Classroom News

Math

This week during math, we have been learning about how to decompose and compose numbers to 10.  We learned how to play "Bears on a Bus." Below are pictures of students filling up the bus!  A card was drawn and students had to figure out how many more people were needed to get to 10.  Finding partner numbers to 10 is something that you can continue to practice at home!

Gingerbread Houses

Thank you to all of the families that made donations to our class Gingerbread making project.  Students had a wonderful time learning about the various types of gingerbread books.  They enjoyed writing about how they would catch a gingerbread man.  We have a lot of creative friends! We worked vigorously preparing for our Gingerbread play with the second grade book buddies.  Despite being a difficult task, the students did a tremendous job in front of their peers!

Sight Words of the Week

he

she

Social Studies: Holidays Around the World

This week our class took a plane to visit Israel to celebrate Hanukkah and Germany to celebrate Christmas.  They loved the idea of following along with the flight simulator video to pretend to fly to a new country.  In Israel, students learn about the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.  We learned about the Festival of Lights and how one candle is lit each night.  Students were surprised to hear that children get one gift each of the 8 nights of celebration.  In Germany, we learned about the nutcracker and yule log.  We made our own Christmas tree advent calendars as an art project.  Germany is one of my favorite places to visit because I get to bring my pickle ornament in and teach children about my family tradition.  A pickle ornament is placed on our Christmas tree last by a parent.  After all presents are open, the children try to be the first person to find the pickle.  That person gets an extra present and as the story goes, they will receive good luck for the year.  

Classroom News 12/4

Classroom News

Literacy

Here you can see that we are working on the "magic e" rule and "when two vowels go walking, the first does the talking" rule.  Often times students are confusing these rules.  THAT IS OKAY :) We call this "using, but confusing."  Students have so much going on in their brains right now, they are sifting through the rules that they have learned and are pulling out which ones they deem appropriate for the situation.  If you see them doing this, please encourage them to keep going and do not correct them!  

Math

During math we have been ramping up our work with 10 frames.  Students are now expected to compose and decompose numbers to 10.  Please practice making addition and subtraction problems within 10.  An example of this would be: If I have 3 pencils, how many more do I need to get to 10?

Gingerbread 

We will be performing a gingerbread boy skit in front of the school next Friday morning with our second grade book buddies from Mrs. Bissonnette's class.  To celebrate the ending of our mini-unit, we will be making Gingerbread houses in the afternoon.  Please be on the look out for paper work with further information in your child's red folder.

Holiday's Around the World

This Friday we will begin our unit on Holiday's Around the World.  Students will travel to different countries, including France, Iceland, Germany, Mexico, Israel, as well as many others.  We will be learning about the traditions that people from these countries have.  Let us know if your family has any special traditions that you have in your home.  During each visit, students will be working on filling out their own Passports!  Please let me know if your family is sensitive to this subject.

Saying Goodbye to our Friend 

I am sad to say that our dear friend Thaddeus will be leaving us.  We sent him off with a package of cards that each friend wrote to him, so that he can open them when he arrives in his new home!

Classroom News

Our Class is Thankful

This week our class discussed what we are thankful for.  It was nice to see how many children were thankful for friends, family and also how they came to the realization that they are very fortunate to have the things that they do.  An example of this was when Jenna said that she is thankful to be able to have extra clothes/money/food, etc. to be able to share with those less fortunate.  Some friends chimed in and shared how they help others by donating clothes.  

We spent time learning about the Pilgrims and the boat that they came over in, the Mayflower.  Students brought home a bracelet that will help them retell the story of the first Thanksgiving.  They were proud to say that they would like to share the story at their own family Thanksgiving table!  

Reminder:

We will be going through the bags of clothes and looking for those that are "summer attire."   These will be sent home over Thanksgiving break with hopes that you can switch them with more "winter appropriate" attire!  Thank you in advance for sending warmer clothes back in after break!

I look forward to seeing you all at your scheduled conference time on Monday or Tuesday!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Classroom News

Literacy

During Writer’s Workshop, we have been wrapping up our unit on Small Moment Narratives.  We use the words First, Next, Then and a Reaction to help prompt our writing on each page.

This week we have been learning how to add on to a story.  We were specifically practicing how to add talking bubbles and more detail to our sentences.  We were taught to think about how we were feeling and who we were with when we were recalling our small moments. I am pleased at the progress that I see happening each week!

Sight Words of the Week:

can

as

Math

During math we have been practicing knowing our 10 frames “in a snap.”  I taught the game “Around the World” to the children, which has become an all-time favorite so far! Students compete to say the 10 frame number correctly, as fast as they can.   I have changed around the way that I do math centers to help manage the class and make sure that all students are on task.  Our structure is as follows: Whole group mini lesson, then we break off into 3 groups with Miss Beck running a group that reiterates the previous lesson, Miss Bourgea running a group that follows up with the mini lesson and then the third group is working independently on Dreambox or another fun activity. 

Behavior

This week was an excellent week in the classroom!  For four days in a row, we had NOT ONE SINGLE person on the yellow light!  This is especially wonderful considering how crazy this time of year can be.  The class earned a special Fun Friday activity for doing such a wonderful job being respectful and staying on task!  

Important Dates:

There will be no school for children Nov 23-27 for Thanksgiving Break

November 23^rd and November 24^th: Parent/Teacher Conferences

Book Fair at PPS!

You have access to order books online from the Porters Point Book Fair.  Here is the link to the fair, which is open November 4th to November 17th!  

http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/porterspointschool

November 6th

Classroom News

Four Winds

Kasey's mom Mattie came to visit today to teach us about seeds!  She read us Oh Say Can You Seed by Dr. Seuss. 

We observed seeds with magnifying glasses and wrote like scientists to draw detailed pictures of the seeds.  The class favorite was milkweed seeds.  They loved watching them fly around the classroom!

2nd Grade Buddies

We listened to Miss Bourgea read a version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Students worked together to retell the story with a Beginning, Middle and End.  The kindergarten students were in charge of drawing pictures and then the second graders wrote the words. 

Sight Word 

look

of 

Conference Sign Up Open

The conference portal is now open.  You may sign up using the following link: Conference Sign Up

Please let me know if you have any further questions.  I look forward to seeing you all again soon!