Classroom Newsletter January 30, 2012

This Week

We have a busy and fun week ahead in second grade!  Don’t forget to join us at 8:30 on Wednesday as the second grade will present the chapel message.  I am very proud of these young children as they have worked hard to portray the Ten Commandments in their own words. I am hoping to videotape the performance so that it can be viewed from by blog site by parents and grandparents who are unable to attend.  Please note: in an effort to make my blog more user friendly, I have shortened the name to mrsobrienclassconnect.blogspot.com.  

Reading/Creative Writing

This week we are reading two stories where the characters bake something.  If time permits, I may have a special surprise to go along with this theme on Friday : )   Skills we are working on include summarizing and connecting what we have read to our lives and other pieces of literature. If time permits, we will also discuss the difference between realism and fantasy.  During creative writing time, we will read “The Snow Globe Family”.  We will compare the two families in the story and write about what it would be like to live in a snow globe. Your child is welcome to bring in a snow globe to share with the class, but please no expensive or fragile ones.

Phonics/Language

Our sound of the week is the short e sound. We are also reviewing ABC order and dictionary skills.

Math

This week we will do a number of activities involving patterning and number reasoning with addition and subtraction.  We will also continue to increase our speed on addition timed tests.  Wednesday is the 100^th day of school.  We will play some fun games involving the number 100.  Your child does not need to bring in anything special for hundred day.

This Week’s Assignments

No reading assignment was sent home (practice for chapel)

Keep working on those reading logs!

Dolch list will be checked on Friday

Math homework on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday

Have a great week,

Mrs. O’Brien

mrsobrienclassconnect.blogspot.com

Classroom Management for Creative Writing

I recently discovered this pencil on Pinterest and after making my own, it has been a real help in tracking where each of my students are in the writing process.  Even with a very small class, students tend to finish projects at very different speeds.

I usually help my second graders with revisions and often found that kids were coming up to me with a lot of mistakes that they should be able to find after proofreading on their own. The pencil gave me the idea to create a simple checklist that my class can use for each writing assignment. Hanging next to the pencil on the opposite wall, I keep a folder of laminated checklists. Next to the checklists is a container of wet erase markers. The same checklists can be used over and over again with a simple wet wipe. Now, before a student edits or revises with me, they have to show me the completed checklist. My class is still getting used to this new routine but I am hoping that over time, it will reduce the amount of capitalization and punctuation mistakes they bring to me so I can help them improve upon content rather than mechanics. 

 

Happy Birthday Solomon!

 Last Friday, our school celebrated its 150th birthday.  We are now the oldest continually running Lutheran elementary school in the United States.  What an amazing accomplishment!  I can't take credit for the work, but I wanted to post some pictures of  our hallway decorations to celebrate this momentous occassion.  The snowmen were made by our third and fourth graders.
 
I had the idea of making a cake but knew I wasn't crafty enough to pull it off.  Mrs. Schultze and Mrs. Lemay did a fantastic job of making the idea come to life!  Each of the 150 candles were personalized by our staff and students.  Happy birthday Solomon and way to go Crusaders!

Expository Writing: How to Build a Snowman

 Last week we practiced expository writing.   Our topic was "How to Build a Snowman".  Prior to formal writing, we did some journaling about the parts of a snowman and what would be needed to make one.  Together, we read the book Snowmen At Night .  Since not all students had built a snowman before, we looked at pictures of real snowmen and listened to the experiences of our classmates with prior expertise. 

I divided the writing into a four step process "First, Next, Then and Finally".  Students had to complete a rough draft using these words as sentence starters.  Before students could publish their work, they had to read their rough draft to me.  While they were reading, I drew a picture of what they were explaining.  They had to look at my picture and identify any missing parts.

Once a student's writing was published, they had to read their own description and "build" a snowman out of paper to match the description they had written.

Classroom News: January 23, 2012

This Week

A big "thank you" to everyone who came to worship with us yesterday. It was very special to see so many Solomon supporters in their red attire. You should all feel proud to be a part of such a wonderful place. Please continue to join us as we celebrate 150 years of exceptional education. Our next celebration weekend is March 17 and 18^th. Look in your Crusader Comment for more information. Also, Wednesday February first, second grade is in charge of the chapel message. We will share our interpretation of the Ten Commandments. Please join us that morning at 8: 30. If school would be delayed or canceled on this date, we will present the message the following week.

Reading/Creative Writing

This week we are reading about family celebrations. During creative writing, we will write personal narratives about our favorite birthday memories. We will also begin to practice dictionary skills. This is an important skill as I am working with students to correct some of their own spelling mistakes in their writing. I checked Dolch lists today and will send home next week's list on Friday. Please continue to read with your child at home. It has been awhile since I have received a complete reading log for some students. Regular reading at home makes a big difference in developing reading skills at school.



Phonics/Language

Our sound of the week is the "oy, oi" sound. We will hunt for this sound in text and practice rhyming "oy, oi" words. We are also reviewing adjectives and learning about the suffix "ful".



Math

Today is our last lesson in chapter 6. Review sheets went home today and the test is on Wednesday. The focus of our next chapter is number patterns. We will also continue addition timed tests this week.

This Week's Assignments

Math: review for test. Homelinks on Thursday

Practice addition flashcards a few minutes each night

Reading: trade book with comprehension worksheet: due Friday

Practice Dolch words

Read, Read, Read!



Upcoming Events

Wednesday February 1: Second Grade in charge of chapel



Have a great week,

Mrs. O'Brien

mrsobriensclassroomconnections@blogspot.com




 

Teaching Tips: Signage, Penguins and Clothesline

Update from original post: Here is a better picture of the lettering on the sign.  Again, the "is cool" is removable so that the sign can be used for additional projects.

Last week my class made the Pinterest inspired footprint pengiuns as an enrichment activity following a long reading test.  I thought that they turned out really cute!  Not everyone likes having the teacher paint their foot, so I made participation optional.  I also had a bucket of warm water and paper towels ready after each print.  Overall, I thought that the children did a nice job of keeping the room clean.

I currently have a broken window in my classroom, so I tried to make it more attractive by adding a cute sign (this photo doesn't show the cute polka dot lettering very well).  "Mrs. O'Brien's Class" is laminated onto the poster and the "Is Cool" is taped over top.  This way I can change the class motto to go with a new theme and do not have to create an entirely new poster.

I also found a clothesline tucked away in my classroom and decided it was perfect to hang projects from the windows.  Clipping the line to the windowsill was a cinch and will make it much easier to add and remove future projects.

Classroom Newsletter January 17, 2012

This Week

I hope that you all had a relaxing Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. January is really flying by, and we have a lot of exciting upcoming events at Solomon. Don't forget to join us this Sunday for worship and lunch to kick off our 150^th anniversary celebration. Look for report cards in your child's folder this Friday. This week we are starting another great quarter of learning and growth! Mark your calendars for Wednesday, February 1^st as the second grade will be presenting the message in chapel. We hope that you can join us!

Reading/Creative Writing

This week we are reading the Native American tale "The Great Ball Game". We will also begin to practice dictionary skills. This is an important skill as I am working with students to correct some of their own spelling mistakes in their writing. I checked Dolch lists today and will send home next week's list on Friday. There is no other reading homework this shortened week, although I would like to encourage more at home reading. It has been awhile since I have received a complete reading log for some students. Regular reading at home makes a big difference in developing reading skills at school.

During creative writing time this week, we will finish our expository writing on "How to Build a Snowman". Students will then have to use the directions they have written to build a snowman out of paper.



Phonics/Language

Our sound of the week is the "ear, eer, ere" sound. We are also reviewing adjectives and learning about the suffix "ly".



Math

This week we will explore some of the basics of division. We will talk about what kinds of items come in groups and how those items can be divided equally. We are still working on addition timed tests. Please continue to practice flashcards with your child for a few minutes each night. It really helps build speed and accuracy.



This Week's Assignments

Math homelinks will go home Tuesday-Thursday

Practice addition flashcards a few minutes each night

Read, Read, Read!



This Week's Highlights...

Monday

-MLK Day: No School

Tuesday

-Today we learning about "eer ,ear, ere" words.

Wednesday

-Chapel

-We will read "The Great Ball Game"

Thursday

-We will illustrate our Snowman expository texts

Friday

-We will learn how to lead a book discussion

Sunday

-Join us for church!



Upcoming Events

Wednesday February 1: Second Grade in charge of chapel



Have a great week,

Mrs. O'Brien


 

Our Weekend Adventures With George

The most highly anticipated homework assignment of the year in my classroom is definitely "Our Weekend Adventures With George".  This year's class asked me on the first day of school when it would be their turn to take George home.

For my small class, I start this assignment after Christmas break. George sits in the room the week before, to build interest. On Fridays, a studen'ts name is randomly drawn to take George home for the weekend. He goes home with a bag full of goodies including his own pillow, pajamas and some of his favorite books. Last year, a generous student even added a new Curious George DVD to George's "suitcase". 

Also included in the bag is a class book. At the end of the weekend the "host" is to write a journal entry telling what George did over the weekend. I always have a writing sample for the student who is chosen first. They must add a colored picture or photograph of George to the page. On Monday, they read their entry to the class and share what they did with George. The journal page is taped to the "Our Weekend With George" poster in my room and is added to the class book at the end of the week. On Friday, the previous week's host gets to draw the name of the next lucky student who gets to take George home.

Sumdog

A great website for kids that I came across recently is http://www.sumdog.com/.  This site allows students to compete in math games to earn points for their avatar or to reach a new animal level.  There are so many kids who spend a lot of time playing video games these days and this is a great way for them to learn something positive while playing.  I plan on using this occassionally for Friday math game day as well as a center for early work finishers.  Teachers can adjust the difficulty and track student progress as well as set up classroom competitions.

Classroom News: January 9, 2012

This Week

It is hard to believe that Friday marks the half-way point in our school year! I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to educate your children this year. Each and every one of them is a kind and caring individual and they are all genuinely good people. We have had a great year so far, and I look forward to sharing these last few months with your children as I help them to prepare for third grade.

Here are a few reminders:

• Don't forget that Friday is early dismissal and we will be off next Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
  
• Please mark your calendars to join us for worship here at Solomon on Sunday, January 22 as we begin our festivities to celebrate 150^th anniversary.
  

Reading/Creative Writing

This week our reading skills are summarizing and sequencing. We will finish unit 3 and have an end of unit test to close out the quarter on Friday. I am developing literature circles that I hope to implement within the next few weeks. After some group practice, this will allow students to read in small groups and lead their own book discussions. Each student will have a different job within the literature circle and it will hopefully help them to develop some independent thought processes in response to what they read.

During creative writing time, we are beginning to write expository or "how to" texts. Our topic is how to build a snowman. We will talk about snowmen and the correct order that is needed to build one.

Phonics/Language

Our sound of the week is the "oo,ou" sound. We are also learning about the comparative endings "er" and "est".

Math

This week we will continue to work on chapter 6. Topics include mixed addition and subtraction number stories and beginning multiplication concepts. The first week of addition timed tests went well. Most students were able to answer 50 questions in 5 minutes. This week, I am increasing the number of problems to 60. Please continue to work on flashcards at home. It really makes a difference!

Sumdog: I have added our class to the more than one million users of sumdog.com. This site is set up with games that require students to answer math questions correctly to earn points. The points can be used to "shop" for their character and move to the next animal level. We will use this from time to time at school and I recommend visiting it at home. It is a great way to spend a few minutes if you need a homework break.

This Week's Assignments

Your child should have brought home a story and worksheet on Friday. They are due this Friday January 13th.

Please practice the sight word list with your child. I will check each student on Friday and award stickers for each column completed successfully. When a child "graduates" from a page, they will move up to the next level.

Math homelinks pages will go home Mon-Thursday



Upcoming Events

Wednesday: Chapel at 8:30

Friday: End of quarter: early dismissal

January 16: MLK Day, no school

January 22: Worship at Solomon 150^th: luncheon to follow.



Have a Great week,

Mrs. O'Brien

Ideas for Teaching Adjectives

This week the theme of the stories in our reading book is using clues to solve mysteries.  I am tying my creative writing to this idea by teaching a mini unit on writing riddles.  A big part of writing a good riddle is using descriptive language without stating the exact name of an object, hence the tie-in to adjectives.  A great book to read while teaching adjectives is Many Luscious Lollipops by Ruth Heller.  The end of the book is advanced for second grade, but they understand that adjectives describe nouns and verbs and can tell how many.

After reading the book we created a list of as many adjectives as we could think of.  Each student then renamed the book with a new title.  My favorite was "One Beautiful Winged Horse".

The next day, we reviewed what we learned about adjectives and turned it in to the "secret snack game".  I wrote several riddles about snacks and students had to circle all of the adjectives they could find.  They then had to guess what type of snack I was describing. Small groups were then given a bag with a secret snack in it.   They had to hide their snack from the rest of the class and come up with a list of as many adjectives as they could to describe that snack. 

Tomorrow, the small groups will use their adjective lists to write at least 3 sentences describing their secret snack.  The goal is to write as many adjectives as they can in the 3 sentences.  The fourth and concluding sentence is, "What is my snack?" The rest of the class will guess what is in each mystery snack bag.  Of course, this lesson would not be complete without eating the snacks!

Printable Addition Flashcards

We are getting ready to improve basic addition fluency through timed testing. Flashcards are a great way to practice. If you do not have a set of flashcards at home, you can print these from apples4theteacher. We love to play "around the world" on Fridays. Find fun ways to practice for a few minutes each night.

Printable Addition Flashcards