April 15, 2015 2nd grade Block !: Writing: Students continue to do a fantastic job with their writing. We are now writing persuasive letters. Students have chosen to write to Mr. Beaudoin regarding a longer lunch period, more science classes, and the possibility of building a pool. They are doing a great job with giving reasons and arguments! block 2: Spelling, word work, and poetry. block 3: Reading- Students have been choosing their own books recently and learning to "close read" as they use sticky notes for words they don't know and maintain questions throughout the book that they will answer as they read. Students love being able to choose betweem fiction and non-fiction. 1st grade: block 1: reading with the newcomers-Students have enjoyed working with the story Go Away Big Green Monster. THey have created their own monsters and have done an amazing job of describing their monsters using size, color, and body parts words. "My monster has a huge, orange, nose..." block 2: individualized reading with students, one on one. This changes frequently according to need. block 3: Push in to Ms. Ottman's room for writing. We are doing more describing, and learning how to use adjectives correctly. January 15, 2015 2nd grade: block 1: Writing- We have been working on biographies. We have read many books about Harry Houdini and students have been doing a great job of organizing their thoughts to write their final drafts. Students need to be able to identify why is Harry Houdini so famous? They need to be able to cite significant facts from history to back their opinions, and create a timeline. Keep up the great work! block 2: Spelling and word work block 3: Reading The Three Snowbears- We have read this version of "goldilocks" and compared and contrasted this version to the original. We extract pertinent vocabulary from these stories and talk about and use it all week.. 1st grade: block 1: Reading: George Shrinks: We wrote our own George Shrinks stories. block 2: Individualized reading with various students block 3: push in to Ms. Ottman's room for writing
December 15, 2014 2nd grade: block 1: spelling and word work- Currently we are weaving our word study in with a poem of the week Our poem "Winter Months" has the high frequency "chunks": in, ew, and ay. We chant our poem and learn to say, spell, and recognize words like Winter, Holidays, New. Ask your child to say or sing the poem with you! It comes home on Tuesday. block 2: Reading- Our story is "Animals, Animals, Animals" and we are practicing comparing and contrasting. I believe in the the "I do ,we do, you do" approach, and we use many graphic organizers. By day 4 they will be attempting this with a book on their own, with or without some assistance. block 3: writing- We are continuing our author study of Todd Parr. Students now understand that Todd Parr has a certain style, and a very important message to give them! They are in the initial stages of learning to write like Todd. Many students have run to the library and checked out several Todd Parr books.
!st grade: block 1: guided reading- (new english speakers) I try and use the most engaging leveled readers I can find. Often I will find books from the website Ato Z Reading. I can print small books and I can also bring up the story on the smart board where we can use the promethean pen to highlight target words and students have fun editing after they read. This week we are using a short excerpt from abc teach called "My Dog Jake". They are having fun imagining what kinds of pets they dream of having. Listening and Speaking- During this time, many skills are practiced. Students learn to take turns, describe the images they see while listening, respond to directions, and use new vocabulary among many other things. This week we are listening and responding to an excerpt on "Penguins."
block 2- guided reading poetry, word wall practice, and small group reading