What a fun week! We celebrated E.K.'s birthday, had a lovely family potluck, enjoyed listening to songs from third grade German language students on their annual lantern walk, and really started getting engaged in our new read aloud The Giants and the Joneses by Julia Donaldson. We also learned that the baby gorilla at Lincoln Park Zoo is a girl and she has been named Patty. The whooping cranes flew 281 more miles and are in Alabama. With only 251 miles left in the migration, the cranes could reach Florida any day now so keep checking Operation Migration for the latest news. Will this year's arrival in Florida beat the November 30th date from 2002?
KINDNESS KIDS
We took the bookmarks that we made with our Kindergarten Buddies and hid them inside library books for others to find and keep! Please see the Gallery for the latest photos. Stay tuned for our next kindness mission in December.
READING
This week during Reader's Workshop, we talked about the differences between fiction and nonfiction. Specifically, we looked at the ways that nonfiction information is organized and tried to identify nonfiction text features such as table of contents, photographs, illustrations, captions, diagrams, boldface print, glossary, and index. With stacks of nonfiction books and magazines, the children went on a scavenger hunt with a partner to find each feature and think about its purpose. It is important for young readers to understand that information is organized differently in nonfiction texts and that they do not need to read these books or magazines from cover to cover. Students often read past the smaller bits of information or text supports and we are helping them learn to navigate nonfiction texts. At home, we encourage your child to read both fiction and nonfiction so he/she can gain build skills and background knowledge.
We will continue to explore nonfiction texts after Thanksgiving. We are looking for some magazines that we can cut up as we look for nonfiction features. If you have any to donate, please send them in. We are looking for magazines such as National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Time, etc. that will contain the features we have discussed. Thanks in advance for your support!
FLASHLIGHTS NEEDED
We are planning a special classroom activity and each child needs his/her own flashlight to keep at school for the remainder of the year. The flashlights need to be easy to operate and small enough for your child to be able to hold while reading. We would also appreciate some spare batteries. Please send flashlights in before Friday, November 30th. Thank you!
MATH
We are working to build fluency with math facts. With the children, we call this "building fact power!" Math facts for second grade begin with single digit addition facts (i.e. 5+3, 9+9). Once your child has these mastered, we will work on subtraction facts as high as 20 (i.e. 7-2, 11-5, 20-7, 18-4). While we encourage children to use math tools if needed (fingers for counting, number grid, number line), we hope children will begin to rely on them less. These simple facts should start to become automatic and quick to recall.
When are fluent with their math facts, we work to challenge them with harder calculations. Some children were introduced to a game called Kakooma by Greg Tang. It's "an engaging, deceptively simple games that turns learning into play. Kids race against the clock as they exercise math skills to solve the game's unique puzzle-in-a-puzzle format. They wind up having so much fun, they don't even realize they're building skills!" You child can play some free Kakooma games online or you can subscribe for $5.95 to unlock more levels. There is also a Kakooma addition app. See http://gregtangmath.com/Kakooma for all the details.
CHANGE4CRANES
You should have received an email on Thursday outlining all the details about our Change4Cranes fundraiser. Containers and donations are due back at school on December 10th. Happy fundraising! Don't forget to email Ms. Harrison any photographs of your child's efforts. Every penny counts!
SENT HOME
There will be no newsletter next week. We wish you all a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends! We have much to be thankful for in Blaine 309!
KINDNESS KIDS
We took the bookmarks that we made with our Kindergarten Buddies and hid them inside library books for others to find and keep! Please see the Gallery for the latest photos. Stay tuned for our next kindness mission in December.
READING
This week during Reader's Workshop, we talked about the differences between fiction and nonfiction. Specifically, we looked at the ways that nonfiction information is organized and tried to identify nonfiction text features such as table of contents, photographs, illustrations, captions, diagrams, boldface print, glossary, and index. With stacks of nonfiction books and magazines, the children went on a scavenger hunt with a partner to find each feature and think about its purpose. It is important for young readers to understand that information is organized differently in nonfiction texts and that they do not need to read these books or magazines from cover to cover. Students often read past the smaller bits of information or text supports and we are helping them learn to navigate nonfiction texts. At home, we encourage your child to read both fiction and nonfiction so he/she can gain build skills and background knowledge.
We will continue to explore nonfiction texts after Thanksgiving. We are looking for some magazines that we can cut up as we look for nonfiction features. If you have any to donate, please send them in. We are looking for magazines such as National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Time, etc. that will contain the features we have discussed. Thanks in advance for your support!
FLASHLIGHTS NEEDED
We are planning a special classroom activity and each child needs his/her own flashlight to keep at school for the remainder of the year. The flashlights need to be easy to operate and small enough for your child to be able to hold while reading. We would also appreciate some spare batteries. Please send flashlights in before Friday, November 30th. Thank you!
MATH
We are working to build fluency with math facts. With the children, we call this "building fact power!" Math facts for second grade begin with single digit addition facts (i.e. 5+3, 9+9). Once your child has these mastered, we will work on subtraction facts as high as 20 (i.e. 7-2, 11-5, 20-7, 18-4). While we encourage children to use math tools if needed (fingers for counting, number grid, number line), we hope children will begin to rely on them less. These simple facts should start to become automatic and quick to recall.
When are fluent with their math facts, we work to challenge them with harder calculations. Some children were introduced to a game called Kakooma by Greg Tang. It's "an engaging, deceptively simple games that turns learning into play. Kids race against the clock as they exercise math skills to solve the game's unique puzzle-in-a-puzzle format. They wind up having so much fun, they don't even realize they're building skills!" You child can play some free Kakooma games online or you can subscribe for $5.95 to unlock more levels. There is also a Kakooma addition app. See http://gregtangmath.com/Kakooma for all the details.
CHANGE4CRANES
You should have received an email on Thursday outlining all the details about our Change4Cranes fundraiser. Containers and donations are due back at school on December 10th. Happy fundraising! Don't forget to email Ms. Harrison any photographs of your child's efforts. Every penny counts!
SENT HOME
- The first orders of school pictures arrived and were sent home with children on Friday. The next set of orders should be delivered before Winter Break.
- Change4Crane containers and fact sheets were sent home on Friday.
There will be no newsletter next week. We wish you all a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends! We have much to be thankful for in Blaine 309!