do you have a concern? Do you have a fun story to share? I’d love to hear any and all of it and help if I can.
Thank you so much for all of your support at home!
Janell
What a quick week! I don’t know if your child felt this way, but I know I do.
Friday, October 7th, we will be having a PJ Day! The kids are also allowed to bring a stuffed animal/doll with them. It needs to be smaller than their backpacks. If it needs its own seat, it's too big. :-) The kids have done an incredible job. Our sub left a note telling me how awesome our class was. I was in the building and each time I walked by, I heard the kids speaking in Spanish to one another. That is commitment to the language experience!
Tomorrow, Friday, October 7th, is a half day for students. Dismissal time is at 11:20.
The kids’ chapter one math assessment went home with the kids today. Just a reminder that the top copy (blue) is the final assessment is on the top. The green one was the pre-assessment that we take before we study the chapter. This allows you and your child to see what he/she has learned in this chapter. Please do not worry if there are areas that are still not mastered. We continue to address these issues and our program is designed to be cyclical. The kids do not learn something and move on. We constantly review.
In math, we will be through section 2.3. Due to having a substitute and two days of MAP testing, we have only completed three sections this week. We are on target with all of the second grade classes with this. As teachers, we have a weekly meeting to make sure that we are staying together. Tomorrow, some of the kids may have Home Links to complete as homework, but you will receive an email if this is the case.
I have one child left to read with and then all the children are at an appropriate level. I have updated all of the kids’ RAZ Kids accounts. Please let me know if your child’s RAZ Kids account isn’t the same as your child’s book. Each child is working on a goal, based on individual needs. We will be working on these in class too. Please keep in mind that all of the levels sometimes have some books that are bit easier or a bit harder than the average in that level. If you have any questions about why your child is at the level he/she is at, please ask. I’d be happy to share with you what I found during the running records.
In social studies, the kids have been learning about different types of communities: suburban (una comunidad suburbana), urban (una comunidad urbana), and rural (una comunidad rural). These are things that all of the kids should learn and know. They should be able to associate a suburban community with a neighborhood, an urban community with a city, and a rural community with small towns or the countryside.
The kids also had the opportunity to make a community worker. We have been talking about how community workers help people in their communities. What kind of community worker did your child make with the substitute?
As a focus for Spanish language arts, we have continued to talk about verbs in the infinitive form and in the imperfect form. Our focus has been on how these have pattern that we follow when writing them and when we read them. As a class, we made a chart and then we read a book, looking for the imperfect pattern. Then the kids read with a partner and looked for these patterns again. These patterns can tell us who is doing the action without necessarily needing the pronoun. Next week we will begin the process of talking about verbs in the preterit. We are focusing on verbs in the past tense because that is what is used when reading fairy tales.
Another focus for Spanish language arts has been on gender agreements with nouns. This is something specific for Spanish that doesn’t exist in English. We have been talking about why words use el/la and un/una. We have also extended this to include how adjectives are included in this idea. I do not expect that the kids will do this perfectly after only a few weeks of introducing it, but my goal is to make them aware of it and to start correcting themselves and each other.
I have told the kids that they need to be teachers when it comes to helping their friends with their Spanish grammar. I am only one teacher and I can’t be everywhere at once. We have talked a lot about how to correct others and how our tone of voice is important. I love hearing the kids starting to help their peers improve their Spanish!
The kids have been doing a wonderful job of writing their Spanish fairy tales. Many of them are in the stage of illustrating them. They are proud of their stories and I can’t wait to hear them!
The kids did the first part of the MAP testing that we are doing in second grade. What did your child think of this process? They seemed to do well with it. Some kids needed support in how to click and drag. Others needed some more support with getting into the program. Once we worked out those details, it seemed to go well from an outsiders’ point of view. What were your child’s thoughts?
We have one more section to do tomorrow and then we are done with MAP testing for the fall session.
That’s what I have on my end. Please let me know how things are going on your end. Do you have a question? Do you have a concern? Do you have a fun story to share? I’d love to hear any and all of it and help if I can.
Thank you so much for all of your support at home!
Janell
Hola familias,
Just a quick note to let you know two important things.
1. Friday, October 7th, we will be having a PJ Day! They are also allowed to bring a stuffed animal/doll with them. It needs to be smaller than their backpacks. If it needs its own seat, it's too big. :-) The kids have done an incredible job. Our sub left a note telling me how awesome our class was. I was in the building and each time I walked by, I heard the kids speaking in Spanish to one another. That is commitment to the language experience!
2. Tomorrow is a half day for students. Dismissal time is at 11:20.
Thanks!
Just a quick note to let you know two important things.
1. Friday, October 7th, we will be having a PJ Day! They are also allowed to bring a stuffed animal/doll with them. It needs to be smaller than their backpacks. If it needs its own seat, it's too big. :-) The kids have done an incredible job. Our sub left a note telling me how awesome our class was. I was in the building and each time I walked by, I heard the kids speaking in Spanish to one another. That is commitment to the language experience!
2. Tomorrow is a half day for students. Dismissal time is at 11:20.
Thanks!
Hola familias, 9-29-2016
We have had a very busy week! I hope that your child has been coming home with positive things to say about what is going on in the classroom.
We are still looking for a parent or a couple of parents to be our room parents. If you have the time and energy to donate to our class, please let me know. If you are concerned about coming up with ideas, I’m happy to help with that end.
The Caminata de colores is tomorrow. We will be heading outside around 1:10 to get in line for pictures before we leave for the walk. If you would like to join us, you are more than welcome to come. Please come prepared to help guide all the kids to appropriate public behavior and safety. We have an awesome class and I want to make sure that the kids represent themselves, their families, their class, and their school to the best of their abilities. We will be going if there is a slight rain, but not if it is raining heavily or thunder storming. Please make sure that your child comes to school prepared to walk outside in most weather for a while.
PLEASE do not hesitate to contact me a second time if you do not receive a response to an email within 24 hours. I try very hard to respond immediately to emails and if I don’t, I want to make sure to answer your question. Emailing me a second time isn’t pushy or an inconvenience. It’s helping me to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. THANKS!!
This week, I have been working on completing running records. Thank you so much for all of your patience! To level each child takes about 20-30 minutes. And, I need to do this while the kids are working independently. That limits when we can do them. They will all be completed by next Wednesday. If your child brought home books, but you haven’t received an email from me, please contact me. I’ve tried to email parents the night that the books go home, but I might have missed someone. Kids are working on different goals, based on what I observed during the running record.
The kids have had a lot of opportunities to read by themselves, read with a partner, and write. We have reviewed how to pick out appropriate books. I have noticed some of the kids trying the same technique during our library time.
The kids made their outline for their fairy tale. It will be based on The Three Little Pigs. The kids need to change the setting and characters. They also need to make the decision as to whether the three little animals run to their siblings’ houses or if they are eaten. We will begin writing these stories tomorrow.
While the kids were reading with partners, they made a list of verbs in the infinitive. We will be talking about verbs in the imperfect tomorrow and next week. In general with verbs, we have been talking about how they have patterns and when we use the wrong conjugation for verbs, it confuses our listener. Some of the words have been focus areas for us and I have encouraged the kids to act as teachers with these and to politely help correct their friends. We have also been talking about gender and number agreements with nouns. In English, we have one word for “el” or “la” in Spanish. I have been drawing the kids’ attention to this. By recognizing these patterns, it can make reading, writing, and speaking easier to do and to comprehend.
In social studies this week, the kids learned that communities have four important places: places for work, play, live, and solve problems. We listened to the computer read the chapter on this and spent time discussing each idea as a class, in partners, and in small groups. The kids were put into groups of three to make a community that had all four of these elements. Then they had to prepare a presentation. I videotaped the presentations and I’m hoping to share them with families this weekend through email.
In math, we completed the chapter one assessment. I will be working on grading and recording their scores over the weekend. If you get your child’s test and there are still errors, please do not be concerned. We do not just move on after this. Kids will still receive support until they master a concept. This will also be time for me to challenge the kids in areas where they have demonstrated mastery.
When the math tests come home, you will see both the pre-assessment (that we take before working on the chapter and learning the concepts) and the post-assessment. This will help you see what your child has learned during this chapter. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions regarding what was on the assessment. The kids who showed that they haven’t mastered a concept will have the opportunity to demonstrate this again at a later date. We don’t stop learning the concepts just because we are in a different chapter.
The English version of the Home Links is available in English on our class website. If you check the tabs at the top, there is a tab for the Home Links.
On our website, there is also a tab for the social studies vocabulary that we will be studying during each chapter. If you know that your child needs extra assistance in this area, please feel free to download those or print them to work with them at home. The next chapter has some important vocabulary that we will continue to use throughout the rest of the year and vocabulary that the kids will need to know to pass the assessment.
As a class, we talked about the importance of walking in the halls. We do this to keep ourselves safe and the other students, teachers, and visitors safe as well.
I have been doing my best this week to help encourage the kids to do their best in all areas and to be leaders in the school. They have been rising to the occasion. Both Sra. Hillary and Sra. Clapp approached me to let me know what a great job the kids did during culture class and during lunch. This was completely unsolicited and I was so happy to pass that awesome news to the kids.
I’m so excited to be blessed every day to go to work and be with your children. I adore these kids and love spending my days helping to guide them through the learning process.
Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share!
Have a wonderful night and stay dry!
Janell Bruin
We have had a very busy week! I hope that your child has been coming home with positive things to say about what is going on in the classroom.
We are still looking for a parent or a couple of parents to be our room parents. If you have the time and energy to donate to our class, please let me know. If you are concerned about coming up with ideas, I’m happy to help with that end.
The Caminata de colores is tomorrow. We will be heading outside around 1:10 to get in line for pictures before we leave for the walk. If you would like to join us, you are more than welcome to come. Please come prepared to help guide all the kids to appropriate public behavior and safety. We have an awesome class and I want to make sure that the kids represent themselves, their families, their class, and their school to the best of their abilities. We will be going if there is a slight rain, but not if it is raining heavily or thunder storming. Please make sure that your child comes to school prepared to walk outside in most weather for a while.
PLEASE do not hesitate to contact me a second time if you do not receive a response to an email within 24 hours. I try very hard to respond immediately to emails and if I don’t, I want to make sure to answer your question. Emailing me a second time isn’t pushy or an inconvenience. It’s helping me to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. THANKS!!
This week, I have been working on completing running records. Thank you so much for all of your patience! To level each child takes about 20-30 minutes. And, I need to do this while the kids are working independently. That limits when we can do them. They will all be completed by next Wednesday. If your child brought home books, but you haven’t received an email from me, please contact me. I’ve tried to email parents the night that the books go home, but I might have missed someone. Kids are working on different goals, based on what I observed during the running record.
The kids have had a lot of opportunities to read by themselves, read with a partner, and write. We have reviewed how to pick out appropriate books. I have noticed some of the kids trying the same technique during our library time.
The kids made their outline for their fairy tale. It will be based on The Three Little Pigs. The kids need to change the setting and characters. They also need to make the decision as to whether the three little animals run to their siblings’ houses or if they are eaten. We will begin writing these stories tomorrow.
While the kids were reading with partners, they made a list of verbs in the infinitive. We will be talking about verbs in the imperfect tomorrow and next week. In general with verbs, we have been talking about how they have patterns and when we use the wrong conjugation for verbs, it confuses our listener. Some of the words have been focus areas for us and I have encouraged the kids to act as teachers with these and to politely help correct their friends. We have also been talking about gender and number agreements with nouns. In English, we have one word for “el” or “la” in Spanish. I have been drawing the kids’ attention to this. By recognizing these patterns, it can make reading, writing, and speaking easier to do and to comprehend.
In social studies this week, the kids learned that communities have four important places: places for work, play, live, and solve problems. We listened to the computer read the chapter on this and spent time discussing each idea as a class, in partners, and in small groups. The kids were put into groups of three to make a community that had all four of these elements. Then they had to prepare a presentation. I videotaped the presentations and I’m hoping to share them with families this weekend through email.
In math, we completed the chapter one assessment. I will be working on grading and recording their scores over the weekend. If you get your child’s test and there are still errors, please do not be concerned. We do not just move on after this. Kids will still receive support until they master a concept. This will also be time for me to challenge the kids in areas where they have demonstrated mastery.
When the math tests come home, you will see both the pre-assessment (that we take before working on the chapter and learning the concepts) and the post-assessment. This will help you see what your child has learned during this chapter. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions regarding what was on the assessment. The kids who showed that they haven’t mastered a concept will have the opportunity to demonstrate this again at a later date. We don’t stop learning the concepts just because we are in a different chapter.
The English version of the Home Links is available in English on our class website. If you check the tabs at the top, there is a tab for the Home Links.
On our website, there is also a tab for the social studies vocabulary that we will be studying during each chapter. If you know that your child needs extra assistance in this area, please feel free to download those or print them to work with them at home. The next chapter has some important vocabulary that we will continue to use throughout the rest of the year and vocabulary that the kids will need to know to pass the assessment.
As a class, we talked about the importance of walking in the halls. We do this to keep ourselves safe and the other students, teachers, and visitors safe as well.
I have been doing my best this week to help encourage the kids to do their best in all areas and to be leaders in the school. They have been rising to the occasion. Both Sra. Hillary and Sra. Clapp approached me to let me know what a great job the kids did during culture class and during lunch. This was completely unsolicited and I was so happy to pass that awesome news to the kids.
I’m so excited to be blessed every day to go to work and be with your children. I adore these kids and love spending my days helping to guide them through the learning process.
Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share!
Have a wonderful night and stay dry!
Janell Bruin
Hola familias, 9-23-16
Thank you so much to everyone who was able to attend our Curriculum Night! If you went home and have thought of something you wanted to ask about, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Next week Friday is the Caminata de colores. This is a wonderful fundraiser for our school and a great way to get the kids involved in helping their school. Hopefully we have nice weather and the kids enjoy the walk!
The kids have had many opportunities to read with a partner and to read by themselves. I have been frantically trying to get running records completed with each student and I’ve only been able to finish 10 so far. It takes a minimum of two running records per child to find an appropriate level for independent and instructional reading times. As I find a child’s level, I have been sending home reading homework with the kids.
During our read aloud times, we have been talking about the story Los tres cerditos. We then read La verdadera historia de los tres cerditos. With this book, we talked about perspective. This book is written from the wolf’s perspective and, of course, he isn’t a big, bad wolf. The third story that follows a similar story line is Los tres pececitos y el tiburón feroz. We compared it to how it was similar and different from the other two stories. Next week, the kids will be writing a story similar to The Three Little Pigs, but they will use different characters, settings, and choose which kind of ending they want.
While reading these stories, the kids also wrote outlines for the stories. They are learning that stories have three main parts; an introduction, a problem (nudo), and a solution to the problem (desenlace).
We talked about infinitive verbs this week. First, we reviewed what a verb was and how it changes depending on the subject. Then we talked about infinitive verbs. While the kids were reading with a partner, they were searching for infinitive verbs in their reading and making a list of these words.
We wrote another class book. This one used the phrase “Yo voy”. We are in the process of correcting it as a class so that we can learn from each other.
The kids also learned how to do “Formando palabras”. This is a process where they arrange and rearrange given letters to make words in Spanish. Some of the kids were so proud of the long words they found. One child even found the magic word, which uses all the letters.
In math this week, the kids worked on learning doubles, played “Calculadora rota”, worked more with skip counting on the hundred chart (but using numbers bigger than 100), played A la pesca de 10, examined quarters, learned about odd (impar) and even (par) numbers, and started using tarjetas de vista rápida. Ask your child about these concepts. Can he/she tell you what all of these are? Can your child explain all of these to you?
In science, we have wrapped up our study of germs. Next week, we will be learning about what makes up a community.
On Wednesday, a Forest Hills bus driver came and talked to the kids about bus safety. Can your child tell you something he/she learned?
I’m so happy to be spending my days with your children. I adore their personalities and their sense of humor. I’m excited to see some of the kids coming out of their shell, smiling, and enjoying our learning and social time. Thank you so much for all you do at home to support us!
If you ever have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please let me know!
Have an amazing weekend!
Janell
Thank you so much to everyone who was able to attend our Curriculum Night! If you went home and have thought of something you wanted to ask about, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Next week Friday is the Caminata de colores. This is a wonderful fundraiser for our school and a great way to get the kids involved in helping their school. Hopefully we have nice weather and the kids enjoy the walk!
The kids have had many opportunities to read with a partner and to read by themselves. I have been frantically trying to get running records completed with each student and I’ve only been able to finish 10 so far. It takes a minimum of two running records per child to find an appropriate level for independent and instructional reading times. As I find a child’s level, I have been sending home reading homework with the kids.
During our read aloud times, we have been talking about the story Los tres cerditos. We then read La verdadera historia de los tres cerditos. With this book, we talked about perspective. This book is written from the wolf’s perspective and, of course, he isn’t a big, bad wolf. The third story that follows a similar story line is Los tres pececitos y el tiburón feroz. We compared it to how it was similar and different from the other two stories. Next week, the kids will be writing a story similar to The Three Little Pigs, but they will use different characters, settings, and choose which kind of ending they want.
While reading these stories, the kids also wrote outlines for the stories. They are learning that stories have three main parts; an introduction, a problem (nudo), and a solution to the problem (desenlace).
We talked about infinitive verbs this week. First, we reviewed what a verb was and how it changes depending on the subject. Then we talked about infinitive verbs. While the kids were reading with a partner, they were searching for infinitive verbs in their reading and making a list of these words.
We wrote another class book. This one used the phrase “Yo voy”. We are in the process of correcting it as a class so that we can learn from each other.
The kids also learned how to do “Formando palabras”. This is a process where they arrange and rearrange given letters to make words in Spanish. Some of the kids were so proud of the long words they found. One child even found the magic word, which uses all the letters.
In math this week, the kids worked on learning doubles, played “Calculadora rota”, worked more with skip counting on the hundred chart (but using numbers bigger than 100), played A la pesca de 10, examined quarters, learned about odd (impar) and even (par) numbers, and started using tarjetas de vista rápida. Ask your child about these concepts. Can he/she tell you what all of these are? Can your child explain all of these to you?
In science, we have wrapped up our study of germs. Next week, we will be learning about what makes up a community.
On Wednesday, a Forest Hills bus driver came and talked to the kids about bus safety. Can your child tell you something he/she learned?
I’m so happy to be spending my days with your children. I adore their personalities and their sense of humor. I’m excited to see some of the kids coming out of their shell, smiling, and enjoying our learning and social time. Thank you so much for all you do at home to support us!
If you ever have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please let me know!
Have an amazing weekend!
Janell
Caminata de colores
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!--Caminata de Colores is on Friday, September 30 @1:30pm. Come to the first all-school event of the year!
Donation envelopes are due Monday 9/26. Any amount counts! Returned envelopes will go towards classroom participation. Any class with 100% participation, each student receives a prize.
Here is a great incentive for kids to do their chores -- Students can buy colored swag to wear at the event during lunch on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday ($.25-$4 options). The colors for each grade are: Kinder-turquoise blue, 1st-lime green, 2nd-yellow, 3rd-orange, and 4th-bright pink. Your children can add any extra color to their outfit on thatFriday. Wacky outfits, colorful hair are encouraged!
This year we will have Menchie's frozen yogurt and music by Luc James Studios. Any family member who would like to volunteer can contact Angel at [email protected]. We will see you then!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!--Caminata de Colores is on Friday, September 30 @1:30pm. Come to the first all-school event of the year!
Donation envelopes are due Monday 9/26. Any amount counts! Returned envelopes will go towards classroom participation. Any class with 100% participation, each student receives a prize.
Here is a great incentive for kids to do their chores -- Students can buy colored swag to wear at the event during lunch on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday ($.25-$4 options). The colors for each grade are: Kinder-turquoise blue, 1st-lime green, 2nd-yellow, 3rd-orange, and 4th-bright pink. Your children can add any extra color to their outfit on thatFriday. Wacky outfits, colorful hair are encouraged!
This year we will have Menchie's frozen yogurt and music by Luc James Studios. Any family member who would like to volunteer can contact Angel at [email protected]. We will see you then!
Hola familias,
This is to recap what we talked about at Curriculum Night. Hopefully I have included everything in this. If you see something missing, please let me know!
If you have any questions and they are not covered by this email, feel free to email me! I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thanks!!
Janell Bruin
This is to recap what we talked about at Curriculum Night. Hopefully I have included everything in this. If you see something missing, please let me know!
- Volunteers – We will be starting Spanish speaking volunteers in October. If you speak Spanish fluently and would like to volunteer, please email me some times and days that would work for you and how often you would like to help out. English volunteers will be needed to run reading groups and work with the kids on sight words. As we get closer to starting English, I will be sending out an email asking for volunteers. All volunteers need to fill out a Volunteer Consent Form and submit it to the office.
- Homework – There are basically four main things for homework. If you end up spending more than about 20 minutes a night on homework, PLEASE CONTACT ME. This means that the homework is inappropriate for your child.
- Math –
- I have the access codes for all of the kids for our math program on Connect Ed. There are a ton of fun games on the site for the kids to play. The homework is also available under the house icon of the main page. I will be sending home “meaningful homework” this year. This means that the homework will be assigned to anyone who seems to almost have the concept, but needs some more practice. If a child is experiencing difficulty, we will be working with them more at school before they get homework. I don’t want to make parents have to do my job. Also, if a child gets the concept and it is easy, I do not want to give homework that is going to bore him/her.
- I also have access codes for X-tra Math. If your child has an account from last year, it can be linked with this year’s account. This program only works with learning facts and is not connected to our math program.
- Reading – RAZ-Kids is up and running. Your child may not be at an appropriate level yet. As I complete running records and get a great level for your child, this will be reflected on the website. The kids will also be getting books. Depending on the focus for your child, you will receive an email letting you know what the plan is for your individual child regarding reading homework.
- Bragging and teaching – Sometimes the kids will have the opportunity to go home and teach their family what they are learning at school. They will have you sign their work and return it. I will star it, give them a ticket, and send it back home for them to keep it at home.
- Math –
- Social Studies – In second grade, we study communities, focusing on businesses. I will be posting the vocabulary pictures and words that we are learning for each section on the website. If you would like to work with your child on these words at home, feel free to do so.
- Science – In second grade, we study germs, land forms and bodies of water, plants, measurement.
- Language Arts – The second grade teachers are working hard on trying to incorporate the Spanish language goals into all of the curriculum, including social studies, science, math, reading and writing. The kids will be writing, reading to self, reading with a partner, working with words, and listening to reading each and every day. Our goal is also for every child to read in a reading group a couple of times a week, as soon as I have finished running records. Please read our email blasts or the website updates to see what we are focusing on each week/month.
- Math – You will be able to know what we have been learning in math by reading our email blasts, checking your child’s homework folder each day, and checking the class website. You can also see what we work on when you long into your child’s Connect Ed account.
- Birthdays – We would love to celebrate your child’s birthday! We will not be celebrating with any edible treats. This is to make sure that we are carefully protecting all of the kids in our class from known and unknown allergies. Ideas other than edible treats include: pencils, erasers, a new book for the class library, a new game for indoor or outdoor recess, and small toys for each kid.
- Class Website – Please explore our website. It has a ton of valuable information. I try to make everything as easy and transparent as possible.
- Contact – PLEASE contact me if you ever have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share. I want to make sure that I am working closely with all of our families this year to make sure that all of our kids have the most successful year possible. I love working with our kids and value your input.
If you have any questions and they are not covered by this email, feel free to email me! I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thanks!!
Janell Bruin
KINDER COLOR WEEKS
If your child would like to participate and help support the kindergarten class learn their colors, here are the days for each color. Thanks!
Sept. 19-23
MONDAY - red
TUESDAY- blue
WEDNESDAY- pink/grey
THURSDAY- yellow
FRIDAY- green
Sept. 26-30
MONDAY - orange
TUESDAY- brown
WEDNESDAY- white/purple
THURSDAY- black
FRIDAY- rainbow (in honor of caminata)
If your child would like to participate and help support the kindergarten class learn their colors, here are the days for each color. Thanks!
Sept. 19-23
MONDAY - red
TUESDAY- blue
WEDNESDAY- pink/grey
THURSDAY- yellow
FRIDAY- green
Sept. 26-30
MONDAY - orange
TUESDAY- brown
WEDNESDAY- white/purple
THURSDAY- black
FRIDAY- rainbow (in honor of caminata)
Hola familias, 9-16-2016
I hope that your child is coming home with interesting things to tell you that we are doing at school. If you come to pick up or drop your child off at school, please make sure that you are crossing only at the crosswalk, with someone guiding traffic. I am outside at parent pickup after school and I have seen several parents and kids crossing between cars and stepping out in front of traffic. Please make sure that you are taking precautions to protect yourselves and your children.
Curriculum Night: Tuesday, September 20th. 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm. If you unable to attend, the information that will be presented will be available on our class website.
The Caminata de colores is currently underway. Envelopes were sent home with all of the kids. If you did not receive and envelope and would like to donate some money, please let me know and I will make sure that another one goes home. The money collected for this event goes towards purchasing items for the classrooms. We appreciate all of your support!!
The kids have taken home two pieces of “homework”. These are things that we are learning in class. The kids should take them home, “teach” their family members about what they learned and return the work signed by their “students”. This earns them a ticket. We do not have homework for the math program yet. That will come during the last lesson in chapter one.
In math, the kids have been learning some new games. Ask your child to explain to you how to play “A la pesca de 10” and “El juego de la cuadrícula de números”. These are all to help the kids become more familiar with groups of tens and how to jump by ones and tens on the number grid. The kids have worked on filling out a number line with numbers larger than 100, filling out a number grid when a small section is separated, and how to count pennies, nickels, and dimes. Can your child do this? The kids have also been working on two-digit addition packets (without carrying) to help build some more fluency in addition. They also received a packet of “Extensiones.” This is a packet that has more challenging math concepts to work on if they finish up the addition or subtraction packets.
In science, we have continued to talk about germs. The kids have learned about the different ways that germs enter your body. They have learned about how to properly wash their hands so that they can get rid of germs on their hands. We also learned that germs are everywhere and that some germs are actually good for us.
The kids have been doing some writing activities this week. When they finish their writing, they get the opportunity to share it with others in the class. They partner up and share their writing. After a minute or so, I call out popcorn (palomitas de maíz) and the kids switch partners and read their story to the new partner. The kids have written a story from the perspective of a germs. They had to tell where they were, what their plan was to get into a human’s body, and whether they were successful or not. Another writing assignment was to write about the process of properly washing hands. The kids also wrote a story, using a picture of a guy falling off of a bike. They had to do an introduction, a problem, and a solution. The kids seemed most interested in writing about being a germ and their plan to take over a human body.
The kids have had plenty of time to read by themselves and to read with a partner. We now have a poster with guidelines of what Read to Self and Read with a Partner looks like. We have been practicing this in small sections.
While the kids are working on some independent work, I have been meeting with some kids to do running records. This is when a child reads with me and I take notes on how they read so that I can find a perfect level for their abilities. This also allows me to see how each child reads and to get some one-on-one time with everyone. It also takes a bit of time to get to each child. As I complete each child’s level, I will be sending home books to read at home. Some children will receive one book at a time because I want to read with them to make sure they can read the book before it goes home. Other children will receive a group of books. Notes will go home with the books to explain what the expectation is for each of these situations.
If your child is ever spending more than about 20 minutes a night doing homework, please let me know so that we can make some adjustments. I do not want a child to spend their childhood doing homework.
The kids are in the process of presenting their Student of the Day projects. I have enjoyed getting to know each child just a bit better. If you do not know when your child is presenting his/her project, please let me know!
We have read two stories about germs this week. We also read the story Un caso grave de las rayas. This story using all of the vocabulary that we have learned during the germ unit. It also has a great lesson. Can your child explain what lesson this book taught us?
If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would love to help in anyway possible.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Thanks,
Janell Bruin
Second Grade
Ada Vista Elementary
I hope that your child is coming home with interesting things to tell you that we are doing at school. If you come to pick up or drop your child off at school, please make sure that you are crossing only at the crosswalk, with someone guiding traffic. I am outside at parent pickup after school and I have seen several parents and kids crossing between cars and stepping out in front of traffic. Please make sure that you are taking precautions to protect yourselves and your children.
Curriculum Night: Tuesday, September 20th. 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm. If you unable to attend, the information that will be presented will be available on our class website.
The Caminata de colores is currently underway. Envelopes were sent home with all of the kids. If you did not receive and envelope and would like to donate some money, please let me know and I will make sure that another one goes home. The money collected for this event goes towards purchasing items for the classrooms. We appreciate all of your support!!
The kids have taken home two pieces of “homework”. These are things that we are learning in class. The kids should take them home, “teach” their family members about what they learned and return the work signed by their “students”. This earns them a ticket. We do not have homework for the math program yet. That will come during the last lesson in chapter one.
In math, the kids have been learning some new games. Ask your child to explain to you how to play “A la pesca de 10” and “El juego de la cuadrícula de números”. These are all to help the kids become more familiar with groups of tens and how to jump by ones and tens on the number grid. The kids have worked on filling out a number line with numbers larger than 100, filling out a number grid when a small section is separated, and how to count pennies, nickels, and dimes. Can your child do this? The kids have also been working on two-digit addition packets (without carrying) to help build some more fluency in addition. They also received a packet of “Extensiones.” This is a packet that has more challenging math concepts to work on if they finish up the addition or subtraction packets.
In science, we have continued to talk about germs. The kids have learned about the different ways that germs enter your body. They have learned about how to properly wash their hands so that they can get rid of germs on their hands. We also learned that germs are everywhere and that some germs are actually good for us.
The kids have been doing some writing activities this week. When they finish their writing, they get the opportunity to share it with others in the class. They partner up and share their writing. After a minute or so, I call out popcorn (palomitas de maíz) and the kids switch partners and read their story to the new partner. The kids have written a story from the perspective of a germs. They had to tell where they were, what their plan was to get into a human’s body, and whether they were successful or not. Another writing assignment was to write about the process of properly washing hands. The kids also wrote a story, using a picture of a guy falling off of a bike. They had to do an introduction, a problem, and a solution. The kids seemed most interested in writing about being a germ and their plan to take over a human body.
The kids have had plenty of time to read by themselves and to read with a partner. We now have a poster with guidelines of what Read to Self and Read with a Partner looks like. We have been practicing this in small sections.
While the kids are working on some independent work, I have been meeting with some kids to do running records. This is when a child reads with me and I take notes on how they read so that I can find a perfect level for their abilities. This also allows me to see how each child reads and to get some one-on-one time with everyone. It also takes a bit of time to get to each child. As I complete each child’s level, I will be sending home books to read at home. Some children will receive one book at a time because I want to read with them to make sure they can read the book before it goes home. Other children will receive a group of books. Notes will go home with the books to explain what the expectation is for each of these situations.
If your child is ever spending more than about 20 minutes a night doing homework, please let me know so that we can make some adjustments. I do not want a child to spend their childhood doing homework.
The kids are in the process of presenting their Student of the Day projects. I have enjoyed getting to know each child just a bit better. If you do not know when your child is presenting his/her project, please let me know!
We have read two stories about germs this week. We also read the story Un caso grave de las rayas. This story using all of the vocabulary that we have learned during the germ unit. It also has a great lesson. Can your child explain what lesson this book taught us?
If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would love to help in anyway possible.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Thanks,
Janell Bruin
Second Grade
Ada Vista Elementary
Some of the kids wanted to have access to this sheet on number lines to do another one at home. I told them I would post it here for families to be able to copy. If you need a hard copy, please let me know.
recta_numerica.pdf | |
File Size: | 347 kb |
File Type: |
Hola familias, 9-9-2016
I have completely enjoyed getting to know your children this week! I’m so excited to be able to spend this year working with them. I think some of them are starting to understand my sense of humor. The kids seem to be adjusting well to being back in school. Thank you to everyone for your support!!
I have been told in the past that my email blasts can be a bit overwhelming. Others have told me that they enjoy the details that I send out. To try and help those who might find it overwhelming, I try to color code things. At the beginning of each “Noticias”, you will find information on special upcoming events and important notices that you need to be aware of. If there is anything to do with homework, I try to mark those in red. Then, the majority of the email will tell you about what we have been learning and the activities that we have done to learn our goals.
If you do not want email blasts and random updates during the week for reminders of important events, no worries! Please just let me know and I can delete your address. If there is a better address, let me know that too. If I should have someone in your household added who isn’t getting our email blasts, I would be happy to add them.
Please note that September 20, 2016 is our Curriculum Night. We will begin at 6:30 pm. If you are unable to attend, I will be posting the information on our website. Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
For a first week of school, we have been BUSY! We have done the typical routine building. This includes how to get permission to use the bathroom, lunch procedures, building a sense of community, establishing some norms, etc. But, we have also done several academic activities in class.
We made a class book, using the phrase "Yo tengo". We are reinforcing the correct phrase, since I still hear "yo tienes". Ouch! he kids wrote a sentence or two, including the phrase "yo tengo". Then they drew a picture that went with this. Through the rest of the week, we put them up to correct as a whole group. This way, we can all learn from one another. As we found common words that were misspelled, I wrote them out and we added them to our word wall.
In math, the kids have been playing a game with cards. There are three kids in a group. We use cards 0-6. Two players put a card on their forehead without looking at it. The third student adds the numbers together and states the total. The other two have to figure out what number is on their forehead by knowing the total and the other number. You can play this game at home too. Ask your child to teach you how to do it. The kids have also done two different pre-assessments for math to give me an idea of what they already know. We started chapter one and only finished through 1.1. There are no Home Links that go with this chapter until the last section. The kids will be starting a collection of vocabulary cards that go with these words. If you would like to start a collection at home as well, the first card the kids made is “La recta numérica”. This is a number line. The kids write the word on part of the card and draw a picture of it. The goal is for them to eventually look at the picture and to be able to name the vocabulary word without reading it.
We have been reading some books on appropriate behavior. One was on what to do if a child feels alone and what to do if you see someone all alone. Another was on using please, thank you, and I'm sorry. The final one was on the idea of "ser justo". This focuses on sharing with others, not demanding equal things.
The kids have started to talk about germs. We are doing a paper with three columns. The first column is "yo sé". The second column is "quiero saber". The third column is "yo aprendí". The kids worked in groups to brainstorm for the first column. They wrote down what they already know about germs. Then they brainstormed what they would like to know about germs. The final column will be completed next week. We have also talked about some of the vocabulary that the kids will be learning in this unit.
We have been practicing how to pick out an appropriate book using the acronym "PIES". P-propósito, I - Interés, E - entendimiento, S - sé cómo leer las palabras. The kids have also been practicing how to pick a good spot to read and how to stay in that spot for reading time.
We have done a couple of quick writes. I put up a picture of a cute puppy and we talked about what kind of vocabulary they would need to write about the puppy. We made a list on the board and then they had six minutes to write about what the puppy looked like. We also did this with a picture of a bearded dragon.
The kids have been sharing their writings from Tuesday, when they wrote what was interesting about themselves. We have been watching a video and listening to a woman read the story Elmer. These are on two different websites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zG7WQO8RfQ and
http://www.slideshare.net/marcelobosa/elmer-el-elefante .
We talked about how Elmer started to feel like people were laughing at him because he was different, but how that wasn't the case. We also talked about the lesson he learned: that being unique is okay. We have linked in the kids' writing about themselves and what makes them special to Elmer. We have been talking about how we are different from one another and how we are the same.
Next week, I will begin to do running records with the kids. I’m going to do them as quickly as possible so that I can get the kids set up with new books and update their RAZ-Kids accounts as soon as I have been given access to it again.
This is most of what we have been working on this week. The kids have been attentive and are already learning a bunch, even though they may not feel like it.
Thank you so much! If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Janell Bruin
Second Grade
Ada Vista Elementary
I have completely enjoyed getting to know your children this week! I’m so excited to be able to spend this year working with them. I think some of them are starting to understand my sense of humor. The kids seem to be adjusting well to being back in school. Thank you to everyone for your support!!
I have been told in the past that my email blasts can be a bit overwhelming. Others have told me that they enjoy the details that I send out. To try and help those who might find it overwhelming, I try to color code things. At the beginning of each “Noticias”, you will find information on special upcoming events and important notices that you need to be aware of. If there is anything to do with homework, I try to mark those in red. Then, the majority of the email will tell you about what we have been learning and the activities that we have done to learn our goals.
If you do not want email blasts and random updates during the week for reminders of important events, no worries! Please just let me know and I can delete your address. If there is a better address, let me know that too. If I should have someone in your household added who isn’t getting our email blasts, I would be happy to add them.
Please note that September 20, 2016 is our Curriculum Night. We will begin at 6:30 pm. If you are unable to attend, I will be posting the information on our website. Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
For a first week of school, we have been BUSY! We have done the typical routine building. This includes how to get permission to use the bathroom, lunch procedures, building a sense of community, establishing some norms, etc. But, we have also done several academic activities in class.
We made a class book, using the phrase "Yo tengo". We are reinforcing the correct phrase, since I still hear "yo tienes". Ouch! he kids wrote a sentence or two, including the phrase "yo tengo". Then they drew a picture that went with this. Through the rest of the week, we put them up to correct as a whole group. This way, we can all learn from one another. As we found common words that were misspelled, I wrote them out and we added them to our word wall.
In math, the kids have been playing a game with cards. There are three kids in a group. We use cards 0-6. Two players put a card on their forehead without looking at it. The third student adds the numbers together and states the total. The other two have to figure out what number is on their forehead by knowing the total and the other number. You can play this game at home too. Ask your child to teach you how to do it. The kids have also done two different pre-assessments for math to give me an idea of what they already know. We started chapter one and only finished through 1.1. There are no Home Links that go with this chapter until the last section. The kids will be starting a collection of vocabulary cards that go with these words. If you would like to start a collection at home as well, the first card the kids made is “La recta numérica”. This is a number line. The kids write the word on part of the card and draw a picture of it. The goal is for them to eventually look at the picture and to be able to name the vocabulary word without reading it.
We have been reading some books on appropriate behavior. One was on what to do if a child feels alone and what to do if you see someone all alone. Another was on using please, thank you, and I'm sorry. The final one was on the idea of "ser justo". This focuses on sharing with others, not demanding equal things.
The kids have started to talk about germs. We are doing a paper with three columns. The first column is "yo sé". The second column is "quiero saber". The third column is "yo aprendí". The kids worked in groups to brainstorm for the first column. They wrote down what they already know about germs. Then they brainstormed what they would like to know about germs. The final column will be completed next week. We have also talked about some of the vocabulary that the kids will be learning in this unit.
We have been practicing how to pick out an appropriate book using the acronym "PIES". P-propósito, I - Interés, E - entendimiento, S - sé cómo leer las palabras. The kids have also been practicing how to pick a good spot to read and how to stay in that spot for reading time.
We have done a couple of quick writes. I put up a picture of a cute puppy and we talked about what kind of vocabulary they would need to write about the puppy. We made a list on the board and then they had six minutes to write about what the puppy looked like. We also did this with a picture of a bearded dragon.
The kids have been sharing their writings from Tuesday, when they wrote what was interesting about themselves. We have been watching a video and listening to a woman read the story Elmer. These are on two different websites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zG7WQO8RfQ and
http://www.slideshare.net/marcelobosa/elmer-el-elefante .
We talked about how Elmer started to feel like people were laughing at him because he was different, but how that wasn't the case. We also talked about the lesson he learned: that being unique is okay. We have linked in the kids' writing about themselves and what makes them special to Elmer. We have been talking about how we are different from one another and how we are the same.
Next week, I will begin to do running records with the kids. I’m going to do them as quickly as possible so that I can get the kids set up with new books and update their RAZ-Kids accounts as soon as I have been given access to it again.
This is most of what we have been working on this week. The kids have been attentive and are already learning a bunch, even though they may not feel like it.
Thank you so much! If you have any questions, concerns, or fun stories to share, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Janell Bruin
Second Grade
Ada Vista Elementary
Hola familias, 8-18-2016
I am so excited to be starting a new school year with your child! Is your child getting nervous and excited? My goal is to make your child’s second grade year the best year yet at Ada Vista.
My name is Janell Bruin. I got married this summer to a wonderful man named Tim. My name used to be Janell DeVries. We have two dogs, Chiquito and Lucy, who you will hear about this year because I use them frequently in my sample writing. They are always doing something to write about. This will be my 14th year of teaching at our school. My first four years were spent in first grade and the rest of the time I have been teaching second grade. I have a strong background of teaching the building blocks of reading, writing, and math. I am looking forward to challenging each child in our class at his/her individual level and seeing how far he/she will go this year. I love to read and my ultimate goal is to get each child self-motivated to learn and to enjoy reading.
For my undergraduate studies, I attended GVSU and graduated with a degree in Spanish and psychology. I went to Aquinas and received my Masters in Education. During my time at GVSU, I spent six months in Spain, studying at the University of Seville. After receiving my masters, I spent three weeks in Costa Rica at a private institute, studying culture and grammar.
We have a class website that you will want to bookmark for this year. You can find it at http://janelldevries.weebly.com/ . Please note that you do not use www at the beginning. This is where I will post a weekly newsletter, letting you know what we have accomplished throughout the week. Any other important information that you will need to know for our class will be there as well.
A weekly newsletter will be sent out by way of email blasts once a week as well. I also send out email blasts to let you know about any important reminders that you will want to know. Please email me at [email protected] and introduce me to your child. You can include information about what motivates your child, any academic or social struggles, what your child excels in, if your child has any allergies that I need to be aware of, areas of interest for your child, and any other information that you think I should know. The sky is the limit. When you email me, I will add your email to the list for the email blasts. If you would prefer to not be on that list, please let me know.
Throughout the school year, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns or questions. Nothing is too small. If it is bothering you, I’d like to address it as soon as possible to help resolve issues.
I look forward to working with you this year to make your child’s second grade year a memorable, exceptional, positive experience.
Gracias,
Sra. Janell Bruin
Open House: Wednesday, August 31st, 4:30 – 5:30
Curriculum Night: Tuesday, September 20th
I am so excited to be starting a new school year with your child! Is your child getting nervous and excited? My goal is to make your child’s second grade year the best year yet at Ada Vista.
My name is Janell Bruin. I got married this summer to a wonderful man named Tim. My name used to be Janell DeVries. We have two dogs, Chiquito and Lucy, who you will hear about this year because I use them frequently in my sample writing. They are always doing something to write about. This will be my 14th year of teaching at our school. My first four years were spent in first grade and the rest of the time I have been teaching second grade. I have a strong background of teaching the building blocks of reading, writing, and math. I am looking forward to challenging each child in our class at his/her individual level and seeing how far he/she will go this year. I love to read and my ultimate goal is to get each child self-motivated to learn and to enjoy reading.
For my undergraduate studies, I attended GVSU and graduated with a degree in Spanish and psychology. I went to Aquinas and received my Masters in Education. During my time at GVSU, I spent six months in Spain, studying at the University of Seville. After receiving my masters, I spent three weeks in Costa Rica at a private institute, studying culture and grammar.
We have a class website that you will want to bookmark for this year. You can find it at http://janelldevries.weebly.com/ . Please note that you do not use www at the beginning. This is where I will post a weekly newsletter, letting you know what we have accomplished throughout the week. Any other important information that you will need to know for our class will be there as well.
A weekly newsletter will be sent out by way of email blasts once a week as well. I also send out email blasts to let you know about any important reminders that you will want to know. Please email me at [email protected] and introduce me to your child. You can include information about what motivates your child, any academic or social struggles, what your child excels in, if your child has any allergies that I need to be aware of, areas of interest for your child, and any other information that you think I should know. The sky is the limit. When you email me, I will add your email to the list for the email blasts. If you would prefer to not be on that list, please let me know.
Throughout the school year, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns or questions. Nothing is too small. If it is bothering you, I’d like to address it as soon as possible to help resolve issues.
I look forward to working with you this year to make your child’s second grade year a memorable, exceptional, positive experience.
Gracias,
Sra. Janell Bruin
Open House: Wednesday, August 31st, 4:30 – 5:30
Curriculum Night: Tuesday, September 20th
Volunteers!!
Would you like a chance to volunteer in our room this year? If so, please take a minute to check out the information on how volunteers are used in our classroom under FAQs. The volunteer consent form can also be found under its own tab at the top of the site's main page. I will have copies available at Open House and Curriculum Night. These need to be filled out in order to volunteer in our room. Our kids' safety is always my first concern and I want to make sure that we have covered all of our bases for making sure this happens. Plus, the district mandates that we have these forms on anyone who will be volunteering to work with our kids individually or in groups and for field trips. These forms do not need to be filled out to come to our class parties since there will be plenty of other adults around at this time. You also do not need to fill out a form if you are an FHPS employee since you have already been finger printed and cleared to work with kids. These forms protect both our kids and our volunteers.
Would you like a chance to volunteer in our room this year? If so, please take a minute to check out the information on how volunteers are used in our classroom under FAQs. The volunteer consent form can also be found under its own tab at the top of the site's main page. I will have copies available at Open House and Curriculum Night. These need to be filled out in order to volunteer in our room. Our kids' safety is always my first concern and I want to make sure that we have covered all of our bases for making sure this happens. Plus, the district mandates that we have these forms on anyone who will be volunteering to work with our kids individually or in groups and for field trips. These forms do not need to be filled out to come to our class parties since there will be plenty of other adults around at this time. You also do not need to fill out a form if you are an FHPS employee since you have already been finger printed and cleared to work with kids. These forms protect both our kids and our volunteers.
Our Class Website
Have you had a chance to explore our site? There is a lot of useful information that might answer some burning questions that you have. Please take a few minutes to peruse through the site. If you have any questions about what you see, please contact me at [email protected] . We are still finalizing some details for this year, including our special's classes schedule. Please check back later to see the final decision. Thanks!
Have you had a chance to explore our site? There is a lot of useful information that might answer some burning questions that you have. Please take a few minutes to peruse through the site. If you have any questions about what you see, please contact me at [email protected] . We are still finalizing some details for this year, including our special's classes schedule. Please check back later to see the final decision. Thanks!
2016- 2017 Second Grade Suggested Supply List
The following 2nd grade materials are in limited supply and your donation of these supplies would be appreciated.
Backpack/Book Bag to fit in locker size 12”w x 11”d (NO wheels, please)
Gym Shoes with non-marking soles
**OPTIONAL** 1 - Personal Pair of Earbuds or Headphones in a zipper style storage bag. Teachers use these for noise cancellation or when using Chromebooks or tablets to not disturb others.
1 Box of Kleenex
3 - 4 Large Glue Sticks
1 Box assorted Markers (washable)
1 Box of Crayons
2 Boxes of #2 Pencils (#2 Dixon Ticonderoga) – All pencils are NOT created equal
2 Boxes of “Expo” brand Dry Erase Markers (at least 4/box)
Large Erasers & pencil cap erasers
2 Composition Notebooks – Wide -Ruled
1 Ream of Wide-Ruled, loose-leaf paper
Clipboard with FLAT clip
1” White 3-Ring Binder (Clear View Style)2016-
Index cards (5 X 8)
Each student with his/her last name beginning with these letters, please also bring:
A-H 1 ream of 8 ½ x 11 Copy paper (for writing workshop), 1 bottle of Elmer’s liquid glue
I-Q 1 Box of Zipper Top Sandwich Bags and index cards (3 X 5)
R-Z 1 box Gallon Zipper Top Storage Bags, 1 box of colored pencils.
*We use socks for our whiteboard erasers so if you have any extra clean ones floating around, we would love to have them!!
The following 2nd grade materials are in limited supply and your donation of these supplies would be appreciated.
Backpack/Book Bag to fit in locker size 12”w x 11”d (NO wheels, please)
Gym Shoes with non-marking soles
**OPTIONAL** 1 - Personal Pair of Earbuds or Headphones in a zipper style storage bag. Teachers use these for noise cancellation or when using Chromebooks or tablets to not disturb others.
1 Box of Kleenex
3 - 4 Large Glue Sticks
1 Box assorted Markers (washable)
1 Box of Crayons
2 Boxes of #2 Pencils (#2 Dixon Ticonderoga) – All pencils are NOT created equal
2 Boxes of “Expo” brand Dry Erase Markers (at least 4/box)
Large Erasers & pencil cap erasers
2 Composition Notebooks – Wide -Ruled
1 Ream of Wide-Ruled, loose-leaf paper
Clipboard with FLAT clip
1” White 3-Ring Binder (Clear View Style)2016-
Index cards (5 X 8)
Each student with his/her last name beginning with these letters, please also bring:
A-H 1 ream of 8 ½ x 11 Copy paper (for writing workshop), 1 bottle of Elmer’s liquid glue
I-Q 1 Box of Zipper Top Sandwich Bags and index cards (3 X 5)
R-Z 1 box Gallon Zipper Top Storage Bags, 1 box of colored pencils.
*We use socks for our whiteboard erasers so if you have any extra clean ones floating around, we would love to have them!!
Here are some pictures from my summer. My husband Tim, our dogs Chiquito and Lucy, my nephew, Joey, and my parents are all in them.
How do you ask your child about school and actually get some information?
A friend sent me this website and I thought it might help some families get some information from their kids about school. If it were me asking the questions... I would stick to the questions that ask about my child and not necessarily about the kids that bother them in class. This will help them focus on the positive things that are happening at school.
http://www.google.com/gwt/x?gl=US&hl=en-US&u=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/liz-evans/25-ways-to-ask-your-kids-so-how-was-school-today-without-asking-them-so-how-was-school-today_b_5738338.html&source=s&q=different+ways+to+say+how+was+school+today
1. What was the best thing that happened at school today? (What was the worst thing that happened at school today?)
2. Tell me something that made you laugh today.
3. If you could choose, who would you like to sit by in class? (Who would you NOT want to sit by in class? Why?)
4. Where is the coolest place at the school?
5. Tell me a weird word that you heard today. (Or something weird that someone said.)
6. If I called your teacher tonight, what would she tell me about you?
7. How did you help somebody today?
8. How did somebody help you today?
9. Tell me one thing that you learned today.
10. When were you the happiest today?
11. When were you bored today?
12. If an alien spaceship came to your class and beamed someone up, who would you want them to take?
13. Who would you like to play with at recess that you've never played with before?
14. Tell me something good that happened today.
15. What word did your teacher say most today?
16. What do you think you should do/learn more of at school?
17. What do you think you should do/learn less of at school?
18. Who in your class do you think you could be nicer to?
19. Where do you play the most at recess?
20. Who is the funniest person in your class? Why is he/she so funny?
21. What was your favorite part of lunch?
22. If you got to be the teacher tomorrow, what would you do?
23. Is there anyone in your class who needs a time-out?
24. If you could switch seats with anyone in the class, who would you trade with? Why?
25. Tell me about three different times you used your pencil today at school.
A friend sent me this website and I thought it might help some families get some information from their kids about school. If it were me asking the questions... I would stick to the questions that ask about my child and not necessarily about the kids that bother them in class. This will help them focus on the positive things that are happening at school.
http://www.google.com/gwt/x?gl=US&hl=en-US&u=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/liz-evans/25-ways-to-ask-your-kids-so-how-was-school-today-without-asking-them-so-how-was-school-today_b_5738338.html&source=s&q=different+ways+to+say+how+was+school+today
1. What was the best thing that happened at school today? (What was the worst thing that happened at school today?)
2. Tell me something that made you laugh today.
3. If you could choose, who would you like to sit by in class? (Who would you NOT want to sit by in class? Why?)
4. Where is the coolest place at the school?
5. Tell me a weird word that you heard today. (Or something weird that someone said.)
6. If I called your teacher tonight, what would she tell me about you?
7. How did you help somebody today?
8. How did somebody help you today?
9. Tell me one thing that you learned today.
10. When were you the happiest today?
11. When were you bored today?
12. If an alien spaceship came to your class and beamed someone up, who would you want them to take?
13. Who would you like to play with at recess that you've never played with before?
14. Tell me something good that happened today.
15. What word did your teacher say most today?
16. What do you think you should do/learn more of at school?
17. What do you think you should do/learn less of at school?
18. Who in your class do you think you could be nicer to?
19. Where do you play the most at recess?
20. Who is the funniest person in your class? Why is he/she so funny?
21. What was your favorite part of lunch?
22. If you got to be the teacher tomorrow, what would you do?
23. Is there anyone in your class who needs a time-out?
24. If you could switch seats with anyone in the class, who would you trade with? Why?
25. Tell me about three different times you used your pencil today at school.