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Sunday, November 30, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the kindergarten and second grade pancake breakfast! Here are some photos of the event.  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I am excited to see everyone on Monday morning.








Friday, November 21, 2014

Classroom News: "Small Moments" Narratives and Owl Moon

We are wrapping up our "small moments" narrative writing unit.  During this unit, we continued to revisit our mentor text, Owl Moon, looking for ideas and inspiration.  We learned how the author, Jane Yolen, used repetition, comparisons, and descriptions in her writing as she stretched out her story.  After reading the story aloud, students worked in small groups to place sticky notes on sentences or phrases that they thought were examples of good writing.  Then, each student chose a few phrases and wrote about why he or she thought they were interesting.

We chose a few of these phrases to use as we created a dance that showed our ideas about what the descriptions mean.  We tried out our dance while listening to George Winston's song "December", which matched the mood of the story very well.  The phrases we chose were:

"... a train whistle blew, long and low, like a sad, sad song."

"I could feel the cold, as if someone's icy hand was palm-down on my back."

"...the owl pumped its great wings and lifted off the branch like a shadow without sound."

After our movement lesson, students wrote a short reflection about one movement that they felt connected well with the book.  We also participated in an ECO lesson that connected with Owl Moon and wrote about this lesson in our ECO journals.  Finally, we created a watercolor painting about a favorite phrase from the book.

It has been wonderful to see how well students understand the power of the writing choices Jane Yolen and other authors make.  It has also been exciting to see students trying out these "craft" moves, such as making comparisons, to lift the level of their own writing!

Important Dates and Reminders:

November Homework is due by Tuesday, November 25th.  Students can bring their packets in on Monday if they are already finished.

Scholastic Book Orders are due on Monday, November 24th.  Please let me know if you would like your order to be a surprise, so we can arrange a special pick up time.  Otherwise I will hand out the orders when they arrive.

Second grade/ Kindergarten Pancake Breakfast:  Tuesday, November 25th 9:00-10:00 am
Thanks to everyone who has signed up to bring food for this special event! 

Reading to End Racism:  Tuesday, November 25th, 2:45 pm

Thanksgiving Break:  Wednesday, November 26th to Friday, November 28th

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Break!  I am so thankful to work with such an amazing class and supportive families!




















Thursday, November 13, 2014

Classroom News

It was wonderful to meet with everyone at our parent/ teacher conferences!  Thank you for coming in to talk about your child's progress.

This week, we participated in an ECO lesson that connected with our mentor text, Owl Moon.  First, we made owl wings that we could use during the lesson.  Alex taught us about the calls of three different owls:  the Eastern screech owl, the great horned owl, and the barred owl.  Student had to learn the difference between the calls as they played an owl tag game and a call identification game. Next, we went into the woods and shared nature stories.  We also participated in a scavenger hunt activity, trying to find natural objects such as burdock, pine cones, and two different types of ferns.  Finally, we worked quietly in our spots in the woods, reflecting on our favorite part of Owl Moon through writing and illustrations.  Later during writing workshop, we wrote and illustrated "small moments' narratives in our ECO journals.

As many of you know, Alex has accepted a new position with Community Connections, so this was the last ECO lesson that he will be leading this year.  However, we hope to have Alex visit soon.  I will keep you posted about the schedule for upcoming ECO lessons.  A big thank you to Alex for all of his hard work and wonderful lessons!

In math, we have been working to build our fluency with addition and subtraction facts in a variety of ways.  Students seem to especially love quizzing a partner and playing addition games, such as Make 10 and Race to the Top.  We have been using these basic facts as we learn and practice strategies for solving two-digit addition problems.  Students have been showing their thinking using base 10 blocks, Cuisenaire rods, drawings, and equations.

Have a great weekend!  Stay warm!

Important Reminders and Events:

Please help your child to remember his or her outdoor shoes each day.  We like to keep the dirt and mud out of our classroom and to make the custodians jobs easier.  Also, students need to wear warm outdoor clothing each day for recess time.

Students are welcome to bring an afternoon snack that they can eat during read aloud or discovery times.  

The EMES Holiday Luncheon Feast will be held on Tuesday, November 18th.  The second grade lunch time that day will be from 11:30-12:00 in the cafeteria.  There is a RSVP form included in the EMES newsletter and in your child’s Friday Folder!

All EMES classes will participate in Reading to End Racism lessons on Tuesday, November 25th at 2:45 pm.

Our first RIF Book Giveaway of the year will be on November 21st.














Sunday, November 2, 2014

Classroom News: Buddy Time!

This week, we had lots of opportunities to work with other students in different grades.  On Wednesday, we joined our kindergarten buddies from Mrs. Zeilenga's class for an ECO lesson.  We participated in several outdoor station activities, such as making clay faces and spider webs in the woods.  I was so impressed the wonderful collaboration that I observed during this time.  We reviewed fire safety rules and then carefully followed these rules as we warmed up around our own fire drinking apple cider.

On Friday morning, we met with our fifth grade buddies from Mrs. Shedd's room.  We worked in pairs and small groups to play Collect 50 Cents.  It was great to have our older buddies help us with counting groups of coins and trading coins. 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, second graders take turns in pairs visiting the preschool classroom during lunch time.  Mrs. O'Hare's students seem to enjoy having older students join them for this time. 

We plan to participate in more fun lessons with our buddies very soon!

Important Dates: 
Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Monday, November 10th and Tuesday, November 11th. There will be a 12:30 dismissal for students on these days.