10/24/16

Today in Room 210 we began our study of geometry.  We will look at the attributes of both 2-D and 3-D shapes.  The children have already been introduced to sophisticated mathematical vocabulary: faces, vertex, rectangular prism, triangular prism.  We had someone talk about how they knew that "tri" means three, and we listed the words we know that start with "tri" and have something to do with three: tricycle, tripod, triceratops.  The students will be detectives later this week looking for certain faces of shapes at home.

We continue to write our small moment, narrative stories in Writers' Workshop.  It is exciting to see those children ready to try certain "craft moves" introduced to them: similes, suspense, dialogue or detailed action.  We have been reading aloud 26 Fairmount Avenue, Tomie dePaola's memoir growing up in the 1930s.  We hope to be inspired by the small moment nature of each chapter.

In Open Circle, the word of the week is cooperation.  We have learned that it means "working together to get the job done," and not necessarily "follow directions."  An easy mistake to make when you might hear "Why won't you cooperate?"  We understand that we can get a lot more done in our classroom if we learn to cooperate.

Finally, the students are really engaged in our discussions about the election.  Today we learned the steps leading up to the election, beginning with a person announcing her/his intentions, all the way up to Inauguration Day.  The process takes about a year and a half, if not longer!  When asked who in the class would like to be president someday, about 2/3 of the group said they would and said it's because they want to help people and make he world a better place (yay, second graders!).  We may make some campaign videos so these students can share their platforms....

10/16/16

This week Second Graders began the "meat" of the math curriculum- showing their math thinking through solving story problems.  They were introduced to the steps they are expected to take in this process.

As the year progresses, the students will be expected to use a variety of strategies and tools to solve problems.  Some of your children may have been exposed to the traditional algorithm for calculations- stacking the numbers vertically.  We do not use this at school as it is too easy to follow the steps but not understand the concepts behind them.  Please ask your child to show you one of the ways he/she is practicing at school.

This week we will begin a discussion around the upcoming election.  We will talk about the role and responsibilities of the president and the steps leading up to an election.  For what I think are obvious reasons, we will not be focusing on the current candidates in the classroom.  If your child is interested, please talk about them at home.

Finally, in Friday's Open Circle lesson we talked about compliments and how good it feels to both receive and give them.  We learned that compliments must be true and are best when specific.  I asked he kids to be "compliment detectives" this weekend.  I hope they gave or noticed some compliments at home!

Settling In

Students in Room 210 are settling into the new routines and procedures nicely. We have had some good talks about how important it is to follow directions and keep our bodies safe- how can we possibly learn and have fun otherwise?!  In Open Circle, we talked about "non-negotiable rules." Please ask your child what he or she understood from that conversation.

We noted that there are also non-negotiable rules outside the classroom and even in "real life" for grown-ups, often called LAWS!

Now that we have mastered the basic components of maps, we will begin to look at maps of real places that connect to our lives directly: Arlington, Massachusetts, the United States, North America, and the world.  We will learn how to "zoom out" from our immediate surroundings.  From there, we will embark on our trip around the world.  For those of you who signed up to share about another part of the world, I will be contacting you soon to schedule your visit.  We hope to schedule for November and December.  For those of you who were not at Parent Night, or did not sign up yet, it is never too late!  We love to have visitors come and share about their experiences in other parts of the world.  Please let me know if you would like to participate.  

And speaking of visiting the classroom, through out the year we will host both "Math-Ins" and "Read-Ins."  Stay tuned for more information on these.  They are a wonderful way for your children to share a glimpse into their classroom experience.

A Great Start!

We are off to a great start in Room 210!  The children seem happy and engaged in all we are doing. We have been setting up our routines and procedures and have begun to delve into many areas of the curriculum. 

In math, we are reviewing some basics that the students have been exposed to in First Grade so we can get going on building on those skills and thinking deeper- like Second Graders.  The children have already learned that the big thing in Second Grade math is explaining how you know the answer to a math problem.  

The class is excited about Writers' Workshop.  The students seem to have lots of stories to tell.  Our first unit of study in writing is Narrative, and we will be learning how to stretch out the small moments in our storytelling.

The children love to read and they have been developing stamina for reading independently.  So far, as a group, they can sustain about 10 minutes without talking or getting up and moving around the room!

As you may have heard we have started our mapping unit in Social Studies.  This will lead us into the study of the world's continents and oceans.  We have compared maps to globes and have identified the key components on each.  

Maybe more important than all these academic topics is developing our classroom community.  We start the day greeting one another and sharing about ourselves.  You have probably heard about the "All About Me" bags.  The students have enjoyed showing their classmates the items brought in.  We have generated a list of hopes for our Second Grade year and the students have drawn pictures to show the one most meaningful to them.  

I am excited to tell you more at Curriculum Night on the 27th.  Hope you have it marked on your calendar.  

Birthday story....

.... In honor of Una's summer birthday: Can I Bring a Friend?

Fun at the Sprinkler Park

Birthday reader

Zadie's mom, Stephanie, came in exactly one month before Zadie's birthday to read a really funny book called 11 Experiments that Failed.  Hopefully no one will be inspired to try any of these wacky experiments!

Science with Meredith

Skyler's mom, Meredith, came in today to set up a science experiment with the class.  She talked to us about all the foods in our refrigerators and kitchens that we could plant to grow more.  She brought in some scallions and each child put one in either a bucket with just water or a bucket with "compost tea."  We know a lot about compost, since we have been active members of the Green Team, and Meredith reminded us of some key points (she even set up a small Baggie of "starter compost").  Based on all we know, we made predictions as to which scallions will sprout first, the ones in water or the ones in the compost mixture.  I will let your child tell you about her/his hypothesis.

Making compost.

Special Visitor

Today we were lucky to have Gael's grandfather come in and share his knowledge of and experiences in Japan.  He was a highly engaging speaker!  Some students say they may include facts they heard today in the Japan non-fiction books they are working on.  

Elizabeth's visit and Sun Safety

On Thursday we began the day following up with our playground clean-up and getting ready for Zero Waste Day next Friday, June 10.  You may have seen Elizabeth's e-mail. She read a wonderful story called One Plastic Bag. Then the kids broke into groups to make posters about recycling, composting (under Larry's guidance), trash, zero waste day.  The trash group was overwhelmed by the task of counting the items- there was just too much of it :(

Later in the day, we had a visitor come speak with us about the importance of staying protected from the sun, especially in the summer.  Carlene Newell works in the district, traveling to all schools talking about important health subjects. The kids made bracelets with beads that change color when exposed to UV rays- a fun reminder of how strong the sun is. 

Story time

Mia's mom, Sara, came in today to read a couple of great stories in honor of Mia's birthday which comes in July.  Before she left, she taught us some phrases in French.  Then we did our morning greeting in French!  Bonjour!

Park clean-up

On Friday, guided by Eli's mom Elizabeth, all the second graders headed to the playground area to pick up trash. They were working as Green Team representatives and plan to show the school community how much trash was collected in just 20 minutes.  This is also in anticipation of our "Zero Waste Day" coming next month. 

Special Activities

There have been some special things going on in Room 210 this week.  On Thursday, Leon's dad, Simon, came in to read us a story in honor of Leon's birthday. He told us about Leon's namesake, his ancestor who came to this country as a teenager.  Simon read a typed (on a typewriter!!) manuscript of The Dancer, a story THAT Leon had written about a character who felt different from others.

On Friday morning we had a great turn-out for our Math-In.  Thanks to all of you who could join us and learn from your children!

Right from the Math-In, the second graders headed down to the gym to see a huge, plastic model of a whale. Skyler's grandparents came in to talk to us about the massive creature.  

Waiting to go inside...

Inside the whale....

Budding Actors

Last week the kids had a chance to share the fairy tale plays that they have worked on in Library class with Ms. Liza.  They shared them with both Fifth Grade buddies and then our Kindergarten singing pals!  We are hoping to act out some of the Japanese children's stories we have been reading before the year ends.

A Very Special Day!

Today is Ms. Sickel's last day with us.  She read the book we made for her.

We were both presented with amazing flowers this morning!  It smells great in the classroom!

AND.... We now have several J-shape caterpillars. Two of them have already made their chrysalis.

And it is only 10am!!

First J-shape!

Caterpillars

You may have heard that we are watching some caterpillars grow in our classroom.  They have about tripled in size since they arrived last week!  Today the kids had a chance to let them crawl out of the cup- we got a really close view of their bodies and activities.  Ask your child to tell you about frass and molting.

Special story

On Friday we celebrated Isa's birthday with a couple of special stories: The Day the Crayons Quit and the funny sequel, The Day the Crayons Came Home.  Isa did a great job reading with her dad; the class was captivated!

Electron lesson

On Friday, Zadie's mom, Stephanie, came to the classroom to give a talk and demonstration about electrons and how they make energy.  We learned that lemons and limes make good conductors for energy.  The students made very thoughtful hypotheses about which other fruits would do the same and why.  Stephanie told us at the beginning that scientists have to be very patient because their experiments don't always go as planned.  Sure enough, Stephanie had to make adjustments to her original plan as the demonstration progressed!