Newsletter: Week Twelve

Dear Families,

We have had a really, really nice week this week. There were many highlights that made me stop and think “Wow, we’ve really arrived!” The kids are thinking, sharing, and reflecting like mad. Here are some highlights…

Sarah, Plain and Tall

We launched our very first literature study of the year. This is the first of a five book series that I truly love. The kids received their own copy of the book and each day they follow along as I read aloud. We use this as an opportunity to learn how to talk about literature in preparation for the launch of book clubs. One component of this work was to engage in written conversation with a classmate about the book. Here are a few excerpts:

“I think Caleb is trying to be funny to make Sarah want to stay. I also think that Sarah wants to make the home she’s at now like her own home that she came from.”/ “I agree. Probably Caleb wants a new mother/mom really badly.”/ “I also agree with you that Caleb wants a new mom. But I’m sure he misses and wishes he could have known his mom.”

“I think Sarah’s the oldest and she doesn’t like it there.”/ “I don’t really think Sarah’s the oldest even though I think she did not like it there.”

Building a conversation about literature is hard work. The natural tendency is to take turns telling something rather than building on the ideas of others. This requires careful listening and hard thinking. The kids are off to a really nice start.

Measurement

We’ve been exploring different tools for measuring weight. These have included: balance scales, bathroom scales, spring scales, kitchen scales, and slide scales. We’ve used these to measure in pounds, ounces, and grams. I overheard the following conversation at the kitchen scale (which provides weights in ounces and grams) …

“The lima beans weigh 17 pounds.”

“No, I don’t think lima beans could weigh 17 pounds. That’s too much.”

A third member of the group reaches over and turns the can so that the label is facing everyone.

“Hey, these are GIANT lima beans!”

“Oh! I guess they COULD weigh 17 pounds then.”

Communities

We launched a study of the problems communities face. We started with a group discussion and then broke out into two smaller groups to continue the discussion. Two of the kids were selected to record their group’s thoughts on the board for us all to see. As they worked to create lists of challenges/people in need I was struck at how seriously both groups took their work. They sat attentively and shared out ideas as well as commented on the ideas of others. It was one of those moments that caused me to pause and consider how far these kiddos are coming. After combining the two lists, this is what we had to show for our efforts…

Poverty, crime, homelessness, abuse, rights and responsibilities, helping people that move from other countries, education, helping people with disabilities, enough food, helping the elderly, fires, stray animals, neglect, and emergencies

We’ve since read a number of books on homelessness and immigration. The kids are sharing their research into organizations that help to make our community stronger and more equitable tomorrow. From these experiences we’ll begin discussing what cause or organization we would like to support this year. Before we leave for Thanksgiving break I would like for us to have a plan for who we want to help and what types of things we might do. If you have some great ideas please pass them along with your child. The final decisions will be theirs.

Remember that Expert Project presentations are next week. We will be sharing our projects with the entire school on Tuesday morning from 9:30 – 10:45. Feel free to stop in and check them out if you have the chance.

Homework: November 14 - 18

1. Community Helper research. Come to school Friday ready to tell us about a group/organization that works to solve a challenge/problem in our community. There is a sheet for this and it is due on Friday.

2. Expert Project boards are due next Monday. If anyone can finish early I'd love to have to have them present this Thursday or Friday.

3. Those that did not finish writing their non-fiction animal books in class need to finish these at home. There is a sheet for everyone to look over with you before bringing these back in.

Homework: November 7 - 14

1. Reading Log
2. Measurement Sheet

These are both due on Monday, 11/14.

Newsletter: Week 12

“Measurement is my FAVORITE subject!”

Dear Families,

What’s not to like about exploring the world of measurement? Each day the kids pull from a variety of tools – meter sticks, tape measures, rulers, measuring tapes, measuring wheel – and work to size up various objects. The past few days we’ve been working with perimeter. Perimeter is the distance around a non-circular polygon. After measuring the perimeters of their notebooks and tables, the kids worked in partnerships to arrange a set of shapes in order from the smallest perimeter to the largest. To calculate these totals they needed to call upon their knowledge of adding numbers that require regrouping. They did a really nice job and had a lot of fun too. This made me think of one of my earliest graduate courses at USC. The professor had us read and discuss a point/counterpoint essay around the question “Does education need to be fun?” My first inclination is to say “YES!” However, I guess it depends on how you choose to define fun.

We’ve continued work on our research projects. The kids are now taking their information and turning it into a small non-fiction book. There are some features the class agreed should be present in everyone’s book – table of contents, glossary or pronunciation key, subheadings, etc. Each of the kids also chose a few features of non-fiction they wanted to add to this list for themselves (alliteration, italics, etc). Mr. O’Keefe’s class spent some time with us on Tuesday sharing the non-fiction pieces they recently wrote. His kids offered us a few suggestions and we came back encouraged that we were on the right track with our work. We will continue to work on these in the classroom through next Wednesday. At that point if anyone is not finished I’ll ask them to take their book home and bring it back completed on the following Monday.

The kids are bringing home their research cards today. They need to complete their project boards and have them back at school a week from Monday (November 21^st). We’ll present them at that time. If anyone thinks they will be finished by next Thursday or Friday I would LOVE to have a handful of kids present early to help lighten the load the following week. I’ll check in with them on Tuesday and Wednesday to see if there are any volunteers.

Ms. Brinson has done a brilliant job of taking charge of our reading workshop over the past week or so. Here is an update from her…

I’ve been eagerly awaiting my full immersion in the classroom, and it’s finally here! It’s been so rewarding to see the kids everyday over the past two weeks and experience the rhythm of “classroom life” day to day.

One of my assignments for the MAT program was a Curriculum Innovation project – enrich the curriculum by incorporating a new structure of learning. Chris and I chose Readers Theater, an activity which helps readers with fluency, to develop a good pace as a reader, and ultimately to make better sense of a story by incorporating different voices for characters and using strategies such as intonation and emphasis for certain words. The students selected scripts, got into groups with two or three other kids, practiced their story together, and will perform in front of the class. Hopefully, you’ve seen the same excitement and enthusiasm that we have. The students seem to enjoy this experience and I know they’ve all grown as readers because of it.

Finally, we enjoyed the opportunity to have grandparents visit us today. We sang them a couple of songs, shared out a few facts from our research, and gathered stories from them. We plan to use these stories as part of a class book of family stories.

Have a great weekend,

Chris and Leanne

Newsletter: Week Eleven

”Anything that changes your values changes your behavior.”

-George Sheehan (cardiologist, runner, writer)

Dear Families,

This was the quote used to frame our staff conversation yesterday around student behavior and the ways we support our classes into living and working responsibly among their community of classmates. I was thinking of this conversation after last night’s Curriculum Night. For those of you who were here I hope you noticed how attentive and excited to share the kids were. Second and third grades are such a fun time because so much growth happens during these formative years. The kids are changing every week. We’re still quite playful, and rightfully so, but we’re also learning that there’s a place and a time for everything. I really couldn’t be any more proud of this group.

Here’s a rundown of our past week together…

As readers we thought about how a story is supposed to sound. We’re trying to grow beyond word-to-word reading- moving toward a more fluent rhythm. We’ve been paying attention to how punctuation helps guide us through the text. We’ve also been playing around with the idea of creating character voices for the dialogue in our texts. Chase, Ryan, and Chandler read a Frog and Toad story to us on Thursday as if they were performing on an old time radio show. After having practiced the story for a few days, they read to us with strong, confident voices that were very entertaining. We’re all working on similar projects now. My hope is to video each of the groups final performances and post them to the class blog for you to see.

As writers and scientists we have been organizing research notes and then turning them into full sentences. We’ve talked about the need for punctuation as well as capital letters. Many of us are still not all that mindful of these conventions of writing but these types of experiences help to move us all in the right direction.

As mathematicians we’ve been exploring linear measurement. The kids started by measuring items around the room using non-standard units of measure such as: shoes, markers, pencils, hands, etc. The following day they asked a partner to check their measurements. Their results did not match up in most cases. When asked to write about why they thought the data didn’t match their responses were: (1) Sometime people measured too quickly, (2) People used the same unit of measure but it was a different size than their partner’s, and (3) Some people slid their measuring tool across the surface instead of measuring end-to-end. We used their observations and conclusions to develop our own rules for measurement. These included measuring carefully and slowly, using a standard unit of measure, and always measuring end-to-end. We’re now measuring to the nearest half inch and exploring different types of measuring tools (measuring tapes, yard sticks, tape measures, rulers).

I hope that you all enjoyed reading your child’s progress report last week. I meant to send out a message before they came home asking you to excuse any errors that slipped through. Regardless, the information was an accurate retelling of the things I have noticed in the classroom. I love writing these reports because they provide me an opportunity to sit and really process all the information I’ve recorded on each of the kids. Our next reports, in January, will be a checklist-type report that lists each of the curricular areas with the indicators Developing, Achieving, Extending.

We’re going strong on Expert Projects. You can probably expect materials to come home next weekend so the kids can prepare their project boards. We’ll plan to present just before Thanksgiving Break.

Have a great weekend,

Chris