Week 5

Dear Parents,

Here we are in week 5!!  These weeks are just flying by.  I'm very happy to say that next week I will be ready to have parent volunteers during the math block.  I am requesting 1 volunteer per block.  The 2nd grade math block is from 8:10 to 9:35 am and the 1st grade math block is from 9:50 to 11:25 am.  Volunteers for these time periods will be helping small groups of students with their facts practice through games and individual students with reinforcement and practice of math concepts.

Picture day is this week.  I sent home an order form on Friday.  Students need to wear their uniforms for picture day.  Our class will have their pictures taken on Wednesday.

Last week in math our focus was relating 3-digit numbers to money, both coins (dimes and pennies) and bills (one hundred dollar bills, ten dollar bills, and one dollar bills) and place value discs.  Students also spent time comparing numbers using the <, >,and =.  We also put up to three, 3-digit numbers in order from least to greatest and from greatest to least.

This week we will count on and count back by 1's, 10's, and 100's.  During this we will be focusing on the patterns that we notice.  The students of Room 5 will also be reviewing the concepts in Unit 1.  We will assess on Unit 1 on Wednesday.  We will waste no time and start the first part of Unit 2-Addition and Subtraction within 20.  This will be a review of strategies that were taught last year.

Math Homework
Monday--IXL A.14 Counting Patterns Up to 1,000
Tuesday--Practice Assessment (worksheet)
Wednesday--IXL B.5 Numbers Up to 1,000 in Order
Thursday--IXL E.5 Addition with Pictures--Sums to 20

In writing most students are finishing up their riddles.  Some are already displayed on the bulletin board in the hall.  I wonder if you can figure out which student belongs to you!!  This week in writing we will be finishing up our scripts about the five Tribe Agreements (Mutual Respect, Attentive Listening, Appreciations, Right to Pass, and No Put-Downs).  Groups will be presenting their scripts to the kindergarten classrooms on Thursday.  This will conclude our first project.

This week we begin our second project of the school year.  It is called "Back to the Future".  We will be comparing and contrasting life today and 150 years ago.  Our focus will be on the categories of Technology, Culture, and Everyday Life.  Students will be creating projects that will eventually be submitted to a contest being sponsored by the Fallon Chamber of Commerce and the Churchill County Museum.  Just a heads up we will be taking a walking field trip to the Churchill County Museum.  The 2nd and 3rd grade classes will definitely need some parent volunteers for this trip.  We do not have the date of the trip yet as we are working on the scheduling part of this trip with the Churchill County Museum.  Hopefully I will have more information about this trip on Tuesday--stay posted!!

Every week I try to make my Blog entry shorter but I just can't seem to write a shorter Blog.  Too many great things happening in Room 5.

Hope your week in great!!

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield

Here's some information from Mrs. Jackson...

Hello 2nd grade parents-

Last week we began our first true week of Daily Five and Guided Reading groups.  It was a great success; I can think of nothing more fulfilling than to watch students learn how to become better readers.  I can't wait to read with each of them everyday this week.  

This week we will be focusing on restating questions in our answers, how to punctuate our sentences and identifying secret stories (such as vowel patterns) in words.

In Word Work, we will be studying the (op) Word Family.  

One more note:  The Reading assigned for homework (as well as any questions attached to this) is part of their 20 minute total Reading homework.  Please do not have them do an additional 20 minutes of reading.  Also please do not have them work on assigned Reading or Writing for me for more than 20 minutes.  If they are not able to finish in 20 minutes, it will inform me about the actual amount of work that each individual can complete within this time. 

Have a fabulous week!