Classroom News

It has been wonderful meeting with families to discuss your students' progress at our parent/teacher conferences!  I was so busy preparing for conferences that I have not posted new information about our classroom for quite a while.  Here are some of the exciting things that we have been working on over the past few weeks:

Literacy/Writing:
During our literacy lessons, we wrapped up our first reading unit of study, Second Grade Reading Growth Spurt.  During this unit, students worked on finding "just right" books and building stamina to read for longer periods of time.  We also discussed ways to stop and check our comprehension and to retell our stories.  We learned and practiced a wide variety of strategies for helping us figure out tricky words, such as trying different vowel sounds, breaking words into parts, looking for words inside a word, and using meaning.

After watching the performance of Jigsaw Jones, we have been reading mysteries in our book groups.  Students have been looking for clues as they read and putting put our clues together like a jigsaw puzzle, just like Jigsaw Jones.  Students are doing a great job recording information about story elements (character, setting, problem, and solution), as well as their clues, on a story map.

We are also finishing up our "small moment" narrative writing unit.  I have been so impressed with the way that all students have worked to "lift the level" of their writing to include:

• clear organization- including a beginning, middle, end, and transition words
• elaboration (details, talk, action, feeling)
• interesting vocabulary words
• capital letters and punctuation

They have also worked hard to "hook" their reader into their stories and keep them interested all the way through to the ending.  We examined various texts, including Owl Moon, Up North at the Cabin, Canoe Days, and The Leaving Morning, to see how these authors created the endings to their books and to get ideas for our own work.

Math:
In math class, we have continued to build fluency with addition facts, such as Make 10 facts.  We are currently reviewing +10 and +9 strategies.  We also have been using what we learned to help us solve related subtraction problems, as well as addition problems with many addends.

We have been working on developing our understanding of two- and three- digit numbers by building them using Cuisenaire rods and base 10 blocks.  Students also practiced writing these numbers using expanded form.

At morning meeting, we have taken a break from student sharing to give us extra time for counting games.  This week, we have changed our 10 Sit Down game to be a bit more challenging.  We have been starting at a one digit number and then counting forward by 10s until we cross over 100.  The person who sits down gets greeted and then picks the new number for the next count.  During math times, we have also practiced counting forwards and backwards with partners and small groups.  Students are also working well with writing their counting patterns on graph paper and in their math journals.

Social Studies/Technology Integration:
Over the last few weeks, we have been learning about our world by exploring different maps, atlases, and globes and playing a geography game on iPads that helps us the locate continents and oceans.  In small groups, we have also been programming BeeBot to "travel" to these different continents and oceans.

Here are some links to our East Montpelier Mapping Projects from earlier this year.

Video of Narrated Book

Print Version in PDF format

EMES Library Blog: East Montpelier Village Planning Projects

Before the election, our class read an article about the election process and each student created a "Did you know...?"  poster with an interesting fact that he or she learned.  We discussed how voting is an important right for U.S. citizens over the age of 18.  Then, I read aloud the book If I Ran for President by Catherine Stier.

I also read aloud a biography called Elizabeth Leads the Way:  Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote by Tanya Lee Stone.  Students learned that many people, including African Americans, women, and poor people did not have the right to vote in the past.  We learned about the ways that Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others fought for the right for women to vote. 

On Election Day, we participated in a mock election in Mr. Willard's room and had the chance to vote for either Elephant or Piggie for president thanks to our Kindergarten friends.

Typing Club:
Last week, we starting using the Typing Club program to learn important keyboarding skills.  Students are encouraged to practice from home.  Students can log into Typing Club on the EMES website by going to Quick Links.  Under Student Links, you can find Typing Club Login.  I will send home students' usernames and passwords with a copy of this blog.   Please remind your child to line up their fingers on the "home row" by putting their index fingers on the keys with the bumps (f and j) before starting.