Your 9:13pm Reminder!!

Hello Weckie Families!

 As the "reminder" 9:00pm alarm just sounded on my phone for tomorrow's Field Trip, I wanted to make sure to remind all of you. Tomorrow for the entire day we will be at the Walled Lake Outdoor Education Center for a "Winter Camp". We will spend time both in and outside and we ask that ALL children have: SNOWPANTS, BOOTS, HAT, GLOVES and a proper COAT. Please make sure to dress your child in layers as they can always take off a layer, but we can't replace missing layers.

Each child will also need a "brown bag" lunch tomorrow. There will not be a "snack" time so please make sure your child has a hearty breakfast and a good lunch packed. Remember that anything we bring with us for lunch will be thrown out after lunches, so please refrain from sending lunch bags, tupperwares, etc.

Thanks for your help - We are looking forward to a FABULOUS day tomorrow... besides, 38 degrees and sunny is PERFECT weather for our day!

Friday, February 17th

It's been such a FANTASTIC week in 204... Take a look at our Valentine's Day!

Slideshow customized with Smilebox

Reader’s Workshop:
We continued with our Character Study in Reader’s Workshop this week. Students selected another character from their “just right” books to form character traits by what their character says or does. Students also logged in their books at the end of the week.

Writer’s Workshop:
We were busy putting the finishing touches on our Small Moments in Writer’s Workshop this week. Students went back through their stories and added things they were feeling (inside emotions) or things they were doing (outside actions). After their middles were filled with details, students learned how to write short and effective endings to their stories. Next we used Revising and Editing Checklists to help us: create a title, use more exact words, take out confusing parts, fix spelling, add missing punctuation and make sure the sequence of our story made sense.

Math’s Workshop:
We finished up our unit on fractions this week. We worked with fractions of collections of things, fraction number stories and equivalent fractions. Students learned a new game, Equivalent Fractions to help them with the new fraction concepts. Our mathematicians also learned to compare fractions and we worked with fraction number stories. The week ended by taking our Unit 8 test to close up our work with fractions. Our next unit will focus on measurement.

Science:
Students made and tested out parachutes this week. For the parachute to move through the air, it must push the air out of its way. The air pushing back makes the parachute fall slowly to the ground. When any object moves through air, it is always slowed down by something called air resistance. Some other examples are: a feather or balloon falling slowly to the ground, or a person walking against a strong breeze.

Word Study:
In Word Study this week we did a multitude of things! We took known words to help us figure out new words in a game called, "Word Race". Next, we took a look at letter clusters to help us solve words. We did a Word Grid Game to reinforce this concept. Last, we took a look at onsets and rimes (ex: p-, r-, m- beginnings and -ain, -ail and -an endings).

Social Studies:
We only met once this week for Social Studies. Students further explored the concept of change over time by listening to informational text about Michigan schools and the history of Walled Lake Schools. They discussed the relationship between population growth and the growth of Walled Lake Schools. We even look a look at a kindergarten report card from Dublin in 1955 and compared it to the kindergarten report card that Dublin uses today. Students were surprised to find out that kindergarteners in 1955 were graded on: keeping things in their mouth, relaxing at rest time and using a handkerchief properly. Things sure have changed! Finally, students drew pictures to compare schools today to schools in the past.

Important Dates/Reminders:

• We all had a fantastic time at our Valentine’s party on Tuesday! A big round of applause goes out to the fantastic parents who planned a very special day for our second graders.

• Everyone had a fun 100th day of school! Room 204 was overrun by senior citizens with plenty of wrinkles, canes and gray hair! We wrote about what we will be doing when we are 100 and played several rounds of BINGO with fellow senior citizens from other classrooms!

• February 18-26th – February Break – NO SCHOOL

• February 27th- First Day Back AND Field Trip to the Outdoor Center!!( Please remember to dress your child for the weather as we WILL be going outside. They will also need one long fuzzy sock!)

• Wednesday, February 29th- Rain Gauge Extra Credit Due

• Friday, March 2nd- Plymouth Whalers Game at 7:00 pm.

I hope you have a safe and fun week off from school! :-)

Friday, February 10th

Computers:
It was an EXCELLENT week in Computers as we transformed the Weckies into Bloggers! You should have received two documents at home this week – one blogging contract and one direction sheet for accessing the blog! As the kids become more familiar with the routine of logging on, you may find that they will be excellent resources to help you access the blog and leave comments! If you need this information again, please feel free to drop me a note/email and I can send more directions home. If you have visited the blog, you will notice a map and a globe where we keep track of visitors around the WORLD (literally) who will visit our blog! Enjoy the slideshow below highlighting our first blogging experience!

A picture slideshow by Smilebox

Reader’s Workshop:
This week in Workshop two different things were happening simultaneously! New reading groups have formed and each group has met at least one time to start on a new book. Please remember, if a book comes home more than one time in a row, we are using that book to work on building fluency in our readers. Paying attention to punctuation, voice of the characters and reading new words smoothly is all being practiced with a re-read of a book. Also this week in Workshop we did a Character Study. We spent time looking into the actions and statements made by a character in a book. We made inferences based on these statements and actions activating our own prior knowledge about the character. We even took a look at how a character’s behavior can change over time in a story.


Writer’s Workshop:
This week in Writer’s Workshop we continued our work on a personal narrative, a small moment. Each child has selected a small moment to edit and revise, stopping to make sure that their narrative not only includes: a good lead, actions, a problem and a solution but also includes “inner” thoughts – how the character was feeling, what the character was thinking, what the character was wondering. Next we used Revising and Editing Checklists to help us: create a title, use more exact words, take out confusing parts, fix spelling, add missing punctuation and make sure the sequence of our story made sense.


Math Workshop:
In Math this week we have been looking at fractions (naming the numerator and denominator), equivalent fractions and fractions of groups. We have been learning how different fractional amounts can mean the same thing, such as ¼ is the same as 2/8! This is a tricky concept for most 2nd graders (especially fractions of groups) and it is helpful for them to use hands-on manipulatives, including: counters, pennies, cereal, etc. This is still a developing concept for 2nd grade.

Word Study:
In Word Study this week have looked at patterns in words that end with a short vowel followed by a consonant when adding “-ed” and “-er” endings. Learning to take words like: jog  jogged or run runner has been the focus of Word Study this week. We looked at words that already end in “e” such as “write” and realized we only have to add the “d” or the “r” ending. Then we looked at words with consonant clusters at the end such as teach and learned you only have to add an “ed” or “er” ending. Last we ended the week making “Word Ladders”… we use them to make new words from existing words. For instance, if we have the word trip at the top of the ladder, we can do tree right below because it has the tree and next we could write three because of the last three letters and so on!


Social Studies:
In Social Studies this week we shared our findings from our homework assignment that compared schools in the past to schools today. We added our findings to a classroom Venn Diagram. Second graders were shocked to find that students in the past had three recesses everyday! As a class, we revisited the changes in East Lake Drive (formerly known as Main Street) in Walled Lake and jotted them down in a t-chart. We then used this graphic organizer to write a paragraph describing three ways that Walled Lake’s Main Street has changed between 1900 and 2007. Learning how to write using a compare/contrast text structure will be useful as they grow as writers.


Science:
Air and Weather is the focus for the last science unit. The kids explored air using cotton balls, feathers, straws, baggies, paper, styrofoam balls, and balloons. Many interesting inventions were made… a dancing cotton ball in the baggie and sucking up the objects using the straw, just to name a few. The next lesson we used a tub of water to explore. Students had to make bubbles using a vial, keep a paper towel dry in a vial, move air from one vial to another, and transfer a foam ball from one vial to another all under water. WHEW- all in one day! The scientists realized that air was captured in the vial with the paper towel, so water couldn’t get in as long as air was taking up space.


Air Toy homework is due February 16th.


Rain gauge- extra credit homework is due on February 29th.


A special Thank You!
Over the past two weeks I have been working feverishly on a “Donor’s Choose” grant where we would be receiving $600 in grant money to purchase two Apple iPod Touch for our classroom… and today, we received a package in the mail from Best Buy!!! :-) More to come next week!! Thank you to all who donated and voted for our project! These iPods are going to be an incredible teaching and learning tool!


Important Dates/Reminders:
Tuesday, February 14th – Valentine’s Day Party 2:30-3:30pm in Room 204 :-)

Friday, February 17th – Last Day of School before February Break… 100th Day of School (look for a note coming home today about this!!)


February 18-26th – February Break – NO SCHOOL


February 27th- First Day Back AND Field Trip to the Outdoor Center!!(Please remember to dress your child for the weather as we WILL be going outside. They will also need one long fuzzy sock!)

Friday, February 3rd

Reader’s Workshop:
This week we revisited a very important comprehension strategy in Reader’s Workshop…making connections! We reviewed the different types of connections that good readers make: text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world. When our readers made a connection while they were reading one of their “just right” books, they jotted down their connection (along with the book title) on a sticky note. They shared their connections with their reading partner who had to decide what type of connection their partner made.


Writer’s Workshop:
We continued working on good leads for our “Small Moments” this week in Writer’s Workshop. Students were introduced to questioning/wondering leads through several mentor texts before trying one out on their own. Later in the week, students were asked to select the lead that they felt would most “hook” their reader for their writing piece. Our writers met with a partner to orally share their planning sheets and story boards for a “Small Moment”. Each child drafted a beginning and middle for their piece by listing details. Orally retelling their piece, they added on details as they retold their story. Partners were able to question one another in order to find out more specific details of the events of their moment. We then transitioned from our planning sheet and story boards into our rough draft packets for our “Small Moments”.

 Math Workshop:
The Wubbles visited our classroom and taught us how to double and divide numbers this week! Be sure to ask your child how to make a Wubble disappear (hint: a half blink). Our mathematicians have also been working with data. We measured our arm span and the distance we could jump. Then we learned how to find the median (middle) value of our class arm span and jumping distance. Next we created a frequency table; line plot and bar graph of our arm span data. Finally, we took this data and wrote true facts about the frequency table. We also looked at measurement, spending time measuring different objects like pencils, pens, bolts and screw drivers. Our week ended with our Unit 7 assessment. Unit 8 is coming up next week where we enter the world of fractions!


Word Study:
To begin the week we did a word sort using high frequency words! Students had to figure out patterns amongst the words (those that began with vowels, those that had the same middle sound and those that had the same first letter). Then we spent time working on comparisons where we took words that were already in "contraction" form (such as isn't) and had to figure out what two words the one word came from (such as is not). Last we spent time working on comparisons where we had to add the -er or the -est ending on to words to show value!


Science:
What amazing botanists! All of the 2nd graders did a wonderful job on their science test, what an accomplishment! We finished out the week by comparing and contrasting brassica to grass. Did you know… they are both fast growers? The students realized that most plants need soil, water, nutrients, space, and light to grow. We also took the seeds from the brassica pods and planted them. Let’s hope they grow...we’re crossing our fingers!



Social Studies:
We started our Then and Now unit this week in social studies. We read The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Poloco and discussed the meaning of the word “history”. Students learned how the keeping quilt was handed down from generation to generation. We also read When I Was Little by Toyomi Igus and talked about how life has changed over the years. We then took a look at how the city of Walled Lake has changed over time. Our second graders looked at the different jobs that people had in the early 1900’s and how Main Street in Walled Lake has changed. Look for a “Then and Now” homework assignment that came home with your child on Thursday. The assignment is due on Tuesday, February 7th.






Special News and Reminders:
• Friday, February 10th – Outdoor Center Fieldtrip money ($10) and permission slip due. Also don’t forget to bring in a fuzzy sock!


• Tuesday, February 14th- Valentine’s Party from 2:30-3:30 (Don’t forget to bring in your bag of Hershey kisses for the Valentine craft!)


• February 20th- 24th- Mid-Winter Break: NO SCHOOL


• Monday, February 27th- Field trip to the Outdoor Center