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Friday, January 29, 2010

Friday Chills!

Today we enjoyed a biography of John Chapman who is also known as Johnny Appleseed. We learned a lot, Branden, thank you!


We practiced our word wall words then we began readers workshop. We each had a poem to read (Making the Grade) and then we wrote what we thought the poem was about.

Bradley read us his story about the Titanic and we "Questioned the Writer!" He wrote a GREAT story that he is revising and we hope to publish for everyone to read next week. We did the same thing with a story by Hayden. I can't wait to post both stories on our wiki so everyone can enjoy them. They are amazing!

In the afternoon, we went to P.E. and music, then we worked on our math facts and number scrolls. We took time out to read our Bucket Notes.

Have a GREAT weekend....stay warm....and don't forget to READ...READ....READ!!!!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Thursday Thrills!

Mia was our child of the day and did a great job reading...although she was little hoarse. We're glad you're back, Mia!





We worked some more on our word wall words and since it is Thesaurus Thursday, began a new list of GREAT words we can use in our writing. We read The Boy Who Collected Words and will finish it up next week.

We read the poem, Fear of Frying to work on our inferring skills. Isabella did such a great job, she was changing her thinking as we read, she introduced us to a new strategy: synthesizing!!! We won't work in depth on this strategy till later in the year, but synthesis is changing your thinking as you read and weaving your thoughts together with the text to create meaning.

We realized that we question the author of the books we read so we created a Questioning the Writer...That's Me chart!!! We listed questions we should be asking ourselves as we write to make sure our writing is organized in a way that the reader can understand.

Students had art in the afternoon plus their ELL enrichment time. We have P.E. and music tomorrow, so make sure you are wearing appropriate shoes.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ...READ....READ!!!!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Wednesday Wonders!

We enjoyed listening to Joshua read today. Neha also shared a painting project she completed at home with her sister and mother. It was beautiful. Do you take orders?





We worked on our word wall words before moving into our reading lesson. We have learned this week that when we make a prediction that we have to support it with text evidence. We also go back and either confirm or contradict our predictions.

During writers workshop we looked at how our stories began and created a list of story beginnings.

After lunch and recess, 1st graders worked on problem solving and number sense. 2nd graders learned more about quadrangles.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ...READ...READ!!!!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Monday Marvels!

Bela did a wonderful job leading us through the classroom pledge and reading to us. Such expression! She did a great job getting our calendar ready for the day as well. Thanks, Bela!




We worked on our new word wall words. Check our wiki for this week's words and then click on the Spelling City logo to practice.

We read The Royal Bee today and learned that readers back up their predictions with evidence from the text. We will finish the book tomorrow and practice backing up our predictions.

In writing we realized that of all the genre's of books that we read....we can write in those same genre's! We also reviewed organization and a new way to plan our stories.

During math workshop, 1st graders worked on time to the quarter hour and 2nd graders learned about points and line segments.

Report cards go home tomorrow.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Friday Fun!

Our child of the day, Elsa, did a fantastic job reading! Keep up that great reading, Elsa!



We began the day with a word sort then completed a Time for Kids activity about Martin Luther King, Jr. After students finished with the work it was readers' workshop time. They were all so engrossed in their reading!

During writers' workshop we used our knowledge of juicy words to make our stories better. I look forward to reading them this weekend.

After lunch and recess, students went to P.E. and music. When they returned, 1st graders worked on measurement and 2nd graders started a geometry exploration.

Have a GREAT weekend and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Thursday Thrills!

We all knew Gavin would read about his favorite subject: SHARKS!!! And what a FANTASTIC job he did. As I was listening to him read I reflected back on when I first met him as a reader in 1st grade. WOW!!!! You are a shining star!!! I'm so proud of you!




It was Thesaurus Thursday and today we collected juicy and exciting words as we read. We then used these words in our writing today. I can't wait to read their stories tomorrow!

We had art this afternoon along with our ELL enrichment. Tomorrow we have P.E. and music, so be sure and wear appropriate shoes.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ...READ....READ!!!!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tuesday Tales!

Mallory did a wonderful job leading us through the classroom promise, updating our calendar and reading to the class. Thanks, Mallory!




We worked on spelling patterns today with words that have the /k/ sound. We learned that most will begin with c; that if begins with k, most will have the vowel i, e, or y as the 2nd letter. If it begins with q, it will begin with qu...in fact, all q words begin with qu. We also learned that the /k/ sound at the end of the word will be spelled with ck.

We began reading the book Where Are You Going, Manyoni. We are learning what we can do on our own when we don't understand a word. We will work some more on this tomorrow.

In writing we worked some more on the writing process, focusing on editing. We also read the book, The Snow Show, and looked at organization.

Today was a switch day with a Monday schedule, so we went to the library. When we returned, 2nd graders worked on the partial sum algorithm and 1st graders learned more about non standard measurement.

I will be out of the building tomorrow at a district meeting. There will not be a posting, but Mrs. Negele will be the teacher so the students will not lose a day of learning.

Have a GREAT night and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Friday Fun!

We began the day by celebrating Shivam's birthday. He brought doughnuts that we enjoyed while completing our morning work. Happy Birthday, Shivam!!! Isn't it great to be 7?

Leighton was our child of the day and we really enjoyed his reading of a non fiction book about frogs. Thanks, Leighton!





We also had a mystery reader: Isabella's mother! I wished I had my video camera on when Isabella SCREAMED with joy when her mom walked in! She read Fancy Nancy Explorer to us and we learned lots of new and "fancy" words! Thank you! And...thanks for the great cookies!







We did "quick writes" of this weeks word wall words. I used the ELMO so that they could see the word for 3 seconds, then I took it off and they had to write it. They have to read the word quickly and then write it quickly. We also did a VENN diagram of the words "their" and "there".

We reviewed making predictions and how we have to support our predictions with evidence from the text. 2nd graders are working on reading stamina as they have to finish a chapter book before they can read any other bother. We also reviewed how to use our sticky notes as we are reading to keep track of our thinking.

As we are reviewing the writing process and organization, we learned about editing our writing today. We have our special editing pen to use when we check for spaces, word wall words, capital letters, and punctuation.

After students went to P.E. and music, we read The Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson. (A book about Dr. MLK, Jr.) We then watched a video about his life and speeches. We listened to a portion of the I Have a Dream speech. We also read a book by his sister and growing up with him.

Have a GREAT 3-Day weekend and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Thursday Thrills

Jacob did a GREAT job as our Child of the Day! We really enjoyed listening to his reading. We learned about different types of writing and listened for clues as he read his story to make a prediction. Great reading, Jacob!






We read the book Chicken Little to identify words we could use instead of
said
in our writing. We then sorted these words (squawked, cried, wailed, murmured,etc.) into categories: soft, loud, scared, etc., words. We can use these when we write!

We also read the book Corduroy. We learned that when we infer (clues + schema = inference) we have to support our thinking with evidence from the book. We will keep working on this as we go forward.

We also learned how to
Ba-Da-Bing
our writing! We are moving to the revision stage of the writing process. We went back and reread what we had written. Then was asked ourselves (in order to add details or write more powerful sentences) What did my feet do (BA) What did I see? (DA) What did I think? (BING)

After lunch and recess students went to Art and their ELL enrichment time.

Tomorrow we have P.E. and music. Be sure and wear the correct type of shoe or have a pair here.

Have a GREAT night! And don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Wednesday Wonders

Isabella was our child of the day and she did a wonderful job reading to the class, leading us through the pledge, and completing our calendar for the day. Thanks, Isabella!






We began the day by creating a word exchange chart for writing closings to friendly letters. Instead of from, we can close with: Best wishes, Fondly, Sincerely, Your friend, or Yours truly.

We then brainstormed a list of words that begin with the /s/ sound: city, sock, cent, simple, sudden, cereal, etc. We then sorted our S words and C words to create a rule for when we write words with the /s/ sound with a s or a c. We decided that the /s/ sound is usually spelled with s. It's sometimes spelled with c, but only before e, i, or y.

We then reviewed our pictures that we drew (visualizing) from our poem that we used to practice inferring at the word level. We determined that reading is definitely not just reading words. You have to use your schema plus clues from the text to create meaning.

During our writing lesson, we learned about writing an ending. We want to leave "an echo with the reader" so they remember our stories.

After recess, we read Martin's Big Words. We learned more about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as choosing words for our writing that are powerful.

As a whole group to begin our math workshop, we worked on problem solving and graphing. Then 1st graders learned about non standard measurement and practice using different parts of their body (arm span, hand span, etc.) to measure around the room. 2nd graders worked more on estimating and creating ballpark estimates.

Tomorrow we have art.

Stay warm and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

December Mystery Readers

A little late....but Mom always said it's NEVER too late to say THANK YOU!!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Monday Marvels!

Our child of the day, Bradley, did a wonderful job reading Tiger Tales and leading us through our classroom promise. Thanks, Bradley!





We reviewed our new word wall words: way, may, only, use and find. Practice writing them neatly and spelling them correctly. Students can do Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check at home on their own. Use Spelling City by clicking on the link to the right.

We also made a list (real world writing) of different settings, our favorite characters, and January nouns that we can use in our own writing. Each student started their own list in their Daily Pages, as well.

We are learning how to infer at the word level. I read a poem, Snowstorm, to them and asked what it was about. They could guess, partly, because of the title, but because the words are so different (it was written sometime between 1750 and 1850) they missed quite a bit. The point is, we can't just read the words, we have to understand what we are reading. We highlighted the words and phrases we didn't know and began to list on a chart what we thought the words meant. We will continue this tomorrow, then each child will draw a picture of what they think it is about. After that, I will show them the original illustration.

In writing we are working on the writing process and organization. Today, we reviewed our storyboards from Friday and just wrote the beginning of our story. Tomorrow we will write our middles.

I read the book, Freedom on the Menu, and we discussed who Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was. Then I asked them to listen as a writer and we discussed voice.

After library time, we worked on problem solving and number sense in math. In addition, 1st graders learned about reading a thermometer and 2nd graders learned about making change.

I will not be in the building tomorrow but will be at a district meeting. Mrs. Negele will be their teacher. There will not be a blog post for Tuesday.

Have a GREAT night, stay warm, and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Chilly Friday Fun!

We started the day with a mystery reader: Jacob's mom! Tomorrow is Jacob's birthday (Happy Birthday!) and she came in to read as a special treat for Jacob. She also brought treat bags for all the kids to take home.





After our mystery reader, we learned that all readers make predictions before they read, but they have to "back up" their thinking. They explain why they made the predictions. We also practiced Listening to Reading (our 3rd rotation: Read to Self; Read to a Buddy; and Listen to reading).

In writing we are reviewing the writing process as we begin a unit of study on organization of writing. We learned this week that all writing begins with a great idea. We used our heart maps to select a topic, then we used a storyboard to plan out our story before we actually begin writing. We are all in the pre-writing stage right now.

In the afternoon students went to P.E. and music and then returned to the classroom for math. 1st graders completed a checking progress for unit 3, then played domino top it. 2nd graders learned about estimation. In their Daily Number Review, students have been learning about rounding numbers up or down since the beginning of the year. This made the estimation lesson go very quickly today as they all caught on to the idea. We aren't done, but it sure helped!

We finished the day with Shivam, our child of the day read a story to us. Thanks, Shivam!





Stay warm..have a GREAT weekend..and don't forget to READ...READ....READ!!!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Thrills from Thursday

We got off to a slight late start, but we enjoyed listening to Neha read The Teeny Tiny Witch Goes to School. GREAT reading, Neha!


In reading we began our unit of study on inferring. We learned that inferring=schema + clues (from the text). We will work on inferring at the word and the text level in the next few weeks.

Our writing lesson focused on ideas. We learned about creating a heart map, where we "diagram" our heart of things that are important to us. This is where we can draw on ideas.

In the afternoon we had our ELL enrichment time and art.

Stay dry...stay warm....and don't forget to READ....READ....READ!!!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Wednesday Wonders!

We enjoyed listening to Sahithi read The Crane Wife first thing this morning. Thanks, Sahithi!


We reviewed what reading to a partner looks and sounds like. Here are a few pictures of students reading together:








After readers' workshop the BIG EVENT of the day was Bartlett Nature Centers Balance and Motion Science Stations. I'll post all the pictures this weekend, but here are a few:







In the afternoon 1st graders worked on breaking numbers apart (number sense) and 2nd graders worked on measuring temperature.

Have a GREAT night...stay warm...and don't forget to READ...READ...READ!