Newsletter (of sorts): Week Ten

There is no formal newsletter this week. However, here is a brief description of what we're up to...

Reading:
We've been learning about text and visual features of non-fiction texts. The kids have found: table of contents, italics, timelines, maps, photographs, captions, subheadings, playful language, question/answer formats, jokes, pronunciation keys, and much more. We're using this to help us understand this type of text as well as support us in our research of animals.

Writing:
Using what we're learning about NF texts, we are creating works of non-fiction of our own. Each day the kids select a feature we've been noticing and go out to try it in their own writing. This will transition us into our expert project writing late next week.

Math:
We've been hard at work thinking about and creating word problems. Many of these have challenged us to use our new-found knowledge about regrouping when adding. Next week we're shifting our focus to measurement.

Science:
Everyday we are learning more and more about the animals we are researching!

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Please remember that reading logs and math sheets are due on Monday, as is the kids' expert project research coming home today.

Next Thursday is Curriculum Night. We'll meet here from 6:30 - 7:30. We are planning to share a text with you to help you see what it is we mean by "reading is thinking." We also hope to have time to share some work around math word problems with you. While many of our Curriculum Nights tend to be shorter, this one might well take us all the way until 7:30. I'll send an agenda out for those who have multiple children to spend time with.

Have a great weekend,
Chris

Scholastic Electronic Book Orders

Scholastic Address: http://scholastic.com/bookclubs/

Class Activation Code: GY8VG

Ends: Friday, November 11, 2011

Homework: October 24 - 28

This week's homework includes:

1. Reading Log is due next Monday

2. Math Sheets are due next Monday

3. On Thursday the kids will bring home their research notes with a few questions they are still working to answer. They need to find the answers to these questions and bring them back on Monday. Also, they need to read through their notes with you to ensure they all make sense.


As always, if you have any questions please send them my way.

Newsletter: Week Ten

Dear Families,

Have you been following the World Series? I am originally from St. Louis and grew up, as most boys in the metro area did, a very big Cardinal baseball fan. I remember my dad and I spending many nights listening to Jack Buck and Mike Shannon call the games on KMOX. I was eight years old in 1982 when the underdog Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers (and their three future Hall of Famers) in seven games. The games were on far too late for me to see but my parents did pull me out of bed to see the final out retired in the seventh and deciding game. I’m reminded of this as I follow the Cardinals (again the underdog) taking on the Texas Rangers in this year’s World Series. Living on the east coast, the games are even later now than before. My wife Tricia generally falls asleep by the fifth inning and I can’t say I blame her. As I sit here typing this newsletter the Cardinals have just taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two. If you have no loyalty to the Lone Star state I invite you to root along.

As I trust you know, we are beginning our first expert projects of second grade. It’s so great to see how excited the kids get when learning we’re about to start our research projects. When I was a kid I’m quite sure the declaration “Okay class, we’re about to begin some research” would have been met with big sigh or, worse yet, a moan. I sometimes see parents take a deep breath when hearing that expert projects are coming around the bend. All I can say to those of you who feel a bit of angst is “Never fear, we’ll do the vast majority of these projects AT SCHOOL.” I’m sure if I sent them home they’d come back looking much more polished and grammatically correct than what we might produce at school but, as second graders, I’m much more interested in the process than the product. We’ll learn about non-fiction features such as the Table of Contents, sub-headings, use of italics, timelines, maps, and a whole lot more. We’ll study non-fiction texts to imagine what we might want our own writing to look and sound like. We’ll learn to identify key information, summarize it in our own words, and turn these facts into rich text.

What we’ll see at the end will be the product of a lot of really hard work. Sure it’ll look like a seven, eight, and nine-year-olds created it. But, hey, that’s exactly what it should look like. We’ll be so proud of their efforts and feel good about all the learning that took place along the way.

So, what is your role in all this? You’ll be asked to help them find resources at the beginning of the project. If someone gets behind they may bring their resources home over a weekend to catch up. From time to time we might ask for some feedback before moving on to the next step. And, finally, in a few weeks the kids will bring home their facts to begin creating a project board they can share during their presentation to the class. That’s it. No timeline. No due dates. No stress. This will be both a great learning experience and a whole lot of fun!

To prepare for these projects the kids have been studying Ranger Rick magazines this week. Using some of what they’ve seen in these magazines, they are beginning to write their own non-fiction books about familiar topics. Some of these include: Amazing Animals, How to Make the Perfect Christmas List, Cooking, Cambodia, Video Games and Movies, and Scrapbooking. We’ll continue to study non-fiction writing and create these short texts over the next few weeks. This work will transition us into the writing element of our expert projects. Be sure to ask your child about these projects.

Have a great weekend,

Chris

Expert Project Selections

Here are the animals everyone chose for their expert projects. There are some very fun and interesting choices! Please make sure to have all NF books in the classroom on Tuesday. We'll begin researching on Wednesday.

Abrianna - zebras
Anna - cows
Ashley - polar bears
Chase - peacocks
Connor - sloths
David - wolves
Ellis - warthogs
Enock - coyotes
Erica - penguins
Grace - giraffes
Jackson - crocodiles
Jade - sharks
Jalen - cheetahs
Kohl - bobcats
Laila - earthworms
Maisy - octopus
Micah - meercats
Rachael - dolphins
Ryan - snakes
Chandler - king cobras
Trent - rhinos
Tyler - great white sharks

Homework: October 17 - 21, 2011

This week's homework is to spend ten minutes observing your expert project animal. While you are doing this make a careful sketch, note observational data about the animal's physical and behavioral characteristics, and record any questions you have. Bring these back to school on Friday to share with others.

For those who are regularly turning in their log and reading twenty minutes each night, there is no log this week. For those who are struggling to read and record I'm asking you take this week to work into the practice of nightly reading and logging.


Thanks,
Mr. H

Newsletter: Week Nine

Dear Families,

I hope you all have enjoyed this rainy, rainy week. Most of the kids were awfully excited to have our first indoor recess of the year on Tuesday. I rarely believe it’s too hot or too cold to go outside and play. However, elephant-sized mud puddles are enough to keep me away. The kids had fun playing games, drawing pictures, and playing games on the computer.

In reading workshop Ms. Brinson, our MAT, helped launch a study of the inner conversations we have when reading a text. She modeled this inner conversation for the kids and then scaffolded them into noticing their own thinking around texts. We pushed this a bit further later in the week and began to turn and talk with our neighbors about the texts we have been reading. Often, when reading a book, I will stop and say “Turn to your partner and tell them something you’re thinking right now.” We are working hard to come to understand that reading is all about thinking and interacting with the text.

During this study we’ve come to notice that many of the thoughts we’re sharing begin with sentence starters such as:

I think…, I was thinking…, I was imagining…, You know how…, I bet…, I have a connection to…, I thought maybe…, or That makes me remember earlier in the book when…

Getting to see the kids engage in a book and excitedly turn to talk about it is among my very favorite moments of teaching. These are the moments that will prepare them to make giant leaps in their reading. Before long we’ll all be amazed to see them talking so passionately about their books. It’s definitely something worth waiting for!

Speaking of reading, please continue to ensure that the kids are reading at least twenty minutes each night. Reading is SO, SO important and comes into play in nearly all parts of our lives. While we do a lot of reading in the classroom there is just not enough time in our day to provide the full amount of time our developing readers truly need. I generally read to the kids for about twenty or thirty minutes each day and they spend twenty to twenty-five minutes reading independently (of course, there are other times we are reading other types of things as well). The more they can add to this at home the better. No amount of mini-lessons, conferencing, or tutoring can possibly compare to the power of time spent reading. If you want to grow a strong reader then believe me when I say the very best thing you can do is keep them reading, reading, reading!

In math this week we’ve been exploring place value using the base-10 blocks. These are blocks that come in the 1, 10, 100, and 1000 variety. We use these to construct and add numbers. Soon we’ll be adding numbers that require regrouping (you may remember this as “carrying”). Beginning with the blocks allows the kids an opportunity to construct a conceptual understanding of these problems before switching to the traditional method.

Finally, thanks to everyone who made it out to Curriculum Night and/or Gathering last week. The kids enjoyed performing. I don’t know how my guitar got turned up that loud (I had set the levels earlier in the afternoon) but, all the same, it was a proud moment for us all. We’ll present our next Gathering the week we return from Winter Break.

Have a great weekend,

Chris

RCPL on Friday

We'll be walking to the RCPL this Friday. If possible, I'd love for you to go online with your kids and request a book or two on an animal they'd like to research. We discussed these topics today and everyone has already made their selection. Just be sure to request a book labeled as Childrens' NF. If you could request these tonight they'll most likely be there on Friday morning for pick-up.

Also, we still need library cards for a handful of kids. If you haven't sent it in yet please do so.

Thanks,
Chris

Homework: October 10 - 14

1. Reading log (due next Monday)

2. Revise and edit your memoir with an adult. Publish it either on notebook paper or on the computer. Your parents can help you with this. On Friday you need to bring back your published piece, rough draft, and time line.

Newsletter and Tuesday's Field Study

There will not be a newsletter this week since much of what I would share would be identical to the things the kids presented at both Curriculum Night and Friday Gathering. In the meantime, here's a short three minute video highlighting some things we learned at the farm on Tuesday. Enjoy.

Homework: October 3 - 7

There will be a reading log coming home on Tuesday. Also, the kids need to bring in the packaging from a favorite food at home. This could be a box, bag, or can. Just make sure the label is in tact and there is no food inside.