Spelling BeeConferences
The HEF and HPTA are putting on a Spelling Bee fundraiser tonight (11/4) to help raise money for the school district. There will be at least one team of teachers from each school...and "yours truly" will be there, along with Miss Winters and Ms. O'Malley, representing Elmwood! (We are "Spells Angels!") The event will begin promptly at 6pm in the Hopkins
Parent-teacher conferences are well under way! I have really enjoyed talking with so many of you and I look forward to meeting/seeing the rest of you in the next few weeks! Please remember that I can always be contacted via email or phone if you have any further questions or concerns about your child! I want to make sure that we are always on the same page and working together to ensure students’ success!
Field Trip
Information about the Second Grade Field Trip to Mechanics Hall on February 15 went home earlier this week. I realize that there is a typo with the day of week not matching the date. Please be aware that the DATE is correct - February 15. Please send in the signed permission slip and money as soon as possible. If you have ANY questions, let me know!
Reading Logs
Thank you for reminding your child to do his/her daily reading! I hope that students keep up the good work! As a side note, students can read independently and/or aloud to a parent. It’s actually a good idea to “mix it up” throughout the month. At this point in time, most students still need to work on reading fluently and with good expression and it is good to have them practice at home. When listening to your child read, encourage him/her to pay close attention to punctuation! This will help with phrasing and comprehension. Changing his/her voice when reading a question vs. an exclamation will also “spice up” a story and will keep students interested and engaged! Have fun!
Our Week in Review
This was a review week for us in reading. We did not read a new story in our anthology, but instead reviewed all the important spelling rules/patterns (short and long vowels), grammar skills (punctuation, different kinds of sentences, nouns, past-tense verbs, subjects/predicates), reading comprehension strategies (identifying characters and setting, making predictions, describing main idea/details), graphic organizers (T-charts, beginning/middle/end flowcharts), vocabulary, and writing skills. Whew! We have been very busy! J
On Thursday, students had the opportunity put this knowledge and understanding to good use as they worked to complete the Unit 1 reading assessment.
SPELLING
As with reading, this week’s spelling list was also review. Students’ lists consisted of words with short and long vowels (with the “sneaky e”). The format of the spelling test was a little different this week, however, and will be for review weeks. Instead of writing words in isolation, students were asked to complete a dictation – writing full sentences as they are read by the teacher. This kind of assessment demonstrates students’ ability to pull together all their knowledge of spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. The ultimate goal of spelling tests is for students to APPLY their knowledge of spelling rules/patterns more consistently in their everyday writing. I hope that these dictations will help them get used to this!
GRAMMAR
Many verbs can be changed by simply adding –ed.
Example: walk à walked
wait à waited
Verbs that already end with “e” can be changed to past-tense by just adding –d.
Example: smile à smiled
move à moved
Some verbs are a little trickier, however. Verbs that follow the consonant-vowel-consonant (cvc) pattern and have a short vowel sound usually must have the last consonant doubled before adding the –ed (to keep the vowel short).
Example: trip à tripped
nod à nodded
Since students are familiar with “sneaky e,” I explain this rule as follows:
When “Sneaky e” is at the end of a word, it can hop over 1 letter. If the letter it lands on is a vowel, it makes the vowel say its name (the long vowel sound).
Example: b i k e
If you want a short vowel to stay short when you add –ed, check to make sure that the “sneaky e” can’t hop over and make the vowel say its name.
If you want a short vowel to stay short when you add –ed, check to make sure that the “sneaky e” can’t hop over and make the vowel say its name.
Example: hop à h o p e d
OOPS!
If “sneaky e” can make the vowel say its name and you don’t want it to, you need to double the last consonant to “block” it!
Example: hop à h o p p e d
Of course, there are always exceptions and we will learn about irregular verbs in a few more weeks. For now, however, students should work to apply these rules to their own writing…please encourage this!
MATH
We started Unit 3 this week, which focuses on Place Value, Money (Coins), and Time. On Tuesday, we used Base-10 Blocks to build and show numbers - strengthening students' understanding of place value. Later in the week, students further worked with place value by creating Place Value Kites. These special kites show a 3-digit number in 4 different ways: with numbers, with words, with Base-10 blocks, and in expanded notation.
In the middle of the week, we traveled across the hall to Miss Winters' class to work with her students on a fun activity - titled, Candy Probability. With a partner from Miss Winters' class, students spun 20 times on a special spinner showing 4 different kinds of candy: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, Twix, Starburst, and Kit Kat. They tallied their results and then transferred the information to a bar graph! Who knew math could be so much fun!
Of course, there are always exceptions and we will learn about irregular verbs in a few more weeks. For now, however, students should work to apply these rules to their own writing…please encourage this!
MATH
We started Unit 3 this week, which focuses on Place Value, Money (Coins), and Time. On Tuesday, we used Base-10 Blocks to build and show numbers - strengthening students' understanding of place value. Later in the week, students further worked with place value by creating Place Value Kites. These special kites show a 3-digit number in 4 different ways: with numbers, with words, with Base-10 blocks, and in expanded notation.
In the middle of the week, we traveled across the hall to Miss Winters' class to work with her students on a fun activity - titled, Candy Probability. With a partner from Miss Winters' class, students spun 20 times on a special spinner showing 4 different kinds of candy: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, Twix, Starburst, and Kit Kat. They tallied their results and then transferred the information to a bar graph! Who knew math could be so much fun!
SCIENCE
Students put their knowledge about Properties of Matter to the test - literally - with the Unit Assessment this week! The results were pretty good!! I bet you are impressed with all that your child knows!
MYSTERY READER
This week's Mystery Reader was Mr. Preis, Rohan's dad. Mr. Preis read two books by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham. The first was Harry the Dirty Dog and the second was Harry by the Sea. I think most students were able to relate to these stories - and we all had a good laugh! Thank you so much for visiting, Mr. Preis! Come back any time!
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