GINGERBREAD MAN UNIT
We have been working on a gingerbread man unit, comparing different versions and their story elements. Discussions have included talk of characters, setting, the refrain, and how each story ends. We had a gingerbread man taste test and the children recorded their first bite - head, arm, leg or body. The results are shown in a pictograph outside the classroom. The children also made a list of adjectives to describe the cookie they ate as well as the character in the stories we have been reading. We plan on reading one version for our pen pals in India and they will read one for us!
Next week, we will decorate gingerbread man cookies of our own. To do so, we need a couple parents to make the gingerbread man cookies ahead of time at home. We have cookie cutters to lend so that all the gingerbread man are the same size. We also need donations of various decorating candies such as red hots, mini- chocolate chips, frosting, etc. We would like to decorate next Wednesday, December 16th. Click here to sign up for something. Thank you in advance.
AUTHOR VISIT
On Thursday, we had a wonderful visit from children's author Candace Fleming. Her presentation was funny and engaging. Ms. Fleming spent a lot of time discussing her writing process and her search for "story seeds" in the most ordinary and unexpected places. She takes those seeds and grows them into her stories. She also showed the children may versions of rough drafts for her story Muncha, Muncha, Muncha . The children saw that the story was not written perfectly the first time and that she made many "mistakes." Her ideas changed and grew over time. She scribbled out words, added new sentences and even after she thought the story was finished, her editor made more changes! It's so important for children to see that mistakes are necessary and can be valuable. We will continue to refer Ms. Fleming's story seed idea as we encourage our own second grade writers!
HOMOPHONES
This week, we introduced homophones. These are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings such as night and knight, stair and stare, ate and eight, pear and pair. The children went on a homophone hunt around the classroom and had to find another child with a matching word. Homophones can present quite a spelling challenge but the children enjoyed some fun homophone riddles. Ask your favorite second grader if he/she can think of any other homophones!
MATH
In math this week, we reviewed and practiced telling time on an analog clock. We reviewed the second hand, minute hand and hour hand. We talked about 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day with the labels of a.m. or p.m. to show morning or afternoon/evening times. We practiced reading analog clocks and writing the time using a colon. We focused mainly on the hour, half and quarter hour. Many children still confuse the hour and minute hands and we encourage you to work on this at home. If you’re looking for a way to inspire and interest your child in learning to tell time, there are some great, affordable children’s Timex analog watches that include the minute markers (counting by 5s and 1s). They are fun learning watches, have appealing designs and some even have a glow-light for nighttime viewing! Children can also practice their time-telling skills with the app Jungle Time. This app allows children to adjust the level of difficulty and it great for children just beginning to tell time or for those who need more of a challenge.
For children who were already able to read an analog clock, we introduced word problems involving elapsed time. For example, Carrie started building a sand castle at 12:35 p.m. She finished building at 2:05 in the afternoon. How long did it take? or Rose finished cutting Sam's hair at 11:30 in the morning. It took her 1 hour and 45 minutes. When did Rose begin cutting the Sam's hair?
We encourage you to give your children elapsed time problems (as simple or challenging as they need) to solve about their daily, real world routine, i.e. It's 7:00 a.m. right now. How long until school begins at 8:30 a.m.? During the morning routine at school, children sign in by writing the time they arrive in the classroom. We replaced the digital clock with an analog clock for sign in and the children also practice recording the time daily on any paperwork they do.
WHOOPING CRANE UPDATE
Since last week, the crane and the ultralights have made great progress! They are now only 363 miles away from their winter home in Florida! We have been learning more about the whooping crane life cycle and this week, the children will begin work on whooping crane ebooks using the app Book Creator.
Change 4 Cranes donations are due on Friday but you are welcome to send them in as soon as your child is finished collecting. Thanks for sharing photos of your child fundraising! There have been such creative and thoughtful ideas such as making origami cranes, selling old toys, going door-to-door, and offering cookies in exchange for a donation. Next week we will sort and count all the money before taking it to the bank. Stay tuned...
GINGERBREAD MAN UNIT
We have been working on a gingerbread man unit, comparing different versions and their story elements. Discussions have included characters, setting, the refrain, and how each story ends. We had a gingerbread man taste test and the children recorded which part was their first bite - head, arm, leg or body. The results are shown in a pictograph outside the classroom. The children also made a list of adjectives to describe the cookie they ate as well as the character in the stories we have been reading.
Next week, we will decorate gingerbread man cookies of our own. To do so, we need a couple parents to make the gingerbread man cookies ahead of time at home. We have cookie cutters to lend so that all the gingerbread man are the same size. We also need donations of various decorating candies - red hots, mini- chocolate chips, frosting, etc. We would like to decorate next Wednesday, December 16th. Click here to sign up for something. Thank you!
We'd like to congratulate big brother Sebastian and his family on the birth of Anais Ixtabella Rosamaria! We can't wait to meet her and wish them all well!
Have a great week!
We have been working on a gingerbread man unit, comparing different versions and their story elements. Discussions have included talk of characters, setting, the refrain, and how each story ends. We had a gingerbread man taste test and the children recorded their first bite - head, arm, leg or body. The results are shown in a pictograph outside the classroom. The children also made a list of adjectives to describe the cookie they ate as well as the character in the stories we have been reading. We plan on reading one version for our pen pals in India and they will read one for us!
Next week, we will decorate gingerbread man cookies of our own. To do so, we need a couple parents to make the gingerbread man cookies ahead of time at home. We have cookie cutters to lend so that all the gingerbread man are the same size. We also need donations of various decorating candies such as red hots, mini- chocolate chips, frosting, etc. We would like to decorate next Wednesday, December 16th. Click here to sign up for something. Thank you in advance.
AUTHOR VISIT
On Thursday, we had a wonderful visit from children's author Candace Fleming. Her presentation was funny and engaging. Ms. Fleming spent a lot of time discussing her writing process and her search for "story seeds" in the most ordinary and unexpected places. She takes those seeds and grows them into her stories. She also showed the children may versions of rough drafts for her story Muncha, Muncha, Muncha . The children saw that the story was not written perfectly the first time and that she made many "mistakes." Her ideas changed and grew over time. She scribbled out words, added new sentences and even after she thought the story was finished, her editor made more changes! It's so important for children to see that mistakes are necessary and can be valuable. We will continue to refer Ms. Fleming's story seed idea as we encourage our own second grade writers!
HOMOPHONES
This week, we introduced homophones. These are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings such as night and knight, stair and stare, ate and eight, pear and pair. The children went on a homophone hunt around the classroom and had to find another child with a matching word. Homophones can present quite a spelling challenge but the children enjoyed some fun homophone riddles. Ask your favorite second grader if he/she can think of any other homophones!
MATH
In math this week, we reviewed and practiced telling time on an analog clock. We reviewed the second hand, minute hand and hour hand. We talked about 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day with the labels of a.m. or p.m. to show morning or afternoon/evening times. We practiced reading analog clocks and writing the time using a colon. We focused mainly on the hour, half and quarter hour. Many children still confuse the hour and minute hands and we encourage you to work on this at home. If you’re looking for a way to inspire and interest your child in learning to tell time, there are some great, affordable children’s Timex analog watches that include the minute markers (counting by 5s and 1s). They are fun learning watches, have appealing designs and some even have a glow-light for nighttime viewing! Children can also practice their time-telling skills with the app Jungle Time. This app allows children to adjust the level of difficulty and it great for children just beginning to tell time or for those who need more of a challenge.
For children who were already able to read an analog clock, we introduced word problems involving elapsed time. For example, Carrie started building a sand castle at 12:35 p.m. She finished building at 2:05 in the afternoon. How long did it take? or Rose finished cutting Sam's hair at 11:30 in the morning. It took her 1 hour and 45 minutes. When did Rose begin cutting the Sam's hair?
We encourage you to give your children elapsed time problems (as simple or challenging as they need) to solve about their daily, real world routine, i.e. It's 7:00 a.m. right now. How long until school begins at 8:30 a.m.? During the morning routine at school, children sign in by writing the time they arrive in the classroom. We replaced the digital clock with an analog clock for sign in and the children also practice recording the time daily on any paperwork they do.
WHOOPING CRANE UPDATE
Since last week, the crane and the ultralights have made great progress! They are now only 363 miles away from their winter home in Florida! We have been learning more about the whooping crane life cycle and this week, the children will begin work on whooping crane ebooks using the app Book Creator.
Change 4 Cranes donations are due on Friday but you are welcome to send them in as soon as your child is finished collecting. Thanks for sharing photos of your child fundraising! There have been such creative and thoughtful ideas such as making origami cranes, selling old toys, going door-to-door, and offering cookies in exchange for a donation. Next week we will sort and count all the money before taking it to the bank. Stay tuned...
GINGERBREAD MAN UNIT
We have been working on a gingerbread man unit, comparing different versions and their story elements. Discussions have included characters, setting, the refrain, and how each story ends. We had a gingerbread man taste test and the children recorded which part was their first bite - head, arm, leg or body. The results are shown in a pictograph outside the classroom. The children also made a list of adjectives to describe the cookie they ate as well as the character in the stories we have been reading.
Next week, we will decorate gingerbread man cookies of our own. To do so, we need a couple parents to make the gingerbread man cookies ahead of time at home. We have cookie cutters to lend so that all the gingerbread man are the same size. We also need donations of various decorating candies - red hots, mini- chocolate chips, frosting, etc. We would like to decorate next Wednesday, December 16th. Click here to sign up for something. Thank you!
We'd like to congratulate big brother Sebastian and his family on the birth of Anais Ixtabella Rosamaria! We can't wait to meet her and wish them all well!
Have a great week!