Happy Halloween!

Can you believe it’s the end of October already?? (Can you believe it already snowed?!?) The kids are SO excited about Halloween this weekend - I have heard all about their costumes: Star Wars characters, angels, zombie doctors, devils, hockey players, and more! Make sure to take lots of pictures..and try to stay out of that candy! :)

Conferences
Conferences begin next week! Please remember that conferences are scheduled for 20 minutes each and although it can be difficult, I would really like to try and stick to this time commitment.  This should give us enough time to talk about your child’s progress, strengths and goals, as well as any concerns you might have.  In order to ensure that we stay on track, I am asking parents to wait outside the door until their scheduled time and then knock.  I greatly appreciate your understanding with this.  If you have any questions, please let me know!

Harvest Festival

I hope you all had fun at our Harvest Festival on Wednesday!!  I greatly appreciate the fact that so many of you were able to rearrange your work/home schedules to make it in – but I know it really meant a lot to the children to have their parents (grandparents, aunts, etc.) come into the classroom and spend time in their environment.  Thank you for all of your help in setting it up and making it all happen.  I appreciate your on-going support!  (Make sure to check out the pictures!!)

Spelling Bee
November 4 is the date for the Hopkinton Community Spelling Bee, put on by the HPTA.  Teams of 3 from the community will compete for bragging rights of Hopkinton's best spellers!  This is a family event...and you are all encouraged to attend. It is from 6-8pm in the Hopkins School Cafeteria.  If you need a little more incentive, I will be there!!  I have formed a team - Spells Angels - with Miss Winters and Ms. O'Malley!  Come cheer us on!

Reading Logs

Don’t forget that the October reading logs are due on Tuesday.  Students will be bringing home a November reading log next week!

Mr. Donnelly

For the past 2 months, Mrs. Diamond (our music teacher) has been working with a student teacher named Mr. Donnelly. Today was Mr. Donnelly's last day and as a way to say thank-you, all the children at Elmwood School got together in the gymnasium to sing him a special song and cheer him on as he goes on to work in a middle school.  Students wrote him special "notes" earlier in the week to take with him. Ask your child about Mr. Donnelly!

Our Week in Review

READING

In reading this week, our theme was “Coming to America.”  The main selection this week was a realistic fiction story written by Helen Recorvits.  The title of the selection was My Name is Yoon and it was about a little girl who moved to America with her family from Korea.  As one might expect, Yoon experienced a range of emotions about the move and had a difficult time adjusting to the new culture.  By the end of the story, however, Yoon’s feelings changed and she thought that she might like it in America. 

The reading comprehension strategy for this week was making/confirming predictions.  The children are very good at making predictions and reading to determine whether or not these predictions are correct.  This is something that we do a lot in our classroom – with our read-aloud, in science (with experiments) and even in math!  When reading with your child at home, make predictions together and read to find out if they are correct, partially correct or completely wrong (which happens sometimes – and that’s OK!).

SPELLING

We reviewed short o and focused on the o_e pattern this week.  This pattern creates a “long o” sound (ohhhh).  The _ (underscore) represents a consonant. 

Words that follow this pattern include:

            code                rose

            whole              quote              

  home               antelope
As you may remember from previous weeks, the e in these words is silent, but it causes the o to “say its name” (ohhhh).   Students will recognize this e and may refer to it as:

    King E, magic E, silent E, or sneaky E

Keep “hunting” for words with this pattern!

WRITING

In writing this week, we talked a lot about Word Choice.  When authors write, they choose specific words so that the reader really understands what they are trying to say and/or how they feel.  This week, we talked about how some words are "blurry" (don't give much information) and some words are 20/20 (give you a very clear picture). 

We reread part of Patricia Polacco's story, Thundercake, and picked out a few of the 20/20 words that she used.  Here is what we found:

BLURRY WORDS     --->          20/20 WORDS

happy                   --->       excited, wonderful

lit up                    --->       flashed

walked                 --->       crept, skipped

yelled                  --->        bellowed

Students are encouraged to identify - and USE - 20/20 words in their writing!

MATH

We wrapped up Unit 2 in the Everyday Math with an assessment on Friday.  As you know, students worked with name-collection boxes, frames-and-arrows, in-and-out boxes, and addition/subtraction stories.  Keep an eye out for your child's assessment next week.  (Don't forget to sign and return it!)

SCIENCE

I can’t believe it, but we have finished our first science unit!!  On Tuesday, we learned about molecules (the tiny “particles” that make up matter) and students showed how molecules are arranged in solids, liquids, and gases using Cheerios!  (Yummy!)  We spent the rest of the week reviewing for our assessment next Tuesday. 

MYSTERY READER

Our Mystery Reader this week was Mrs. Hanson, Cyrus's mom.  Mrs. Hanson read two "spooky" stories!!  They were The Ghost of Sifty, Sifty Sam by Angela Shelf Medearis and Jacqueline Rogers and The Headless Horseman.  She then passed out little Halloween gift bags for the kids! Thanks so much, Mrs. Hanson!

A Smashing Success!

Thank you all for making our Harvest Festival such a success!  The students had a wonderful time showing you around and sharing all their hard work.  I hope you had fun learning and playing with your child!  Here are a few pictures from the day...

We had another fantastic week here in Room 13!  The kids are beginning to settle into the everyday routines and are really working hard!  Keep up the great work!

Harvest Festival
I want to remind you (again) that our Harvest Festival is scheduled for NEXT Wednesday (10/26) from 12:30-2:00 in Room 13.  I haven’t heard back from anyone saying that they CANNOT make it, so I am assuming I will see you all there!!  I can’t wait! J

Wishlist
We are in dire need of yellow index cards!  We need about 60 more per child (~1000 cards) for our math fact flashcards.  We greatly appreciate any/all donations! Thank you!


Our Week in Review:
READING
The theme in reading this week was Being Yourself. As a class, we spent a lot of time talking about what this means and why it is important for children to be proud of who they are. This week’s story, Meet Rosina by George Ancona, was about a young, deaf girl who lives a life very similar to lives of other children. Students were fascinated and excited to discover how much they had in common with Rosina! They were also excited to learn a little bit of sign language!

This week’s reading comprehension skill was the same as last week – identifying the main idea and 3-5 supporting details from a story. Overall, students are demonstrating some difficulty with this skill. We will continue working on this in school and I strongly encourage you to practice doing this at home as you read with your child!

SPELLING
This week, we reviewed short i and focused on the i_e pattern. This pattern creates a “long i” sound (iiiiiiiyyyy). The _ (underscore) represents a consonant.   The e in these words is silent, but it causes the i to “say its name” (iiiyyy). Students will recognize this e and may refer to it as:

King E, magic E, silent E, or sneaky E

Just like last week, I suggest that you point out words that follow this pattern as you go about your daily lives. They are more common than you think – and students will enjoy “hunting” for these words. (This activity will reinforce and strengthen students’ ability to identify and recognize spelling/word patterns!)

GRAMMAR
Last week, students worked to identify the subjects in a sentence. This week, we have been working to identify the predicate. The predicate of a sentence is usually the “rest of the sentence” (after the subject). It is the “action” part - it tells what the subject is or is doing.

1. Bobby works at the grocery store.
         works at the grocery store     tells what Bobby does.
2. The bird is green and gold.
         is green and gold         tells what the bird is.

We have created a little rhyme to help us remember subject and predicate.

           The subject is the WHO and the predicate is the DO.

You need a WHO and a DO to make a complete sentence!!

WRITING

Students have continued making books this week - with a special focus on organization.  After reading Leo Lionni's story, A Busy Year, students actively participated in a discussion about different ways an author can organize his/her writing.  Some of these ways include:

* beginning, middle, end

* problem/solution

* cause/effect

* chapters (non-fiction)

We decided to really focus on writing stories with a clear beginning, middle, and end and this week, we honed in on creating a BOLD BEGINNING!  Bold beginnings often HOOK the reader - making them want to keep reading.  Some ways we can hook a reader are to start a story with:

- a question

Have you ever seen a hundred butterflies at the same time? I have when I went to...

- a riddle

What is greenish-blue, silky smooth, wet and wild?  The water in the Bahamas...

- a sound word or exclamation

BOOM!  "Yikes!"

- an announcement

Bulldogs are the best!

- an opinion

Second grade is the best grade!

- a simile or metaphor

The sky was as black as night on the day I left for my grandmother's house...

- a famous/common saying or quote

"Practice makes perfect" my coach always says...

Encourage your child to use a HOOK when writing! :)

MATH

On Monday, we connected math to reading with the story, Pumpkin Heads, by Wendell Minor.  After reading and discussing the story (and all the great pumpkin faces illustrated in the book), students created their own Name-Collection Pumpkin Heads!  Take a look:

 I can’t wait for you to see them in person at the Harvest Festival! 

Function Machines (IN/OUT boxes)

Function Machines - also called in/out boxes - get at algebraic thinking by having students apply a "rule" (such as +3) to different numbers.  One number goes "in" to the function machine, "something happens" (the rule is applied), and a different number comes out!  Sometimes students are asked to determine what number comes out, sometimes they need to figure out what number goes in, and sometimes they have to identify the rule! Tricky!!

Frames and Arrows

Frames-and-Arrows problems are another fun way for students to think algebraically!  A “rule” is given (ex. +5) and then students must fill in any empty “frames” by following this rule. 

I thought it might be fun to integrate some art into math this week.  After working together to complete a few Frames and Arrows diagrams, students then created their own, individual diagrams with construction paper and good thinking! 

SCIENCE

We are starting to wrap up our Matter unit in science!  This week, we did several fun experiments to learn more about liquids and gases.  On Wednesday, students followed along with a real scienctist to test the density of 4 different liquids:  water, vegetable oil, maple syrup and dish soap.  What did they discover?  Which liquid was the most dense?  Which was the least dense?  How did they know?  (Click here to see the experiment at home!)

On Thursday, students worked in pairs to see for themselves the strength of air (a gas)!  How were they able to lift a book with just a straw and a plastic bag???  Ask!!

On Friday, we learned about molecules (the tiny "particles" that make up matter) and showed how the molecules are arranged in solids, liquids and gases using Cheerios!  

MYSTERY READER
Our Mystery Reader this week was Mrs. Kasper - Nate's mom.  She read the story Old Hasdrubal and the Pirates by Berthe Amoss, which was a great story about the War of 1812.  She concluded her visit by passing out CRAZY eyeball patches for the kids to wear!  Arrrggghhh!!