The Latest & Greatest!

What an incredibly busy productive month+ it has been in Rooms 127 & 128. Your kiddos continue to amaze us! We feel so fortunate to be continuing to teach and learn in Hybrid A- in school-face to face learning! Even though we couldn't meet in person, it was so great to meet with all of you face to face via ZOOM for conferences during the past few weeks. We want to take this chance to let you know that we sincerely are thankful for your children and the unique and wonderful things that they each bring to our classrooms everyday! So thank you for sharing your kiddos with us!!!

Below are many of the highlights from our last month plus of learning:

Daily 5

• Daily 5 (well really 4 hahaha) is up and running! Students have the chance to choose Read to Self, Work on Writing, Listen to Someone Read, and Word Work to read, write, listen and work with words independently.

• We are so very happy to report that everyone has had the chance to choose Good Fit books after viewing and discussing many focus lessons on the I PICK method and what good fit books are. This year we, the teachers, used weights and some of our own reading materials to introduce Too BIG or challenge books, Just Right or Good FIt books, and Too Small or Holiday books. Good Fit book lessons will continue all year long, as it is a lifelong skill for every reader to work on!

• We have prepared spaces to meet and confer 1-1 with students to provide immediate feedback on the reading strategies they are using and set goals for mastering new ones!

• We will continue to work on ways for bringing the 5th Daily 5 choice, Read with Someone, from idea stage to a realistic safe choice for students.

CAFE Reading Strategies

• C-Comprehension

  • Using Text Features to understand what we are reading (focus on non-fiction)

  • Make Predictions and Confirm with Text

  • Back up and Re Read

• A-Accuracy

  • Sight Words! The importance of knowing them just like that (Finger snapping sound!)

• F-Fluency

  • Reading Good Fit Books

  • Sight Words! (There are so many of them, in all text, making it so important to master them to be a fluent reader...and writer!)

• E-Expand Vocabulary

  • Use prior knowledge and context clues to figure out an unknown word or confusing phrase.

  • Ask someone to define the word for you.

We have worked with 2 more books, and each student has their own copy to continue to practice the strategies we have accomplished so far. We have also used a National Geographic magazine to begin to study text features. This year our subscription is online and soon the students will have access to the digital version of these amazing magazines.

We are almost half way through reading aloud the incredible novel Endling The Last by Katherine Applegate. We have begun word collectors as we tune into intersting words from the novel. We also are discussing the literary elements: characters, settings, plot, problems, solution and have begun to discuss author's purpose and craft, genre, and cause and effect. WOW, right? YEAH US!!!!! Yeah Katherine Applegate for writing such amazing books!!! We will probably finish Endling the Last around the middle of January and then we will dive right into the second book in the series: Endling The First. Hopefully we will end our school year with the third in the series: Endling The Only already pre ordered for March release! Woot Woot!!!!

Each student had the chance to be interviewed by Mrs. Nickerson. She asked them all kinds of questions about themselves as readers. This information is very valuable for us as we confer with our young readers!! Highlights of the interviews were shared during conferences. Thank you Mrs. Nickerson!!!!

Math

The grade one mathematicians have been continuing to work through module 1. Students are able to solve word problems using a math drawing, an equation and a sentence answering the question. The students have also been working on their facts to 10. Students have been practicing this using number bonds to show the two parts and the total. Their work is impressive!!

The grade two mathematicians have been working through sums to 100 using the make 10 and take from 10 strategies. Students have also been working on place value. Students can show their work in unit form, standard form, word form and expanded form. Students have also been demonstrating how many hundreds, tens and ones are in a number. This is important work for our upcoming module on adding and subtracting two digit numbers. Way to go second grade mathematicians!

Writing

Writing Workshop is up and running and the authors and illustrators continue to amaze us!!! During Each Writing Workshop the students accomplish some amazing things:

• Silent 10: Students and MB write for a silent 10 minutes with a pencil. Idea maps and Memory Maps are on hand if the author needs some inspiration for what to write about.

• Quiet 10: During these 10 minutes students may continue to write, illustrate, organize their writing by: stapling, hole punching, paper clipping, choosing more paper, and sharing some ideas with their space neighbors. MB will be conferring with individuals at this time real soon!

• Sharing: Each day we aim for 3 to 4 people to share their writing, we usually get to 2 haha. It is truly one of our favorite times of the day. After students share using a microphone, two members of the audience are chosen to ask a question of the author and illustrator, who then answers. MB also asks a question. These questions are very useful for the writers to come up with next steps and these steps are recorded by MB, and will soon be discussed during upcoming 1-1 conferring sessions.

Our Multi 1-2 writers are reminded, most adults do not have the opportunity to write that much each day!!!!

Word Work

Every student has completed two assessments to see where they are along the spelling continuum, and which written sight words they have mastered. The results were shared druing conferences and were used to design several activities which students work on during Morning Choice, Writing Workshop, and Daily 5 Word Work times.

• Word Work Kits: Each student has a list of sight words and words with a specific spelling pattern to practice. The materials in the kits provide the chance for students to brain map these words by utilizing their visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning modes. In each kit the students have an alphabet stencil, plastic collage pieces, and playdough.

• The students have been working with Grade 1 or Grade 2 lists to get these routines learned and independent. In a few weeks, they will have individualized lists, which are based on where they each are in their spelling development.

• Roll a Sight Word: Students are given a table to complete with 6 sight words needing the most practice. They roll a die and then practice writing the sight word. ie: the student rolls a 1 and on the table, under the pic of the die face with one dot, the word like is listed. So the student writes the word like. The rolling and practice continues until the table is filled with 60 sight words practiced!!!

STWEAM

Our study of BUGS continued with a focus on arachnids. The students compared and contrasted spider and insect body parts.

We also discovered BATS using some articles from Read Works and several videos. The students practiced close reading skills and completed a knowledge journal. We also focused on bats as pollinators.

Students and teachers were facinated by Mystery Science and Doug's presentation of how candy was invented, right in time for Halloween.

Students learned the history of the poppy and listened to a book about The Poppy Lady. Then students created a paper poppy piece of art in honor and memory of all Veterans.

The students created Thanksgiving Books with original drawings and words indicating the things which they are thankful for. They wrapped them up and brought them home to their families to share!

During our extra STWEAM time, which we have during our No CORE days, students created a beaded pumpkin, a portrait of themselves in their Halloween costume, and a 3-D realistic campfire, complete with led flickering candle.

Many thanks to Mrs. Nickerson again, this time for designing and putting together all of our special project materials into idividual kits, which are easily deliverd to our spaces, and ready to use!

The students have become masters at using Seesaw. Please ask them to share their Seesaw journal with you, if you have not had the chance to see their impressive posts already.

RULES and RESPONSIBILITIES

Each class has earned three parties for all of their hard work, following the class created Be Nice~Work Hard~Have Fun Rules and Responsibilites in an exceptional way. These are truly record breaking numbers for parties earned already, and all are so well deserved!!!!

September 21st-October 8th

WOW! We are soooooooo proud of our Multi Age 1st and 2nd grade students. They have been super troopers during our last three weeks of Yellow status-Hybrid A-In school-face to face learning! There have been sooooooooo many routines built, soooooooooo many activites learned, and soooooooooo many things achieved. YEAH US!!!! WE ROCK!!!!

Here is a listing of our many accomplishments:

Daily 5

• Read to Self for 30 mins.

• Work on Writing for 30 mins.

• Listen to Someone Read for 20 mins.

• Word Work for 20 mins.

CAFE Reading Strategies

• C-Comprehension

  • Check for Understanding: The who and the what

  • Recognize Literary Elements: Characters, Settings, and Plot B-M-E

• A-Accuracy

  • Look carefully at letters and words

  • Use beginning and ending sounds

    • ,Digraphs: th, sh, ch, wh, ck, tch, and ph

  • Chunk letters and sounds together

• F-Fluency

  • Reread text

  • Prosody: Read the way the author intended you to read the text

• E-Expand Vocabulary

  • Build Reading Stamina! Be a voracious reader!

  • Tune into Interesting Words

We have worked with 5 books and are using them to build our stamina. Each student has their own copy of each of the books. We have received the Green Light for students to use books from the classroom library, once we have a book quarantine protocol in place. What great news! Next week we will begin Good Fit Book instruction, and soon students will be choosing their own books.

Math

Students have been working on the choices for Math Daily 4.

• Math by Myself- Students have learned 5 activities to choose from.

• Writing about Math- Students have learned 2 activities for writing about math choices.

• Math Technology- Students have been using Zearn to follow lessons in each module. All students have been connected. Students can also use Sum Dog and the Greg Tang Math site.

• Math with Someone - Students will learn some ways to play a game and be socially distant ( next week).

Students have been working in modules in Eureka Math. Second grade mathematicians have been working on module 2 which focuses on measurement. 2nd graders will complete the module next week. First grade mathematicians have been working on module 1 which focuses on combinations of numbers through 10. The students have been identifying the parts of a total number. The students are able to write a number bond showing the two parts and the total. We will continue to work on combinations up to 10.

Writing

Students have created three different idea maps to use when they are writing. This year we are focusing on memories. Students now have memory baskets and memory hands which they have filled with memories from their lives. They have also created an idea map based on a place which is special to them. Soon they will add in the Pictures From Their Vacation which they completed during their remote learning days, to add in a few more ideas to write about!!!

We have built our Independence chart for work on writing which is a choice during Daily 5 time. Students have had the chance to write and draw for up to 30 minutes and have also shared one of their pieces of writing or an illustration on Seesaw.

Next week we will begin a Writing Workshop model which will include: 10 mins. of silent writing, 10 minutes of quiet writing (includes illustrating time), 10 minutes of sharing and a 10 minute focus lesson.

STWEAM

Our Bug study, with an emphasis on Insects hahaha, is off to a great start. The students have filled out a graphic organizer full of fun facts about BUGS, after listening to and discussing pages from the BUGS pop up book.

Using a magnetic life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly, the students learned about the different stages of the Monarch's life. They each created their own Monarch Life Cycle with drawings and words, and it was posted onto their Seesaw online journal.

The students also designed, drew and labelled an insect, a real or imaginary one, which had to have the 3 main insect body parts: Head, Thorax, and Abdomen, as well as 6 legs. Students posted their insect pictures onto Seesaw.

We began our Books of Knowledge with two different articles about insects and pollination! After we read the articles we highlighted important words. Students also viewed a bunch of videos about honeybees and pollination. Students then recorded at least one fact in writing and drawing about what they learned from each article and or video, about what they wanted to remember.

RULES and RESPONSIBILITIES

Together as a class we brainstormed, organized, and wrote our classroom rules and responsibilities. Each class also began a jar, Mrs. Langelier's class has stones and MB's class has smarty spikeys. When the class or individual students are working hard, and following all of the expected rules and responsibilities they earn a stone or smarty spikey or a bunch of them. When all are earned the class will vote on a special party to have, to celebrate all of their excellent work and behavior.

The Week of September 14th-18th