Friday, February 28, 2014

Classroom Summary for February 24 - 28


Here's what we did this week...

In Fundations we began working with the r-controlled vowels er, ir and ur. We learned the spelling option method of checking words that have similar sounds but different spellings:

  • Step 1 Write the word using all the different spellings that make that same sound you need. 
  • Step 2 Circle the word you wrote that looks the most familiar to you or makes the most sense to you. 
  • Step 3 Look up the word you circled in a dictionary, e-dictionary or book that might contain that word. (If you can't find the word you circled, look up the other words you wrote down just in case the one you circled was not the correct spelling.) 
  • Step 4 Check the word you find in the dictionary against the word you wrote and circled. 
Here is an example:




Miss Varrell's reading group began working with a new comprehension strategy called inferring. We learned that inferring is when a reader understands more about a character, setting or event in a story by connecting the clues and hints that an author weaves into the text. This week we focused on identifying clues that can be found in a character's actions. We read Erandi's Braids and Chester's Way and  found that we could really tell a lot about the main characters in both stories when we took the time to notice and reflect on what the actions of these characters told us about their personalities.  Next week we will practice inferring more independently. 



In writing this week we completed our culture projects, published them and shared them with each other. We learned so many facts and details about countries around the world! Miss Varrell was very proud of how well we were able to use our persuasive writing skills in our writing. We were especially convinced that foods all over the world, no matter what they are, look really good when you're hungry! We will share the last of our projects during snack time next week.

In social studies this week we reviewed the major landforms and bodies of water that second graders need to be aware of. We read about, discussed and drew pictures of continents, mountains, islands, and valleys. We also learned about oceans, seas, bays, lakes and rivers. Next week we will switch back over to science and begin learning about fossils in preparation for our field trip to the Museum of Natural History at Harvard University in Cambridge. 

In our enVision math program, we continued to work with place value up to 1,000. This week we focused on working with three digit numbers and how to write them in standard form, expanded form and number words. We also worked with number lines that used three digit numbers and learned how to identify and continue a skip counting pattern in ones, tens or hundreds. We even reviewed comparing numbers with the operation signs > (greater than) and < (less than) but this time we compared three digit numbers instead of one or two digit numbers. We amaze ourselves with how much we have learned in just 106 days!

On a side note, here is one of our accomplishments during indoor recess this week!

Photo courtesy of Keira Riley using the Room 211 iPad!


Photo courtesy of Keira Riley using the Room 211 iPad!


Weekend Challenge Activity:  Ask a parent if you can use a magazine or newspaper for cutting apart. Choose one page in the newspaper and cut out as many words with r-controlled vowels as you can find on the page. Sort them into categories by sound or spelling. Glue them down on a piece of paper and bring them to school on Monday! We will compare everyone's findings using mathematical symbols!


F.Y.I. 
  • Our next field trip is coming up in two weeks. We will be going to the Museum of Natural History on March 14. Our randomly selected chaperones for this trip will be Mrs. Davidson and Mr. Riley. Thank you to all who volunteered. If you were not selected for this field trip, you will still have an opportunity to attend the final field trip in May.
  • If there is no school on Monday, March 3, the "Dress As Your Favorite Character Day" will be postponed to Friday, March 7.
  • Please be sure your child is continuing to practice math facts daily. If you are using Xtramath.org at home, your child should have moved past addition by now and should be working on subtraction at this point in the year. If your child has not advanced beyond addition, be sure to supplement his/her Xtramath addition practice with subtraction flashcards or a different math fact program that focuses on subtraction facts. Thank you!
  • More ideas for math practice at home: coin identification (using heads OR tails), telling time to the hour, half hour and quarter hour on  a digital clock AND analog clock.
  • Please let me know if you need more copies of graphic organizers for help with homework paragraphs. I am happy to make copies and send them home with Monday's homework packet if they are helpful to you. :)
  • Stay warm this weekend!

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