Summer Reading is Important

Why is Summer Reading so Important?  It helps keep children growing as readers. 
Those that read do not have "summer slide" in their reading life. 
Summer slide is when children regress in their reading ability.

Video on Summer Reading



Links to Summer Reading programs at area libraries:

St. Louis County Library Summer Reading Info

St. Louis Public Library Summer Reading

Richmond Heights Public Library Summer Reading

Early Chapter Books Suggestions:

Secrets of Droon series by Tony Abbott Cam Jansen series by David Adler The Golden Ghost (and related books) by Marion Dane Bauer Sophie series by Lara Bergen Pony Pals series by Jeanne Betancourt Beast Quest series by Adam Blade Soccer Cats series by Matt Christopher Peach Streed Mudders series by Matt Christopher The Bailey School Kids series by Debbie Dadey Amber Brown series by Paula Danziger Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo The Hardy Boys: Secret Files series by Franklin Dixon The Dragons of Wayward Crescent series by Chris D'Lacey Clubhouse Mysteries series by Sharon Draper Sassy series by Sharon Draper Dyamonde Daniel series by Nikki Grimes My Weird School series by Dan Gutman Sneaky Pony series by Hadley Higginson Nancy Drew Notebook series by Carolyn Keene Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series by Carolyn Keene Ready Freddy series by Abby Klein Horrible Harry series by Suzy Kline Pony Crazed Princess series by Diana Kimpton Katie Kazoo series by Nancy Krulik Flower Fairies Friends series by Pippa Le Quesne Various Sports books by Jake Maddox Miami Jackson series by Patricia & Fredrick McKissack Rainbow Magic Fairies series by Daisy Meadows Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park The Littles series by John Peterson Jigsaw Jones Mystery series by James Preller Calendar Mysteries series by Ron Roy A to Z Mysteries series by Ron Roy Marvin Redpost series by Louis Sachar Horrid Henry series by Francesca Simon Dinosaur Cove series by Rex Stone

Magic House Field Trip

 Thank You to all the Parents who were able to come:

Magic House Field trip, 2019

Train Museum

The students had a great time visiting old trains inside and out. They got to ride the mini train, make a train craft and see BIG BOY-the largest train engine. 

 Thank you parents who were able to make the trip. I really appreciate your help. 

Spring Newsletter

In Readers' Workshop we are finished our Unit on Characters in Books.
The students have learned to look at the characters in the books they read as a friend. Many students have read through whole series and can tell someone all about the main character. We have learned that many fiction books have a problem and solution and we can understand the author's message. Many children have been reading for longer periods of time because they are so excited to read about the characters in their books.
Our next unit is Reading Across the Genres. We will compare nonfiction books to fiction books on the same topic.  We will continue to focus on comprehension strategies. Last, we are starting book clubs.  The students will get into groups to read and reflect on books.

Writer's Workshop.  Each student created a character that goes on realistic adventures.
The students are writing many stories.  The excitement in the room about writing is awesome.
They can't wait to write and share the stories with friends and family.

In Math, we are finished Chapter 13, Addition and Subtraction to 40 and Chapter 11, Graphs.
The students learned many strategies to solve addition and subtraction to 40. Many were able to draw their thinking showing tens and ones. Some were able to show expanded notation.    In addition, Being able to understand word problems before starting the solution is key.
Up next: Chapter 15: Calendar and Time then Chapter 17: Addition and Subtraction to 100. Over  the summer your child may access online resources to help them practice their math:
    www.gregtangmath.com  or  www. mathgames.com

Social Studies- We are learning about the Marketplace. We are reading  books about and discussing: needs vs.wants, goods vs. services, and where many things are made with a close look a factories. We are also learning about coin values and counting mixed coins.
We will take the children to the Magic House  in May and have them explore different jobs they could do when they grow up.

In Science,  our next unit is about Air and Weather.  During this science unit, the children will explore properties of air as it interacts with other materials and when it is put under pressure.  We will observe, record and discuss the weather every day and discussed the types of instruments scientist use to learn about the weather. We will make parachutes, kites and windmills to extend our learning.



Important dates to remember:
Friday, May 3rd Early release
Friday, May 10th- Magic House Field Trip
Saturday, May 11th- Captain's Day at the Ballpark 1:15 Cards game
Thursday, May 243rd-  All Library Books due
Friday, May 24th- Field Day
Monday, May 27th- No School, Memorial Day
Thursday, May 30th- Last Day- EARLY RELEASE

Comprehension Strategies

Ways to talk about books with your child...

Who are the characters?

Where does the story take place?

What is the problem in the story?

What is the solution?

How did the characters feelings change?

Retell the story....

Scenes to Series Writing Unit

Our new Writing Unit is from Scenes to Series that includes making a Character and writing several stories with the character that is made-up. These characters get to go on many adventures. In order to make this unit fun, I am asking that parents please send DUCK TAPE and an EMPTY CEREAL BOX. We will use the duck tape to bind our stories and the cereal box will be cut and decorated to keep the stories. We will share these stories with our parents and then with fourth grade buddies. 

Reading Matters

The Ugly Duckling

We saw a Lightwire Performance of The Ugly Duckling at the Florissant Civic Center. The whole theater was in black so we could see the lights outlining the ducklings.  It was very cool.

February Newsletter

Reading Workshop: We launched our new unit, Readers meet Characters and Series books by reading about Iris and Walter from the series and Mr. Putter and Tabby from the series.  We recorded our thoughts, wonderings and favorite parts on post-its and in our readers' notebook. 

We learned that Characters DRIVE the story by: 

showing emotion, 

taking us places, 

getting into trouble or having problem and then...

 fixing the problem or finding a solution.

Also, we are learning about characters from their friends. 

**Character in series books become our friends because we know them so well.***
Click link for series books at first grade's "Just Right Level"   First Grade Book Suggestions


Writer's Workshop, Our Writing Review unit is all about writing an opinion. The children are writing their opinions about the items in the collection they brought from home. But that is not all! Kids have opinions about a lot of things. They are honing their skills by writing about their favorite: food, sport, color,  pet, etc.  Did you know Opinion writing is like the cookie O.R.E.O.? Opinion writing involves much more than just stating an Opinion. Students must give Reasons for their opinion presented in an interesting and convincing manner with Examples.  The last sentence is a restate of their Opinion.  

In Math, we are in Chapter 13, Addition and Subtraction to 40. The students are learning many strategies to solve addition and subtraction to 40. Many regrouped larger numbers with blocks, cubes/tens rods and used the number line to help them find the answer. 
They are able to draw the  problem and answer the problem or use expanded notation to show tens and ones.

Drawing tens as a line and ones as dots and xs.

Breaking down the problem into tens and ones

Being able to understand what the question is asking before starting the solution is key!
 Over  the summer your child may access online resources to help them practice their math:

    www.gregtangmath.com   or    www.mathgames.com

NEXT UP: Social Studies: Long Ago and Today. 

Social Studies- Our new unit is Long Ago and Today.

*****Timeline project****

Please send 6-7 pictures of your child from birth through now. These need to be copies because students will be gluing them on paper for their own timeline. If you want, you can send digital pictures through email and I will print them on the color printer at school. Make sure your child has seen these pictures and can write one sentence telling about the picture. Please send them to school by spring break.

PARENTS:
 If you have any “old” objects around the house that you would be willing to share with the class, we would love it. Some examples of old objects are: typewriters, cameras, tape recorders, record players, toys, etc.


Parent Teacher Conferences are Now! March 4-14   
All parents used www.signupgenius.com to make their date/time selection. 
You will be getting a reminder email a few days before the conference.  

Looking Ahead: 
March 8- Conference Prep- NO SCHOOL 
March 4-14 Conferences
March 15- 24 Spring Break
April 5- Early Release
April 19th- April Break, NO SCHOOL
April 24th- Field Trip to the Museum of Transportation
May 3rd- Early Release
May 10th- Field Trip to the Magic House 
May 24th- Field Day
May 27th- No School Memorial Day

May 30th- Last day, Early Release

Valentine's Day

We Had a great time at the assembly watching "Josh by Gosh" do his juggling. 

Even Seamus got called up to help perform. So glad that some parents were able to join us. 

Valentines

Valentine’s Box/Bag: Valentine’s Day is approaching quickly!
Please have your child decorate a box or bag for valentines.
The box/bag will be placed on the counter above the lockers.
Please make sure there is a slot large enough so that valentines can be dropped inside.
Also, make sure that your child’s name is written clearly on the box/bag so
that others can read it.
Boxes can be brought to school as soon as they are ready.

Valentine Cards: Below is a list of students in our classroom.
We ask that each child bring valentines for ALL the students in our class.
Please do not send or attach any type of candy or food with your Valentines.

Celebration: We will begin our student celebration
on Thursday, February 14 at 2:30pm.

 Kuzma
 Coralyn
Olivia

Eliza

Kaiden

 Meena

 Dawson

 Austin

 Amna

Drake

 Clare

 Joy

 Mary JaneSeamus

 James

 Linda

Brohnson

Alanna

 Andrew

Malik

January 2019

Reading:

As readers we are continuously practicing and using the skill of self-monitoring. This means that students are thinking about what they are reading and checking to make sure that what they read matches the words on the page. This includes recognizing any errors made and fixing them right away when reading. When reading, students are not only self-correcting, but also making sense of and understanding the story. Students are learning it is okay to reread a book several times to build fluency, or being able to read smoothly with expression. 
Comprehension is another key to reading. Can your child tell: 
Who is in the story
Where the story takes place
When the story takes place
What happened in order 

Some additional Comprehension questions: What is the author's message? What is the author trying to teach you?
What is your favorite part and why?
What was the most important in the story and why?

Writing: We finished our unit on Non-Fiction Reports. Students wrote all about an animal. They are experts on so many animals. They organized the writing into: What the animal looks like, lives and eats with a table of contents and a glossary. An author craft move we practiced in this unit was a TWIN SENTENCE. A twin sentence uses a vocabulary word and then explains it. For example: 
Groundhogs hibernate in the winter. Hibernate means to sleep all winter. 

Math: 
We finished Chapter 10 Weight. We learned that heavier items make the scale go down like a see-saw. We talked about which weighed more and how much more. We are starting Chapter 12: Numbers to 40. Being able to use and understand numbers up to 100 is a needed skill for second grade. We will talk about place value and use the place value chart. Questions we will ask students: 38 is how many tens and how many ones? We will complete Chapter 12 and then Chapter 13: Addition and Subtraction to 40 before we go back and work on Picture and Bar graphs. 
Fact Fluency: Knowledge of basic facts to 20 and development of the number sense around 20 is essential to all areas of math. We continue to practice our math addition facts to 20 daily with games. 

Science: We are doing scientific study of solids and liquids. We will observe the properties of many solids and liquids, comparing how solids and liquids are alike and how they are different. Some key words you will hear children describe liquids are: viscous, bubbly, foamy, colorful, transparent, and translucent. Some key words you will hear children describe solids are: rough, smooth, rigid, flexible, and has color. We will continue our exploration of solid and liquid materials for a few more weeks. We hope children understand that the world is made of matter that comes in Solids, Liquids and Gases.

Look Ahead: 

Thursday, February 14th- Valentines Party starting at 2:30. All students need a decorated box and enough valentines for 20 students. See note being sent home. ***Parents Welcome****

Friday, February 15th- Early Release

Monday, February 18th- No School, President's Day

Book Orders Due: 
Scholastic Book Orders will be coming home. Orders are due: Friday, February 15th.

If you order, there are 2 ways to pay:
A) Return order sheet and a check made out to Scholastic.
B) Online order with your credit card.
1. go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
2. use my class activation code: fmr3g
3. shop and pay.

Mittens, Mittens, Mittens

First grade students have been reading and comparing the two Mitten books:
The Mitten by Alvin Tresslet and The Mitten by Jan Brett.
Both books have a little boy who looses a mitten in the snow and animals that decide to get warm by climbing inside. The books differ by the kinds of animals and the way the mitten is made.
We enjoyed reading, discussing and thinking about the story last week.

In addition, we read the Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg. We imagined what a mitten could be for the forest animals. Some ideas were a nest for a bird, a sleeping bag for a mole, or a blanket for a mouse.

In addition the main character imagines that mittens can be planted and grown on trees!

This led to a discussion on which is best:
gloves verses mittens.

Math Progression Video

 Here is a video from Math Guru, Graham Fletcher, that help  explain Math Progression Understanding.


Progression of Addition and Subtraction

Measuring Length and Height

In this chapter, your child will learn about length and height. Some of the skills your child will practice are:
1. Comparing lengths using the terms tall/taller, short/shorter, long/longer and longest, shortest, tallest
2. Using a common starting point
3. measuring lengths using non-standard units (paper clips, shoes, mittens, etc)