Miss Cindy shared a Morning Message with us on Thursday and taught us to say good morning in Mandarin. She also taught us how to write Chinese numbers. This activity made a wonderful connection to the children's understanding of place value. The children were engaged and excited during Miss Cindy's lesson. Be sure to ask you second grader what he/she remembers!
MATH
We finished up a review of adding coin combinations and worked a little with odd and even numbers. To help us remember the difference, we shared a few poems (listed below). This week, the children will use their understanding of odd/even numbers to help them check the accuracy of addition and subtraction problem-solving. Stay tuned...
Odd and Even
If you are an even number
You always have a pair
So if you look around
Your buddy will always be there
But ...
If you are an odd number
There's always a lonely one
He looks around to find his buddy
But he's the only one.
-Marg Wadsworth
Zero, two, four, six, eight
Being even is just great.
One, three, five, seven, nine
Being odd is just fine.
WORK WORD
We introduced the vowel team "ea." We use a rhyme to help us remember the sound that these vowel teams usually make: "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." These double vowels have a long vowel sound. The first vowel "says its name." The children will learn to recognize that some vowel teams are found more often in the middle of words or sometimes at the end of a syllable or word. We encourage your child to be a word detective and look for these vowel teams in his/her environment. The children worked hard to come up with a great list of "ea" words, including eat, seat, treat, dream, please, teacher, etc.
During our discussion, many children came up with words that sounded like they should fit the "ea" pattern, but instead were spelled with "ee." These included words such as steal/steel, meat/meet, sea/see. In an upcoming lesson, we will introduce homophones, words that sound alike but have different spellings and different meanings.
WHOOPING CRANE STUDY
Last week, the children worked with partners to research a whooping crane body parts (eyes, feet/toes, legs, beak, red crown, wings, tail, etc.). The work focused on how whooping cranes have adaptations to help them survive. Survival is based on their habitat, how they migrate long distances, what kind of food they eat, etc. Children will write about these adaptations and draw a picture with appropriate labels. You will start to see similar labels on Wally the Whooper in the hallway. Stop by after Thanksgiving to take a look!
The whooping cranes have had to stand down since their arrival in Tennessee because of rain and poor weather conditions. They have not made any advances on their migration to Florida. We are crossing our fingers for better weather and hope that we can watch them fly on the cranecam one morning this week. We hope you and your second grader will continue to check in over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Did you know...
Imagine running for more than 7 hours. Do you think you could do it? Whooping cranes can stay in flight for that long and more!
CHANGE 4 CRANES
Change 4 Cranes containers decorated with decals were sent home with your child on Friday along with a "cheat sheet" of whooping crane facts for children to use as they share the story of the whooping cranes with others and ask for their support. We have included it here (click for download) in case you'd like to make more copies. Please make sure checks are made out to Operation Migration (a tax-deductible donation). Also, don't forget to send Ms. Harrison photos of your child's creative fundraising activities!
There are no after school special classes on Tuesday, November 25th. Late Day will be held as usual. Please let us know of any dismissal changes.
There will not be a newsletter next week. We wish you all a restful, relaxing Thanksgiving Holiday with family and friends. There is a lot to be thankful for and we are grateful to have such a sweet, eager group of learners this year!
MATH
We finished up a review of adding coin combinations and worked a little with odd and even numbers. To help us remember the difference, we shared a few poems (listed below). This week, the children will use their understanding of odd/even numbers to help them check the accuracy of addition and subtraction problem-solving. Stay tuned...
Odd and Even
If you are an even number
You always have a pair
So if you look around
Your buddy will always be there
But ...
If you are an odd number
There's always a lonely one
He looks around to find his buddy
But he's the only one.
-Marg Wadsworth
Zero, two, four, six, eight
Being even is just great.
One, three, five, seven, nine
Being odd is just fine.
WORK WORD
We introduced the vowel team "ea." We use a rhyme to help us remember the sound that these vowel teams usually make: "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." These double vowels have a long vowel sound. The first vowel "says its name." The children will learn to recognize that some vowel teams are found more often in the middle of words or sometimes at the end of a syllable or word. We encourage your child to be a word detective and look for these vowel teams in his/her environment. The children worked hard to come up with a great list of "ea" words, including eat, seat, treat, dream, please, teacher, etc.
During our discussion, many children came up with words that sounded like they should fit the "ea" pattern, but instead were spelled with "ee." These included words such as steal/steel, meat/meet, sea/see. In an upcoming lesson, we will introduce homophones, words that sound alike but have different spellings and different meanings.
WHOOPING CRANE STUDY
Last week, the children worked with partners to research a whooping crane body parts (eyes, feet/toes, legs, beak, red crown, wings, tail, etc.). The work focused on how whooping cranes have adaptations to help them survive. Survival is based on their habitat, how they migrate long distances, what kind of food they eat, etc. Children will write about these adaptations and draw a picture with appropriate labels. You will start to see similar labels on Wally the Whooper in the hallway. Stop by after Thanksgiving to take a look!
The whooping cranes have had to stand down since their arrival in Tennessee because of rain and poor weather conditions. They have not made any advances on their migration to Florida. We are crossing our fingers for better weather and hope that we can watch them fly on the cranecam one morning this week. We hope you and your second grader will continue to check in over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Did you know...
Imagine running for more than 7 hours. Do you think you could do it? Whooping cranes can stay in flight for that long and more!
CHANGE 4 CRANES
Change 4 Cranes containers decorated with decals were sent home with your child on Friday along with a "cheat sheet" of whooping crane facts for children to use as they share the story of the whooping cranes with others and ask for their support. We have included it here (click for download) in case you'd like to make more copies. Please make sure checks are made out to Operation Migration (a tax-deductible donation). Also, don't forget to send Ms. Harrison photos of your child's creative fundraising activities!
There are no after school special classes on Tuesday, November 25th. Late Day will be held as usual. Please let us know of any dismissal changes.
There will not be a newsletter next week. We wish you all a restful, relaxing Thanksgiving Holiday with family and friends. There is a lot to be thankful for and we are grateful to have such a sweet, eager group of learners this year!