Tuesday September 2, 2008

Reading Log: The children brought home these green two-week logs to record that they have read (or been read to) for a minimum of 20 minutes each night. These will be due back Friday September 12.

Math: Family Newsletter for you to read and keep at home to introduce you to the 2nd Grade Everyday Math Program.

** If you child forgot his/her "Summer Reading Challenge" (or list of books read this past summer) or his/her favorite book, you can send it in with your child tomorrow.

*** Please send in completed paperwork and forms from the office as soon as possible. 

                   Wednesday September 3, 2008

Math: We started Math Unit 1 today with our first lesson but as I explained earlier, the "Everyday Math" homework doesn't begin for about two weeks.

Reading Logs: Despite the beautiful outdoor play weather, try to fit in the 20 minutes minimum reading time in the evening and check it off on the green Log form.

*** Please check to see that you have completed and returned paperwork from the office. The form I am missing the most is the Internet Permission form (2 pages) . Thank you.

                Friday September 5, 2008

Reading Log: By now you should be turning the form over for the second week of recording daily reading. These will be due on Friday September 12th along with the book for our first class "Book Talk".

*** A reminder: Students need to wear sneakers and comfortable clothes on Monday for their first P.E. class. As you may have noticed, they copied a note to that effect off the board today. Also, looking ahead, our first "Early Release Day " is coming up on Wednesday September 10th.

            First Week: September 2-5, 2008

    In reflection of our school's commitment to the "Responsive Classroom" philosophy, we spent a lot of time this week getting to know each other as well as the classroom materials and expectations. We have been having  Morning Meeting in which we have tried several ways to "greet each other";some sharings; the calendar routine; and some unison reading of the message on the easel. By mid week , each child had a classroom job and was performing it to "tend" or care for our room.

    The empty wall outside our door has been filled with puzzle pieces the children decorated with drawings of themselves making our classroom a better place. On the wall to the right of the doorway, their June pictures of introduction will be replaced with a graph we did together using the mini-books they made about the favorite book from home each chose to bring in. To complete the graph, we needed to decide on five categories that would include all the different kinds of books we all enjoyed. Today this graph was used to help them answer questions about our graph data on individual sheets as math practice.

    As another way to help develop class cohesion, we all ate together with our classmates for the four lunches of the week. Now that they are comfortable with the routine, they will be able to choose to sit with friends from other classes for lunch.

    They learned and practiced responding to four different signals to get attention before instruction-giving, transitions, and group gatherings. They earned three "marbles" for compliments given to the entire class by adults (including me) in the school. Compiling marbles up to the red-line in the Marble Jar will earn them an extra recess. As you probably noticed, they labeled and are using Home/School Folders as a way to safely pass notes, notices, and papers back and forth. They also used one spiral-bound notebook as their Journals for completing short daily language or math messages in class. Lastly, we had two complete Math lessons, so we began using our "Math Journals" to practice concepts of sequencing numbers and adding coin values.

    Literacy has focused on Skills to  use in Reading Comprehension. We are learning to use "Metacognition" where we think about our thinking during our reading. I will continue to model this in the next few days with various books. We also focused on our "Schema" which means that information or experiences we already have . This helps to make a scaffold or framework for connecting our new  reading information to. Another term that refers to our "Schema" and which we will be using throughout the year in reading is making "Text-to-Self Connections". We are practicing this after I read and model books in the "Think Aloud" fashion then share and record our connections on a class "Anchor Chart".

    Lastly, we had our first "Science Companion" lesson today in which the idea of  "Doing Science through Investigation" was introduced. I modeled creating questions about some materials I chose, then tried out an investigation of those questions followed by recording the results. I divided the class into five smaller groups and let them chose several items from a table of materials- mostly recycleables. Then they needed to decide upon a question to investigate that would involve their particular materials. We will be carrying out these investigations on Monday.

    Whew! What a busy week! Thank you for your prompt completion and return of KES paperwork! 

            First Week: September 2-5, 2008

    In reflection of our school's commitment to the "Responsive Classroom" philosophy, we spent a lot of time this week getting to know each other as well as the classroom materials and expectations. We have been having  Morning Meeting in which we have tried several ways to "greet each other";some sharings; the calendar routine; and some unison reading of the message on the easel. By mid week , each child had a classroom job and was performing it to "tend" or care for our room.

    The empty wall outside our door has been filled with puzzle pieces the children decorated with drawings of themselves making our classroom a better place. On the wall to the right of the doorway, their June pictures of introduction will be replaced with a graph we did together using the mini-books they made about the favorite book from home each chose to bring in. To complete the graph, we needed to decide on five categories that would include all the different kinds of books we all enjoyed. Today this graph was used to help them answer questions about our graph data on individual sheets as math practice.

    As another way to help develop class cohesion, we all ate together with our classmates for the four lunches of the week. Now that they are comfortable with the routine, they will be able to choose to sit with friends from other classes for lunch.

    They learned and practiced responding to four different signals to get attention before instruction-giving, transitions, and group gatherings. They earned three "marbles" for compliments given to the entire class by adults (including me) in the school. Compiling marbles up to the red-line in the Marble Jar will earn them an extra recess. As you probably noticed, they labeled and are using Home/School Folders as a way to safely pass notes, notices, and papers back and forth. They also used one spiral-bound notebook as their Journals for completing short daily language or math messages in class. Lastly, we had two complete Math lessons, so we began using our "Math Journals" to practice concepts of sequencing numbers and adding coin values.

    Literacy has focused on Skills to  use in Reading Comprehension. We are learning to use "Metacognition" where we think about our thinking during our reading. I will continue to model this in the next few days with various books. We also focused on our "Schema" which means that information or experiences we already have . This helps to make a scaffold or framework for connecting our new  reading information to. Another term that refers to our "Schema" and which we will be using throughout the year in reading is making "Text-to-Self Connections". We are practicing this after I read and model books in the "Think Aloud" fashion then share and record our connections on a class "Anchor Chart".

    Lastly, we had our first "Science Companion" lesson today in which the idea of  "Doing Science through Investigation" was introduced. I modeled creating questions about some materials I chose, then tried out an investigation of those questions followed by recording the results. I divided the class into five smaller groups and let them chose several items from a table of materials- mostly recycleables. Then they needed to decide upon a question to investigate that would involve their particular materials. We will be carrying out these investigations on Monday.

    Whew! What a busy week! Thank you for your prompt completion and return of KES paperwork! 

             Monday September 8,2008

Writing: Please discuss with your child a memory she/he has of a favorite "Summer Activity" from this past summer. Then on the lavender half sheet (or another piece of paper) write down the spellings of names of the people and places that were part of that activity and memory. We will use it tomorrow (Tuesday) in Writers' Workshop.

September Newsletter is for you to read and keep for reference on the refrigerator with the dates included. ***If you have a two-household situation and you wish the other parent/ household head, etc. to have a copy please, drop me a note and I'll be sure to pass one along.

             Wednesday September 10, 2008

Word Study: Watch for Family Orientation Letter about the program.

Reading Log and Book Talk: Due on Friday September 12.

          Thursday September 11, 2008

Reading Log (green) and Book Talk are due tomorrow, Friday September 12th. 

*** A lot of School-wide notices were stapled together and sent home today. Please ask your child about them. Some children are still not in the habit of checking their mailboxes at dismissal time.  

             Friday September 12, 2008

Reading Logs are coming home today for the next two weeks. They will be due back along with "Book Talk" on Friday September 26th. 

           2nd Week: September 8-12, 2008

    With our first full week of school coming to an end, it's starting to feel like routines are falling into place. Greeting at Morning Meeting has provided continued practice on names while finding out  more about each other. After illustrating a class poem called "My New Friend" with a drawing of someone in the class new to him, we tried to guess which person was the "new friend". Today, our first "Book Talk"with oral sharing of books the children had read recently, was followed up by D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read)time at which children swapped books. Almost every child remembered her Green Reading Log and the new one was dated to come home. At our snack in the afternoon, I was reading the classic My Father's Dragon to the class but in honor of English author Roald Dahl's (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) birthday tomorrow, I started to read his short book The Enormous Crocodile. As tomorrow is also American chocolatier Milton Hershey's birthday, we tasted his milk chocolate and started a fun end-of-the-week activity of inventing our own candy bars. By the middle of next week these should be hanging outside our room.

    Whole group lessons on reading comprehension strategies using our schema (what we know) by creating an Anchor chart for The Art Lesson and then each child filling in both sides of an Anchor (or T chart) for the Core Literature book Ira Sleeps Over. This was a good vehicle for discussing  some ways that friends should treat each other.  We've had several  "Word Study " lessons using our  Fundations  magnet boards, sound tapping words,  and reviewing digraphs ( 2 consonants that make one sound such as -sh or -ch) and blends (2 or more consonants that keep their own sound as they are blended together in words).

   In science, we started life cycles looking for repeating patterns in living organisms where the offspring resemble the parent (human) and where the offspring don't resemble the parent (bean plants). We'll continue this early next week with houseflies, sheep, and  frogs.  These discussions  were enhanced by cutting and pasting in their new Science Notebooks. In Social Studies we started learning about communities and neighborhoods that make them up.

          Monday September 15, 2008

Friendship List on gold paper with names, addresses and phone numbers of all the children in our class for use for play dates and for party invitations comes home today.

KEPTA Fundraising Packets come home today. The sale lasts for two weeks so orders are due back in school on October 6th. 

KEPTA Meeting: Tomorrow from 9:15-10:45 a.m. in KES Music Room. Planning the Ice Cream Social on September 25th is the priority for this meeting.

               Tuesday September 16, 2008

Parent Volunteer Opportunities Sheet (Blue)- Please look at both sides for several choices on "Regular Weekly Activities", "Occasional, Irregular Opportunities" or "Volunteering Done at Home". Please especially note the request for a "Room Parent" and for two upcoming Field Trip Chaperoning events. After the majority of these are completed and returned to me, I'll respond with a schedule and beginning date to you.

Challenge of the Week (COW): Mrs. Glynn introduced this optional weekly math challenge in class today. It is done at home and can include parental or older sibling, etc. help. It is not part of our regular Everyday Math program so I can answer very little about it. All the children were invited to participate- there is a week turn around time- but only some children wanted to try this. If papers get lost , etc. please have your child look on the wall outside her office across from the library, contact her , or drop me a note and I'll try to get more.

               Tuesday September 16, 2008

Parent Volunteer Opportunities Sheet (Blue)- Please look at both sides for several choices on "Regular Weekly Activities", "Occasional, Irregular Opportunities" or "Volunteering Done at Home". Please especially note the request for a "Room Parent" and for two upcoming Field Trip Chaperoning events. After the majority of these are completed and returned to me, I'll respond with a schedule and beginning date to you.

Challenge of the Week (COW): Mrs. Glynn introduced this optional weekly math challenge in class today. It is done at home and can include parental or older sibling, etc. help. It is not part of our regular Everyday Math program so I can answer very little about it. All the children were invited to participate- there is a week turn around time- but only some children wanted to try this. If papers get lost , etc. please have your child look on the wall outside her office across from the library, contact her , or drop me a note and I'll try to get more.

Dear Parents of Second Graders,

I am pleased to inform you that we are hosting a guest speaker tomorrow, September 18, who will be addressing the second graders at an afternoon assembly.

Thom Harnett, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Education and Enforcement and Director of the Civil Rights Team Project, will talk to the students about kindness, respect for others, what makes a healthy school community, what it feels like to be left out or mistreated, how we sometimes hurt others without even meaning to, and simple things we can do as individuals to make things better.

This assembly supports our continuing efforts to promote positive behavior and sustain a culture of caring.

Sincerely,

Sara

The above notice applies to all KES second grades for tomorrow Thursday September 18th, 2008. It should be interesting!

          Thursday September 18, 2008

Thursday is Notice Day at KES! Among the more important ones are an invitation to the KEPTA annual Ice Cream Social on Thursday  September 25  from 4:40-6 on our playground-it's not a fundraiser but just for fun - and Photo Order Forms for Friday October 3.

    Third Week of School-September 15-19,2008

    "The times, they keep a changin'" to quote Bob Dylan. But outside our room, it's displays that keep changing. You may have noticed that the mini books that made our graph of favorite kinds of books came home early this week. In their place are our delicious student created candy bar designs to honor Milton Hershey and the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl. As I read Dahl's shorter picture book The Enormous Crocodile during snack time, I realized again how much children delight in his not-so nice characters getting their "just rewards". Today our recent computer lab productions using "Pages" word processing combined with "Photo Booth" were hung to show our favorite times in school.

    On Tuesday, GATES Teacher Mrs. Glynn introduced her "Challenge of the Week" or "COWS" as she lovingly calls this supplemental math sheet. This is another aspect of "Critical Thinking Skills" which she will be teaching for six weeks. To the children she describes critical thinking as "thinking that isn't always easy". The yellow COWS sheet was optional. If your child didn't take one but decides to give it a try later on in the year, please let Mrs. Glynn or me know. There is a week's turn-around on them.

    This was the week for guests. Mrs. Mason (KES Occupational Therapist) and Mrs. Fornaro (School District Physical Therapist) talked with the kids about safely wearing their backpacks using both straps and carrying only what you need for the day in them. They demonstrated "good posture" (remember that from elementary school?) at desks and on the rug. A fun follow-up to practicing the tripod grip with pencils was the "Pencil Olympics" where they raced their fingers up and down their pencils while maintaining this grip. Lastly, backpacks were weighed and recommendations made about needed reductions in contents.

    Finally yesterday afternoon the Second Grade  was privileged to meet Mr. Thomas Harnett, Maine Attorney General for Civil Rights. He led an animated discussion about things that hurt people , especially prejudicial and intolerant words. The children heard him read a picture book entitled 10 Little Words  that encouraged children who are bystanders to befriend those who are teased and perhaps make a difference in their lives. A paper chain of our promises to make positive changes at our school was created. 

    Just as classmate Nicholas predicted, our monarch caterpillar changed from its J-shaped chrysalis to a complete adult butterfly in exactly two weeks. We observed part of its life span right during the time we were discussing the various spans of life of living organisms: bean plants, houseflies, sheep and humans in our science Life Cycles unit. Next we went on to discussions of generations of family members from babies to senior adults.

    In continuation of comprehension strategies, we learned that good readers "stop when they get confused" so they can figure out what they're not understanding. Sticky notes marked words that were troublesome in the William Steig book Amos and Boris so they could be looked up in the dictionary. Text-to- World (T-W) connections were introduced here with a hurricane during our recent hurricane season in the news.  These T-W connections were again looked for in The Great Kapok Tree and in Lynn Plourde's Summer's Vacation. The children recorded what they thought were T-W and T-S (Text-to Self) connections on sticky notes for these then used these to complete sheets, with their ideas being saved on a class T-chart or Anchor chart.                                                                                                                      Word Study skills of digraphs and consonant blends were built on our magnet boards then practiced on several phonics book pages. After watching a video about three different kinds of community neighborhoods: urban, suburban, and rural, the children pasted magazine pictures to show characteristic of life in these areas around the word labels on large sheets of paper. As we really haven't done a lot of work on paper, I am delaying introducing portfolios until this coming Friday so they have enough examples from which to make choices of their best works.

    Adding to our regular biweekly more structured Writers' Workshop, we tried our introductory session of "Writing Buddies" with Mrs. Washburn's class. After each child in both classes completed lists independent of one another of his/her favorite things to write about, the children looked around to find a student with one topic in common. Once paired, they began pre-planning by establishing the two main characters, giving them names, and thinking of a problem they wanted to solve in the story. They will meet again in two weeks from 8:30-9:00 on Friday to continue.

    Have a great last weekend of "summer"! Be sure to put the Ice Cream Social on your calendar for Thursday, September 25th. See you there!!!!

                Monday September 22, 2008

Here it is... the day we've all been waiting for: our first Everyday Math homework!!!

Homelink 1.12: "Relations"- The side with the fine print is yours, the parent's, homework. On the child's side, be sure to ask your child to explain to you how he figures out which of the three symbols to put on the blank between the pair of numbers.  Even though we reviewed all the different sets of instructions, please make sure your child understands what he needs to do for #'s 7 and 8. The most effective use of this homework is for the child to complete it tonight and return it tomorrow.

          Tuesday September 23, 2008

Math Home Link 1.13: Please give your child the opportunity to tell you about how we use "Fahrenheit degrees" in our country to measure temperature. This homework is a simple sheet to practice reading and choosing the thermometer that accurately show the temperature requested.

** If your child completed and turned in a COW (math Challenge of the Week), it should be in the batch of mail coming home today after correction by Mrs. Glynn. She also told the class that she plans to give every second grader a COW for the next few weeks so that you and your child can try it and decide together whether or not to continue it. Watch for it in the next day or two.

             Wednesday September 24, 2008

Math: Unit 2 "Family Letter" for parents . No student homework as we had Unit 1 Assessment today.

COW: Mrs. Glynn's math "Challenge of the Week". One came home for every child so you and your child can try it then decide together whether or not it is appropriate for your child.

Parent Volunteer Response Forms: If you returned your Volunteer Schedule sheet to me by yesterday, you should be receiving this blue half sheet establishing your area of help and starting date, etc.

           Thursday September 25, 2008

Math: Copies of corrected Unit 1 Math Assessments are coming home with your child.

Math: Homelink 2.1- "Addition Number Stories". The student needs to create a story to go along with the pictures (lions and bricks) using the process of addition. He needs to include a question (ie.) "How many lions are lying down altogether?" Then he needs to show the addition process or "number model". Finally, the answer includes the sum or total labeled with the unit "lions".

** A laminated Number Grid is also coming home for your child to keep at home to help her with all homework as needed.

 Green Reading Logs and Book Talk are due tomorrow!!!!!

  ****See you at tonight's Ice Cream Social which starts at 4:30!!!
 

             Friday September 26, 2008

Math: Homelink 2.2 "Addition Facts" -This practice sheet of facts concentrates on +0 and +1 facts with some others mixed in. We played a game called "Beat the Calculator" which was supposed to show that they can use their "calculator brains" to remember addition facts faster than a person can do them with a calculator if they practice them.

Reading Log: Due back in two weeks on Friday October 10th.

** "Science Supply Wish List" from the whole second grade team for things that would be helpful for the current science unit as donations, if you wish.

             Friday September 26, 2008

Math: Homelink 2.2 "Addition Facts" -This practice sheet of facts concentrates on +0 and +1 facts with some others mixed in. We played a game called "Beat the Calculator" which was supposed to show that they can use their "calculator brains" to remember addition facts faster than a person can do them with a calculator if they practice them.

Reading Log: Due back in two weeks on Friday October 10th.

** "Science Supply Wish List" from the whole second grade team for things that would be helpful for the current science unit as donations, if you wish.

    4th Week of School: September 22-26, 2008

    How nice it was to see so many of students with their families last evening at the annual Ice Cream Social! Since it was a combined KES/Sea Road School PTA event, it was fun to talk with past children and parents. It was especially exciting to talk with a young man who is a KHS freshman but was in my class in a portable at Park Street School and he's contemplating his future!

    After my reading Eve Bunting's moving picture book Fly Away Home about a boy and his father who live in an airport, we charted their T-S sticky notes easily. Then I realized that it had been  difficult for them to make the T-W (Text-to World) connections as very few of them had seen or recognized homelessness in their experiences. Of course, that makes a positive statement about life in our area and in southern Maine. It was time to jump in with some second grade appropriate current events. The whole second grade subscribes to weekly "Time for Kids" with each teacher using this colorful news "magazine" in a different way. Using an early September issue with some familiar images : Barack Obama, the Olympics in China, and swimmer Michael Phelps, we read together and located specific parts of the TFK format.

    Another Literacy focus this week was the second grade favorite and District Core Literature selection: Frog and Toad are Friends. Even though most children are somewhat familiar with it, they still seem to enjoy reading the antics of grumpy Toad and his patient, cheerful friend, Frog. As an introduction, we discussed similarities and differences between real animal frogs and toads. This was a great opportunity to introduce the Venn diagram "graphic organizer". After group reading "The Letter", we reviewed what parts were the beginning, middle , and the end of the story .After reading "A Lost Button", we  described their two different personality traits and what made Frog such a good friend to Toad. Lastly, we began sorting these traits out onto another Venn diagram.

    In Word Study, we started learning how to decide which letters or combinations to use for the sound of /k/. These are, of course,  "c" which is almost always used at the beginning of words, like "cat". Then there's the digraph "ck" which is at the end of a word or syllable immediately following a short vowel like in the word "sock". The saga of making the sound of /k/ will continue next week. In other language skills, we had continued reminders about using upper case letters at the beginning of sentences and names, periods at the end of sentences, and using "I" when the letter "i" stands alone as a word. Soon, self-correcting these skills in one's own writing will be expected.

    We switched from thinking about the life cycles of human living organisms to that of the tree. We reviewed some appropriate vocabulary like trunk, branch, seedling, sapling, deciduous, and evergreen. After discussing how scientists use their senses to observe and record what they observe, we tramped out into the woods close by our Wing to meet our class tree. Observations were written down into their "Science Notebooks".Then these were shared and collated into a class list before the students made some predictions about what parts of the tree and its surroundings would change and grow during the year when we continue to observe it.

    The multiple papers that may come tumbling out of your child's backpack would be the ones he did not choose as his "Best Work" to put into his Portfolio. On Monday, we'll look at the brief form and how to fill it out before attaching it to his choice. These are intended to be for some reflection on something learned or done well recently. Also among those papers should be a green half sheet "Science Wish List" from the whole second grade.

   Some events coming up next week are the second grade "Walking Trip" around downtown Kennebunk on Thursday  October 2nd. We'll leave KES  at 9:00 , after a quick snack  as we'll not return until noon and have a late lunch at 12:30. Be sure to have your child wear comfortable shoes for walking and appropriate jackets or sweatshirts for the temperature as the buses only drop us off at the beginning and pick us up at the end. the places we will visit are Wallingford Farm, the KKW Water District, the Library, and Dairy Queen. This is the second part of our focus on "Community Helpers" as we had a presentation by some of the enthusiastic MSAD 71 "Grounds and Maintenance Crew" this past Tuesday. The children's "thank you letters" reflected their strong interest in all the fascinating equipment they finally got to see "up close and personal"!

    Two other notes for the upcoming week:

           -School Photo Day on Friday October 3

           -orders for KEPTA's Fall Fundraising  "Meadow Farms" products are due back October 6th, not on the 2nd as indicated by mistake on the sheet that came home this week.

                 Monday September  29, 2008

Math: HomeLink 2.3 "Doubles Facts" .The main purpose of this homework,  as it recommends 10 minutes of oral review, is to practice the doubles facts from 1 through 12 so that they are automatic.

Leaf Gathering of various kinds, shapes, and colors to put into a bag to bring to school tomorrow (Tuesday) or Thursday for Writers's Workshop.

          Tuesday September 30, 2008

Math; Homelink 2.4 "Turn-Around, Doubles, and +9" . In all three different forms of addition facts, the children are encouraged to tell someone what they know about these.  They didn't really seem to "get" the idea of +9 Facts or the "+9 Shortcut" in class but maybe with  a little more practice as well as another way of explaining it, they may say "Ah Ha! I get it now!"

Scholastic Book Orders: 4 different brochures are stapled together for you to peruse with your child. If you wish to order, they need to be returned  with payment in the form of a check by Tuesday October 7th. Please do not feel pressured to order.

Field Trip (Curriculum Extension) Notice: about this Thursday October 2nd's "Walk Around Downtown Kennebunk" from 9 to 12 noon. Parent chaperones are encouraged to come to the classroom by 8:50. 

Tomorrow, Wednesday October 1, is Early Release Wednesday. 

Friday October 3rd is School Photo Day.