December Already????

Dear Parents,

I hope that everyone enjoyed a peaceful Thanksgiving, filled with family, friends, feasting, and fun!!  I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating the holiday with my family.  It was great just to enjoy a few days together.

With the past week being so short this Blog Entry will be on the shorter side.  

Math
We worked on counting coins and bills.  Students also practiced writing money amounts using figures (numbers and symbols) and in words.  I'm really emphasizing students using resources (their math folder) to spell the number words correctly.  

We also started talking about equivalent money amounts.  Equivalent money amounts are $1.00 is equal to 2 half dollars, 4 quarters, 10 dimes, 20 nickels, or 100 pennies. 

Our work with money will continue into this week.  Here's the homework for the upcoming week.

Mon.  IXL P.8 --Equivalent Coins II
Tues.  Worksheet
Wed.  No Homework (Quiz)
Thurs. Worksheet

Writing
In writing students continued collecting facts about the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians.  Our facts have been coming from books, slide shows, and online videos.  Students are learning some very interesting facts about these early people.  Did you know the Wampanoag Indians played a type of "football" to settle disputes???  This coming week students will organize facts into an informative writng piece. 


Language
 With the short week our time in Language was spent assessing adjectives and starting to discuss words that need to be capitalized.  

Projects
Our 51st State Project is closing down.  Slide Show Presentations and State Brochures (including a map) are being completed.  We will begin our practice presentations next week and schedule our presentation times at the beginning of the following week--stay posted for more information.

Enjoy your week!!

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield

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

November 29, 2014

I hope you had a wonderful time over Thanksgiving.  I spent the weekend at Lake Tahoe with my family.  We even woke up to snow on Saturday morning.  

Now we have 3 more weeks until Christmas.  During these weeks, we have lots to do.  We will finish covering and assessing all of this quarter’s standards.

Our Word Family for the week will be the “ump”  family. .  As part of our word work we will also spend some time learning about possessive nouns.    

During our Work on Writing, we will  be writing a step by step how-to essay about “How to Decorate a Christmas Tree”.  This should be fun!  It will  be interesting to see what pieces students remember without our discussion.

Thank you for all of your support this fall.

Have a great week.  For me, I am reminding myself to take a deep breath during this holiday season and spend time enjoying the magic with my own little ones.  I wish you the same.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Dear Parents,

It's the week of Thanksgiving and thankful, thankful, thankful is how I feel!! When I look back at the last three months, I give thanks for the amazing students that I get to teach and learn from everyday. I am thankful for the wonderful parents that support their children and myself in the educational process. I am also very thankful to work with every member of the Oasis Academy Staff; the past three months have enabled me to learn and grow as an educator!!

Math

During Math students finished their work with the partial sum and partial difference strategies. Although the whole group lessons are complete, we will continue to practice these strategies weekly.

Our new work in Math is the beginning of our money unit. Over the course of the week students identified the names and values of coins. We also practiced counting coins and bills and writing the amounts using the cent sign, dollar sign, and decimal point.

Here's the homework...
Mon. IXL P.7 Equivalent Coins
Tues. No Homework

Writing

In writing we have been gathering facts about the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians through books and some great websites. Students will be taking the information learned and writing an informational piece that includes an introduction and conclusion.

Language

We finally finished up our work with adjectives. Sometimes with the large amounts of time we spend on projects and writing, our Language time is a bit neglected.

Projects
Our work with the 51st Presentation (power point) continued. We spent time learning about bodies of water (oceans, lakes, and rivers) and land forms (mountains, hills, valleys, and plains). Students added these into their state. Students also started creating a brochure for their state. The purpose of the brochure is to give people some quick information about their state. Most students have completed their 51st Presentation and will be fine tuning them this week.

As we make our way to Thanksgiving on Thursday, I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving that is filled with special memories.

Gratefully yours,
Anne Bloomfield

Here's some information from Mrs. Jackson.
I hope you all have had an exciting weekend finishing the final preparations for your Thanksgiving holiday.  

This week we will be using many Thanksgiving themed readings, poems and writing as avenues towards our learning objectives.  More specifically we will continue working on Main Idea and Details as well as reviewing Possessive Nouns.  

We will also be finishing a Thanksgiving Day Multi-Paragraph writing that your child will bring home on Tuesday.  

There will be no Spelling word family this week, but I will send home the graded Spelling test from last week on Monday afternoon.

As part of a classroom behavior incentive this fall, your child will be participating in an ice cream party during the last 20-30 minutes of school on Tuesday afternoon from 3:30-4:00.  Please let me know if you prefer that your child not partake in this activity.  

I am so thankful for all of the families at Oasis and for the opportunity that I have daily to see so much growth and excitement in all of your children!

Blessings-Kristen Jackson

Thanksgiving is just around the corner!!

Dear Parents,

Days are getting shorter and the excitement of the holiday season is almost upon us.  This is a time to enjoy special family traditions and celebrations.  At my house this coming weekend will be filled with cleaning and cooking family favorites as we get ready for Thanksgiving!!  I'm sure your household is equally as busy with holiday preparations.    

Math
In math, we continued our work with the Partial Difference Strategy.  Students are learning this strategy to give them a deeper understanding of subtraction.  We hit a little glitch on Wednesday this past week and we needed to spend some extra time working on partial difference problems that required students to work with negative numbers.  That is the reason that students had different homework than what was written in the blog.  Because of the difficulty on Wednesday our assessment on this skill will be on Tuesday.   

Here's the homework for the week...

Mon.  Worksheet--Word Problems with Parital Sums and Partial Differences
Tues.  No Homework (Quiz)
Wed.  IXL P.4-Count Money Up to One Dollar
Thurs.  IXL P. 5-Count Money Up to Five Dollar

Writing
Writing this week has been continuing to edit and revise our Monster stories. We spent time reviewing friendly letter form and put our review into practice by writing back to our 6th grade penpals.  The students were very genuine as they responded to questions the 6th graders had asked them and they thoughtfully composed questions to ask their 6th grade penpal.  I can see this as a very "real world" connection for communicating via letters.  

Language
Our work in Language continued with adjectives.  We will be quizzing on adjectives on Tuesday.  Even though we will assess on adjectives on Tuesday, we will continue to work with adjectives as we write.  

As mentioned above in writing, we have started writing back to our penpals in 6th grade.  When we revise and edit our letters we will focus on the punctuation (commas in the date, greeting, and closing) and on the capitalization of letters (month in the date, greeting, beginning of sentences, I, names of people and places, and titles).  

Projects
Students are loving our new project--Creating a 51st State! We have been using the information we learned about Nevada to help us create a new state. This project is one that students are working on by themselves. Students have been getting very creative with this project.  Last week students started creating their Presentation (the Google equivalent of a Power Point).  In addition to their Presentation, students will also be creating a map of their state and a travel brochure convincing people to move to their state.  Students will complete these projects before Thanksgiving and we will be setting a date for students to present their projects to students and parents after Thanksgiving.

Looking forward to a busy and productive week!!

Sincerely,

AnneBloomfield

Here's the information from Mrs. Jackson!!

2nd Grade Blog November 17-20

I hope your weekend was relaxing.  We came out this morning to find our horse’s water frozen.  I had to pull our mittens and scarves out which shouldn’t be any surprise to me considering that Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  That’s hard to believe too!

This week we are studying the ay-word family.  While studying the ay family, we will be also be looking at words that include ey and homophones such as pray and prey. We review the word family of the week together as a class many days each week and then students work on this same word family in small groups during Daily Five on Monday and/or Tuesdays with a volunteer.  These Daily Five Spelling groups are leveled according to students’ Reading/Spelling ability.  

The students take a list of their Spelling words home on Monday and are given a test in their same small Spelling words for their group on Thursday with Mrs. Hyde who works as an Instructional Assistant at our school. 

For families who might want to spend a bit more time on Spelling, I have now included my lists on a website called Spelling City.  Spelling City is a website recommended to me by a parent.  Students will only be able to access all free applications, since I am only using the free portion of this site.  On this website, you will find the appropriate list for your child for this week under November 17 Spelling lists Group 1, Group 2 and 3, or Group 4.  Next to this list you will find S-test, a practice test and a Games tab with some free games that your child can use for practice.  Practicing Spelling at home is optional.  I am sending home the last week’s Spelling test so that you can see how much time you might want to spend on Spelling at home.  

If you would like to use some of these online resources, you may reach my Spelling page by using the following web link.  

http://www.spellingcity.com/kjacksonoasis

If you need to know which group your child is in and a Spelling list doesn't reach it to your home tomorrow evening, e-mail me and I will let you know.

As always, Reading is a priority over Spelling.  I would always recommend doing at least 15 minutes of reading and if you choose to, you might add Spelling practice in for the last 5 minutes or so.  

We are beginning to identify Main Ideas and Supporting Details in non fiction passages.  We are doing this in our whole group mini-lessons as well as in our small Guided Reading groups.  We will look at how to identify Main Ideas and Supporting details using multiple choice options this week and gradually begin to write them ourselves as well as find evidence in the passage to support what we’ve identified.  This week you may not see as much assigned reading as usual, since we will be spending some days using non-fiction passages in class to practice this skill.  

Have a great week!  Thanks for supporting your child’s Reading at home!

Mrs. Jackson

What are you thankful for??

Dear Parents,

Room 5 had another fantastic week.  The students of Room 5 are a truly AMAZING bunch of kids!  They are kind, caring, and hard workers!  I am very thankful for each and every one of them!! 

With the cooler weather comes sweatshirts, sweaters, and jackets.  I can't emphasize enough how important it is to label your child's clothing.  Even if you have labeled your child's clothing recheck the labeling because after several times through the washer and dryer the label can fade (even when written in Sharpie).  Our "lost and found" table is overflowing, so if your child is missing something be sure to check out the "lost and found" table.

Veteran's Day is Tuesday, November 11th and we will not have school.  In class we have been discussing this holiday.  Students have been eager to talk about the special veteran's that are member's of their family.  Hopefully this conversation is continuing at home.  I will be sharing a picture of my favorite veteran, my Dad, Charles E. Mc Shane (US Navy during WWII served as a signal man on Liberty Ships) .  

Here's a snapshot of last week.

Math

In Math we continued our work with strategies.  This week we focused on using the Partial Difference Strategy to subtract 2-digit, 3-digit, and complete word problems.  The majority of this work was done with problems that didn't have any partial differences that were negative numbers.  We started to work on some problems that had partial differences that were negative numbers on Thursday.  Students will be using a number line to help them with this concept.  This (as I expected) was a bit challenging.  We will continue to work on this skill next week. 

Here's an example...


  
        5 3                        1.  Start in the tens place subtract 2 from 5.  Which is 30
     -- 2 9                        2.  Go to the ones place subtract 9 from 3 (use the number line).
        3 0                             3 - 9 = - 6.
        -  6                        3.  Think of 30 as 2 tens and 10 ones.  10- 6 = 4.  The answer is 24.
        2 4

We will be working on this with 2-digit and 3-digit numbers throughout this coming week as well.  This strategy is just another option to help students understand subtraction with larger numbers.

Our quiz on Thursday will include using partial sums and partial differences to solve 2-digit, 3-digit, and word problems.

Writing

Our writing block was busy editing and revising our Monster Stories.  Students worked hard on writing about their monster's three unique qualities and explaining these qualities by giving examples.  Although it takes time, I have been spending time supporting students as they revise and edit their writing.  I have met with about half the class and will be working on the other half the class this coming week.  As they are completed, they are being hung up in the hall.  So far, seven monsters are gracing the bulletin board outside the classroom. It's so fun to watch the writer's of Room 5 develop and grow.

Projects

During the early part of last week, students completed researching information for their Nevada note taker.  They were able to use this information to help them with their Book of Nevada Symbols.  We also discussed the driving question for our new project--How can we as colonists develop a state to represent a possible addition to our current union?  Students were very thoughtful in coming up with items they would include in their state.  

We also spent some time exploring maps through using Google Maps and Google Earth. Students enjoyed exploring Fallon through Google Maps.  Many students used Google Earth to find their homes.  All students wanted to find their homes but several students did not know their address.  While learning whether or not students knew their address  was not the objective of the lesson, it definitely was a surprise to me that some students didn't know their address.  Please be sure that your child knows their address.

Language

Adjectives have been the focus of our work in language.  Students have enjoyed learning the adjective song and from what I understand some of them have enjoyed sharing it with you at home.  So that you can reinforce pieces that we are working on at home (at the suggestion of Mrs. Loop), I will be adding a tab into your child's binder for poems, songs, and other shared readings that we use in language, math, projects, and writing.  This week we sorted adjectives into groups (color, quantity, size and shape, texture, and qualities).  The work that we do with adjectives will continue into next week.

Remember the Veteran's Day holiday is Tuesday, so Oasis Academy will be closed.  As you enjoy this holiday please remember with grateful hearts all our Veterans who have served our country.  Here's wishing you a week filled with gratitude.

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield 


Here's the reading information from Mrs. Jackson!!

2nd Grade Reading Blog

November 10-14

Tomorrow is Monday, November 10, 2014. It is a very special day in my home since my twins turn 11. This week might be exciting in your homes as well, since it is a 3-day week.

During this limited time, we have plenty to do! We will continue studying non-fiction texts.  In our small Reading groups we will be reading non-fiction books and “coding” them.  This means we will be using post-its to mark areas that are interesting or that contain new information for us. With some reading groups we may also be writing an Index, Glossary or Table of Contents for a non-fiction text that does not include that feature.  

We will also continue reading non-fiction passages and answering basic comprehension questions about these passages.  This will improve our comprehension of non fiction, informational text.  During our Listening Center, we will continue listening to informational text and writing non fiction pieces during our Work on Writing.  

There will be NO SPELLING this week due to the short week.  I will be sending the Spelling tests from last Thursday home in your child’s blue Reading folder.  This will help you determine how much time you may need to spend on Spelling in future weeks.

I hope you have a wonderful short week and take time to remember the Veterans in our community, our families and across our nation.

Mrs. Jackson

Welcome November

Dear Parents,

Halloween at Oasis was amazing!!!  The students were adorable and wore a wide variety of costumes.  The Halloween Parade gave every student a chance to walk through each classroom so that their costume could be seen by everyone.  Mrs. Hyde organized an outstanding party that included four different centers manned by Mrs. Peel, Mrs. Christiansen, and Mrs. Goings.  Mrs. Payne and Mrs. Sorensen bounced in and out of our class doing whatever was needed and the Lewallen Family came in to check out all the action.  In addition to the centers, tons of food was provided by many different parents. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Last week Domino's Pizza coupons went home.  Those coupons can be used on Monday, November 3rd and Oasis will recieve 20 % of your purchase.  So, if you are undecided about what to have for dinner on Monday; perhaps Domino's is the answer.  

The 1st and 2nd grade Parent Teacher Conferences are almost over.  I really appreciate the time to sit down and discuss your child's progress and create "Action Plans" for students. Those "Action Plans" have already started or will be started this week to continue to support your child in their "learning journey".  Mrs.  Jackson and myself have just a few more conferences unitl we finish.  We should be done by this Friday!!

Here's what has been going on in Room 5.

Math
In Math we worked on the Partial Sum strategy to help students add 2 and 3 digit numbers.  In this strategy, students start with the biggest place value adding each column separately.  These separate calculations (the partial sums) are then added together to form the total sum.  At this point the the calculation is basically an expanded form number, which students are able to quickly identify.                                                                                                        

2	6	3
+  4	2	5
6	0	0
	8	0
		8
6	8	8

The reason that we are so focused with teaching strategies to add and subtract multi-digit numbers is two-fold.  First it gives students the ability to be flexible in their number sense, which will help them as they work with larger numbers and more complex problems.  Secondly, as we move to working with the standard algorithms having multiple strategies to use gives students more "tools"  to help them solve problems.

Here's the Math Homework for this week...

Mon.	Worksheet with 2-Digit Partial Differences
Tues	Worksheet with 3-Digit Partial Differences
Wed.	Worksheet with Partial Difference in Word Problems
Thurs.	Review Sheet Partial Sums and Differences

Language
In Language we are learning about adjectives.  Students are learning that adjectives are words that describe nouns and that adjectives can fall into several different categories (color, amount, size, shape, texture, etc.).  We will continue practicing our work with adjectives this week.

Writing
In honor of Halloween and in order to reinforce our work with adjectives, students are writing a description of a monster they have created.  We have worked on the prewriting and rough drafts this week and will revise/edit and complete final copies this week.  Look for the student monsters to be displayed in our hallway soon!!

Projects
As we move from one project to another, this past week has been a nice break.  We celebrated the completion of our "Then and Now" and Nevada Day with a pioneer stew and cornbread snack on Wednesday.  Over the week students have been using their Chrome Books to research information about Nevada.  They have filled in a note taker with information about state symbols, population, land forms, and bodies of water.  We will continue to explore the state of Nevada and move onto students creating a 51st state.  This next project will be a project that students work on individually.  I can't wait to see what the students come up with--they certainly always AMAZE me!!

Just a reminder that the month of November goes very quickly.  Please take the time to check out the Blog weekly.  Even though the month of November is new, with the many holidays--Veteran's Day (Tuesday, November 11th) and the Thanksgiving Holiday (Wednesday, November 26--Sunday, November 30th), students are only in school a total of 13 days in November.  

Looking forward to another busy week in Room 5!!

Sincerely,
Anne Bloomfield

Some Reading information from Mrs. Jackson!!

2nd Grade Blog

November 3-6

We had so much fun last week!  The Halloween decorations have now been put away and we are heading into November. This month will be a short one due to Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving.  Both of these weeks will be short weeks.  I have had so much fun getting to know all of you during parent conferences.  I am excited to add a few new things into our classroom after hearing parent feedback.  

Our focus in our Reading during this quarter is on Non Fiction text.  We will be discussing various text features each day.  During our Daily Five Read to Self time, students will be reading non fiction text searching for certain text features.  When they are participating in listening to Reading, they will listen to Non-Fiction text.  Also, when they are Working on Writing, they will be trying out non-fiction writing using some text features in this daily writing.  

Students working with me during their small group Guided Reading time will spend  time working with Non-Fiction books and Reading Comprehension passages that focus on each of these Text Features. Some of the text features that we will specifically be focusing on include: glossaries, tables of contents, illustrations, charts, signs, headings, titles, pictures, bold print, captions and labels. Our word family this week is -ail.  I will be sending you an e-mail with the Spelling lists just in case they’re not making their way home.

I look forward to spending time with the rest of you during parent conferences this week.  A big thanks once again to Mrs. Dodge, Mr. Henning, Mrs. Goings and Mrs. Hyde for enhancing our learning each week.

Thanks again,

Kristen Jackson